Paul E Kerswill
University of York, Language and Linguistic Science, Faculty Member
- Sociolinguistics, Dialectology, Norwegian Language, Languages and Linguistics, English language, Youth Language, and 9 moreMulticultural London English, Language and Media Discourses, Dialects in Contact, Dialect Contact and Accommodation, Language Variation and Change, Urban Youth languages, Language and Social Class, Social Class, and Language and Migrationedit
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Previous acoustic analyses of the short monophthongs of younger and older speakers in south-east England demonstrate a convergence in the vowel systems (Torgersen and Kerswill, 2004). Following Wells’s (1982) claim that London is the... more
Previous acoustic analyses of the short monophthongs of younger and older speakers in south-east England demonstrate a convergence in the vowel systems (Torgersen and Kerswill, 2004). Following Wells’s (1982) claim that London is the centre of accent innovation in the south-east, we suggested that the change was driven by diffusion from London. Analyses of vowels of young and elderly informants in inner and outer London boroughs suggest that, in fact, many young Londoners are engaged in a process of innovation and divergence, not levelling. We find variation between ethnic groups, and this points to inter-ethnic relations as a source of innovation in London English.
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London, like many other large cities in Europe, is now home to immigrants from many different countries. In some areas of the city immigrant families now outnumber the White British families that have been living in the area for many... more
London, like many other large cities in Europe, is now home to immigrants from many different countries. In some areas of the city immigrant families now outnumber the White British families that have been living in the area for many generations. As a result the English spoken in these areas has changed rapidly, with many innovations that we argue are due to the indirect effect of multiple language contact. We discuss some of innovations in terms of why and how they have emerged, and consider the available evidence that can indicate whether the innovations are likely to survive.
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New-dialect formation, as conceptualised by Trudgill and others (e.g. Britain and Trudgill 1999; Trudgill 2004), refers to the emergence of distinctive, new language varieties following the migration of people speaking mutually... more
New-dialect formation, as conceptualised by Trudgill and others (e.g. Britain and Trudgill 1999; Trudgill 2004), refers to the emergence of distinctive, new language varieties following the migration of people speaking mutually intel-ligible dialects to what, to all intents and purposes, is linguistically 'virgin' territory. 1 As such, it is an extreme, and often very rapid, form of dialect con-vergence. Examples probably abound in world history, but only a few have been described in detail. There seem to be two main scenarios in which new-dialect formation takes place: the settlement of a relatively large territory, either pre-viously uninhabited or in which a previous population is ousted or assimilated; and the formation of a new town in a geographically delimited area in which relatively intense interpersonal communication can take place. Examples of the former are the settlement of New Zealand largely by English speakers in the nineteenth century, and the transport of i...
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Auditory phonetic transcription is a stock-in-trade of sociolinguists; it is tran-scriptions, not actual speech, that form the raw data of much of sociolinguis-tics. Given its importance, it is surprising that phonetic transcription has... more
Auditory phonetic transcription is a stock-in-trade of sociolinguists; it is tran-scriptions, not actual speech, that form the raw data of much of sociolinguis-tics. Given its importance, it is surprising that phonetic transcription has rarely been examined by sociolinguists from the point of ...
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This study contributes to innovation and diffusion models by examining phonetic changes in London English. It evaluates Sapir's notion of “drift,” which involves “natural,” unconscious change, in relation to these changes. Investigating... more
This study contributes to innovation and diffusion models by examining phonetic changes in London English. It evaluates Sapir's notion of “drift,” which involves “natural,” unconscious change, in relation to these changes. Investigating parallel developments in two related varieties of English enables drift to be tested in terms of the effect of extralinguistic factors. The diphthongs of price, mouth, face, and goat in both London and New Zealand English are characterized by “Diphthong Shift,” a process that continued unabated in New Zealand. A new, large data set of London speech shows Diphthong Shift reversal, providing counterevidence for drift. We discuss Diphthong Shift and its “reversal” in relation to innovation, diffusion, leveling, and supralocalization, arguing that sociolinguistic factors and dialect contact override natural Diphthong Shift. Studying dialect change in a metropolis, with its large and linguistically innovative minority ethnic population, is of the utmost importance in understanding the dynamics of change.
