Changing words or changing rules? Second dialect acquisition and phonological representation

Abstract

How do speakers who move to a new dialect region acquire phonological features of the new dialect? While social factors surely play an important role, second dialect acquisition must be constrained by aspects of the linguistic system: the form of phonological representations, their malleability, and the processes that manipulate them to yield surface forms. Second dialect data thus has the potential to shed light on foundational questions in phonological theory. This paper reviews two prominent models of phonological representation – Generative Phonology and Usage-based Phonology – and sets out the predictions each makes regarding how particular kinds of second dialect features may be acquired. These predictions are then evaluated against the results of a sociolinguistic study of mobile adults who acquired their native dialect of English in Canada and later moved to the New York City region, focusing on evidence of change with respect to two features: the cot/caught distinction and height of /ɑʊ/ in Canadian Raising environments. It is argued that the results of this study can best be accounted for within a usage-based model in which phonological representations are both phonetically rich and linked to social labels.