1. William Labov, University of Pennsylvania
Isogloss configurations and the architecture of phonology: nesting, bundling and diffusion
William Labov, University of Pennsylvania
Methods workshop Leeds August 8, 2008

2. William Labov Home Page www.ling.upenn.edu/~labov

3. Isogloss configurations

4. Bundling

5. Random

6. Superposition B A B B

7. Nesting

8. Diffusion fan

9. Diffusion corridor

10. Two theories of phonological architecture widely used in dialect geography

11. Phonemes of North American English in broad IPA notation
/i/ beet FLEECE
/I/ bit KIT
/e/ bait FACE
/E/ bet DRESS
/æ/ bat TRAP
/A/ pot, balm LOT, PALM
/ç/ bought THOUGHT
/√/ but STRUT
/o/ boat GOAT
/U/ put FOOT
/u/ boot GOOSE
/aI/ bite PRICE
/aU/ about MOUTH
/oI/ quoit CHOICE
Subsystems of English vowels. Since so much of the logic of chain shifting involves movements out of and into subsystems, our notation must characterize these subsystems in a coherent and systematic manner. The notation must typically used by dialect geographers for American English is actually a form of broad IPA which has little relationship to the principles needed to account for chain shifting

12. A binary notation as develoed by Bloch and Trager
/iy/ beet FLEECE
/i/ bit KIT
/ey/ bait FACE
/e/ bet DRESS
/æ/ bat TRAP
/ah/ pot, balm LOT, PALM
/oh/ bought THOUGHT
/√/ but STRUT
/ow/ boat GOAT
/uw/ put FOOT
/u/ boot GOOSE
/ay/ bite PRICE
/aw/ about MOUTH
/oy/ quoit CHOICE

13. The architecture underlying the binary vowel notation
Vowels
Short
Long
Upgliding
Long and ingliding
Front upgliding
Back upgliding

14. The organization of North American vowels into subsets
The notation developed by JC Wells were also grouped into subsets that correspond to these. The labels that he applies to American English, shown here, have no such analytical intent, but they correspond to the classes that we use to describe chain shifting.

15. The Vh notation
• A cover symbol for “long and/or ingliding”
• Not essential. One can use /´/ in place of /h/
• Widely used in common orthography:
oh, yeah, bah
Pittsburgh monophthongization of /aw/ is universally spelled “dahntahn” and “sahth”
Southern monophthongization of /ay/ is “ah” in dialect literature: “mah”
r-less dialects are shown with “Vh” in stereotypes: “pahk the cah in the Hahvahd yahd”

16. Phonological principles associated with the binary notation
Phonological systems are organized into superordinate and subordinate sets (subsets).
• Subsets form neighborhoods in which members are more confusable with each other than with members of other subsets.
• Principles of maximum dispersion apply within subsets.
• Principles of chain shifting apply within subsets.

17. Neighborhoods of confusable sets that might follow from the broad IPA notation
/i/ beet FLEECE
/I/ bit KIT
/e/ bait FACE
/E/ bet DRESS
/æ/ bat TRAP
/A/ pot LOT
/ç/ bought THOUGHT
/√/ but STRUT
/o/ boat GOAT
/U/ put FOOT
/u/ boot GOOSE
Subsystems of English vowels. Since so much of the logic of chain shifting involves movements out of and into subsystems, our notation must characterize these subsystems in a coherent and systematic manner. The notation must typically used by dialect geographers for American English is actually a form of broad IPA which has little relationship to the principles needed to account for chain shifting

18. Broad IPA notation in the IPA chart

19. Four binary subsets in acoustic space

20. Acoustic space of West Germanic vowel systems

21. Integration of subsystems into a single acoustic space

22. General principles of chain shifting
In chain shifts,
I. Tense nuclei rise along a peripheral track
II. Lax nuclei fall along a non-peripheral track

23. Directions of chain shifting on peripheral and nonperipheral tracks

24. Martinet on maximal dispersion
Phonemes co-existing in a language tend naturally to optimize the possibilities that are available from the speech organs; they tend to be as distant from their neighbors as possible while remaining easy to articulate and easy to perceive. . .
Martinet 1955:62 (tr. WL),
attributed to de Groot TCLP 1931:121
-> The principle of maximal dispersion applies within subsets.

