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Article published In:
Variation in the Pacific: Part I
Edited by Eri Kashima and Miriam Meyerhoff
[Asia-Pacific Language Variation 6:2] 2020
► pp. 222–249

(h) in Marshallese English

 | Sociolinguistics Lab, Universität Duisburg-Essen
This paper explores the sociolinguistic patterning of glottal choices in the English spoken in the Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI), a variety that variationist research has thus far eschewed. The analysis suggests that the schooling background of the speaker is the most crucial determinant for both /h/-dropping and /h/-insertion. These findings are not surprising given the dramatic social inequalities regarding access to educational opportunities that characterise the RMI. The locally-specific contact situation, in conjunction with the constraints on /h/-insertion, suggest that the English spoken in the Marshall Islands is typologically distinct from the Southern British dialect root described for other parts of the Pacific by Schreier (2019).
Keywords: Marshallese, English, h-dropping, h-insertion, h-epenthesis, education
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Language contact in the Republic of the Marshall Islands
  • 3.Fieldwork strategy
  • 4.The realisation of (h) and coding procedure
  • 5.H-dropping in Marshallese English
  • 6.Glottal insertion in Marshallese English
  • 7.Discussion and conclusion
  • Acknowledgments
  • Notes
  • References
Published online: 18 December 2020
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/aplv.19012.buc
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Cited by (2)

Cited by two other publications

Buchstaller, Isabelle
2020. (h) in Marshallese English. Asia-Pacific Language Variation 6:2 ► pp. 222 ff. DOI logo
[no author supplied]
2023. References. In Sounds of English Worldwide, ► pp. 354 ff. DOI logo

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