A Study of Rhythm in London: Is Syllable-timing a Feature of Multicultural London English?

Recent work on London English has found innovation in inner city areas, most likely as the outcome of dialect contact. These innovations are shared by speakers of different ethnic backgrounds, and have been identified as features of Multicultural London English (MLE). This study examines whether syllable timing is a feature of MLE, as work on rhythm shows that dialect and language contact may lead to varieties of English becoming more syllable-timed. We hypothesized that MLE speakers would also show suprasegmental innovations, having more syllable-timed rhythm than what has been reported for British English. Narratives as told by teenagers of different ethnic backgrounds, elderly speakers born between 1920 and 1935 and speakers born between 1874 and 1895 were extracted from interviews. The speech was segmented into consonantal and vocalic elements by forced phonemic alignment. Measurements of vocalic nPVI, as an indicator of rhythmic patterns, were calculated. Overall, the inner-London speakers were more syllable-timed than what has been found for British English. The results revealed that young speakers of non-Anglo background were significantly more syllable-timed than young Anglo speakers. The relatively low nPVI for all inner-London speaker groups may indicate the capital’s status as a centre of linguistic innovation and long-standing migration. The results of the present study combined with work on other varieties reinforces the idea that the tendency for English to become more syllable-timed is a global phenomenon fuelled by language and dialect contact

Phonological Variation and the Construction of Regional Identities in New Zealand English

This thesis addresses the ongoing evolution of New Zealand English phonology. In particular it explores the links between phonological variation and the social identities of speakers. The thesis investigates the possible emergence of regional dialects in the ongoing development of the variety. The investigation contributes to theories of dialect development, especially in relation to linguistic varieties described as “postcolonial” English. Since the onset of linguistic research on New Zealand English, scholars have highlighted the remarkable geographical uniformity of the variety. However, recent research concerning the development of postcolonial Englishes suggests that regional diversity is inevitable, but that its occurrence is tied to the construction of sociocultural identities. In this thesis I apply a holistic approach to investigating phonological variation and the construction of regional identities in modern New Zealand English. My aim in this thesis is twofold: firstly, to investigate current trends in 21st century New Zealand English phonology and secondly, to gain insights into the linguistic, social and cultural processes associated with the birth of new regional dialects. I view the ongoing evolution of Englishes as involving a composite of wide-ranging factors from the linguistic, historical, social, cultural and ideological domains. In order to address the full complexities of the issues I track variation and change in one influential and important dimension of English phonological systems: rhoticity. I explore the social life of this variable throughout the history of the English language since the 17th century and investigate in detail its manifestation in the speech of 21st century New Zealand teenagers. I consider evidence for contemporary regional diversification by comparing variation in rhoticity in two distinct New Zealand locations; a small rural community in the lower North Island and a small rural community further north in the central North Island. I take a social constructionist approach, paying close attention to local contexts and speakers‟ constructions of their local identities. Quantitative and qualitative approaches to the analysis of the data are utilised. Observations of general trends in rhoticity in modern New Zealand English are enhanced through the examination of the social meanings underlying individual linguistic behaviour. The findings demonstrate the historical and inherent variability of /r/ and reveal changes underway in modern New Zealand English rhoticity. The findings suggest that change involving linking /r/ is associated with a combination of social identity and attitudinal issues. The analysis of non-pre-vocalic /r/ demonstrates the value of exploring innovative features during their onset of use. The findings suggest that the onset of increasing non-pre-vocalic /r/ use in modern New Zealand English may be involved in the utilisation of globally accessible phonological features in the construction of both locally and globally relevant identities. The thesis identifies geographical mobility, transience and changing ethnolinguistic diversity as key factors in ongoing dialect developments in New Zealand English. It concludes that the emergence of ethnically-based identities may hold significance for the emergence of localised identities. The absence of distinctive regional linguistic varieties reflects the absence of recognised regional identities, but the thesis provides tentative evidence that evolving identity constructions in 21st century New Zealand may fuel regional diversification

English transported : essays on Australasian English

Australasian English - that used in Australia, New Zealand, and Papua-New Guinea - has never before been reported upon with the same clarity and depth as in this series of articles edited by Dr Ramson. Up-to-date findings in the study of vocabulary are supplemented by chapters on the interaction of English with other languages, on the speech of Australian Aborigines, migrants and Asian students, and on New Guinea Pidgin. This book will not only stimulate research activity in the subject and overcome the present paucity of teaching material - it will also appeal to the general reader wishing to know more about these distinctive variations of the English language

