Minerva Access

A sociophonetic analysis of vowels produced by female Irish migrants: Investigating second dialect contact in Melbourne

Thu, 01 Aug 2019 00:00:00 GMT

A sociophonetic analysis of vowels produced by female Irish migrants: Investigating second dialect contact in Melbourne Diskin, C; Loakes, D; Clothier, J; Volchok, B 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.

Shift in the use of migrant community languages in Australia

Thu, 16 Apr 2015 00:00:00 GMT

Shift in the use of migrant community languages in Australia Karidakis, M; Arunachalam, D

Individual differences and sound change actuation: evidence from imitation and perception of English /str/

Mon, 05 Aug 2019 00:00:00 GMT

Individual differences and sound change actuation: evidence from imitation and perception of English /str/ Stevens, M; Loakes, D This study investigates the role of individual differences in the earliest stages of sound change, taking as a case study /s/-retraction in . Australian English speakers completed an auditory repetition task involving isolated words with word-initial sibilants. In -words the sibilant was manipulated to resemble post-alveolar [ʃ]. The same participants also completed a forced choice perception task involving sibilants. The study tests two predictions: (1) the sibilant in -words should shift in the direction [s] → [ʃ] during exposure; (2) the magnitude and direction of shifts within individuals should depend on their own phonetic repertoire (production and perception). Results did not support (1) but there was partial support for (2) from production. The implications of the results for models of sound change are discussed.

FANCM limits ALT activity by restricting telomeric replication stress induced by deregulated BLM and R-loops

Tue, 28 May 2019 00:00:00 GMT

FANCM limits ALT activity by restricting telomeric replication stress induced by deregulated BLM and R-loops Silva, B; Pentz, R; Figueira, AM; Arora, R; Lee, YW; Hodson, C; Wischnewski, H; Deans, AJ; Azzalin, CM Telomerase negative immortal cancer cells elongate telomeres through the Alternative Lengthening of Telomeres (ALT) pathway. While sustained telomeric replicative stress is required to maintain ALT, it might also lead to cell death when excessive. Here, we show that the ATPase/translocase activity of FANCM keeps telomeric replicative stress in check specifically in ALT cells. When FANCM is depleted in ALT cells, telomeres become dysfunctional, and cells stop proliferating and die. FANCM depletion also increases ALT-associated marks and de novo synthesis of telomeric DNA. Depletion of the BLM helicase reduces the telomeric replication stress and cell proliferation defects induced by FANCM inactivation. Finally, FANCM unwinds telomeric R-loops in vitro and suppresses their accumulation in cells. Overexpression of RNaseH1 completely abolishes the replication stress remaining in cells codepleted for FANCM and BLM. Thus, FANCM allows controlled ALT activity and ALT cell proliferation by limiting the toxicity of uncontrolled BLM and telomeric R-loops.