(Divergent) Participation in the California Vowel Shift by Korean Americans in Southern California

Ji Young Kim,Nicole Wong

doi:10.3390/languages5040053

Abstract

This study investigates the participation in the California Vowel Shift by Korean Americans in Los Angeles. Five groups of subjects participated in a picture narrative task: first-, 1.5-, and second-generation Korean Americans, Anglo-Californians, and (non-immigrant) Korean late learners of English. Results showed a clear distinction between early vs. late bilinguals; while the first-generation Korean Americans and the late learners showed apparent signs of Korean influence, the 1.5- and the second-generation Korean Americans participated in most patterns of the California Vowel Shift. However, divergence from the Anglo-Californians was observed in early bilinguals’ speech. Similar to the late bilinguals, the 1.5-generation speakers did not systematically distinguish prenasal and non-prenasal /æ/. The second-generation speakers demonstrated a split-/æ/ system, but it was less pronounced than for the Anglo-Californians. These findings suggest that age of arrival has a strong effect on immigrant minority speakers’ participation in local sound change. In the case of the second-generation Korean Americans, certain patterns of the California Vowel Shift were even more pronounced than for the Anglo-Californians (i.e., /ɪ/-lowering, /ɑ/-/ɔ/ merger, /ʊ/- and /ʌ/-fronting). Moreover, the entire vowel space of the second-generation Korean Americans, especially female speakers, was more fronted than that of the Anglo-Californians. These findings suggest that second-generation Korean Americans may be in a more advanced stage of the California Vowel Shift than Anglo-Californians or the California Vowel Shift is on a different trajectory for these speakers. Possible explanations in relation to second-generation Korean Americans’ intersecting gender, ethnic, and racial identities, and suggestions for future research are discussed.

Highlights

For the F2, we found a significant interaction between group (GEN2) and gender (β = −0.548, SE = 0.233, t = −2.355, p < 0.05) and an interaction approaching significance between group (GEN1) and gender (β = −0.504, SE = 0.272, t = −1.852, p = 0.071)
The gender difference was larger for the GEN2 and the GEN1 speakers than for the CA speakers
The Korean international students (KOR) speakers produced significantly more fronted IH compared to the CA speakers (β = −0.762, SE = 0.236, t = −3.23, p = 0.064) and the GEN1.5 speakers (β = −0.976, SE = 0.261, t = −3.745, p < 0.05)

Summary

Introduction

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Results

Discussion

Conclusion