Defining the Site of Linguistic Variation

William Labov, University of Pennsylvania

Workshop on Locating Variability: Formal Approaches

UMassAmherst April 24-26, 2008

Variable AAVE copula as an insertion from a competing grammar

AAVE 0

Std Eng iz

z

He is talking about that Full /iz/

He’s talking about that Contracted /z/

He talking about that Absent /0/

Variable AAVE copula and auxiliary as the result of successive contraction and deletion of an underlying form /iz/

Lexical entry v => /iz/

Stress assignment [+str] => [-str]

Vowel reduction /iz/ => /´z/

Contraction: /´z/ => (z)

Deletion: /z/ => (0)

´z

´z z

0

Contraction

Deletion

z

The basic syntactic regularity

AAVE copula and auxiliary can be deleted or

contracted only in those syntactic positions where

other dialects can have contraction.

Phonotactic effects on contraction and deletion

Jo is talking Jen is talking

CVVC CVC

Jo’s talking Jen’s talking

CVC CVCC

Jo talking Jen talking

CVC CVC

Contraction

Deletion

CV subject CVC subject

Phonetic conditioning of contraction and deletion for two adolescent groups in South Harlem [from Labov, Cohen Robins and Lewis 1968]

0

0.1

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0.5

0.6

0.7

0.8

0.9

1

_K _V _K _V

Varbul weights

ContractionDeletion

Cobras Jets

K__ V__ K__ V__

Possible phonetic conditioning of AAVE copula as an insertion from a competing grammar

AAVE 0

Std Eng iz

z

He is talking about that Full /iz/

He’s talking about that Contracted /z/

He talking about that Absent 0

Jen talking

Jo talking

A clear case for an invariant underlying form: Variable past tense {d} in AAVE

1. Absence primarily in complex codas.

2. Absence is strongly conditioned by the initial segment of the following word.

Internal constraints on -t,d deletion for 11 speakers of AAVE [Table 3.7 of 3288 Report, Labov, Cohen, Robins & Lewis 1968]

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

KDmm KDam KDp VDmm VDam VDp

Per cent deletion

_##K_##V

KD = complex codas mm = monomorphemicVD = simple codas am = ambiguous

p = past

Variable past tense {d} in AAVE

1. Absent primarily in complex codas.

2. Strongly conditioned by the initial segment of the following word.

3. Phonological conditioning regular across the speech community.

Phonological conditioning of -t,d deletion for AA youth and adults in Harlem, 1968

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

_K _V _K _V _K _V _K _V

Percent absence

T-Birds (8)

Aces (4)

Cobras (9)

Jets (13)

Oscar Bros (6)

Lames (20)

Adults (8)

Iwood (8)

Group Single Group Single

Monomorphemic Past tense

Inwood whites (8)

Phonological and grammatical factors controlling -t,d deletion for African American speakers in Pacoima CA --from Baugh 1979

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0.8

StopSibilantLiquid Nasal

FricativeConsonant

Liquid Glide Vowel Pause

Monomorphemic

Derivational

Preterit

Varbrul weight

Preceding segment

Following segment

Grammatical category

Phonological and grammatical conditioning of -t,d deletion in spontaneous speech of 58 African American struggling readers

from Philadelphia, Atlanta and California

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0.5

0.6

0.7

0.8

0.9

1

sibilantnasalstop

fricativelateral

CC_CCC_

derivational

monomorphemic

past/d/ /t/

homovoicedheterovoiced

stressedunstressed

vowel/y/ /h/

pause

/r/stop

fricative

/w/nasallateral

Proportion/Varbrul weight

Proportion

Varbrul wt

Preceding segment

No. pre-ceding segments

Grammatical status

Voicing

Voicing agreement

Stress

Following segment

Variable past tense {d} in AAVE

1. Absent primarily in complex codas.

2. Strongly conditioned by the initial segment of the following word.

3. Phonological conditioning regular across the speech community.

4. No hypercorrection: past tense {d} is never found in non-past contexts.

A clear case of no underlying form: variable verbal {s} in AAVE

1. Absent in both simple and complex codas.

2. Not conditioned by the phonetic environment.

Absence of phonological conditioning off verbal {s} in the spontaneous speech of 58 African-American struggling readers, 2001

0

0.2

0.4

0.6

0.8

1

Consonant

Vowel

Consonant

VowelPauseverbdoes

he, she, itNoun phrase

Atlanta

PhiladelphiaCalifornia

Grade 2Grade 3Grade 4FemaleMale

Proportion/weight of absence

ProportionVR weight

Preceding segment

Following segment

Verb

Pronoun/ Noun phrase

Region

Grade

Gender

Absence of phonological conditioning of verbal /s/ for AA groups in South Harlem [from Labov, Cohen, Robins & Lewis 1968]

