Intro to Linguistics: Analysis Paper 1

Theme: In writing this paper, you will get a little taste of the kind of systematic data collection that is the input for linguistic analysis. You will also use the tools and knowledge from the class and apply what you have learned to real language data. The purpose of the paper is to get you to reflect on language by taking a closer look at the speech of a public figure of your choice, be it a YouTuber, celebrity, newscaster, or politician. You are free to choose any one person whose data is available publicly for you to cite and analyse their speech. The individual does not need to speak Englishin fact, choosing a language or dialect other than your own, whether spoken or signed, will give you more to reflect on.

Research: Your main source of information must be speech clips that are publicly-available and accessible to the TAs who will be grading your work. This could be YouTube videos, TikToks, a podcast, or a freely-available TV show (e.g., on Tubi or Freevee). It is completely possible to cite only the data and use what youve learned in the course to complete your analysis; however, it is also possible that your speaker uses grammar or speech sounds that require some additional investigation. Wikipedia articles on specific dialects or languages can be helpful for things like the phonetic inventory of a language, but academic sources are preferred if possible.

Length and form: The paper should be 1,200 – 1,400 word long. Please write it double-spaced and use 12-point type with 1 inch margins. The titles and order of the sections in your paper should be exactly as they are shown below, with clear labels. Your paper is to be submitted through Turnitin on the BruinLearn course website. The course website will explain how to do this.

PLEASE DOUBLE CHECK the following point

Citations and academic integrity: Your research and data must be thoroughly and completely cited. This means referencing specific examples of the grammatical features that you are describing, including a link to the clip and a timestamp. If your claims about your speakers language are not cited, you will receive a zero on that section of the paper. An example of a bibliographic reference to a YouTube video or similar in APA format:

Name of YouTube Channel. (2019, August 28). Title of Video [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=guRoWTYfxMs

For in-text citations, make sure that you are including a timestamp as well as clearly referencing the correct video. If you have multiple videos with the same author, you can label them with letters. For example,

In various YouTube videos, Harris clearly distinguishes between the vowels in marry (Harris 2023a; 02:23) and merry (Harris 2023b; 03:21).

To reiterate, if your TA cannot easily trace the origin of the data you are citing, you will not get any points for that section.

Outline

Outline of the Paper: The goal of this paper is to use the tools that you learn in the course to analyze original data. This means that to get an A, you should use the same analytical tools that you use in the homework quizzes. Your paper must have the following sections (in underlined bold below).

1. Introduction:

First describe your linguistic background: what language(s) did you acquire as a child? Did you maintain the language(s), and if so, how? What language(s) do you currently speak/use?

Now describe the linguistic background of the speaker you chose as it relates to the paper. This could include information about where the speaker grew up, the languages and dialects that they are reported to speak/sign, and any context about how they learned those languages (e.g., they speak Spanish at home with family but make videos mostly in English). You will receive a zero if you do not cite their background. (We understand that some of the YouTubers may not have information available on credible sources. Hence, websites such as Wikipedia and Birthday.com are accepted as source).

2. Slang:

For this section, first focus on the following description of slang. Slang is informal/colloquial/casual speech and it’s used by a particular group of speakers. It can have important social functions when, for example, it’s used as a way for people to recognize other members of their same group. There are many varieties of English slang and every language has slang. Very importantly, English slang is not the same as any particular variety of English. For example, British English speakers using “chips” instead of “french fries” is not slang, as British English is not a subgroup of American English. Finally, slang words/expressions are not the same as loanwords from other languages. Let’s consider the following utterances:

1. Hey guys, wow! You slay!

2. I really crave some pasta with sugo.

In (1) “you slay”( = “you impress me/you look great”) is used as an expression of the English slang that UCLA students in 2023 understand and might use.

In (2) the word “sugo” is used in the way an English/Italian bilingual would possibly do when referring to pasta with tomato sauce. “Sugo” in (2) is not an example of slang. It’s a lexical borrowing from Italian and also a possible sign that the speaker is code-switching between English and Italian.

Based on how we defined slang above, identify 3 slang words/phrases in the speech of your speaker. For each word/phrase, explain what it means and give an example that the speaker uses (including a citation!)

How do you know these words/phrases are used as slang? Identify the group that uses these terms. These words/expressions may be considered domain-specific in that they may not be known to people outside of a specific community; for example, if you are describing the speech of a politician, you can describe some political lingo that the speaker uses.

Slang words/expressions used by groups of non-English speakers need to be thoroughly explained. If you are referring to slang words/expressions used by groups of speakers of a language that does not use the Roman/English alphabet, you need to transliterate the word/expression into Roman/English alphabet, translate it and carefully justify why that is a slang word/expression. The lack of clarity on the slang examples will result in the loss of point.

3. Non-Standard Language & Dialect:

In this section you should focus on different aspects about the speaker’s speech in Section #2.

