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

在分析美国的语言变异时，民族和种族一直是关键。强烈的民族认同和与占多数的“白人”群体不结盟通常被认为是少数群体语言中存在明显特征以及缺乏区域方言特征的原因。本论文的研究旨在通过调查在多数少数民族环境（纽约市）中长大的白人（波兰裔美国人）的语言如何反映他们复杂的身份，进一步了解决定种族群体选择变量的社会和语言因素。本研究以“波兰语”、“白人”、“纽约客”等说话者的复杂身份为目的，分析了波兰语的潜在底物效应与纽约城市英语的地域特征在说话者个体言语中的共现现象。在语言层面上，本研究考察了一种基底效应的存在是否会导致另一种基底效应的存在，以及一种基底效应的存在是否会阻碍区域特征的采用。在社会层面上，通过一项自我报告的波兰语取向调查，本研究探讨了强烈的波兰文化取向和频繁使用波兰语是否能很好地预测基质效应的发生和发生率。社会和语言数据将通过对第一代和第二代双语波兰裔美国人的社会语言学访谈收集。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。这项研究将引起双语儿童的教育工作者和父母的兴趣，他们的外国口音可能会因为负面的语言态度而导致他们在学校、工作场所和法律体系中受到歧视。更深入地了解说话者的第一语言（L1）如何影响第二语言（L2），可以帮助教育工作者和照顾者区分种族特征和学习障碍。资助这个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.