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Page 1. Social and linguistic aspects of Durham (e:) 1 PAUL E. KEESWILL2 (University of Durham) 1. Description and history of (e:). Like many vocalic variables which have been described for other varieties of English, Durham ...
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This article is a contribution to the debate about the primacy of internal versus external factors in language change (Farrar and Jones 2002; Thomason and Kaufman 1988). Taking Labov's Principles of Vowel Shifting (Labov 1994) as... more
This article is a contribution to the debate about the primacy of internal versus external factors in language change (Farrar and Jones 2002; Thomason and Kaufman 1988). Taking Labov's Principles of Vowel Shifting (Labov 1994) as representing internal factors, we examine a vowel shift in Ashford, south-east of London. F1 and F2 measurements of the short vowels suggest a classic chain shift, largely following Labov's Principles II and III (though Labov's assumption that London short front vowels are rising is shown to be wrong). However, corresponding data from Reading, west of London, evidence no signs of a chain shift. The two datasets show identical targets for the changes in each town. Thus, there has been convergence between the two short vowel systems – from different starting points. We argue that a dialect contact model is more explanatory than internal factors in this case of regional dialect levelling in the south-east of England.
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Page 1. J. Linguistics 23 (1987), 25-49. Printed in Great Britain Levels of linguistic variation in Durham 1 PAUL E. KERSWILL Department of Linguistic Science, University of Reading (Received 16 June 1986) 1. INTRODUCTION ...
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The field of dialect contact has made significant contributions to various sub-fields of linguistics, especially language change, language acquisition and socio-linguistics (Trudgill 1986; Siege1 1987; Mzhlum 1990) and has shown that... more
The field of dialect contact has made significant contributions to various sub-fields of linguistics, especially language change, language acquisition and socio-linguistics (Trudgill 1986; Siege1 1987; Mzhlum 1990) and has shown that these ... A good deal has been ...
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The paper reports an articulatory and perceptual study of a connected speech process, the assimilation of a final alveolar to a following velar or bilabial. Our EPG investigations show that this assimilatory process is gradual in... more
The paper reports an articulatory and perceptual study of a connected speech process, the assimilation of a final alveolar to a following velar or bilabial. Our EPG investigations show that this assimilatory process is gradual in articulatory terms, not discrete, as assumed in ...
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Tlzis article takes as irs poii~t of'deparrure tlze Milroys' model of'class atzd social neritjork, it1 ir~llicli rhere is LI c . c ~ r ~ ~ pl ~ ~ ~ ~ ei ~ ta ~ Y t ~ hrtlilern class mzd nemnrk: tnorr tnobile indii~iduals... more
Tlzis article takes as irs poii~t of'deparrure tlze Milroys' model of'class atzd social neritjork, it1 ir~llicli rhere is LI c . c ~ r ~ ~ pl ~ ~ ~ ~ ei ~ ta ~ Y t ~ hrtlilern class mzd nemnrk: tnorr tnobile indii~iduals rrnd ro hr iriiddlr, not iinrking class. Wr e.~aminr darcr .suggrstirzg that, in,fact, ...
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6th and last lecture as Visiting Professor at Sheffield Hallam University, 19 April 2018. Video can be seen here: https://youtu.be/9nCU1ATudwM
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English has been the official language of the Republic of Ghana throughout its history as an independent nation since March 1957 and, prior to that date, as the British Gold Coast. In this talk, I give a brief history of the linguistic... more
English has been the official language of the Republic of Ghana throughout its history as an independent nation since March 1957 and, prior to that date, as the British Gold Coast. In this talk, I give a brief history of the linguistic situation, including contacts with European languages. I will focus on language as a medium of instruction.
For a century or more, there have been two types of language debates: whether or not to develop one or more Ghanaian languages as national languages, and, given the de facto entrenchment of English, the manner in which this language is best introduced in primary and secondary education. In both cases, politics and populism sometimes overshadow rational debate - something I demonstrate by looking at online media and online comments.