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

_K _V _K _V _K _V _K _V

Percent absence

T-Birds (8)Aces (4)Cobras (9)Jets (17)Oscar Bros. (6)Lames (20)Adults (8)

Group Single Group Single

Monomorphemic Verbal suffix

So. WC

Variable verbal {s} in AAVE

1. Absent in both simple and complex codas.

2. Not conditioned by the phonetic environment

3. Extensive hypercorrection: {s} is inserted in many syntactic contexts besides third singular present.

I trusts my friend. [14, Jet, #527]

My brothers plays in it. [11, T-Birds, #372]

He knows what he gots to do. [13, Jets, #602]

I gets high every mornin’ before I go to school. [16, Jets, #667]

. . . somebody get hurts. [39, NYC, #802]

He can goes out. [13, T-Birds, #375]

You don’t belongs with them. [52, Fla., A#663]

I don’t know how to gets no girls. [13, Jets, #535]

He’s gots to be nasty! [13, Jets, #535]

He just wantsa gets off. . . [11, T-Birds, #381]

Irregular distribution of verbal {s} in AAVE

Variable verbal {s} in AAVE

1. Absent in both simple and complex codas.

2. Not conditioned by the phonetic environment

3. Extensive hypercorrection: {s} is inserted ind many syntactic contexts.

4. Learnability: great difficulty in recognition and acquisition of use.

A test of the capacity to derive number information from verbal {s}

? ?

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60

70

80

90

100

Plural Possessive Copula Verb: sg. Verb: pl.

% correct

Before training

After training

Level in speech

Vb: present Vb: past

Recognition of meaning of inflections by second graders in Harlem before and after training [from Torrey 1965]

The AAVE possessive

John house This house is John’s

my sister house This house is my sister’s

my book This book is mines.

POS => 0 / __ NP

=> /z/

Absence of attributive possessive {s} in spontaneous speech of struggling readers, California schools, 2002-2003

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

African-American White

Percent absent

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0.9

CopDel PosDel VblDel CCDel

AP

AAt

AC

SP

EAt

EP

EC

SAt

SC

WAt

WC

WP

Language/ethnic groups and region by linguistic variables for 287 elementary school children

AP African American Phila SP Latino (Span) Phila WP White Phila

AAt African American Atlanta SAt Latino (Span) Atlanta WAt White Atlanta

AC African American California SC Latino (Span) California WC White California

Effect of following segment on percent absence of possessive {s} in attributive position, South Harlem 1968

Group style Single style

__K __V __K __V

All AA groups 71 58 50

Absence of attributive possessive {s} in spontaneous speech of 287 struggling readers, 2001-2

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0.1

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0.6

0.7

0.8

0.9

Consonant

Vowel

Consonant

V'owel AtlantaCalifornia

Philadelphia

Grade 2Grade 3Grade 4 FemaleMale

Proportion

Varbrul Wt

Aspiration and deletion of Spanish plural {s}

las cosas bonitas

lah cosah bonitah

la cosa bonita

.

/s/

/s/ /h/

/h/ 0

Contribution of factors to the deletion of Puerto Rican Spanish plural {s} --from Poplack 1979, Table 3.16

Grammatical DisambiguatingCategory Information Position in NP string

Adjective .62 Morphological .59 00__ .75

Noun .60 Non-morphological .54 S0__ .56

Determiner .29 Both .59 0__ .56

None .29 S__ .41

0S,SS__ .41

__ .33

Following segment Geographic origin Sex Following stress

Pause .61 West .56 Male .54 Weak .51

Consonant .40 East .44 Female .46 Heavy .47

Vowel .40

Relative pronoun variation

(REL)

WH-

THAT

0

Who(m)

Which

Where

When

Hierarchical view of (REL)

