School of Languages and Linguistics - Research Publications

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Type: Conference Paper × Author: Loakes, Deborah × Author: Diskin-Holdaway, Chloe ×

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    A sociophonetic analysis of vowels produced by female Irish migrants: Investigating second dialect contact in Melbourne
    Diskin, C ; Loakes, D ; Clothier, J ; Volchok, B ; Calhoun, S ; Escudero, P ; TABAIN, MARIJA ; Warren, P (Australian Speech Science and Technology Association, 2019-08)
    We present preliminary results of an acoustic analysis of monophthongal vowels produced by five female Irish migrants in Melbourne, with lengths of residence in Australia between 1.5 and 9.5 years. This sample is compared with five female Australian English (AusE) participants. Results show greater overall variability within the Irish group compared to the AusE group for the majority of vowels. Sociophonetic variability also emerged, for example with only two migrants producing an expected Irish English FOOT-STRUT merger. One ‘non-merger’ with the longest length of residence, and a social network comprised exclusively of Australians, also displayed initial signs of movement towards other AusE vowel targets, such as a fronted /ʉ:/. This research contributes to our understanding of the dynamics of dialect contact, indicating movement in the direction of AusE after approximately ten years of exposure.
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    The /el/-/æl/ merger in Australian English: Acoustic and articulatory insights
    Diskin, C ; Loakes, D ; Billington, R ; Stoakes, H ; Gonzalez, S ; Kirkham, S ; Calhoun, S ; Escudero, P ; Tabain, M ; Warren, P (Australasian Speech Science and Technology Association, 2019)
    This paper investigates a merger-in-progress of /e/-/æ/ in prelateral contexts for speakers of Australian English in Victoria. Twelve participants (7F, 5M) were recorded producing a wordlist resulting in acoustic and concurrent articulatory data via stabilised mid-sagittal ultrasound tongue imaging. Focusing on a subset of the data comprising short front vowels /ɪ, e, æ/ in /hVt/ and /hVl/ contexts, findings show that there are robust acoustic differences between /e/ and /æ/ preceding /t/, as anticipated. However, individual differences emerge for /e/ and /æ/ preceding /l/, with highly gradient production patterns across the speakers, ranging from speakers who exhibit merger behaviour to those who maintain categorical distinctions. The evidence for merging behaviour across speakers is similar, but does not map directly, across both the acoustic and articulatory data, and illustrates the value of incorporating a range of data types in investigating a merger-in-progress.
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    Varietal differences in categorisation of /ɪ e æ/: A case study of Irish and Australian English listeners in Melbourne
    Diskin, C ; Loakes, D ; Clothier, J ; Epps, J ; Wolfe, J ; Smith, J ; Jones, C (ASSTA, 2018)
    This paper presents results of a vowel categorisation task of front lax vowels in /hVt/, /hVl/ and /mVl/ contexts, by 12 native Australian English speakers and 10 Irish migrants residing in Melbourne. Results show significant differences in how listeners categorise these vowels, in five out of six phonetic contexts. Vowels suggested to be undergoing merger in Victoria, specifically /el-æl/, are not perceived as merged, indicating this phenomenon may be stratified and/or more age-graded than previously reported. Results show clear differences between listeners sharing an L1 but speaking different dialects, even when these dialects are in direct contact due to migration.