Texas Linguistic Forum Vol. 45. (2003) Austin: Texas Linguistic Forum Inger Mey, Ginger Pizer,Hsi-Yao Su, Susan Szmania, eds. Beier,
Christine Bigham,
Douglas S. Choi,
Jinsook England,
Nora C. Fellin,
Luciana French,
Brigittine M. Kamper,
David Leza,
Christina Mathien,
James Messing,
Jacqueline Michael,
Lev Moll,
Laura, A. Pomerantz,
Anita Ruzycki-Shinabarger,
Amy D. Schieffelin,
Bambi B. Smythe,
Susan Walter,
Mary Ann Yaeger-Dror,
Malcah and Hall-Lew, Lauren
Christine
Beier, University of Texas at Austin Douglas
S. Bigham, Southern Illinois University, Carbondale The effects of intoxication on speech is an under-researched field. Of the research that has been done, most works are concerned with mechanical errors in speech production, and then only intoxication by beer/liquor is considered. This work is to be a two-fold project creating a sociolinguistic framework for the effects of marijuana intoxication on the communicative aspects of speech. The first part, presented here, concerns fitting the peculiarities of marijuana-intoxicated speech into a framework for conversation analysis. Namely, that marijuana-intoxicated speech more readily reflects the communication rules for meetings than for regular conversation. This paper, then, is the inter-personal aspect of marijuana-intoxicated (stoned) speech. Jinsook
Choi, University at Albany, SUNY This paper examines the ways in which Mayan identities are ideologically constructed through language practices. It explores language ideologies based on the analysis of metalinguistic commentaries and code switching incidents gathered in Momostenango, a K'iche' Maya town in Guatemala. Employing Gal and Irvine (1995, 2000)'s semiotic notions, this study shows that K'iche' Mayan language serves as an icon that portrays and as an index that marks Mayan identities. I argue that social categories are not only associated with certain forms of speech, but also constructed based on typification of certain forms of speech onto which ethnoracial stratification is projected. Nora
C. England, University of Texas at Austin Mayas are engaged in a cultural revitalization movement which seeks to both reaffirm cultural values and open political space which has been closed to them since the arrival of the Spanish. Language has taken a central position in the definition of Maya identity and in the demands, both implicit and explicit, for Maya cultural and political autonomy. Mayas who are linguists play an active role in the Maya movement, from technical and political perspectives. This paper examines the contributions made by Maya linguists in three areas: 1) to the Maya movement, where the nature of the interaction is largely political, 2) to the modification of language ideologies, which involves analysis and reaction to ideas about language that have been generated both internally and externally; and 3) to linguistics, where Mayas have both benefited from and formulated a critique of the contributions of academic linguistics. Luciana
Fellin, San Diego State University This study investigates the language ideologies and practices underlying a dialect revival occurring in a multilingual community in the Italian Alps. Focusing on caretaker-child interactions it highlights the role of overt and covert language ideologies and practices in sustaining the resurgence of the local language after years of convergence towards the national standard. In addition to explicit ideologies supporting the local code as marker of a rediscovered cultural heritage and local identity and the promotion of biligualism as a cognitive advantage, specific code-switching, code-mixing and "Prestigious Practices" contribute to the resurgence of the local language supporting its vitality and transmission. Brigittine
M. French, University of Iowa I investigate the language ideologies of bilingual urban Maya-Kaqchikels from Chimaltenango to assess: 1) to what extent their language shift from Kaqchikel to Spanish is a rejection of collective Maya identity and 2) what advances Pan-Mayas have made among Maya citizens in revalorizing the ideological connection between language and collective Maya identity. I argue that the discourse of progress, made up of the "traditional past" ideologically linked with Kaqchikel and, the "modern present" ideologically linked with Spanish, are the most salient language ideologies fueling language shift in the area. Even as ordinary Maya-Kaqchikels construct the discourse of progress, they also articulate a supplementary discourse about Mayan languages that links Kaqchikel with Maya ancestors in the "traditional past" and with Maya culture in the "modern" present. It is this reconfiguration of the discourse of progress that shows the effects of Pan-Maya activists and scholars on language revitalization. David
Kamper, University of California, Los Angeles This paper connects the work linguistic anthropology with recent labor studies scholarship that examines union organizing. Focussing on the one-to-one interactions between union organizers and workers, what I label "organizing moments," I assert that language use and communication skills are critical to accomplishing the union goal of garnering support from workers and achieving discrete political and economic goals. This paper studies the membership drives of two unions through ethnographic observation, interviews and discourse analysis. This paper examines the interrelationship between the language ideologies of union organizers, workers, and management, and how these ideologies inform organizing moments and determine their efficacy. Christina
