Reshaping the Vowel System: An Index of Phonetic Innovation in Canadian English

This paper examines two current sound changes in Canadian English (CE): the Canadian Shift (CS) and the fronting of back-upgliding vowels. Among the changes involved in the CS is the retraction of the TRAP vowel from its initial position in the low-front quadrant of the vowel space to a new position in the low-central region. Among the changes affecting the back-upgliding vowels is a forward shift in the nuclear position of the GOOSE vowel, traditionally a back vowel, whose main allophones are now located in the high-front quadrant. Thus, TRAP is shifting backwards and GOOSE is shifting forwards. These changes are demonstrated with an apparent-time analysis of the speech of 60 speakers from two age groups in three cities: Vancouver, Montreal and Halifax. The relative positions of TRAP and GOOSE in F2 space are expressed as an Index of Phonetic Innovation (IPI), calculated as the mean F2 of GOOSE subtracted from the mean F2 of TRAP. Positive IPI values, with TRAP still further forward than GOOSE, reflect comparatively conservative vowel systems, which tend to have a trapezoidal shape, with two low corners: one in the front, at TRAP, and one in the back, at the LOT vowel. Negative IPI values, with GOOSE further forward than TRAP, reflect comparatively innovative vowel systems, which tend to have a triangular shape, with retracted and lowered TRAP as the bottom corner of an inverted triangle, and LOT located on its rear side. Multivariate statistical analysis of a larger sample of 86 younger speakers from every region of Canada finds that both region and speaker sex have significant effects on the IPI. The most innovative vowel systems tend to be found among women in the most urbanized regions of Canada, particularly the metropolitan areas focused on Toronto and Vancouver, while the most conservative vowel systems tend to be found among men in the less urbanized regions, especially the Prairies and Atlantic Canada. These types are illustrated with detailed analyses of individual speakers from Montreal and Toronto

Preface

The University of Pennsylvania Working Papers in Linguistics (PWPL) is an occasional series published by the Penn Linguistics Club, the graduate student organization of the Linguistics Department of the University of Pennsylvania. The series has included volumes of previously unpublished work, or work in progress, by linguists with an ongoing affiliation with the Department, as well as volumes of papers from the NWAV conference and the Penn Linguistics Colloquium. We thank the Graduate Students Association Council of the University of Pennsylvania for financial support. This volume is the result of combined efforts of many people. Papers were selected and reviewed for content under the direction of the issue editors. Atissa Banuazizi did most of the legwork for collecting the papers, and the PWPL editors carried out the production of the actual volume. Special thanks are due to Hikyoung Lee for her production help, expert proofreading, and amazing post-its. All remaining errors are the responsibility of the series editors or the authors, as the case may be

Bias-Corrected CMIP5-Derived Single-Forcing Future Wind-Wave Climate Projections toward the End of the Twenty-First Century

A quantile-based bias-correction method is applied to a seven-member dynamic ensemble of global wave climate simulations with the aim of reducing the significant wave height HS, mean wave period Tm, and mean wave direction (MWD) biases, in comparison with the ERA5 reanalysis. The corresponding projected changes toward the end of the twenty-first century are assessed. Seven CMIP5 EC-EARTH runs (single forcing) were used to force seven wave model (WAM) realizations (single model), following the RCP8.5 scenario (single scenario). The biases for the 1979?2005 reference period (present climate) are corrected using the empirical Gumbel quantile mapping and empirical quantile mapping methods. The same bias-correction parameters are applied to the HS, Tm (and wave energy flux Pw), and MWD future climate projections for the 2081?2100 period. The bias-corrected projected changes show increases in the annual mean HS (14%), Tm (6.5%), and Pw (30%) in the Southern Hemisphere and decreases in the Northern Hemisphere (mainly in the North Atlantic Ocean) that are more pronounced during local winter. For the upper quantiles, the bias-corrected projected changes are more striking during local summer, up to 120%, for Pw. After bias correction, the magnitude of the HS, Tm, and Pw original projected changes has generally increased. These results, albeit consistent with recent studies, show the relevance of a quantile-based bias-correction method in the estimation of the future projected changes in swave climate that is able to deal with the misrepresentation of extreme phenomena, especially along the tropical and subtropical latitudes.This work has been done under the auspices of the JCOMM Coordinated Ocean Wave Climate Project (COWCLIP). Gil Lemos is supported by the EarthSystems Doctoral School, at University of Lisbon, supported by Portuguese Foundation for Science andTechnology (FCT) projectUIDB/50019/2020—Instituto Dom Luiz. Melisa Menendez acknowledges the financial support from the Ramon y Cajal Program (RYC-2014- 6469) and project ECLISEA, part of ERA4CS/ERA-NET initiated by JPI Climate and cofounded by the European Union (Grant 690462)

The english language in Canada : status, history and comparative analysis

Studies in english language. The aim of this series is to provide a framework for original studies of English, both present-day and past. All books are based surely on empirical research, and represent theoretical and descriptive contributions to our knowledge of national varities of English, both written and spoken. The series covers a broad range of topics and approaches, including syntax, phonology, grammar, vocabulary, discourse, pragmatics and sociolinguistics, and is aimed at an international readership.vii.; ilus.; 251 hlm.; 22 cm

Variation and change in the nativization of foreign (a) in English

The phonological nativization of foreign (a) in English (as in tobacco, potato and bravado) exhibits complex, intersecting patterns of diachronic, geographic, social and lexical variation that have never before been examined in depth. The aim of this disseration is to describe the variation, develop a probabilistic model of nativization outcomes in British and American English, and explain the patterns observed in phonological terms. A random sample of standard dictionaries generates a database of 847 tokens for analysis. Diachronic analysis shows that modern nativization patterns were established in the 18th century and involve three principal outcomes: /ae/ (as in fat), /a:/ (as in father) and variation between these vowels. A quantitative analysis of the 360 tokens borrowed after 1700 reveals important British-American differences in the relative frequency of each outcome: British nativization results in 70% /ae/, 26% /a:/ and 4% variation, whereas American nativization results in 51% /ae/, 31% /a:/ and 18% variation. A multivariate analysis of the effects on nativization of a range of factors in each dialect yields a probabilistic model of lexical variation, showing that the lexical distribution of outcomes is not random. In British nativization, prosodic factors dominate: /ae/ is the default vowel, appearing regularly in closed syllables, while /a:/ appears in open syllables. The most striking feature of American nativization is a diachronic trend toward /a:/, which has taken over from /ae/ as the default vowel, appearing in closed and open syllables indiscriminately. The difference between these patterns is explained in terms of the phonological properties of the competing outcomes in each dialect: /ae/ and /a:/ are differentiated primarily in terms of quantity in British English and quality in American. The qualitative nature of American nativization allows for substantial variation between /ae/ and /a:/ in individual words. An analysis of regional and social variation reveals an absence of strong dialect or social differences, suggesting a nationally homogeneous pattern, while a survey of speakers\u27 attitudes towards variation in nativization demonstrates a strong subjective bias in favor of /a:/ as the more appropriate nativization of foreign (a)