California English
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California English is a dialect of the English language spoken in the U.S. state of California. The most populous of the United States, California is home to a highly diverse populace, which is reflected in the historical and continuing development of California English. As is the case of English spoken in any particular state, not all features are used by all speakers in the state, and not all features are restricted in use only to the state. However, there are some linguistic features which can be identified as either originally or predominantly Californian, or both.
History
English became spoken in the area now known as California on a wide scale beginning with a considerable influx of English-speaking European Americans during the California Gold Rush and after rapid growth from internal migration (from all parts of the United States, but particularly New England in earlier periods and later on, the Midwest) through the end of the 19th century and first half of the 20th century. The heavy internal migration from regions in the United States east of California laid the early groundwork for the varieties of English spoken in California today. California's status as a relatively young state is significant in that it has not had centuries for regional patterns to emerge and grow (compared to, say, some East Coast or Southern dialects). Linguists who studied English as spoken in California before and in the period immediately after World War II tended to find few if any distinct patterns unique to the region . However, several decades later, with a more settled population and continued immigration from all over the globe, a noteworthy set of emerging characteristics of California English had begun to attract notice by linguists of the late 20th century and on.Phonology
As a variety of American English, California English is similar to most other forms of American speech in being a rhotic accent, which is historically a significant marker in differentiating different English varieties. The following chart represents the relative positions of the stressed monophthongs of the accent, based on nine speakers from southern California.Ladefoged, Peter (1999). "American English." In Handbook of the International Phonetic Association, 41–44, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-63751-1. Notable is the absence of /ɔ/, which has merged with /ɑ/ through the cot-caught merger, and the relatively open quality of /ɪ/ due to the California vowel shift discussed below.
There are several phonological processes which have been identified as being particular to California English. However, these shifts are by no means universal in Californian speech, and any single Californian's speech may only have some or none of the changes identified below. The shifts might also be found in the speech of people from areas outside of California.
- Front vowels are raised before velar nasal [ŋ], so that the near-open front unrounded vowel /æ/ and the near-close near-front unrounded vowel /ɪ/ are raised to a close-mid front unrounded vowel [e] and a close front unrounded vowel [i] before [ŋ]. This change makes for minimal pairs such as king and keen, both having the same vowel [i], differing from king [kɪŋ] in other varieties of English. Similarly, a word like rang will often have the same vowel as rain in California English, not the same vowel as ran as in other varieties.
- The vowels in words such as Mary, marry, merry are merged to the open-mid front unrounded vowel [ɛ]
- Most speakers do not distinguish between the open-mid back rounded vowel [ɔ] and open back unrounded vowel [ɑ], characteristic of the cot-caught merger. A notable exception may be found within the city limits of San Francisco, whose native inhabitants' speech somewhat reflects a historical East-Coast heritage which has probably influenced the maintenance of the distinction between words such as caught and cot.
- According to phoneticians studying California English, traditionally diphthongal vowels such as [oʊ] as in boat and [eɪ], as in bait, have acquired qualities much closer to monophthongs in some speakers of California English. However, the continuing presence of slight offglides (if less salient than those of, say, British Received Pronunciation) and convention in IPA transcription for English account for continuing use of [oʊ] and [eɪ].
- The pin-pen merger is complete in Bakersfield, and speakers in Sacramento either perceive or produce the pairs /ɛn/ and /ɪn/ close to each other.
This image on the right illustrates the "California Vowel Shift". The vowel space of the image is a cross-section (as if looking at the interior of a mouth from a side profile perspective); it is a rough approximation of the space in a human mouth where the tongue is located in articulating certain vowel sounds (the left is the front of the mouth closer to the teeth, the right side of the chart being the back of the mouth). As with other vowel shifts, several vowels may be seen moving in a chain shift around the mouth. As one vowel enroaches upon the space of another, the adjacent vowel in turn experiences a movement in order to maximize phonemic differentiation.
Two phonemes, /ɪ/ and /æ/, have allophones that are fairly widely spread apart from each other: before /ŋ/, /ɪ/ is raised to [i] and, as mentioned above, may even be identified with the phoneme /i/. In other contexts, /ɪ/ has a fairly open pronunciation, as indicated in the vowel chart above. /æ/ is raised and diphthongized to [eə] or [ɪə] before nasal consonants (a shift reminiscent of, but more restricted than, non-phonemic æ-tensing in the Inland North); before /ŋ/ it may be identified with the phoneme /e/. Elsewhere /æ/ is lowered in the direction of [a]. The other parts of the chain shift are apparently context-free: /ʊ/ is moving towards [ʌ], /ʌ/ towards [ɛ], /ɛ/ toward [æ], /ɑ/ toward [ɔ], and the starting points of /uw/ and /oʊ/ toward /i/ and /e/ respectively.
Unlike some of the other vowel shifts, however, the California Vowel Shift is generally considered to be in earlier stages of development as compared to the more widespread Northern and Southern Vowel Shifts, although the new vowel characteristics of the California Vowel Shift are increasingly found amongst younger speakers. As with many vowel shifts, these significant changes occurring in the spoken language are rarely noticed by average speakers; imitation of peers and other sociolinguistic phenomena play a large part in determining the extent of the vowel shift in a particular speaker. For example, while some characteristics such as the Close central rounded vowel [ʉ] or Close back unrounded vowel [ɯ] for [u] are widespread in Californian speech, the same high degree of fronting for [oʊ] is common only within certain social groups. No matter the individual degree a speaker displays the emergence of the California Vowel Shift and its spread amongst younger speakers point to a future form of California English which will have undoubtedly diverged significantly from other varieties.
