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Programme: accepted abstracts

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Abstract ID: 620

Part of Session 148: Child Language Variation (Other abstracts in this session)

Urban Vowel Spread in Rural Child and Adolescent Language

Authors: Habib, Rania
Submitted by: Habib, Rania (Syracuse University, United States of America)

This study examines the variation and change in the use of the rural vowel variables (o), (o:), (e), and (e:) in the vernacular Arabic of rural, non-migrant children and adolescents in the village of Oyoun A-Wadi in Syria. These variables are realized as [o]/[a], [o:]/[a:], [e]/[a], and [e:]/[a:] respectively. The second vowel in each set is the urban counterpart that shows wide spread among the younger generation. The village’s variants are determined by two phonological rules and some morphological conditioning. Rule (1) holds that short and long round vowels occur in word-final syllables in the environment of [r] or emphatic sounds. Rule (2) holds that short and long mid front vowels occur in other word-final syllables and are sometimes morphologically conditioned. Despite some slight social factors influence, the acquisition and loss of urban and rural linguistic rules is observed to be the main force behind these vowel variations.

                                                                                                                                            

     The data set consists of 11208 tokens taken from the naturally occurring speech of 50 speakers ages 6-18. The participants are equally divided into four age groups: 6-8, 9-11, 12-14, and 15-18. Age groups are equally divided into girls and boys. Mother’s origin and residential area are also considered.

 

     Quantitative analyses show significant gender, age, and area effects concerning the use of some variants. Boys use more round vowels than girls. The restrictiveness of the linguistic environment of Rule (1) makes the round vowels a more distinctive feature of the village’s variety, and thus the village’s identity to which boys are highly loyal. The youngest age group shows the lowest use of the rural vowels, which indicates that children initially acquire their mothers’ urban forms. Afterwards, they acquire the village’s rules. While children can acquire different rules from their caregivers’ at a later age, the complexity of the linguistic situation in which they live leads to fluctuation in their application of the newly acquired rules.   

 

     Previous studies examined variation in second dialect acquisition in migrant children and adolescents and showed that the age of arrival is a determinant factor of the acquisition of new linguistic rules (Chambers 1992). This study deals with variation in the speech of non-migrant rural kids who are in contact with urban features through various sources among which are out-of-town mothers, relatives and friends living in cities, and television shows implementing urban forms. This observed vowel variation is the result of the acquisition of two different sets of rules. Initially, kids acquire their mother’s urban forms and the associated phonological rules. Subsequently, they acquire the rules of their home village. Thus, there is a reversal in the acquisition of rules, and this reversal contrasts with the common pattern of acquisition: rural first and then urban. This indicates that kids are capable of recognizing and acquiring the various linguistic rules in their environment after the age of eight (Payne 1980). Although this leads to variability in their speech, it highlights the development of sociolinguistic competence throughout their life-span, as they acquire the various sociolinguistic patterns present in their environment.