Everyone speaks a dialect and often that dialect deviates from the Standard variety in many ways. Further, speakers may use different dialects or registers, such as formal and informal, depending on the situation. In this section, reflect on specific ways in which your speaker does or doesnt conform to Standard Language as we described it in the course. Note that you should situate your speaker’s speech within the context of the language you are analyzing (e.g., if you are looking at a Spanish speaker, you should compare their speech to Standard Spanish, not Standard American English). Some things to think about might be:

• Does your speaker speak in different ways in different situations?
• How do viewers/listeners react to this persons speech?
• Do their speech conform to prescriptive ideas of what Standard language is?
• Do they ever correct their speech or make explicit reference to their dialect?
• If you include examples of sounds in this section, you should choose a different point of comparison than in the comparison of sounds section below.
• Include two to three examples for at least one pattern and provide citations with timestamps.
• If you are describing the speech of a non-English speaker, you need to thoroughly present the citations. Citations of a language that does not use the Roman/English alphabet need to be transliterated into Roman/English alphabet and translated. The lack of clarity on the citations will result in the loss of point.

4. Comparison of Sounds: Describe one aspect of the phonetics found in the speech of your speaker that differs from the Standard American English described in class. Examples of such a comparison might be:

• A politician from New York pronounces the words caught and cot with two different vowels.
• A Tik-Toker uses uptalk intonation in their vlogs.
• A podcast host uses the Spanish trilled /r when talking about Venezuelan cuisine.
• A French YouTuber uses front rounded vowels when they speak French.

Please include:

a. Terminology and concepts introduced during the lectures on Phonetics

b. Provide an articulatory description of the sounds

c. Give two or three sample words with time stamps

d. Include an INTERNATIONAL PHONETIC ALPHABET (IPA) transcription of the sounds you are describing; this may involve doing some extra research on the speakers language/dialect, or imitating the sounds yourself to figure out which sounds they are using. Please ask your TA to help you with any sounds you are having trouble transcribing!

e. Include citation (time stamp!)

• Do not confuse the alphabet of the language with the sounds of the language. Five points will automatically be deducted for this error.
• If you’re analyzing the speech of a singer, do not confuse the analysis of sounds with the analysis of the song lyrics. Sometimes, the singing pronunciation reveals aspects of their speech. Yet, lyrics alone – without any reference to the real pronunciation – are not indicative of anybody’s speech characteristics.
• If you are describing the sounds of non-English variety and you are using words to exemplify the sounds, you need to thoroughly present your examples. Words of a language that does not use the Roman/English alphabet need to be transliterated into Roman/English alphabet and translated. The lack of clarity on the examples will result in the loss of point.

Example paper: New England English Features in the Speech of Mikayla Nogueira 1. Introduction In this paper, I will discuss the linguistic features of TikToker and beauty guru Mikayla Nogueiras Massachusetts dialect. Unlike Nogueira, I am not a speaker of Massachusetts English, but rather of California English. Growing up in the Bay Area, I only spoke Standard California English, though I have friends who speak Chicano English and California varieties of African American English. So, whereas I have experience with many different varieties of American English, it will be interesting to examine the dialect of Mikayla Nogueira and draw comparisons to my own speech. Nogueira is an American social media influencer known for her makeup reviews and tutorials posted on her TikTok page, @mikaylanogueira. According to famousbirthdays.com, she is 25 years old and was born in East Freetown, Massachusetts (famousbirthdays.com, 2023). Nogueira is well known for her Massachusetts dialect (sometimes erroneously referred to as a Boston accent), which will be the focus of this paper. According to Nagy and Roberts (2004), Eastern Massachusetts has historically been considered part of the Eastern New English dialect group, which is known for linguistic features like r-dropping and the pronunciation of its vowels. She is also of part Portuguese ancestry, though it is not clear whether she speaks any Portuguese (mikaylanogueira, 2022). In any case, it is possible that she overhead family members speaking Portuguese as a child, which may influence her language use. In this paper, I will outline some of the linguistic qualities that I observe in her TikTok videos and discuss how her language compares to the Massachusetts dialect and Standard California English. I will discuss how Nogueira uses both Massachusetts English and a more standard accent depending on the circumstance and outline three non-standard terms that she uses in her videos. In the Comparison of Sounds section, I will discuss her r-dropping. 2. Slang Nogueira uses several slang terms in her videos about makeup that may not be familiar to speakers of Standard English who are not in her field. These words can be considered slang since they are specific to the social group that uses them, in this case beauty gurus and their fans yet, they are not technical fashion terms. Even though I am a native speaker of English, as someone who does not wear makeup (and thus does not belong to this social group), these words were totally unfamiliar to me before beginning to watch Nogueiras videos. However, upon consultation with my friends who do wear makeup, it turns out that these terms are pretty commonplace amongst those that are interested in the beauty and makeup industry. Below Ive listed three slang terms that I found in her videos that I was not totally familiar with. (1) Sculpt to use makeup to add contour and definition to the face. Subgroup: beauty gurus and their fans. Im gonna use this to give myself a little bit more of a concentrated contour. This is more to sculpt the shape of the face. (mikaylanogueira, 2023; 1:24)