Lexical characteristics
The popular image of a typical California speaker often conjures up images of the so-called Valley Girls popularized by the 1982 hit song by Frank Zappa or "surfer-dude" speech made famous by movies such as Fast Times at Ridgemont High. While many phrases found in these extreme versions of California English of the 1980s may now be considered passé, certain words such as awesome and dude have remained popular in California and have spread to a national, even international, level. The use of the word like for numerous grammatical functions or as conversational "filler" has also remained popular in California English and is now found in many other varieties of English. Other slang terms, such as bucket for an old car, or the adjective trippy, are more restricted to California.California, like most Southwestern states, has borrowed many words from Spanish, especially for place-geographical names, food, and other cultural items reflecting the heritage of Latino Californians. High concentrations of various ethnic groups throughout the state have contributed to general familiarity with words describing (especially cultural) phenomena. For example, a high concentration of Asian Americans from various cultural backgrounds, especially in urban and suburban metropolitan areas in California, has led to the adoption of words like hapa (originally from Hawaiian, it means "half". A person who was hapa was either part European/Islander or part Asian/Islander. Today it refers to a person of mixed racial heritage—especially, but not limited to, half-Asian/half-European-Americans in common California usage) and fob ("fresh off the boat", often a newly arrived Asian immigrant). Not surprisingly, the popularity of cultural food items such as Vietnamese phở and Taiwanese boba in many areas has led to the general adoption of such words amongst many speakers.
Northern vs. Southern California
A rivalry has gradually developed between Northern and Southern California. It is not surprising, therefore, that the regions have developed a few lexical differences.For example, in California's car-centered culture, nomenclature describing the state's extensive network of freeways takes on a special prominence. One commonly noted difference (and perennial shibboleth) between Northern California and Southern California English is the way in which an article may be appended to the label of a major freeway. While most native or longtime Southern Californians are likely to refer to U.S. Route 101 or Interstate 5, for example, as "the 101" and "the 5" Geyer, Grant (2001). "'The' freeway in southern California." American Speech 76:221–225., residents of most of Northern California are more likely to refer to those same roads as just "101" and "5" or "I-5".
Another common Northern California shibboleth is the way in which Bay Area natives refer to San Francisco, either by using its full name or simply The City. The San Francisco Examiner is notable for its heavy use of the latter. Newcomers sometimes distinguish themselves by using nicknames considered by locals to be passé, such as San Fran or 'Frisco. Visitors from Southern California, however, will sometimes use the latter terms intentionally, to demonstrate a mild or entirely feigned disdain.
Perhaps the most common difference in everyday speech is the wide usage of the word "hella" in Northern California, a slang word meaning, roughly, "very" or "many", derived from "a hell of" and considered to be indigenous to the San Francisco Bay Area.[Urban Dictionary definition of "hella"] Southern Californians frowned upon the usage of this word initially, but its disdain faded as it entered popular culture through the song "Hella Good" by the Southern California band No Doubt.
As mentioned earlier in this article, not all of the features mentioned beforehand are used by all speakers in California, and not all features are restricted in use only to the state. As with other U.S. states, some regional words and phrases used depend on any given speaker's generation, with cultural influences and background also playing an important role.
California sociolects and Chicano English
As a very diverse state (there is no ethnic majority in California), several significant sociolects associated with particular cultural or ethnic groups are found within California. Current and historical Mexican immigration to California has resulted in a unique form of English spoken by Chicanos in the state, with Chicano English receiving the most attention in linguistic research into sociolects in California English. Chicano English is a native variety of English marked by a historical and current Spanish substratum (whether or not the speakers in question speak Spanish). Researchers have paid particular attention to the use of "barely," representing "had just recently" which may or may not be in analogy with Spanish apenas . Recently, research has shown speakers of Chicano English have been participating in some aspects of the California Vowel Shift typically found in the speech of younger Californian Whites and Asian Americans (amongst other groups), but some of the characteristics of the shift are altered for speakers of Chicano English. Some hold that some Chicano English influences may be found in the speech of non-Chicano English speakers in California, such as the presence of "yes" and "no" as tag questions (traditionally not found in most varieties of English) or the /ɪŋ/ → /iŋ/ process mentioned above , but such will probably not be settled without further research into the area. It should also be noted that Chicano English is by no means spoken by all Chicanos in California and the features noted as Chicano English form more of a continuum amongst speakers (some may have more Chicano English features than others) than a monolithic entity spoken the same by everyone. More work also remains to be done on various other English sociolects as spoken in California.Notes
Further reading
- Vowels and Consonants: An Introduction to the Sounds of Languages. Peter Ladefoged, 2003. Blackwell Publishing.
- Language in Society: An Introduction to Sociolinguistics. Suzanne Romaine, 2000. Oxford University Press.
- How We Talk: American Regional English Today. Allan Metcalf, 2000. Houghton Mifflin.
See also
- Chain shift
- Chicano English
- List of surfing terms
- Skateboarding slang
- Sociolect
- Sociolinguistics
- Spanglish
- Valspeak
- Vowel Shift
External links
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