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SUMMARY:The role of language professionals in minority language revitalisa
 tion: Variation in rhotic production - Dr Claire Nance (Lancaster Universi
 ty)
DTSTART:20210225T163000Z
DTEND:20210225T180000Z
UID:TALK157225@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:Tim Laméris
DESCRIPTION:"REGISTER HERE":https://forms.gle/bcgdZgxu4PbNjAqn6\n\n*ABSTRA
 CT*\n\nThis paper combines sociolinguistic questions with phonetic analysi
 s to investigate the role of 'language professionals' in minority language
  revitalisation. My focus is on Scottish Gaelic\, where the revitalisation
  programme has led to the creation of new registers for Gaelic and a group
  of 'language professionals' i.e. middle class employees who use Gaelic in
  roles such as broadcasting\, education\, publishing\, and language develo
 pment (McEwan-Fujita 2008).\n\nI examine the speech production of language
  professionals and the role they play in revitalisation in two studies of 
 rhotics. Gaelic has previously been described as having three rhotic phone
 mes contrasted in terms of palatalisation and velarisation (e.g. Borgstrø
 m 1940). Cross-linguistically\, palatalisation contrasts in rhotics tend t
 o be lost over time (Iskarous & Kavitskaya 2018)\, and processes of langua
 ge obsolescence and revitalisation can lead to reduction in large\, comple
 x systems (Dorian 1981\, Jones 1998). At the same time\, L2 users may show
  cross-linguistic influence from their other language (e.g. Flege 2007)\, 
 which\, in the case of English\, only contrasts one phonemic rhotic.\n\nTh
 e first study is an auditory analysis of rhotic production in L2 Gaelic sp
 eakers in the Scottish lowlands (Nance et al. 2016). By comparing narrativ
 es of accent aim with quantitative analysis of rhotic production\, I demon
 strate that highly proficient and ideologically motivated language users c
 an achieve specific accent aims. Secondly\, I present an ongoing study of 
 Gaelic L1 speakers on the Isle of Lewis (Nance & Kirkham). Considering aud
 itory\, acoustic and ultrasound analyses we find little differences betwee
 n the different generations of speakers in the sample\, suggesting overall
  maintenance of a complex and typologically unusual rhotic system.\n\nOver
 all\, I highlight the contribution of language professionals to models of 
 language variation and change: such speakers are often extremely aware of 
 their position as both users and developers of a minority\, endangered lan
 guage. This position may alter the predicted balance of factors in variant
  selection: more weight may be afforded to factors such as strategic accen
 t aim and conservative retention of typologically unusual systems.\n\nBorg
 strøm\, C. (1940). The dialects of the Outer Hebrides\, volume 1. Norsk T
 idsskrift for Sprogvidenskap\, Olso.\nDorian\, N. (1981). Language death: 
 The life cycle of a Scottish Gaelic dialect. University of Pennsylvania Pr
 ess\, Philadelphia.\nFlege\, J. (2007). Language contact in bilingualism: 
 Phonetic systems interaction. In J. Cole and J.  I. Hualde (Eds.) Laborato
 ry Phonology IX. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter\, 353–381.\nIskarous\, K. and
  Kavitskaya\, D. (2018). Sound change and the structure of synchronic vari
 ability: Phonetic and phonological factors in Slavic palatalization. Langu
 age\, 94(1):43–83.\nJones\, M. (1998). Language obsolescence and revital
 ization: Linguistic change in two sociolinguistically contrasting Welsh co
 mmunities. Clarendon Press\, Oxford.\nMcEwan-Fujita\, E. (2008). Working '
 9 to 5' Gaelic: Speakers\, context and ideology of an emerging minority la
 nguage register. In K. King (Ed.) Sustaining linguistic diversity: Endange
 red and minority languages and language varieties. Washington D.C.: George
 town University Press\, 81–93.\nNance\, C.\, McLeod\, W.\, O’Rourke\, 
 B.\, and Dunmore\, S. (2016). Identity\, accent aim\, and motivation in se
 cond language users: New Scottish Gaelic speakers’ use of phonetic varia
 tion. Journal of Sociolinguistics\, 20(2):164–191.
LOCATION:Online
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