25. A stable distribution of English low vowels: an outlier not recognized as a member of the /æ/ distribution
mean F Hz
/æ/ /o/ /oh/

26. A stable distribution of English low vowels: an outlier not recognized as a member of the /æ/ distribution
mean F Hz
/æ/ /o/ /oh/

27. An unstable distribution of English low vowels: /o/ merged with /oh/ so that the /æ/ outlier affects the central tendency of /æ/,
mean F Hz
/æ/ /o=oh/

28. All vowels measured of Thelma M.

29. Thelma M. means

30. Thelma M. standard deviations

31. Thelma M. short vowels (V)
/i/
/u/
/e/
/^/
/æ/
/o/

32. Thelma M. standard deviations of short vowels (V)
KIT
/u/
FOOT
/e/
DRESS
/^/
TRAP
/æ/
/o/

33. Thelma M. front upgliding vowels (Vy)
/iy/
/oy/
/ey/
highlighted vowels: monophthongal
/ay/

34. Thelma M. Vy with standard deviations
/iy/
/oy/
/ey/
/ay/

35. Thelma M. back upgliding vowels (Vw)
/uw/
/ow/
/aw/

36. Thelma M. Vw standard deviations
/uw/
/ow/
/aw/

37. Nesting

38. Change in subset membership
Neighborhoods may be formed across specific locations in subsets

39. The low back merger of LOT and THOUGHT
The notation developed by JC Wells were also grouped into subsets that correspond to these. The labels that he applies to American English, shown here, have no such analytical intent, but they correspond to the classes that we use to describe chain shifting.

40. The low back merger of LOT and THOUGHT

41. The low back merger of /o/ and /oh/ in cot and caught, etc. (ANAE Map 9.1)
Canada
E.N.E.
The West
W. Pa.

42. The Canadian Shift

43. The Canadian Shift
The notation developed by JC Wells were also grouped into subsets that correspond to these. The labels that he applies to American English, shown here, have no such analytical intent, but they correspond to the classes that we use to describe chain shifting.

44. The Canadian Shift in the vowel system of Marsha M
The Canadian Shift in the vowel system of Marsha M., 24 [1997], Montreal, TS659
lowering of /e/
Let us first consider one simple sequence of linguistic changes, beginning with the Canadian Shift. It was first described by Clarke et al. in 1995 as a lowering and retraction of the front short vowels. We see it exemplified here in the speech of a 24-year old woman
merger of /o/ and /oh
backing of /æ/

45. The Canadian Shift in the vowel system of Hubert B
The Canadian Shift in the vowel system of Hubert B., 17, Toronto, TS798
lowering of /e/
merger of /o/ and /oh
backing of /æ/

46. The Canadian Shift nested in the Low Back Merger area (ANAE Map 11.7)
Low back merger isogloss
Here is the geographic distribution of the Canadian Shift. The dark red symbols are speakers for whom short-e is below mid position,F1 > 600 Hz, short-a is shifting back towards central position, F2 < 1825 Hz, and short-o is well to the back, F2 < 1275 Hz. It turns out that this chain shift defines the Canadian dialect area better than the most well known feature, Canadian raising.

