Doctoral Dissertation Research: The English of American-Born Chinese in New York City: Sociophonetic Variation and Social Meaning

博士论文研究：纽约市美国出生的华人的英语：社交语音变异和社会意义

• 批准号: 0951841
• 负责人: John Singler
• 金额: $ 0.95万
• 依托单位: New York University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2010
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2010-04-01 至 2012-03-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0951841&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Doctoral; Dissertation; Research; English; American

Rapid language shift has made English the dominant, if not the only, language spoken by many American-born Chinese in the U.S. How do these speakers draw on phonetic/phonological variation in American English to construct personae, negotiate sociocultural boundaries, and project emergent identities? Does their heritage language influence this process even if these speakers have limited competence in it? Under the direction of Dr. John Singler, Amy Wong's dissertation research will examine the linguistic practices of thirty second-generation Chinese Americans, born and raised in New York City, as they navigate the social landscape using a range of dialectal variation in English. Merging sociophonetic analysis with ethnographic methods, this study addresses three interrelated questions: First, do New York-born Chinese of Cantonese descent produce the vernacular features of New York City English? Second, does their English contain features that show phonological effects from their heritage language? Third, to what extent are these phonetic/phonological resources in English employed as indices of sociocultural identities and local interactional meanings? Ms. Wong will utilize three kinds of data collected from speakers between the ages of 11 and 29, recruited from several community organizations and social networking groups: researcher-driven speech collected from sociolinguistic and ethnographic interviews, speaker-driven spontaneous conversations recorded in natural settings and in-depth ethnographic information obtained through participant observation. Well-documented dialect features and understudied substrate features are analyzed using instrumental sociophonetic techniques. Quantitative analysis of inter- and intra-speaker phonetic/phonological variation is informed by qualitative ethnographic examination of speakers' styles, sociodemographic backgrounds, social alignments and intersecting identities (e.g. "female", "fresh-off-the-boat", "cosmopolitan"). Results from this study will inform our knowledge on how ethnic minorities use and possibly shape the English spoken in a diverse metropolitan setting. They will also enhance our understanding not only of Chinese American identities but also of the dynamics involved in identity practices within the changing ethnolinguistic landscape of the U.S.

快速的语言变化使英语成为许多在美国出生的中国人说的主导语言，如果不是唯一的语言。这些说话者如何利用美式英语的语音/音位变化来构建人物角色，跨越社会文化边界，并投射出新的身份？即使这些说话者的能力有限，他们的传统语言是否会影响这一过程？在约翰·辛格勒博士的指导下，艾米·王的论文研究将考察在纽约出生和长大的30名第二代华裔美国人的语言实践，他们使用一系列英语方言变体在社会环境中穿梭。结合社会语音分析和民族志方法，本研究解决了三个相互关联的问题：第一，出生在纽约的广东裔华人是否具有纽约英语的地方性特征？其次，他们的英语中有没有显示出其传统语言语音影响的特征？第三，这些英语语音/语音资源在多大程度上被用作社会文化认同和当地互动意义的索引？王女士将利用从几个社区组织和社交网络团体招募的11岁至29岁的演讲者收集的三种数据：从社会语言学和民族志访谈中收集的研究人员主导的演讲，在自然环境中记录的说话者驱动的自发对话，以及通过参与者观察获得的深入民族志信息。运用工具性社会发音技术分析了已有文献记载的方言特征和未被充分研究的基调特征。对说话人之间和说话人内部语音/音位差异的定量分析是通过对说话人的风格、社会人口学背景、社会取向和交叉身份(如“女性”、“新来的”、“世界性的”)进行定性的人种学检查来实现的。这项研究的结果将为我们提供关于少数族裔如何使用并可能在不同的大都市环境中塑造英语口语的知识。它们还将不仅加深我们对华裔美国人身份的理解，也将加深我们对美国不断变化的民族语言格局中身份认同实践的动态的了解。