Focus on the USA

375 Pages·1996·39.092 MB·English

by  Edgar W. Schneider

FOCUS ON THE USA
Varieties of English Around the World
General Editor:
Manfred Görlach
Englisches Seminar
Universität zu Köln
Albertus-Magnus-Platz 1
D-50923 KÖLN
Germany
GENERAL SERIES
Volume 16
Edgar W. Schneider (ed.)
Focus on the USA
FOCUS ON
THE USA
Edited by
EDGAR W. SCHNEIDER
University of Regensburg
JOHN BENJAMINS PUBLISHING COMPANY
AMSTERDAM/PHILADELPHIA
The pape r use d i n thi s publicatio n meet s th e minimum requirement s o f
American Nationa l Standar d fo r Informatio n Science s — Permanence of
Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI Z39.48-1984.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Focus on the USA / edited by Edgar W. Schneider.
p. cm . — (Varieties of English around the world. General series, ISSN 0172-7362 ;
v. 16)
Includes index.
1.English language—United States. 2. English language-Social aspects-United States. 3.
English language-Variation-United States. 4. Americanisms. I. Schneider, Edgar W. (Edgar
Werner). 1954- . II. Series.
PE2802.F63 199 6
420'.973-dc20 95-5320 6
ISBN 90 272 4874 5 (Eur.) / 1-55619-447-1 (US) (alk. paper) CIP
© Copyright 1996 - John Benjamins B.V.
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form, by print, photoprint, microfilm, or any
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John Benjamins Publishing Co. · P.O.Box 75577 · 1070 AN Amsterdam · The Netherlands
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Contents
Introduction: Research trends in the study of American English 1
Edgar W. Schneider
Piney Woods Southern 1 3
Lee Ρ eders on
Foundations of American English 2 5
William A. Kretzschmar, Jr.
The comparability of linguistic atlas records: The case of LANCS 5 1
and LAGS
Lawrence M. Davis and Charles L. Houck
Terms used for children's games: Comparing DARE's findings with 6 3
usage of today's youth
Luanne von Schneidemesser
The dialects of the Middle West 81
Timothy C. Frazer
Dialect change and maintenance in a post-insular island community 103
Walt Wolfram, and Natalie Schilling-Estes
A comparison of variation patterns of variables among sixth graders 14 9
in an Ohio community
Erik R. Thomas
Perceptions within a variable paradigm: Black and white 169
detection and identification based on speech
John Bangh
Sex-based differences in language choice in an African- 183
American neighborhood in Detroit
Walter F. Edwards
The English competence of Cuban exiles: The case of noun pluralization 195
Frank Maas
What was verbal -s in 19th-century African American English? 211
Michael Montgomery and Janet M. Fuller
The development of American Englishes: Some questions from a 231
creole genesis perspective
Salikoko S. Mußvene
Historical and contemporary distribution of double modals in English . 26 5
Barbara A. Fennell and Ronald R. Butters
American college slang 28 9
Connie Eble
Where the worst English is spoken 29 7
Dennis R. Preston
Addresses of authors 36 1
Subject index 363
INTRODUCTION: RESEARCH TRENDS IN THE STUDY OF
AMERICAN ENGLISH
Edgar W. Schneider
The presen t volume , modele d upo n earlie r Focus volumes i n th e
"Varieties o f English Aroun d th e World " series , is intended t o mirro r th e
breadth o f research activities , to provide a fair selectio n o f ongoing high -
quality investigations in the analysis of American English (AmE), and thus to
contribute to current discussions in the field. Whether "the study of AmE" can
be seen as constituting an academic "field" i n the traditional sens e remains
open to discussion. Probably not, given that such a field is defined not only by
its topi c bu t also , an d perhap s eve n mor e so , by it s commo n theoretica l
background and methodology. Thus, many scholars would probably feel more
comfortable i n affiliating themselve s with fields such as "American dialec t
geography", perhaps "sociolinguistics" (an area which, however, is more likely
to be labeled something like "the study of language variation and change"),
"lexicography", "usage", and others.
However, I claim that a sense of community is growing that encompasses
all disciplines having to do with "the study of AmE". Some thirty years ago,
traditional camp affiliations were strong—so-called "dialect geographers" and
so-called "sociolinguists" would have held conflicting opinion s on questions
such as principles of informant selection , the nature of reliable data, or the
origin of what then was coming to be called "Black English". Today, bounda-
ries between sub-fields have become blurred, as can be observed in matters
such as attendance at meetings, data and methods chosen, or submission to
journals and other publication outlets (of which the present volume is an ex-
ample: I a m prou d o f havin g almos t al l th e majo r researc h school s an d
approaches represented in it). What we see emerging is a complex research
continuum, wit h sub-discipline s influencin g an d fertilizin g eac h other , a
process which is certainly a very welcome development. In this introductory
essay, I will attempt to provide a brief survey of this field, not to draw dividing
