Sociophonology of rhoticity and r-sandhi in East Lancashire English
Most discussions of English phonology argue that rhoticity and r-sandhi are necessarily in complementary distribution, citing the diachronic path that led to the loss of rhoticity and the resulting synchronic r ~ Ă alternations in non-rhotic dialects. However, some accounts suggest that âit would not be surprising to discover cases of intrusive-r in rhotic dialectsâ (Harris 1994, see also Carr 1999, Uffmann 2007). In order to investigate how non-rhoticity and r-sandhi could be transmitted by dialect contact, this thesis uses data from speakers in five communities in Greater Manchester and East Lancashire. The locations are equally spaced along a twenty-mile route from Prestwich (a suburb of Manchester, where speakers are non-rhotic) to Accrington (a post-industrial mill-town which is on an âisland of rhoticityâ (Britain 2009)). I show that individual speakers have variable levels of both rhoticity and r-sandhi, which matches research on early New Zealand English (Hay & Sudbury 2005). Beyond this key fact, I discuss several other aspects of the relationship between r-sandhi and rhoticity, including the phonological and dialectological significance of the patterns in the data. First, linking-r and intrusive-r
Barras, William Simon
phonology ; sociolinguistics ; dialectology ; rhoticity
Sociophonology of rhoticity and r-sandhi in East Lancashire English. Most discussions of English phonology argue that rhoticity and r-sandhi are necessarily in complementary distribution, citing the diachronic path that led to the loss of rhoticity and the resulting synchronic r ~ Ă alternations in non-rhotic dialects. However, some accounts suggest that âit would not be surprising to discover cases of intrusive-r in rhotic dialectsâ (Harris 1994, see also Carr 1999, Uffmann 2007). In order to investigate how non-rhoticity and r-sandhi could be transmitted by dialect contact, this thesis uses data from speakers in five communities in Greater Manchester and East Lancashire. The locations are equally spaced along a twenty-mile route from Prestwich (a suburb of Manchester, where speakers are non-rhotic) to Accrington (a post-industrial mill-town which is on an âisland of rhoticityâ (Britain 2009)). I show that individual speakers have variable levels of both rhoticity and r-sandhi, which matches research on early New Zealand English (Hay & Sudbury 2005). Beyond this key fact, I discuss several other aspects of the relationship between r-sandhi and rhoticity, including the phonological and dialectological significance of the patterns in the data. First, linking-r and intrusive-r
east lancashire english discussion english phonology argue necessarily complementary distribution cite diachronic path lead loss result synchronic alternation non dialect however account suggest would surprise discover case intrusive dialect harris see also order_investigate non could transmit dialect_contact use data speaker community greater manchester east lancashire location equally space along twenty mile route suburb manchester speakers non post industrial mill town island britain show individual speaker variable level match early new_zealand english hay and beyond key fact discuss_several aspect relationship include phonological significance pattern data first linking intrusive