Leza, University of Arizona This paper will further pursue the role of imagery in the development of linguistic relationships through an analysis of some aspects of Jacaltec Maya classification with a focus on verbs of perception. This study assumes a discursive process in the development of significant linguistic parallels. The assumption of discourse in the production of grammatical meaning links this discussion significantly to issues in linguistic ideology. This paper will consider how the discursive production of meaning by reference to salient imagery relates to the discursive production of legitimacy within speaking communities. James
Mathien, University of Chicago Using examples from the music of Prince Buster, this essay will demonstrate the role played by the use of vernacular language registers in the establishment of a body of political commentary within the lyrical content of Jamaican popular music in the mid- to late 1960s. Predating both the emergence of explicitly Rastafarian content and the use of "Dread Talk" in song lyrics, these commentaries relied on the creative manipulation of a variety of language registers. In the work of Prince Buster in particular, manipulations of language and representations of speakers were central to the creation of a simultaneous critique of urban crime, political violence and the persistence of colonial forms of authority in newly independent Jamaica. Jacqueline
Messing, University of Arizona This paper examines an ethnographic example of the semiotic process identified by Irvine & Gal (2000) as fractal recursivity. Examples of recursivity in Mexicano and Spanish are analyzed, showing how users of these languages in Tlaxcala, Mexico construct multiple local ideologies of language, identity and progress through talk, as they define themselves in relation to others. A focus on the linguistic ways that Tlaxcalans construct difference ideologically sheds light on how these ideologies of difference may contribute to language shift there. Recursivity offers a productive means for understanding how relationships between indigenous peoples, the nation, and processes of modernization are involved in language shift. Lev
Michael, University of Texas at Austin This
paper considers a reformulation of the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis in
terms of socially-distributed cognition and discourse. In this reformulation,
the impact of language on cognition is seen as operating via the
effect of discursive practices on communicative interaction, which
directly shapes distributed cognitive processes that emerge in groups
of interacting individuals. Laura
A. Moll, University of Arizona Anita
Pomerantz, University of Albany, SUNY Bambi
B. Schieffelin, New York University Children's verbal practices remain an under exploited resource in linguistic anthropology for understanding how children create their social worlds, as well as how they are socialized into existing ones. As all speech activities occur in particular places, the notion of emplacement is central to issues of identity, narrative, language choice and memory. Language socialization research from several societies illustrates the importance of place and the role of language(s) in mediating social relationships and remembering them. Amy
D. Ruzycki-Shinaberger, Arizona State University Computer gaming is often considered a predominantly male domain. Thornborrow (1998) indicates that, in order to participate in the discourse of computer gaming, women must adopt a male-centered discourse. However, the discourse of females and males playing two online games indicates that gender-based differences are diminished in this environment, suggesting that the discourse of the online gaming community is less influenced by gender-based expectations, and that gamers, both male and female, utilize a less-blatantly gendered discourse. This study includes a gender-based analysis of the use of characteristics such as emoticons, war metaphors, inclusive and exclusive pronouns, gender references, and screen names. Susan
Smythe, University of Texas at Austin "Affectionate speech" in Huehuetla Tepehua (HT), a Totonacan language, is a manner of speaking that is used when the speaker feels great affection for or is much older than the addressee and that is accomplished by the shifting of certain consonant phonemes. Affectionate speech is also a useful tool in the reconstruction of two lost HT phonemes, the plain and glottalized uvular stops. In this presentation, I explain the production and utilization of affectionate speech, examine the ability of HT speakers of various ages to produce it, and discuss the effectiveness of using it for reconstructive work. Maryann
Walter, Massachusetts Institute of Technology I document an Arabic-based language game of Hadramaut, Yemen which was briefly mentioned in the 1930s by Harold Ingrams. Ingrams comments on the social context of its use, but provides little description and no concrete examples. I present a description here obtained during recent fieldwork in Yemen and give information on the geographical distribution of the game. Finally, I outline its current sociocultural significance and contrast this with its status in Ingrams' time, showing a historical development with respect to the status of the speakers using it and the goal for which they resorted to speech disguise. Malcah
Yaeger-Dror & Lauren Hall-Lew, University of Arizona This paper compares variation in contraction strategies in presidential news conferences and debates. The initial hypothesis is that variation in register and stance have a strong effect on tokens of not-negation, especially when the speaker is doing a repair. The analysis presents evidence that variation is also correlated with a speaker's dialect area, age, and even political affiliation. The paper expands upon previous research by showing the significant influence of situational and demographic factors on each speaker's syntactic and prosodic choices. |