THE DEVELOPMENT OF A REGIONAL PHONOLOGICAL FEATURE DURING A SEMESTER ABROAD IN ARGENTINA

Author(s):  
Rebecca Pozzi ◽  
Robert Bayley

Abstract Although recent research suggests that gains are made in the acquisition of dialectal features during study abroad, the few studies that have been conducted on this topic in Spanish-speaking contexts have focused primarily on features characteristic of Spain. This article examines the L2 acquisition of phonological features characteristic of Buenos Aires Spanish, [ʃ] and [ʒ], known as sheísmo/zheísmo, for example the pronunciation of llave [ʝaβe] “key” as [ʃaβe] or [ʒaβe]. Participants include 23 learners of Spanish studying in Buenos Aires, Argentina. More than 4,800 tokens were gathered before, during, and at the end of the semester using sociolinguistic interviews, a reading passage, and a word list. These data were analyzed for the influence of linguistic and social factors using mixed-effects logistic regression (Rbrul; Johnson, 2009). Results suggest that participants approximate nativelike norms of use of these features and that time in country is a statistically significant predictor of patterns of phonological variation.

2020 ◽  
Vol 35 ◽  
Author(s):  
Arina Alexandra Muresan

The Second High-Level United Nations (UN) Conference on South-South Cooperation (also known as BAPA+40), held in Buenos Aires, Argentina, from 20 to 22 March 2019, promised to reinvigorate efforts to further achieve and implement South-South cooperation (SSC). Forty years on, the Global South is shaping its image as a solutions provider. Immense strides have been made in improving access to allow a multitude of state and non-state actors to cooperate, while broadening and deepening modes of cooperation and facilitating the exchange of knowledge and transfer of technology, thus moving beyond the simplistic view that developing countries require aid to function and move forward. However, noting these symbolic strides, the Global South should move forward by building understanding of monitoring and evaluation (M&E) frameworks; integrating multi-stakeholder models; improving the visibility of peace and security in South-South programming; and building effective communications systems.


2020 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 132-153
Author(s):  
Brandon M. A. Rogers

AbstractThe current study examines /s/ variation in the southern-central city of Concepción, Chile and its relation to a variety of linguistic and social factors. A proportional-odds mixed effects model, with the random factor of “speaker”, was used to treat the categorically coded data on a continuum of acoustical variation ([s] > [h] > ∅). The results presented show that contrary to the previous assertions, heavy sibilant reduction, especially elision, in Concepción, Chile is the rule, rather than the exception, to the extent that it is no longer a marker of certain social demographics as has been reported previously. Furthermore, based on the trends reported, it is likely that this has been the case for several decades. Finally, the overall observed trends are indicative that the rates of /s/ elision will continue to increase across social demographics and different phonetic and phonological contexts in Concepción, Chile.


2019 ◽  
pp. 141-181
Author(s):  
James N. Stanford

This is the first of two chapters (Chapters 6 and 7) that analyze fieldwork results in eastern Massachusetts. This chapter analyzes the eastern Massachusetts “Hub” region as a whole, providing a statistical overview of speakers interviewed in the Dartmouth-based fieldwork in this area. It examines the results in terms of major traditional Eastern New England dialect features, including Linear Mixed Effects regression modeling in terms of phonetic environments and social factors like age, gender, social class, and ethnicity. The chapter also plots these dialect features in terms of speakers’ birth year and other factors, showing how these features are changing over time.


2019 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Karthik Durvasula ◽  
Alicia Parrish

AbstractWhile there is robust evidence of segment priming, particularly in some real word contexts, there is little to no evidence bearing on the issue of priming of subsegmental features, particularly phonological features. In this article, we present two lexical decision task experiments to show that there are no consistent priming effects attributable to phonological place of articulation features. Given that there is clear evidence of segment priming, but no clear evidence of priming due to other phonological representations, we suggest that it is doubtful that priming is a good tool to study phonological representations, particularly those that are not consciously accessible.


2016 ◽  
Vol 43 (3) ◽  
pp. 251-284 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard VanNess Simmons

Summary This paper examines the origins and evolution of the Chinese linguistic concept known as the sìhū 四呼 “four types of rime onset” that is frequently applied to the description and analysis of Mandarin and Chinese dialect phonology. Through the examination of phonological texts primarily of the Míng (1368–1644) and Qīng (1644–1911) periods, the author follows the evolution of the sìhū as a phonological feature and outlines the development of the sìhū concept as well as the evolution of the actual term “sìhū” The underlying phonology of the sìhū emerged following the divergence of Mandarin from the other dialects in the Sòng (960–1279), through the Yuán (1271–1386), and into the Míng. The discovery and description of the sìhū was closely related to developments in phonological analysis made by Míng scholars as they departed from Middle Chinese tradition (of the 7th to the 12th centuries) and mapped out contemporary Mandarin pronunciation, especially that of the prestige Mandarin koinē known as Guānhuà. The emergence and description of the sìhū are thus found to parallel the evolution of Mandarin, as the phonological categories the sìhū represent evolved in concert with characteristic Mandarin features. The attention that Míng and Qīng scholars gave to the rime onset types of the sìhū analysis demonstrates that the phonological features represented by this four-way paradigm were considered to be important elements of contemporary forms of prestige Mandarin.


