Language in the USA: Themes for the Twenty-first Century

Cover......Page 1
Half-title......Page 3
Title......Page 5
Copyright......Page 6
Contents......Page 7
Figures......Page 9
Tables......Page 11
Contributors......Page 13
Acknowledgments......Page 14
Foreword......Page 15
Preface......Page 19
PART 1 American English......Page 21
Editors' introduction......Page 23
References......Page 36
Editors' introduction......Page 38
National varieties of English......Page 39
Vocabulary......Page 40
Postvocalic /r/......Page 43
The half, fast, path class......Page 44
Vowel shifts......Page 45
Across socioeconomic groups......Page 46
Verb agreement with collective nouns......Page 47
Relative clauses and the relative pronouns which and that......Page 48
Omitting the infinitive marker to......Page 49
Definite articles......Page 50
Unmarked adverbs and the amplifier real......Page 51
Prepositions......Page 52
Word senses......Page 53
Interjections......Page 54
Spelling......Page 55
Prospects for the future......Page 56
References......Page 57
Background......Page 59
Regional dialects at mid-twentieth century......Page 64
American regional dialects for the twentieth-first century......Page 72
Suggestions for further reading and exploration......Page 75
References......Page 76
Editors' introduction......Page 78
The patterning of social differences in language......Page 80
The social dimension of dialect differences......Page 82
Systematic variability in social dialect differentiation......Page 85
The social evaluation of linguistic features......Page 89
Conclusion......Page 93
References......Page 94
Editors' introduction......Page 96
Views of the origins of AAE......Page 98
General words and phrases......Page 99
Current slang......Page 100
Sentence patterns......Page 101
Sound patterns......Page 105
Representations of AAE in film......Page 108
References......Page 110
Discography......Page 111
Editors' introduction......Page 112
The fieldwork for DARE......Page 114
Earlier Work in American Dialect Geography......Page 116
Social dialects......Page 124
Gender differences......Page 125
Racial differences......Page 126
Folk language......Page 127
Natural science entries......Page 128
Uses of DARE materials......Page 129
Acknowledgments......Page 130
References......Page 131
PART 2 Other language varieties......Page 133
Editors' introduction......Page 135
America, America: spendthrift and gravedigger on the multilingualism front......Page 136
God shed his grace on thee: local and periodic ups and downs versus straight-line theories......Page 138
And crown thy good: intergenerational non-English mother-tongue transmission......Page 142
With brotherhood: non-English languages in the national interest......Page 144
From sea to shining sea: making the USA safe (or at least safer) for cultural democracy......Page 145
Permissive language defense......Page 147
Active language defenses......Page 148
Preventive (“proactive”) defenses of threatened multilingualism......Page 149
References......Page 151
Editors' introduction......Page 153
Definitions......Page 154
Gullah......Page 156
Hawaiian Creole......Page 162
Louisiana Creole......Page 165
Acts of identity......Page 169
References......Page 170
Editors' introduction......Page 173
Language and worldviews: Kickapoo people's animate and inanimate categories......Page 174
Language and worldviews: Navajo people's perspective on the world......Page 175
Possession relationships......Page 177
Kinship terms......Page 178
Beyond kinship terms: animals and things......Page 180
Tohono O’odham: flexible word order......Page 181
Kickapoo: an SVO language with flexible word order......Page 182
Words are made up of many parts......Page 183
Person and number......Page 184
Gender......Page 187
Shape, substance, and manner......Page 188
Position......Page 190
Instrument......Page 192
General questions......Page 193
Why did it happen?......Page 194
Native American Languages Acts......Page 195
Why consider Native American languages and their diversity?......Page 197
Suggestions for further reading and exploration......Page 198
References......Page 199
Editors' introduction......Page 202
Spanish speakers in the Northeast......Page 203
Spanish language in the Northeast......Page 211
The velar R in Puerto Rican Spanish (PRS): arrastrar la doble rr......Page 216
Cuban Spanish gemination......Page 217
Mixtecan Mexican Spanish vowels......Page 218
“Nuyoricans,” “Dominican Yorks,” and “Spanglish”......Page 219
The Latino century?......Page 220
Suggestions for further reading and exploration......Page 221
References......Page 222
Editors' introduction......Page 225
Census data......Page 226
Colonial Spanish......Page 227
Southwest Spanish in the twentieth century......Page 228
Linguistic aspects of Southwest Spanish......Page 235
Attitudes toward Spanish and English......Page 242
Suggestions for further reading and exploration......Page 247
References......Page 248
Editors' introduction......Page 250
What is American Sign Language?......Page 251
A historical sketch of ASL......Page 258
What ASL is not......Page 260
ASL and its users......Page 261
Suggestions for further reading and exploration......Page 263
References......Page 264
Editors' introduction......Page 265
The first wave: entry, exploitation, and exclusion......Page 267
The second wave: diversity and pan-ethnic Asian American identity......Page 271
