Doctoral Dissertation Research: Ethnicity, Substrate Effects, and Sound Change in New York City

种族和种族在美国的语言变异分析中起到了关键作用。少数群体的语言中存在明显的特征，以及缺乏地区方言特征，这通常被认为是由于强烈的民族认同感和与占多数的“白人”群体的不结盟。本论文旨在通过考察成长于少数族裔环境(纽约市)的白人(波兰裔美国人)的言语如何反映他们的复杂身份，来加深我们对决定一个族群选择变量的社会和语言因素的理解。本研究旨在解开说话人的复杂身份，如“波兰人”、“白人”和“纽约人”，分析在个别说话者的言语中，来自波兰语和地域性特征的潜在底物效应的共现。在语言层面上，本研究调查了一种底物效应的存在是否会导致另一种底物效应的存在，以及一种底物效应的存在是否会阻碍区域特征的采用。在社会层面上，本研究通过自报的波兰语取向调查，探索强烈的波兰语文化取向和频繁使用波兰语是否能很好地预测底物效应的发生和比率。社会和语言数据将通过对第一代和第二代双语波兰美国人的社会语言学访谈来收集。其他数据将来自阅读任务、波兰文化取向调查和民族志观察。这项研究将引起教育工作者和双语儿童父母的兴趣，他们的外国口音可能会因为负面的语言态度而在学校、劳动力和法律制度中造成污名。更深入地了解说话者的第一语言(L1)如何影响第二语言(L2)可以帮助教育者和照顾者区分种族特征和学习障碍。资助这一奖项将加强对有前途的研究生的培养。

Ethnicity and race have been pivotal in analyses of linguistic variation in the United States. A strong ethnic identity and non-alignment with the majority "white" group has been commonly taken to account for the presence of distinct features, as well as the absence of regional dialect features, in the speech of minority groups. This dissertation research aims to further our understanding of the social and linguistic factors that determine an ethnic group's choice of variables by investigating how the speech of white ethnics (Polish Americans) who grew up in a majority minority setting (New York City) reflects their complex identities.With the goal of unpacking speakers' complex identities, such as "Polish", "white" and "New Yorker", this research analyzes the co-occurrence of potential substrate effects from Polish and regional features of New York City English in the speech of individual speakers. On the linguistic level, this research investigates whether the presence of one substrate effect entails the presence of another, and whether the presence of one substrate effect can block the adoption of a regional feature. On the social level, through a self-reported Polish orientation survey, this research explores whether a strong Polish cultural orientation and frequent use of Polish are good predictors of the occurrence and rates of substrate effects. Social and linguistic data will be collected through sociolinguistic interviews with first and second generation bilingual Polish Americans. Additional data will come from reading tasks, a Polish cultural orientation survey, and ethnographic observations.This research will be of interest to educators and parents of bilingual children whose foreign accents may cause them stigmatization in schools, the workforce, and the legal system due to negative language attitudes. A deeper understanding of how a speaker's first language (L1) can influence the second language (L2) could help educators and caregivers to distinguish ethnic features from learning disabilities. Funding this award will enhance the training of a promising graduate student.