Word-final /t/-release and linguistic style: An investigation of the speech of two Jewish women from metro Detroit

<p>Variationist sociolinguistics is more complex than meets the eye. There are many possible explanations as to why a person uses some linguistic form over another. This paper will compare the use of the word-final /t/-release variant in the speech of two Jewish women from metro Detroit who were born two years apart and who have similar socioeconomic and educational backgrounds. Despite superficial similarities between the speakers, their use of the variant differs considerably—with one speaker using the variant over 15 times more than the other. Building on existing literature on Jewish American speech and on /t/-release, this study will compare the uses of this variant in these two seemingly similar speakers, show that they use the variant in different ways and with varying frequency, and shed light on what is behind those differences. The analysis shows that despite sociological similarities, speakers have an individualized linguistic style.</p>

Name thesis:degree_name

Master of Arts (MA)

Level thesis:degree_level

Open Access Thesis

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

English Language and Literature

Year dc:date.available

2020

Author dc:creator

• Leppala, Janet

Contributors dc:contributor

• Eric Acton, Ph.D., Chair
• Veronica Grondona, Ph.D.

• /t/-release
• Jewish English
• Jewish language
• language variation
• linguistics
• sociolinguistics

Repository record dc:identifier

https://commons.emich.edu/theses/1051

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:commons.emich.edu:theses-2431