REL

WH- THAT

THAT 0

Choice of WH- form for relative pronoun, N=907

Proportion Varbrul wt N

subject 0.49 0.62 511

object 0.07 0.17 203

other comp 0.1 0.23 103

locative 0.87 0.98 52

inanimate 0.20 0.30 562

Animate 0.68 0.83 306

Noun phrase 0.31 563

Pronoun 0.47 305

Indefinite 0.43 408

Definite 0.31 460

Preceding consonant 0.36 764

Preceding vowel 0.45 105

Following consonant 0.37 223

Following glide 0.41 382

Following vowel 0.25 186

No data 77

Selection of WH- form of relative pronoun, N=907

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1

subjectobject

other comp

locativeinanimate

Animate

Noun

PronounIndefinite

DefiniteConsonant

Vowel

Consonant

GlideVowel

WH- vs. THAT & ZERO

Proportion

Varbrul wt

Role in embedded clause

Animacy of head

Head

Definite- ness

Preceding segment

Following segment

Zero relative pronoun vs. THATProportion Varbrul wt N

subject 0.02 0.16 262

object 0.40 0.82 189

other comp 0.39 0.80 93

locative 0.57 0.85 7

inanimate 0.22 451

Animate 0.22 99

Noun phrse 0.14 0.42 389

Pronoun (one, thng, people…) 0.41 0.69 161

Indefinite 0.12 0.39 233

Definite 0.29 0.59 317

Consonant 0.36 392

Vowel 0.20 48

Consonant 0.16 141

Glide 0.22 224

Vowel 0.32 139

No data 47

Selection of ZERO relative pronoun vs. THAT, N=560

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subjectobject

other comp

locativeinanimate

Animate

Noun

PronounIndefinite

DefiniteConsonant

Vowel

Consonant

GlideVowel

ZERO vs. THAT-

Proportion

Varbrul wt

Role in embedded clause

Animacy of head

Head

Definite- ness

Preceding segment

Following segment

The architecture of variation

Morphological Phonological Phonetic

alternation derivation condiioning

AAVE {3sg} {s}

{0}

{REL} {WH}

{that}

{0}

AAVE {POS} {s} 0 in env __NP (0) __K > _V

/s/

AAVE Cop {is} {iz} /iz/

(z) K__ > V__

(0) V__ > K__

Spanish {s} {s} /s/

(h) __K >__V

(0) __V > __K

AAVE Past {D} {d} /´d/ in env. [+cor]__

/t/ / n env. [-voi] __

//d (0) __K > __V

Provenance of non-phonological morphological variants

Syntactic selection

Historical inheritance

Superposed dialect

WH-,

THAT,

0

Verbal {s}

0

/in/

/iN/

The architecture of variation

Morphological Phonological Phonetic

alternation derivation condiioning

AAVE {3sg} {s}

{0}

{REL} {WH}

{that}

{0}

AAVE {POS} {s} 0 in env __NP (0) __K > _V

/s/

AAVE Cop {is} {iz} /iz/

(z) K__ > V__

(0) V__ > K__

Spanish {s} {s} /s/

(h) __K >__V

(0) __V > __K

AAVE Past {D} {d} /´d/ in env. [+cor]__

/t/ / n env. [-voi] __

//d (0) __K > __V

(0) __K > __V

(0) __K > __V

Phonological effects on morphological selection

sharpen atomize

lighten concretize

darken finalize

heighten civilize

whiten fantasize

roughen cannibalize

shorten slenderize

Phonological derivation of allomorphs of English articles

the /Diy/ => D´ / [-str] __ # [+cons]

+Det

an /æn/ => ´n / [-str]

n => 0 / ´ __ #[+cons]

+Det

under-lying form

out-put form

The Asymmetry of Variation Principle

Morphological variation is not associated with postlexical phonetic variation; postlexical phonetic conditioning is associated with an invariant vocabulary item.

Phonological Morphological

conditioning variation

English -t,d deletion Yes No

AAVE copula Yes No

Spanish (s) Yes No

AAVE possessive {s} Yes Yes

English (ING) No Yes

English (REL) No Yes

AAVE verbal {s} No Yes

What is a reading error?

In responding to oral reading, how can we distinguish between differences in pronunciation and mistakes in reading?

Further differentiation of past-tense {d} and verbal {s} from answers to a question raised in research on raising reading levels, 2001-2006

Clear errors and potential errors

Clear errors: selection of wrong words:

Reader: Tyreke J., 8 years old, 3rd grade, African American, Philadelphia.Text: My blood began to boil.

Reading: My boat began to bill.

Potential error: failure to articulate a past tense morpheme:

Reader: Filores J., 8 years old, 3rd grade, African American, Philadelphia.Text: I played it cool and took a sip of my coke.Reading: I play it cool and took a sip of my coke

Potential past tense errors

Absence of the grammatical suffix {d} in final homovoiced clusters:

dined read as /dayn/ = dine?

rolled read as /rowl/ = roll, role?

missed read as /mis/ = miss?

laughed read as /læf/ = laugh?

The semantic shadow hypothesis

Failure to identify the intended meaning of a

given element in the text will increase the

probability of errors in the remainder of the

clause.

