The Dynamic Development of Post-Insular Native American English Varieties

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Studies of Native American varieties of English indicate that these varieties may combine source language transfer from ancestral Native American languages, generalized adaptive interlanguage processes, and even the elements of a more expansive, pan Native American English variety. Although a limited tradition of sociolinguistic inquiry into Native American English varieties has now developed, some essential dimensions of these varieties remain largely ignored. Curiously, one of the most critical but neglected areas of study with respect to Native American varieties of English is the extent to which these varieties may or may not adopt local dialect norms. Such linguistic accommodation is often an important index of assimilation and may indicate in subtle but essential ways how such groups situate themselves sociolinguistically and culturally. Furthermore, the investigation of the types of sociolinguistic boundaries that exist between vernacular varieties, particularly in tri-ethnic contexts, is critical in addressing central issues concerning the dynamic nature of ethnolinguistic boundaries in American English varieties. This research examines language change and variation in the English of three post-insular Native American communities in rural North Carolina. The Lumbee, Haliwa Saponi, and Cherokee Native American communities of North Carolina represent instructive contrasts in terms of (1) their recognized status as Native Americans communities, (2) their historic isolation from surrounding communities, and (3) their past and present language contact situations. These situations thus offer a unique laboratory for comparing how ethnic groups configure their sociolinguistic identity over time and space. Extensive cross-generational sociolinguistic interviews are being conducted in each research site, both with local Native Americans and with cohort speakers from corresponding contact varieties. Qualitative-descriptive and quantitative-variationist analytical models are applied to the emerging data, and the objective analysis of language variation is complemented by the analysis of data obtained from subjective speaker identification tasks. The comparative analysis includes both intra- and inter-regional dimensions in order to determine the dynamic nature of sociolinguistic boundaries. In addition, data gathered in a variety of speech situations will be utilized in the examination of intraspeaker variation. The research seeks to explicate on an empirical basis the principles and mechanisms that account for language adaptation, variation and change found in language contact situations