Language in the Asian American community: contemporary issues......Page 272
Linguistic diversity, language maintenance, and language shift......Page 274
“Yellow English” and accent discrimination......Page 277
Language variation and the influence of African American English......Page 279
Interpersonal style: Eastern vs. Western?......Page 281
Conclusion......Page 282
Suggestions for further reading and exploration......Page 283
References......Page 284
Editors' introduction......Page 288
Language diversity......Page 289
Immigrant bilingualism and shift to English......Page 291
The difficulty of minority language maintenance: an example......Page 295
Acquisition of English......Page 296
The scope of the problem......Page 297
Barriers to participation in ESL classes......Page 299
Untutored English acquisition......Page 301
Suggestions for further reading and exploration......Page 303
References......Page 304
PART 3 The sociolinguistic situation......Page 307
Editors' introduction......Page 309
A model of the language subordination process......Page 317
References......Page 323
Orientation......Page 325
The birth of Ebonics......Page 327
Inherent international implications......Page 328
Educational considerations......Page 329
Shifting definitions of Ebonics......Page 330
The Oakland Ebonics resolutions......Page 331
The continuing quest for greater Standard English fluency......Page 335
Acknowledgments......Page 336
References......Page 337
Editors' introduction......Page 339
Defining language planning and language policy......Page 340
Official versus implicit and covert policies......Page 341
Dominance of the ideology of English monolingualism......Page 342
Classifying language policies according to intents and consequences......Page 344
The current English-Only Movement......Page 347
Recent developments: Propositions 227 and 203......Page 351
Conclusion: prospects and questions for the twenty-first century......Page 354
Suggestions for further reading and exploration......Page 355
References......Page 356
Editors' introduction......Page 359
Conflict: community interests, American ideals and individual rights......Page 360
The advent of federally sponsored bilingual education......Page 362
Lau v. Nichols, Lau Guidelines, and mandate for bilingual education......Page 363
The debate over bilingual education......Page 365
Immigration and the focus on Hispanics......Page 370
Language in education: conflict in California......Page 371
Conclusion......Page 377
Suggestions for further reading and exploration......Page 378
References......Page 379
Editors' introduction......Page 381
Making a world for themselves......Page 383
The power of age......Page 385
Linguistic movers and shakers......Page 387
Conclusion: raging hormones or not?......Page 393
References......Page 394
Editors' introduction......Page 395
Suggestions for further reading and exploration......Page 404
References......Page 405
Editors' introduction......Page 407
Hip hop culture and its investigation in the street......Page 408
Hip Hop Nation Language [HHNL]......Page 411
The relationship between HHNL and AAL: lexicon, syntax, and phonology......Page 416
Hip hop cultural modes of discourse and discursive practices......Page 420
Call and Response......Page 421
Multilayered totalizing expression......Page 422
Signifyin and bustin (bussin)......Page 423
Suggestions for further reading and exploration......Page 425
References......Page 426
Discography......Page 429
Editors' introduction......Page 430
Early language and gender studies: language and sexism......Page 431
Difference and dominance......Page 435
Women in their speech communities......Page 437
Language and sexuality......Page 440
Identity in practice and performance......Page 442
Conclusion......Page 445
Suggestions for further reading and exploration......Page 446
References......Page 447
Editors' introduction......Page 450
2. Stereotypes......Page 451
4. The politics of orthography......Page 452
Autobiography, grammar, and vocabulary in Native American literary identity......Page 453
Representing Latino/Latina American identity in stereotypes, vocabulary, and codeswitching......Page 454
Representing African American literary identity by situational context and orthography......Page 458
References......Page 463
Editors' introduction......Page 465
Language and medicine......Page 466
A brief history of medical communication......Page 467
The structure of medical encounters: two points of view......Page 468
Talk as a channel in medical encounters: information transfer and patient satisfaction......Page 469
Doctor-centered talk and patient-centered talk......Page 472
Questions and answers......Page 473
Asymmetry in medical talk: claims to knowledge and power......Page 475
Managing social distance: what is appropriate?......Page 476
Turn-taking, interruption, and conversational control......Page 477
Suggestions for further reading and exploration......Page 480
References......Page 481
Editors' introduction......Page 483
CMC as genre or register......Page 487
The functions of CMC......Page 490
Metaphors......Page 492
The dominance of English as the language of cyber technology......Page 495
Acknowledgments......Page 496
References......Page 497
Editors' introduction......Page 500
Suggestions for further reading......Page 511
References......Page 512
Index......Page 513