lines but to sketch different directions and trends, a procedure which, taking all
together, should teach us where we stand and where we might want to proceed.
I will do so by listing and discussing three aspects of the topic: first, a selection
of classic sources and earlier research summaries; second, some publication
2 EDGAR W. SCHNEIDER
statistics, and third, some current strands of research (including brief introduc-
tions to the papers in this volume).
McDavid's "bibliographic essay" (1979) deserves to be recommended as
a most useful guide to the classic sources. Here the reader will be referred to
the well-known introductions and handbooks by Mencken, Krapp, Pyles, or
Marckwardt, the dictionaries, the three dialectological monographs which have
shaped ou r understandin g o f the regiona l divisio n o f Am E (Kurat h 1949 ,
Atwood 1953 , Kurat h an d McDavi d 1961) . I n linguisti c geography , th e
Linguistic Atlase s an d thei r handbook s publishe d s o fa r hav e obviousl y
enjoyed a special status (Kurath 1939; Kurath et al 1939-1943; Allen 1973-76;
Pederson et al 1986-91; most recently Kretzschmar et al 1994), and so has
DARE (Cassidy 1985; Cassidy and Hall 1991). Comprehensive expert surveys
of earlier research mostly within this tradition are available in Allen (1977) and
Pederson (1977) . Th e traditiona l tripartit e divisio n o f Am E dialect s wa s
challenged by Carver (1987). On the other hand, the sociolinguistic tradition
has buil t upo n the classi c model o f the earl y work by William Labov , i n
particular hi s dissertatio n (Labo v 1966 ) an d th e wor k describe d i n Labo v
(1972a). This tradition was continued by applying the same methodology to
analyses of some white dialects (notably by Wolfram and Christian 1976 and
Feagin 1979) but, more importantly, to work on the speech of African Ameri-
cans (Labov et al 1968; Wolfram 1969 ; Labov 1972b; Fasold 1972; and many
more). Subsequently, Labov's team at Pennsylvania has pursued the study of
sound change in AmE, culminating i n Labov (1991) and Labov (1994) . A
history of this discipline remains to be written, however, and it would have to
take into consideration recent trends towards a "sociolinguistic dialectology",
as suggested by Chambers (1993) and as realized by Guy Bailey in his projects
in Texas and Oklahoma and by Labov in his current nationwide telephon e
survey. O n the occasio n o f the recen t centennia l o f the America n Dialec t
Society, Preston (1993) gave a survey of current research activities, mostly of
an introductory nature and with a strong emphasis on methodological proce-
dures. Fairly comprehensive bibliographic coverage of almost thirty years of
research int o AmE , wit h indexes , i s provide d b y Schneide r (1984 ) an d
Schneider (1993) . Jay Robert Reese o f East Tennessee Stat e University i s
planning a computerized, annotate d bibliograph y o f American dialectolog y
from 1887, to be published electronically.
The two bibliographies just mentioned permit a quantitative assessment
of research topics since the mid-1960s: Schneider (1984) covers the period of
1965-1983; Schneide r (1993 ) continue s th e coverag e fro m 198 4 throug h
1992/93. On the basis of the indexes of these compilations, table 1 documents
the number of publications on selected regions, states, cities, and ethnic groups
of the US per period. Certainly such a listing is not without its problems: some
INTRODUCTION 3
items may have been missed, or failed to have been classified adequately in the
index; individua l publications ar e far fro m equa l i n weighting (wit h book -
length studies being counted in the same fashion as brief lexicological notes);
the number of publications on a certain topic is not necessarily indicative of its
possible significance for central research questions; and so on. Still, with all
Table 1: Number of publications on regional or ethnic entities in American English, 1965-
1992/93
Source: indexes of Schneider (1984) and Schneider (1993), respectively
¡States 65-83 84-92 Cities, contd. 65-83 84-92
Alabama 8 6 Los Angeles, CA 7 4
Alaska 2 6 New York, NY 42 8
Arizona 4 2 Philadelphia, PA 17 4
Arkansas 16 1 San Francisco, CA 5 1
California 18 7 Tallahassee, FL 4 0
Florida 14 2 Tuscaloosa. AL 4 0
Georgia 14 9 Washington, DC 14 0
Illinois 11 11 Regions:
Indiana 13 4 Appalachians 37 26
Kansas 3 4 Gulf States 15 18
Kentucky 14 3 Middle & South Atlantic 12 12
Louisiana 11 3 Midwest 18 23
Massachusetts 7 0 New England 13 5
Mississippi 10 0 North Central 18 5
Missouri 9 9 North 1 4
New Mexic o 8 1 Northwest 5 0
New Yor k 7 3 Ozarks 0 8
North Carolin a 15 8 South 43 58
Ohio 6 3 Southwest 19 3
Oklahoma 4 5 Upper South 5 1
Pennsylvania 14 15 West 6 4
South Carolin a 10 11 Ethnic groups:
Tennessee 20 8
African Americans 513 205
Texas 27 31
Chinese Americans 5 1
Virginia 7 7
Finnish Americans 4 1
7
Wisconsin 1
Gullah 17 38
Cities Italian Americans 5 0
Atlanta, GA 4 0 Jewish Americans 7 4
Austin, TX 5 0 Mexican Americans 96 41
Boston, MA 9 0 Native Americans 44 29
Chicago, IL 16 10 Puerto Ricans 19 10
Dallas/Ft. Worth,TX 4 0 Yugoslav Americans 6 o
Detroit, MI 9 4
ElPaso, TX 4 0