Chapter 18

Please note that the labels on each recording (for example, "Chicago English" or "Black English") were provided by the person who made the recording available for you to listen to. Other linguists or individuals may not agree on the description as it stands. The best example of this: you'll note that some recordings are marked "general" American, which is problematic for the same reasons the term "standard" English is problematic.

Audio Examples

Audio

U.S. English	International Dialects of English Archive: General American
Chicago	International Dialects of English Archive: Illinois Three (female age 18, Chicaco suburbs, IL) International Dialects of English Archive: Illinois Six (male student, Northern Chicago, IL) International Dialects of English Archive: Illinois Seven (Jewish female, Chicago, IL born 1952) International Dialects of English Archive: Illinois Eight (male age 20, Chicago, IL) International Dialects of English Archive: Illinois Ten (white male born 1953, Chicago, IL)
Latino	International Dialects of English Archive: Arizona One (Mexican-American male, age 25, Whittman, AZ, student) International Dialects of English Archive: Arizona Two (Mexican-American female, age 62, Nogales, AZ) International Dialects of English Archive: New Mexico One (Hispanic female, 70s) International Dialects of English Archive: Texas Three (Hispanic male, born 1974, Laredo, TX, student)
The Bayou	International Dialects of English Archive: Louisiana One A (African-American male, New Orleans, born 1972, actor/teacher) International Dialects of English Archive: Louisiana One B (African-American male, New Orleans, born 1972, actor/teacher) International Dialects of English Archive: Louisiana Two (African-American female, New Orleans, born 1985, college student) International Dialects of English Archive: Louisiana Three (African-American female, New Orleans, born 1985, college student)
Harlem	International Dialects of English Archive: New York Three (Puerto Rican male age 49, The Bronx) International Dialects of English Archive: New York Four (white male, Brooklyn/Bronx age 20) International Dialects of English Archive: New York Five (white male, Jewish, Queens, born 1947) International Dialects of English Archive: New York Six (white female, Jewish, Queens, born 1947) International Dialects of English Archive: New York Seven (white male, Jewish, Bronx, born 1940) International Dialects of English Archive: New York Eight (white female, Jewish, Bronx, born 1943) International Dialects of English Archive: New York Eleven (Italian-American male, Brooklyn/Queens, born 1954) International Dialects of English Archive: New York Thirteen (white male, Jewish, Manhattan, born 1975) International Dialects of English Archive: New York Sixteen (African-American female, Brooklyn, born 1967)
Puerto Rico	The Speech Accent Archive: Spanish 15 The Speech Accent Archive: Spanish 81
Hong Kong	The Speech Accent Archive: Cantonese
Pine Ridge Reservation	International Dialects of English Archive: Alaska One (Tlingit female, Juneau, AK, age 66, artist) International Dialects of English Archive: Alaska Two (Yup'ik male, Kipnuk, AK, age 67, government office manager) International Dialects of English Archive: Alaska Three (Yup'ik female, Gambell, AK, age 57, culture host) International Dialects of English Archive: Alaska Four (Tsimpshean male, Ketchikan, AK, age 24, sales manager) International Dialects of English Archive: Montana One (Blackfeet female, Browning, MT, age 50, phone operations manager) International Dialects of English Archive: New Mexico Two (Native American female, Isleta, NM, born 1943) International Dialects of English Archive: New Mexico Three (Zuni male, Gallup, NM, born 1972) International Dialects of English Archive: New Mexico Four (Native American female, Isleta, NM, born 1937) International Dialects of English Archive: Oklahoma Eleven (Native American male, Oklahoma City, born 1961, book clerk) International Dialects of English Archive: South Dakota One (Native American female, age 22, Vermillion, SD, college student)

 

Videos

“Where is the Love?: A Project on Language Discrimination”
Directed by Jason Millar, Melanie Martin, Monica Bergeron, and Shanti Ernest
http://whohasmyfedora.wordpress.com/

This video provides material for the discussion of what can be done about language subordination.

Discussion question

1. What do you think about this project’s goals to spread the word about linguistic discrimination? Do you think this is an effective way to make people aware of language subordination?

Further Resources

Lippi-Green, R. (2004) Language Ideology and Language Prejudice. In E. Finegan and J. Rickford (Eds.) Language in the USA: Themes for the 21st Century. New York: Cambridge University Press.

Milroy, J. (2001) Language Ideologies and the Consequences of Standardization. Journal of Sociolinguistics 5(4); 530–555.

Milroy, J. and Milroy, L. (2002) Authority in Language: Investigating Standard English. London: Routledge.

Preston, D. (2004) Language Attitudes to Speech. In E. Finegan, E. and J. Rickford (Eds.) Language in the USA: Themes for the 21st Century. New York: Cambridge University Press.

Links

“Say What? Civil rights enforcers go after ‘accent discrimination’”
By Walter Olson
Reason Magazine, 11/01/1997
http://reason.com/archives/1997/11/01/say-what

Snap Judgments—Accent, Discrimination, and Identity
Talking New York
http://talkingnewyork.com/losing-it/snap-judgments-accent-discrimination-and-identity/

RSS & Blogs

Chapter 18 The Language Maven’s Nest: http://mavensays.blogspot.com/
Language Log: http://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/