Semantic and semiotic flows: Examining variations and changes of “the N-Words” within an indexical field of dynamic meanings

Abstract

ABSTRACT This study investigates Circum-Atlantic linguistic flows as language change and variation among the “n-words.” Language users do not experience this set of expressions identically. The words include a racial slur as well as expressions that vary in meaning and use. Applying Spears's discussion of semantic neutralization in tandem with Eckert's indexical field model, this research analyzes ethnographic community data from Pittsburgh AAL and online sources to elucidate the competing and dynamic meanings that have developed amidst the shifting realities of the Circum-Atlantic. The study highlights a way to account for multiple layers of interpretation and experience and to encompass the fluidity, mutability, and mobility of n-word meanings within and across linguistic, ethnoracial, and geopolitical boundaries without reductivity. The research clarifies how linguistic competences, lived experiences, and culturally grounded pragmatic and metapragmatic understandings (in)form potential meanings. It, moreover, demonstrates how AAL patterns and cultural models unsettle hegemonic racial and linguistic ideologies.