(2) Set to use powder or another product to help makeup stick to your face. Now Im gonna set the face with powder. (mikaylanogueira, 2023; 2:36) (3) Tail the end of the eyebrow, furthest from the center of the face. Im fillin the brows in, makin them nice and full and makin sure I keep the tail nice and lifted. (mikaylanogueira, 2023; 0:26) 3. Non-Standard Language & Dialect Nogueira uses several features that are not typical of Standard American English. Among other things, she has a tendency to pronounce the present progressive verb ending -ing as [n] rather than []. For example, in the same quote as above (mikaylanogueira, 2023; 0:28) she pronounces making as [mekn] rather than [mek]. Shortly after (mikaylanogueira, 2023; 0:42), she pronounces looking as [lkn], again with [n] in place of the standard []. To my ears as a speaker of Standard California English, the [n] pronunciations sound less standard. In fact, as a child, myteachers would often chastise us for pronouncing -ing as [n] for being improper. Of course, as a linguist, I cant claim that Nogueiras accent is less correct or proper than others as we discussed in lecture and section, standards of language are arbitrary and socially enforced, rather than a reflection of some inherent goodness of one dialect over another. Nogueira is also a speaker of Standard American English, which she has used in some videos. While studying communications at Bryant University in Rhode Island, she was featured in a promotional video for the university in which she speaks in a Standard American accent, unlike the Massachusetts accent that she is so well-known for in her TikToks (_k_rose__, 2023). When this video emerged, she received a lot of criticism from fans and viewers who accused her of faking her New England accent. However, as we know, speakers are certainly capable of being bidialectal in both a standard and non-standard variety, and due to linguistic prescriptivism, many speakers of non-standard dialects may feel that they have to hide the features of their language in order to conform to prescriptive ideas. Nogueira herself addressed this, stating that she used Standard American English for her early TikTok videos because she was afraid of backlash for her accent (breakingbeautypodcast, 2022).

4. Comparison of Sounds Nagy and Roberts (2004) discuss the phenomenon that Ill call R-dropping, whereby the [r] sound is not pronounced following a vowel; for speakers with this feature, the word car is pronounced [ka] rather than [kar] and start is [stat] instead of [start]. This is a stereotypical feature of New England English, especially associated with the city of Boston. In this section, I will show that R-dropping is a feature of Mikayla Nogueiras speech, consistent with this research on Massachusetts English. Nogueira consistently drops her Rs in places you would expect them in Standard American English. In one video recreating Kim Kardashians Met Gala makeup, she starts the video by saying Kim Kardashian, which she pronounces as [km kadain] (mikaylanogueira, 2023; 0:00). This R-dropping was apparently so iconic of her Massachusetts accent that it became the focus of meme in which other TikTokers got their New England family members to say Kim Kardashian in the accent. Later on in the same video, she says Im gonna start with brows, where she pronounces start as [stat] (mikaylanogueira, 2023; 0:17). Then, she says …just to keep the hairs in place, where hairs is pronounced [hz] (Nogueira, 2023; 0:23). Just as Nagy and Roberts described, Nogueira does not drop [r] when it is after a consonant, so that brows is still pronounced [braz] (mikaylanogueira, 2023; 0:27). However, not every R appears to be dropped, even when it follows a vowel. In this same video, she says …making sure I keep the tail… where sure I is [r a], with the [r] (Nogueira, 2023; 0:28). We might revise the rule in Nagy and Roberts to specify that in Nogueiras speech, [r] is dropped following a vowel and before a consonant sound. In this way, we account for the pattern where start has the [r] dropped but sure I does not. This is similar to another process that Nagy and Roberts describe, called Intrusive R, where [r] is inserted between two vowels, even if the [r] is not written. While I dont observe this exact pattern in Nogueiras speech (she only pronounces an [r] when it would be written and pronounced in Standard English), the pattern where she neglects to delete an R between two vowels may indicate a similar linguistic process where speakers find ways to avoid pronouncing two vowels next to each other. In conclusion, Mikayla Nogueira exhibits phonetic features that are consistent with previous descriptions of Massachusetts English, including R-dropping. 5. References breakingbeautypodcast (2022, March 3). Did you know https://www.tiktok.com/@breakingbeautypodcast/video/7071080204122279173?lang=en _k_rose__, (2023, February 24). What happened to her accent though? [Video]. TikTok. https://www.tiktok.com/@_k_rose__/video/7203877006142885166?_r=1&;_t=8eeCuXw RYv7 Learn about Mikayla Nogueira. Famous Birthdays. (n.d.). https://www.famousbirthdays.com/people/mikayla-nogueira.html mikaylanogueira. (2022, March 25). Portuguese father reveal [Video]. TikTok. https://www.tiktok.com/@mikaylanogueira/video/7079095169382944046?lang=en mikaylanogueira. (2023, May 5). Recreating Kim Ks Met Gala look [Video]. TikTok. https://www.tiktok.com/@mikaylanogueira/video/7228996897623608618?lang=en Nagy, N., & Roberts, J. (2004). New England: Phonology. A handbook of varieties of English, 1, 270-281.