Power of my Maori name: Stories of indigenous struggles in white New Zealand

Every day in Aotearoa (New Zealand), people of Maori ethnicity (the aboriginal peoples of Aotearoa) will experience their indigenous names being mispronounced when accessing health and social services. The New Zealand Government and the Ministries that come under including The Ministry of Health and The Ministry of Social Development continue to work towards reducing barriers for Maori who access their services. Despite this work there appears to be a gap in addressing this specific issue around pronouncing Maori peoples names correctly. This report investigates the gap identified by working with 20 Maori participants that have Maori names over a six month period in 2011. This research report used a mixed method approach of narratives and statistics, overarched by a Kaupapa Maori methodological approach. The aim of this report is to capture the lived experience of the effect of mispronunciation of a Maori name when accessing health and social services. The desired outcome of the research is to inform medical and social service practice, by encouraging Professionals (my emphasis) to find solutions to support better outcomes for their Maori clients from their first ka nohi ki te ka nohi (face-to-face) interaction. In this report the writer refers to the Maori as the indigenous people of New Zealand in contrast to Tauiwi (other). It is acknowledged that there is no single way of being Maori as Maori people’s values, beliefs and practices are diverse and different within whanau, iwi to iwi, hapu to hapu. However from the literature there are common threads and values that the Maori population generally engages in. This is what is drawn upon and woven from the literature and into this report while recognising the many ways that Maori people express their identity and experiences

Regional Variation in New Zealand English: the Taranaki Sing-Song Accent

Although lay people confidently assert the existence of regional varieties of New Zealand English, linguists have produced very little evidence to support such claims. There are vocabulary items special to, or favoured by, the people of Southland and the West Coast of the South Island; there are traces of non-prevocalic /r/in Southland and Otago; and there are regional differences in the playground language of New Zealand school children. Attempts to identify further differences between regions have generally not been successful. In most cases linguistic evidence has pointed to either social class or ethnic variation, but not to regional variation. Nevertheless, many New Zealanders assert that a Taranaki variety of New Zealand English exists. This study was designed to test the validity of the claim by comparing samples of New Zealand English from Taranaki with samples from Wellington. The Taranaki sample included speakers from New Plymouth (population 50,000) and the South Taranaki dairy farming community. The Wellington sample was drawn from the Greater Wellington region extending from Porirua in the north to suburbs on the southern coast of the city. Interviewees were located by the social network approach, otherwise known as the 'friend of a friend' approach advocated by Lesley Milroy (1980, 1987a). An index of rural orientation was devised to indicate the degree to which a speaker was oriented towards town or country. This proved helpful in distinguishing between genuinely regional differences, and rural versus urban differences. Factors of gender and age were also considered. It has been claimed that Taranaki English has a 'sing-song' quality, suggesting that an investigation of the intonation of Taranaki speakers would be worthwhile. Comparing features of the intonation of a Taranaki sample with a Wellington sample, this thesis attempts to isolate and measure what contributes to the 'sing-song' perception of Taranaki English. 'Singsong' in this context was taken to mean that the speaker had dynamic pitch; in other words their speech was characterised by a lot of movement up and down in pitch. Auditory analysis of speech samples was undertaken, and intonation features were derived from that analysis. Averaging the number of times a speaker changed pitch direction in each intonation group and then in each accent unit provided global measures of changes in pitch direction. Analysis of nuclear accents gave an indication of whether speakers favoured tunes which were characterised by pitch movement. And analysis of the manner in which accents were approached, whether with a boosted step up in pitch, or with a more standard onset, provided a narrower focus on the amount of pitch movement present. Results indicated that, in general, most Taranaki speakers in the sample showed more pitch dynamism than the Wellingtonians; for some features the males showed more pitch dynamism than the females; and, overall, the elderly speakers showed more pitch dynamism than the younger speakers. There were, however, important exceptions to these generalisations. Factors of Location, Gander and Age interacted significantly for all but one of the features examined and there were clear indications that intonational patterns are undergoing change in both regions studied. Explanations for the exceptional cases are explored in the thesis, and sociolinguistic, social network and geolinguistic theories provide possible clues as to the sources of the differences. Evidence of differences in the degree of pitch dynamism present in the intonation of the Taranaki and Wellington speakers supports claims about regional variation in New Zealand English intonation, but it does not in itself prove the existence of a uniquely Taranaki or a uniquely Wellington way of speaking English

The English of Māori speakers: changes in rhythm over time and prosodic variation by topic.

This thesis investigates the rhythm and mean pitch of the English of Māori speakers. Recordings are analysed from speakers who have varying degrees of fluency and socialisation in Māori. The rhythm and mean pitch of their English language recordings are measured and analysed in order to address two questions. The first part addresses the question, ‘Has the distinctive syllable-timed rhythm of modern Māori English developed from the mora-timed rhythm of the Māori language?’ Changes in the rhythm of the English of Māori speakers are measured over time. The rhythm of these speakers is then compared with age-matched Pākehā English speakers. The results show that the distinctive syllable-timed rhythm has indeed developed from the mora-timed rhythm of the Māori language and the use of this rhythm is related to the degree of Māori identity felt by the speaker. The second part is also concerned with prosody and addresses the question, ‘Are rhythm and mean pitch influenced by topic?’ This is investigated by topic tagging the recordings and comparing the rhythm and mean pitch of each tagged section of speech. Two sets of topic tags are used; Set One has tags representing five categories (Subject, Referent, Location, Time and Attitude) and Set Two has only one tag per topic. The results suggest that mean pitch is not influenced by topic but is higher in sections of quoted speech than in regular speech. The subtle variations observed in rhythm are highly individualised and are influenced most strongly by the referent of the topic and the degree of affinity felt towards that referent