2014 ◽  
Vol 30 (4) ◽  
pp. 515-549 ◽  
Author(s):  
Boping Yuan

Adopting a decompositional approach to items in the lexicon, this article reports on an empirical study investigating Chinese speakers’ second language (L2) acquisition of English wh-on-earth questions (i.e. questions with phrases like what on earth or who on earth). An acceptability judgment task, a discourse-completion task and an interpretation task were used in the study, and the results indicate that in Chinese speakers’ L2 English, the form of wh-on-earth can be learned and stored in a native-like manner, but without being endowed with fully elaborated features. A distinction between active features and dormant features in L2 lexicon is made in the analysis, and it is argued that features transferred from learners’ L1 to their L2 are likely to lose their vigour and vitality in their L2 lexicon and become dormant if there is no evidence in the target language input to confirm or disconfirm them. A typical consequence of a dormant feature is random behaviours of a related structure in L2 learners’ production and interpretation. The results of the study show that semantic features, discourse features as well as morphosyntactic features can become dormant in L2 lexicon.


2013 ◽  
pp. 7-14 ◽  
Author(s):  
Woodrow Borah

In Latin America the eighteenth century was a time of approximate doubling of the population and considerable economic development and reorientation of the economy. Urban settlement reflected these changes. The bulk of urban growth was by replication of existing patterns into areas of new settlement. Some expansion of older cities and heightening of urban functions took place. In the reordering of regional economies, Buenos Aires, Havana, and Rio de Janeiro profited; Lima failed to prosper. Within existing and new cities, much building replaced older structures in more durable materials, and, in the largest, multi-family, multi-storied structures appeared. Following developments in Europe, beginnings were made in paving streets, providing lighting, installing drains, and so-forth. In similar wise, administration adopted new forms and social welfare was reorganized for more efficient response to natural disasters. Cultural models, copied from Europe, even included the beginning of cafés.


2001 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 394-406 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brian A. Goldstein ◽  
Aquiles Iglesias

This study examines the effect of dialect on phonological analyses in Spanish-speaking children. Phonological analyses were completed for fifty-four 3- and 4-year-old typically developing Spanish speakers and fifty-four 3-and 4-year-old Spanish speakers with phonological disorders. Analyses were made in reference to both the General Spanish dialect and the Puerto Rican dialect of Spanish to demonstrate the effect of dialect on the results. The results indicated that the number of consonant errors, percentage of consonants correct, number of errors within individual sound classes, and percentage of occurrence for phonological processes all differed based on the accounting of dialect features.


1974 ◽  
Vol 124 (581) ◽  
pp. 336-345 ◽  
Author(s):  
Irene M. K. Ovenstone ◽  
Norman Kreitman

People who kill themselves are grouped together as suicides on the basis of that one action, yet they can hardly be considered to be a homogenous class. Attempts to define sub-categories among suicides can be made in a number of different ways, none by itself entirely satisfactory. Differentiation by psychiatric diagnosis is one possibility, but is difficult to achieve and throws little light on the undoubted contribution of social factors. Sociological studies have usually persisted in regarding all suicides as intrinsically similar, and have sought to relate variations in rates between different sections of the community in terms of general social variables such as status integration, social isolation, anomie and the like. Yet suicides are not a uniform group, and relatively little can be achieved while this fact is ignored.


2017 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 115-144 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matt Brown ◽  
Kearsy Cormier

Abstract British Sign Language (BSL) is a visual-gestural language distinct from spoken languages used in the United Kingdom but in contact with them. One product of this contact is the use of fingerspelling to represent English words via their orthography. Fingerspelled loans can become “nativised”, adapting manual production to conform more closely to the native lexicon’s inventory of phonemic constraints. Much of the previous literature on fingerspelling has focused on one-handed systems but, unlike the majority of sign languages, BSL uses a two-handed manual alphabet. What is the nature of nativisation in BSL, and does it exhibit sociolinguistic variation? We apply a cross-linguistic model of nativisation to BSL Corpus conversation and narrative data (http://bslcorpusproject.org) obtained from 150 signers in 6 UK regions. Mixed effects modelling is employed to determine the influence of social factors. Results show that the participants’ home region is the most significant factor, with London and Birmingham signers significantly favouring use of fully nativised fingerspelled forms. Non-nativised sequences are significantly favoured in signers of increasing age in Glasgow and Belfast. Gender and parental language background are not found to be significant factors in nativisation. The findings also suggest a form of reduction specific to London and Birmingham.


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