This page intentionally left blank Language in the USA This textbook provides a comprehensive survey of current language issues in the USA. Through a series of specially commissioned chapters by lead- ing scholars, it explores the nature of language variation in the United States and its social, historical, and political significance. Part 1, “American English,” explores the history and distinctiveness of American English, as well as looking at regional and social varieties, African American Vernacular English, and the Dictionary of American Regional English. Part 2, “Other language varieties, ” looks at Creole and Native American languages, Spanish, American Sign Language, Asian American varieties, multilingualism, linguistic diversity, and English acquisition. Part 3, “The sociolinguistic situation,” includes chapters on attitudes to language, ideology and prejudice, language and education, adolescent language, slang, Hip Hop Nation Language, the language of cyberspace, doctor–patient communication, language and identity in liter- ature, and how language relates to gender and sexuality . It also explores recent issues such as the Ebonics controversy, the Bilingual Education debate, and the English-Only movement. Clear, accessible, and broad in its coverage, Language in the USA will be welcomed by students across the disciplines of English, Linguistics, Communication Studies, American Studies and Popular Culture, as well as anyone interested more generally in language and related issues. edward finegan is Professor of Linguistics and Law at the Uni- versity of Southern California. He has published articles in a variety of journals, and his previous books include Attitudes toward English Usage (1980), Sociolinguistic Perspectives on Register (co-edited with Douglas Biber, 1994), and Language: Its Structure and Use, 4th edn. (2004). He has contributed two chapters on English grammar and usage to the recently completed Cambridg e History of the English Language. john r. rickford is Martin Luther King Jr. Centennial Professor of Linguistics, Stanford University, and Director of Stanford University’s program in African and Afro-American Studies. He has published articles in a variety of journals, and his previous books include Dimensions of a Creole Continuum (1987), African American Vernacular English (1999), and Spoken Soul: the Story of Black English (co-authored with his son Russell Rickford, 2000). Most recently, he has co-edited with Penelope Eckert Style and Sociolinguistic Variation (Cambridge University Press, 2001). Language in the USA Themes for the Twenty-first Century EDWARD FINEGAN University of Southern California JOHN R. RICKFORD Stanford University cambridge university press Cambridge, New York, Melbourne, Madrid, Cape Town, Singapore, São Paulo Cambridge University Press The Edinburgh Building, Cambridge cb2 2ru, UK First published in print format isbn-13 978-0-521-77175-7 isbn-13 978-0-521-77747-6 isbn-13 978-0-511-21054-9 © Cambridge University Press, 2004 2004 Information on this title: www.cambrid g e.or g /9780521771757 This publication is in copyright. Subject to statutory exception and to the provision of relevant collective licensing agreements, no reproduction of any part may take place without the written permission of Cambridge University Press. isbn-10 0-511-21231-3 isbn-10 0-521-77175-7 isbn-10 0-521-77747-x Cambridge University Press has no responsibility for the persistence or accuracy of urls for external or third-party internet websites referred to in this publication, and does not guarantee that any content on such websites is, or will remain, accurate or appropriate. Published in the United States of America by Cambridge University Press, New York www.cambridge.org hardback p a p erback p a p erback eBook (EBL) eBook (EBL) hardback Contents List of figures vii List of tables ix List of contributors xi Acknowledgments xii Fore word xiii Editors’ preface xvii Part 1 American English 1 American English: its origins and history richard w. bailey 3 2 American English and its distinctiveness edward finegan 18 3 Regional dialects william a. kretzschmar, jr. 39 4 Social varieties of American English walt wolfram 58 5 African American English lisa green 76 6 The Dictionary of American Regional English joan houston hall 92 Part 2 Other language varieties 7 Multilingualism and non-English mother tongues joshua a. fishman 115 8 Creole languages: forging new identities patricia nichols 133 9 Native American languages akira y. yamamoto and ofelia zepeda 153 10 Spanish in the Northeast ana celia zentella 182 11 Spanish in the Southwest carmen silva-corval ´ an 205 12 American Sign Language ceil lucas and clayton valli 230 13 Asian American voices: language in the Asian American community thom huebner and linda uyechi 245 14 Linguistic diversity and English language acquisition robert bayley 268 v vi Contents Part 3 The sociolinguistic situation 15 Language ideology and language prejudice rosina lippi-green 289 16 Ebonics and its controversy john baugh 305 17 Language planning, language policy, and the English-Only Movement terrence g. wiley 319 18 Language in education lily wong fillmore 339 19 Adolescent language penelope eckert 361 20 Slang connie eble 375 21 Hip Hop Nation Language h. samy alim 387 22 Language, gender , and sexuality mary buchol tz 410 23 Linguistic identity and community in American literature james peterson 430 24 The language of doctors and patients cynthia hagstrom 445 25 The language of cyberspace denise e. murra y 463 26 Language attitudes to speech dennis r. preston 480 Index493 viii List of figures 26-2 Computer-assisted generalizations of hand-drawn maps