The Centre for the Study of Learning and Performance

• Main Authors: Maia Williamson, Walcir Cardoso
• Other Authors: The Pennsylvania State University CiteSeerX Archives
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Subjects: Dubois; S; Horvath; B. M. (2003). Creoles and Cajuns; A portrait in black and white; Canada; DuBois; Newfoundland
• Online Access: http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.642.869; http://www.sociolinguistics.uottawa.ca/nwav38/abstracts/Williamson(2009)Social_Stratification_of.pdf

The social structure of a community has a significant influence on one’s social network and identity. For instance, cohorts with multiple similarities in their social structure, especially those in low-status communities that are socially isolated, tend to have similar dialectal features (e.g., Chambers, 2003; Lippi-Green, 1989; Milroy, 1982). This paper investigates the social and linguistic factors that contribute to the stratification of the voiced interdental /ð / (a marker in Labovian terms) in the Battery, a small community outside of St. John’s, Newfoundland (Canada). Once a small out-port fishing community known to be socially marginalized and segregated, the Battery is today a highly sought after area characterized by rampant development and expensive real estate, while still retaining some of its fishing village charm. This study adopts a variationist methodology for data collection and analysis, employing standard sociolinguistic interview protocols across a stylistic hierarchy to investigate the variable production of [ð] and its less prestigious variant [d]. The results of a multivariate analysis (via Goldvarb X) show that there was a significant intergenerational dialect shift to an increase in the use of the more prestigious variant [ð] from the older to the younger Battery natives. In addition, the results indicate a social stratification of /ð / between members of the younger generation: