1

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Language, Networks, and Identity in the Azorean Diaspora

One Family’s Sociolinguistic Profile

David J. Silva, Vice Provost for Academic Affairs & Professor of LinguisticsThe University of Texas at Arlington ♦ djsilva@uta.edu ♦ http://ling.uta.edu/~david

Narrating the Portuguese Diaspora (1928-2008): International Conference on StorytellingThe University of Lisbon ♦ October 23-25, 2008

3

Levels of Discourse

• Lifetime• Life Stages• Episodes• Paragraphs• Sentences• Phrases• Words• Morphemes• Sounds

• Form

• Meaning

• Function

Sign}

4

5

“früta” “nöt”

“cöves”“üvas”

“lüa”

6

u m

d o i s

t r e s

q u a t r o

c i n c o

s e i s

s e t

o i t o

ü m

d ö s

t r é s

q u ó t r o

c i n c o

s e s

s æ t

ö t o

11

22

33

44

55

66

77

88

More CorrespondencesS

tand

ard

Por

tugu

ese

Sta

ndar

d P

ortu

gues

eS

. Miguel

S. M

iguel P

ortugueseP

ortuguese

7

u m

d o i s

t r ê s

q u a t r o

c i n c o

s e i s

s é t

o i t o

ü m

d ö s

t r é s

q u ó t r o

c i n c o

s ê s

s æ t

ö t o

More CorrespondencesS

tand

ard

Por

tugu

ese

Sta

ndar

d P

ortu

gues

eS

. Miguel

S. M

iguel P

ortugueseP

ortuguese

8

u

d o i

t r ê

q u a

c i

s e i

s é

o i

ü m

ö s

é s

ó t r o

i n c o

ê s

æ t

ö t o

More CorrespondencesS

tand

ard

Por

tugu

ese

Sta

ndar

d P

ortu

gues

eS

. Miguel

S. M

iguel P

ortugueseP

ortuguese

9

i u

ê ô

é ó

a

i u ô

ó

ê a

é

Standard Portuguese Vowels

The PortugueseVowel Shift

10

i ü u

ê ö ô

é ó

æ (α)

S. Miguel Portuguese Vowels

11

(from the continent)

Emigration to the USA

12

Micaelenses:Minority within the Minority

13

The Central Questions

• To what extent to Micaelenses preserve their native dialect?

• Is there evidence of convergence toward a more standard type of Portuguese?

• How might varying patterns of language use be understood?

14

The Methods

15

The Family

16

MotherStandard Portuguese

i u

ê ô ou

é ó

a

i u

ê ô ou ó

é a

Micaelensismos:

• fronted /u/ = [ü]

• fronted /ou/ = [ö]

• lowered /é/ = [æ]

• backed /a/ = [α]

Standard-like Forms:

• /ê/

• /ô/

Surprises:

• merged / ô / and /ó/

• no [u] sound

i

e

a

ó

o

u

ou

i

e

é

a

ó

o

u

é

200

300

400

500

600

700

800

900

1000

1100

200700120017002200

17

Eldest SonStandard Portuguese

i u

ê ô ou

é ó

a

i u

ô ê ou ó

é a

Micaelensismos:

• lowered /ê/ = [ε]

• lowered /é/ = [æ]

Standard-like Forms:

• /u/

• /ô/

• /ó/

• /a/

• /ou/

Very Standard

18

Second SonStandard Portuguese

i u

ê ô ou

é ó

a

i u

ê ô ou

ó é a

Micaelensismos:

• fronted /u/ = [ü]

• fronted /ou/ = [ö]

• lowered /é/ = [æ]

• backed /a/ = [α]

Standard-like Forms:

• /ê/

• /ô/

• /ó/

Surprises:

• no [u] sound

19

Youngest SonStandard Portuguese

i u

ê ô ou

é ó

a

i u ô

ê ó ou

é a

Micaelensismos:

• fronted /u/ = [ü]

• fronted /ou/ = [ö]

• lowered /é/ = [æ]

• backed /a/ = [α]

• raised /ô/ = [u]

• raised /ó/ = [ô]

Standard-like Forms:

• /ê/

Surprises:

• Well… none, really

20

Summary of Behaviors

Standard S. MiguelPortuguese Portuguese

AccommodatedMicaelense

StereotypedMicaelense

21

Luso ~ Anglo Matrix

Contact-Participation inLuso Community

High Low

Contact-Participation

in Anglo Community

High BiculturalBalanced Bilingual

AssimilatedEnglish Dominant

Low TraditionalPort Dominant

Marginalized? ? ?

After Berry 2003

22

Mico ~ Luso Matrix

Contact-Participation inMicaelense Community

High Low

Contact-Participation

in Larger Luso Community

HighAccommodated

MicaelenseStandard

Portuguese

LowStereotyped Micaelense

No Portuguese

After Berry 2003

23

Mico ~ Luso MatrixCouples

Contact-Participation inMicaelense Community

High Low

Contact-Participation

in Larger Luso Community

High

Accommodated Micaelense

Standard Portuguese

Low

Stereotyped Micaelense

No Portuguese

After Berry 2003

“outside”partner

“inside”partner

24

Shifting “Fields” Create New Versions of “Habitus”

S. MiguelPortuguese

Standard Portuguese

S. MiguelPortuguese

Standard Portuguese

U.S. English Accommodated SMP

StereotypedSMP

English Dominant

Portuguese Dominant

25

Conclusions

• “Telling our stories” reaches into the smallest units– transcends the semantic content of the narrative

– even the smallest forms are emblematic

• “Who we are” is often about networking– Contact with the Micaelense community preserves

stereotyped forms

– Contact with larger Lusophone community encourages the adoption of standard forms (at the expense of Micaelense forms)

• The clearest markers of Micaelense identity are the fronted vowels [ü] and [ö]

26

Epilogue: Why Bother?

Labov’s Principles of Applied Dialectology

• The Principle of Error Correction- inform the public

• The Principle of Debt Incurred- serve the public good

• The Principle of Linguistic Gratuity- return linguistic favors to the community

Language, Networks, and Identity in the Azorean Diaspora

One Family’s Sociolinguistic Profile

David J. SilvaThe University of Texas at Arlington ♦ djsilva@uta.edu ♦ http://ling.uta.edu