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Variation in Form and Function in Jewish English Intonation

Burdin, Rachel Steindel, Burdin

Abstract Details

2016, Doctor of Philosophy, Ohio State University, Linguistics.
Intonation has long been noted as a salient feature of American Jewish English speech (Weinreich, 1956); however, there has not been much systematic study of how, exactly Jewish English intonation is distinct, and to what extent Yiddish has played a role in this distinctness. This dissertation examines the impact of Yiddish on Jewish English intonation in the Jewish community of Dayton, Ohio, and how features of Yiddish intonation are used in Jewish English. 20 participants were interviewed for a production study. The participants were balanced for gender, age, religion (Jewish or not), and language background (whether or not they spoke Yiddish in addition to English). In addition, recordings were made of a local Yiddish club. The production study revealed differences in both the form and function in Jewish English, and that Yiddish was the likely source for that difference. The Yiddish-speaking participants were found to both have distinctive productions of rise-falls, including higher peaks, and a wider pitch range, in their Yiddish, as well as in their English produced during the Yiddish club meetings. The younger Jewish English participants also showed a wider pitch range in some situations during the interviews. The Jewish English participants also showed an increased use of rising pitch accents in listing contexts, as well as (!)H-L% boundary tones in narratives and a discourse completion task. The source of this increased use of (!)H-L% contours appears to be in Yiddish, as similar boundaries, as a part of a rise-fall contour, were found to be used in similar scenarios in the Yiddish DCT task by the Yiddish speakers. It is hypothesized that these contours can function more readily as a way of linking clauses together in Yiddish and Jewish English, compared to Standard English. The Yiddish speakers also showed other distinctions, in the use of more rise-falls in a narrative task, as well as more rises, and fewer plateau contours in a listing task. All of the above leads to an increase of what Jun (2014) calls macro-rhythm, a regular alternation between high and low tones within a phrase, in Jewish English, and particularly in the variety spoken by those who also speak Yiddish. This dissertation thus provides evidence that macro-rhythm can vary among varieties spoken in the same geographic area, and also that intonational substrate features can be maintained in a variety, even in the face of increased spatial assimilation, and loss of speakers of the substrate. This increase in macro-rhythm is also shown to be socially meaningful: that is, speakers use macro-rhythm to construct particular types of Jewish identities, and that this feature is heard as signaling Jewishness by listeners. This social meaning is shown first by its use in comedic performance of Jewish speech, as well as through a perception task, where rises and rise-falls were found to make a speaker sound more Jewish compared to plateau contours. This perception of “Jewishness” is tied to a particular type of Jewish identity (specifically, one that is older and Yiddish-speaking) in both the performances and the perception task, providing evidence for conceptions of Jewish English that predict the use of features being tied to particular types of Jewish identities, rather than a homogenous ethnolect.
Brian D. Joseph (Advisor)
Cynthia G. Clopper (Committee Member)
Donald Winford (Committee Member)
255 p.

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Citations

  • Burdin, Burdin, R. S. (2016). Variation in Form and Function in Jewish English Intonation [Doctoral dissertation, Ohio State University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1470147757

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Burdin, Burdin, Rachel. Variation in Form and Function in Jewish English Intonation. 2016. Ohio State University, Doctoral dissertation. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1470147757.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Burdin, Burdin, Rachel. "Variation in Form and Function in Jewish English Intonation." Doctoral dissertation, Ohio State University, 2016. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1470147757

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)