For a century or more, there have been two types of language debates: whether or not to develop one or more Ghanaian languages as national languages, and, given the de facto entrenchment of English, the manner in which this language is best introduced in primary and secondary education. In both cases, politics and populism sometimes overshadow rational debate - something I demonstrate by looking at online media and online comments.
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In this talk, I consider changes in the sociolinguistic patterning of vernacular varieties of English in Britain since the Industrial Revolution. Profound socioeconomic changes led to urbanisation on an unprecedented scale. Internal... more
In this talk, I consider changes in the sociolinguistic patterning of vernacular varieties of English in Britain since the Industrial Revolution. Profound socioeconomic changes led to urbanisation on an unprecedented scale. Internal migration led to dialect contact and the emergence of new, koineised dialects in the new urban centres. Rural dialect differences became levelled, at least in the southeast. And yet traditional dialects persisted well into the twentieth century. In attempting to link social change and linguistic change, I make use of Trudgill’s sociolinguistic typology model and Andersen’s theory of open vs. closed dialects. Today, demographic change continues – on the whole – to lead to dialect levelling. At the same time, in Britain as in much of Europe we see a large-scale dialect loss which is not the direct result of demographic change, but must be linked to ideological changes in society. Although the last 200 years have seen a marked reduction in linguistic diversity, the same social factors, in the right combinations, continue to produce the opposing tendency: dialect divergence, often but by no means always following immigration, as exemplified by the Asian ethnolects of northern England and multicultural youth varieties of London, as well as the maintained and arguably diverging dialects of Newcastle and Liverpool.
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This chapter traces the chronology of youth language in London from the arrival of the first post-Second World War migrants from Jamaica in 1948 to the early 2000s, by which time what is now known as Multicultural London English (MLE) had... more
This chapter traces the chronology of youth language in London from the arrival of the first post-Second World War migrants from Jamaica in 1948 to the early 2000s, by which time what is now known as Multicultural London English (MLE) had become a well-established, recognised variety. Referring to earlier work by Beaken, Hurford, Sebba and Hewitt, we argue that MLE was preceded by two previous youth languages: London Jamaican and a 'multiracial vernacular'. Both of these were contingent on users (ethnicity) and on context (expressing solidarity), and neither was a 'vernacular' in Labov's (1972) sense. MLE emerged, we argue, in the early 1980s, when London's inner city had become highly multilingual, with the children of migrants now constituting up to a half their local age cohorts. Children were acquiring English in communities where the older London variety no longer dominated. The resulting variety, MLE, became for many speakers their vernacular. We also argue that the early Jamaicans formed a 'founding' population for youth culture, and that this status is reflected in the present day through MLE's slang. Other linguistic features of MLE, however, only resemble Caribbean Creole to the extent that they are also shared by other input varieties to the mix.
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This chapter considers whether language difference ever causes conflict, or whether it symbolises differences between conflicting groups. Language's implication in conflicts in Europe, Canada and South Africa suggests that it is not a... more
This chapter considers whether language difference ever causes conflict, or whether it symbolises differences between conflicting groups. Language's implication in conflicts in Europe, Canada and South Africa suggests that it is not a fundamental cause, but a flashpoint for existing inter-group tensions. Using a questionnaire, our study compares language use in two villages in northern Ghana, where language and ethnicity are closely connected. Recent violent inter-ethnic conflict makes this a good locale for the study of language in conflict. We investigate language choice by international NGOs in their communication about development with local people. One village appears homogeneous and monolingually Gonja-speaking, masking the presence of client groups, who resent being classed as Gonja. The other village houses multiple groups, but no client groups; although Dagbani is the main language, the ethos is pluralistic. For development communication, in the Gonja-speaking village Gonja was used as a pragmatic choice, despite the presence of non-Gonjas. In the other village, Dagbani was the sole choice, despite the fact that non-Dagbani speakers might prefer the lingua franca, Hausa. We find that, despite violent inter-communal conflict, language does not cause conflict, but can amplify animosity. Careful choice of language can increase programmes' effectiveness and reduce conflict.