showing where southeastern Michigan respondents believe speech regions exist in the USA 481 26-3 Means of ratings for language “correctness” by Michigan respondents for US English 484 26-4 Means of ratings for language “pleasantness” by AL respondents for US English 487 26-5 Three social status group judgments of lower “occupational suitability” of “inconsistent r” production 489 x List of tables 17-1 Historical highlights regarding the status of English and of efforts to restrict other languages 328 18-1 US and California immigrant and student population, 1997 351 18-2 A decade of anti-immigrant, anti-diversity voter initiatives in California 354 19-1 Percentage use of negative concord by jock and burnout girls and boys 371 19-2 Percentage use of innovative vowel variants by jock and burnout girls and boys 372 26-1 The two factor groups from the ratings of all areas 483 26-2 Mean scores of individual factors for North and South 486 [...]... introductions grouped together at the beginning of the volume or preceding each section Language in USA: Themes for the Twenty-first Century is a shorter book than the 19 81 volume, despite its having a few more chapters The marketing constraint on its length meant omitting certain topics we would otherwise have included Inevitably, some readers will miss topics that were treated in the earlier volume but... check the tires of the rental car, make sure the interior has been vacuumed and the windshield cleaned, and then, assuming the line isn’t overly long, drive out of the parking lot or parking structure to start a vacation Britons, after passing a driving test and getting a driving licence, would hire a car, check the tyres of the hire car, ensure the windscreen was clean and the interior hoovered, and then,... and until the beginning of this century American schools offered instruction in German, recognizing as the US Commissioner of Education had 11 12 r i c h a r d w b a i l e y written in 18 70, the German language has actually become the second language of our Republic” (Heath 19 81: 13 ) German was not the only alternative to English, of course The Reverend Benjamin Mortimer, a Moravian pastor in New York... variation, and a chapter dealing exclusively with the Dictionary of American Regional English Contrary to the possible perceptions or hopes of some, dialect variation is not disappearing in the USA The chapters in this book are grouped into three broad sections: Part 1, dealing with varieties of American English; Part 2, exploring other language varieties in the USA (including creole and Native American... Walker 19 37 “Bilingualism in the Middle Colonies, 17 25 17 75,” American Speech 12 : 93–99 19 38 The Assimilation of the Speech of British Immigrants in Colonial America,” Journal of English and Germanic Philology 37: 70–79 2002 Milestones in the History of English in America Durham NC: Duke University Press Salmon, Vivian 19 96 “Thomas Harriot (15 60 16 21) and the Origins of Algonkian Linguistics.” In Salmon’s... with others When people find themselves in a situation of “mixed languages,” they behave in ways that are remarkably the same over time Some are resolute in their monolingualism, refusing to even attempt to communicate with people who speak other dialects or languages These people breed the linguistic attitude of purism and flatly reject any usages that they detect as being “foreign.” Thus, in the nineteenth... that has illumined the variety and richness of the American linguistic scene, much of which is summarized and explained in the chapters of this book These questions aren’t restricted to the role of languages other than English and the status of the minority language varieties like African American English or the ongoing efforts to preserve Native American languages They also extend to the particular problems... blindness to the complexities of our sociolinguistic history and of the contemporary linguistic situation As the anthropological linguist Dell Hymes observed more than twenty years ago in his foreword to the 19 81 Language in the USA, The United States is a country rich in many things, but poor in knowledge of itself with regard to language. ” Since then, to be sure, there has been an enormous amount of scholarship... removing the outer leaves from the ear), roasting ears, Indian cake (made from corn meal) At the end of the seventeenth century, language variety was everywhere Tituba, a central figure in the Salem witch trials in 16 91 92, was a Barbadian living as a slave in the household of Samuel Parris in Massachusetts, and her “confession” precipitated the arrest of more than 15 0 people and the execution of nineteen... pursue “with all industry and diligence” the goal of encouraging them “to speak, read, and write the English tongue.” Consequently, borrowings from the languages of the Atlantic seaboard diminished, but new American expressions continued to arise from the existing resources of the language: for instance, Indian corn (shortly reduced to corn and applied to a plant unknown in Britain), husk (the verb to describe . grouped together at the beginning of the volume or preceding each section. Language in USA: Themes for the Twenty-first Century is a shorter book than the 19 81 volume, despite its having a few more. languages: forging new identities patricia nichols 13 3 9 Native American languages akira y. yamamoto and ofelia zepeda 15 3 10 Spanish in the Northeast ana celia zentella 18 2 11 Spanish in the Southwest. sociolinguistic history and of the contemporary linguistic situation. As the anthropological linguist Dell Hymes observed more than twenty years ago in his foreword to the 19 81 Language in the USA,