Frequency of following errors for clear errors and correct reading by dialect type, 2001-2

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0.05

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0.25

0.30

0.35

_CC1

Verbal {s}

Possessive {s}{ed}clusterother {ed}

plural

copula {s}Irregular past

ch_ sh_ br_

Clear errors

Correct

Frequency of following errors for clear errors and correct reading by dialect type, 2001-2

0.00

0.05

0.10

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0.20

0.25

0.30

0.35

_CC1

Verbal {s}

Possessive {s}{ed}clusterother {ed}

plural

copula {s}Irregular past

ch_ sh_ br_

Clear errors

Correct

Mean error rate, all words = .133

Calculation of proportion of following errors for five types of potential errors

Following Span [FS]

Following errors [FE]

Proportion errors [FE/FS] Chi-sq

_Homovoiced clusters Correct 45347 5941 0.13 29.75 Cor vs. Dia (stand, last…) Potential errors 1015 203 0.20 17.97 Pot vs. Err

Reading errors 15637 4361 0.28 1216.40 Cor vs. Err

Verbal {s} Correct 5461 766 0.14 42.28 Cor vs. Dia (wants, knows…) Potential errors 790 196 0.25 6.80 Pot vs. Err

Reading errors 2224 699 0.31 199.48 Cor vs. Err

Possessive {s} Correct 4745 648 0.14 40.37 Cor vs. Dia ( Ray's, Matt's…) Potential errors 923 217 0.24 11.38 Pot vs. Err

Reading errors 1112 362 0.33 145.19 Cor vs. Err

Preterit {ed} Correct 20211 1967 0.10 14.17 Cor vs. Dia (grabbed, sneaked..) Potential errors 1817 233 0.13 32.94 Pot vs. Err

Reading errors 18087 3497 0.19 538.26 Cor vs. Err

Copula Correct 18949 2634 0.14 121.989 Cor vs. Dia (It's, cat's…) Potential errors 2555 611 0.24 3.89209 Pot vs. Err

Reading errors 3921 1049 0.27 268.007 Cor vs. Err

Ch_ Correct 9287 1143 0.12 1.45416 Cor vs. Dia (chin, choose…) Potential errors 463 67 0.14 16.53 Pot vs. Err

Reading errors 3053 766 0.25 199.466 Cor vs. Err

Frequency of following errors for clear errors, potential errors and correct reading by dialect type [N=567]

0.00

0.05

0.10

0.15

0.20

0.25

0.30

0.35

_CC1

Verbal {s}Possessive

{s}

{ed}clusterother {ed}

plural

copula {s}Irregular

past

ch_ sh_ br_

Clear errors

Potential errors

Correct

Ethnic/language groups in the 2001-2006 study

Philadelphia California

African American (A) 11279

Euro American (W) 6244

Latinos who learned to read in English first (E) 57 83

Latinos who learned to read in Spanish first (S) 51 89

Frequency of following errors for clear errors, potential errors and correct readings by dialect type for 58 African American readers

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0.05

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0.20

0.25

0.30

0.35

Homovoiced_CC (264)Heterovoiced

_CC (37)

{ed}cluster (69)other {ed} (72)Verbal {s} (62)Possessive {s}

(195)plural (73)copula {s}(180)

Irregular past

ch_ (5)br_ (64)

sneaked /snuck

(9)

Error rates

Clear errorsPotential errorsCorrect

Frequency of following errors for clear errors, potential errors and correct readings by dialect type for African American and Latino (S) readers [N=238]

0.00

0.05

0.10

0.15

0.20

0.25

0.30

0.35

0.40

Homovoiced

_CC

Heterovoiced

_CC

{ed} clusterother {ed}Verbal {s}

Possessive {s}

Plural {s}Copula {s}

Irregular past

ch_->sh br ~ b

sneaked /snuck

Errors (AA)

Pot errors (AA)

Correct (AA)

Errors (S)

Pot errors (S)

Correct (S)

clear errors identical

correct reading identical

past {d} idifferent

Likelihood of potential errors being reading errors by dialect type and ethnic/language group, 2001-02 [N=722].

not significantly different from correct reading, significantly different from errors

significantly different from correct reading, not significantly different from errors

xxx significantly different from correct reading and errors

xxx not significantly different from correct reading and errors

_CC1 _CC2 C+ed t/d+ed 3sg{s} Pos {s} Plur {s} Copula Irr past ch->sh br<->bAA 0.18 0.22 0.10 0.09 0.20 0.21 0.14 0.21 0.16 0.12 0.12White 0.14 0.20 0.05 0.11 0.28 0.25 0.17 0.25 0.18 0.00 0.13Latino(E) 0.16 0.27 0.15 0.09 0.26 0.23 0.22 0.23 0.21 0.11 0.11Latino(S) 0.19 0.22 0.12 0.16 0.23 0.23 0.21 0.22 0.25 0.16 0.10

E = learned to read in English first

S = learned to read in Spanish first

xxx

xxx

= correct reading

≠correct reading