47. The Southern Shift
hit
kids
beatin’
set
bed
grade
Danny
Guy
wipin’

48. Map 18.4. Monophthongization of /ay/ in 1940s and 1990s

49. Map 18.6. Stages 2 and 3 of the Southern Shift

50. Bundling

51. The Northern Cities Shift
desk
busses
bosses
mat
head
. Figure 2 shows the well known mechanism of the NCS, Play examples .
block
socks

52. ANAE Map 11.14: Isoglosses defining the Inland North
Figure 1 is from ANAE Map 11.14, showing the boundary between the North and the Midland. From a linguistic point of view, this is the deepest and most abrupt division in North American phonology. The black and white barred line is Carver’s continuation of the original North/Midland boundary established by Kurath in the eastern United States on lexical criteria, which in turn reflect settlement history, and the six other isoglosses that bundle together with it are elements of the Northern Cities Shift. . The brown symbols represent all those speakers whose wedge is further back than short /o/. The division between North and Midland is almost absolute. As the paper on Transmission and Diffusion shows, the corridor between Chicago and St. Louis is an extended set of borrowings of elements of the Northern Cities Shift.

53. The Northern Cities Shift: Mean values of low vowels for 21 dialects.IN
EXPAND In this figure we can trace the relative position of the mean values of Inland North vowels relative to 19 other North American dialects.The mean for short-a (not before nasals) is much higher than for any oher dialect; Short-o is much further front. Wedge is further back. And long open o is relatively low and quite distinct from short o.
PI = Pittsburgh WPA = Western Pennsylvania CA = Canada PR = Providence;
IS = Inland South M = Midland; N = Inland North.

54. Age distribution of F2 of /^/ in the North and the Midland
ILLUSTRATE WITH SOUNDSThe next slide juxtaposes the two diagrams, showing the significance of the age coefficients. We have already seen how sharp is the division between these two communities. Here we see that they are in the process of becoming even more highly differentiated. Among the older speakers, there is hardly any difference (CLICK, CLICK). Among the younger speakers, fronted wedge is sharply opposed to back wedge,
age coefficient =
p = .026
age coefficient = 1.39
p = .033

55. Direction of change of nucleus of /ow/ (GOAT) in eight dialect regions
Atlas of North American English

56. Correlation of /ow/ fronting with /^/ fronting along the North/Midland boundary
F2(ow) < F2(o) F2(^) < F2(o)
F2(ow) > F2(o) F2(^) > F2(o)

57. The identification of /^/ in STRUT and /o/ in GOAT
The notation developed by JC Wells were also grouped into subsets that correspond to these. The labels that he applies to American English, shown here, have no such analytical intent, but they correspond to the classes that we use to describe chain shifting.

58. Age coefficients by means for F2 of /ow/ for 8 regions

59. Resistance to the fronting of /ow/ (GOAT)
<
< 1100 Hz
<1100 Hz
< 1200 Hz
< 1300 Hz
Columbus
> 1300 Hz
> 1300 Hz

60. Fronting of /o,ah/ in the Inland North (ANAE Map 14.5).

61. Diffusion corridor

62. U.S. at Night
St. Louis

63. St. Louis Corridor

64. The Northern Cities Shift AE1 measure: raising of /æ/ (TRAP) to F1 < 700 Hz.
St. Louis Corridor

65. The Northern Cities Shift EQ measure reversal of relative positions of DRESS and TRAP
St. Louis Corridor

66. The Northern Cities Shift O2 measure: fronting of /o/ (LOT) beyond 1450 Hz/
St. Louis Corridor

67. The Northern Cities Shift ED measure: front-back alignment of /e/ (DRESS) and /o/ (LOT)
St. Louis Corridor

68. The Northern Cities Shift UD measure: /^/ (STRUT) backer than /o/ (LOT)
St. Louis Corridor

69. Full Northern Cities Shift of Kitty R., 56, Chicago, TS 66

70. Partial Northern Cities Shift of Rose M., 38, St. Louis, TS161,
/æ/ before nasal consonants
/æ/ before oral consonants

71. Speakers with all the defining features of the Northern Cities Shift
St. Louis Corridor

72. The St. Louis corridor along Interstate I-55
Fairbury

73. Fronting of /o/ (LOT) in the Inland North (ANAE Map 14.5).
9 Telsur speakers from No. Illinois * * * * * * * * *
9 Telsur speakers from the St. Louis corridor * * * * * * * * *

74. Distribution of NCS measures in No. Illinois and the St. Louis corridor