One of the most cited features of the supposed migrant “ethnolect” in Australian English is the pronunciation of word-final -er. This article presents data from sociolinguistic interviews that support the view that there is a pronunciation difference between Anglo and non-Anglo speakers in Sydney, and that this difference is most pronounced in Greek and, to a lesser extent, Lebanese speakers. The variant the Greek and Lebanese speakers tend to use more than the Anglo speakers is backed and lengthened, and commonly used in words with final High Rising Tone (HRT). There is some evidence that Greeks are leading a change to a more backed variant. I show that length, backing, and HRT make up a style of speaking that I call “new (er)”. This style is indexical of being Greek for some, but more basically creates a stance of authoritative connection. These findings are significant for understanding the spread of new linguistic features, and how the meanings of some linguistic variables contribute to linguistic change.
2024. ‘I am sorry, but I have to speak Korean’: stancetaking through apology in public speech at an ‘English only’ Korean university. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development 45:4 ► pp. 1171 ff.
de Jesus, Felipe Leandro, Sarah Rose Bellavance & Jennifer Nycz
2024. Claims and contests: On the epistemic negotiation of place identity. Language & Communication 95 ► pp. 42 ff.
Walker, James A., John Hajek, Debbie Loakes, Chloé Diskin-Holdaway & Gerry Docherty
2023. Fifty years of change to prevocalic definite article allomorphy in Australian English. Journal of the International Phonetic Association 53:3 ► pp. 804 ff.
Enríquez Duque, Paola
2023. (Mis)pronunciations of Hispanic Given Names in the U.S.: Positionalities and Discursive Strategies at Play. Languages 8:3 ► pp. 199 ff.
Kendall, Tyler, Nicolai Pharao, Jane Stuart-Smith & Charlotte Vaughn
2023. Advancements of phonetics in the 21st century: Theoretical issues in sociophonetics. Journal of Phonetics 98 ► pp. 101226 ff.
Gnevsheva, Ksenia
2020. The role of style in the ethnolect: Style-shifting in the use of ethnolectal features in first- and second-generation speakers. International Journal of Bilingualism 24:4 ► pp. 861 ff.
Grama, James, Catherine E. Travis & Simon Gonzalez
2020. Ethnolectal and community change ov(er) time: Word-final (er) in Australian English. Australian Journal of Linguistics 40:3 ► pp. 346 ff.
Grama, James, Catherine E. Travis & Simon Gonzalez
2013. Style, prosodic variation, and the social meaning of intonation. Journal of the International Phonetic Association 43:2 ► pp. 153 ff.
Eckert, Penelope
2012. Three Waves of Variation Study: The Emergence of Meaning in the Study of Sociolinguistic Variation. Annual Review of Anthropology 41:1 ► pp. 87 ff.
Eckert, Penelope
2014. Sociolinguistics. In The Cambridge Handbook of Linguistic Anthropology, ► pp. 644 ff.
Cook, Haruko Minegishi
2011. Language Socialization and Stance‐Taking Practices. In The Handbook of Language Socialization, ► pp. 296 ff.
Haase, Christoph
2011. The ‘Australian interview tune’ in Australian English interviews: Some HRT myths debunked?. Discourse and Interaction 4:2 ► pp. 5 ff.
Lawson, Robert
2011. Patterns of linguistic variation among Glaswegian adolescent males1. Journal of Sociolinguistics 15:2 ► pp. 226 ff.
Hoffman, Michol F. & James A. Walker
2010. Ethnolects and the city: Ethnic orientation and linguistic variation in Toronto English. Language Variation and Change 22:1 ► pp. 37 ff.
Dailey-O’Cain, Jennifer & Grit Liebscher
2009. Dialect Use and Discursive Identities of Migrants from the West in Eastern Germany. In Language, Discourse and Identity in Central Europe, ► pp. 185 ff.
Bucholtz, Mary & Kira Hall
2008. All of the above: New coalitions in sociocultural linguistics1. Journal of Sociolinguistics 12:4 ► pp. 401 ff.
Johnstone, Barbara & Scott F. Kiesling
2008. Indexicality and experience: Exploring the meanings of /aw/‐monophthongization in Pittsburgh1. Journal of Sociolinguistics 12:1 ► pp. 5 ff.
Pappas, Panayiotis A.
2008. Stereotypes, variation and change: Understanding the change of
coronal sonorants in a rural variety of Modern Greek. Language Variation and Change 20:3 ► pp. 493 ff.
[no author supplied]
2013. Reference Guide for Varieties of English. In A Dictionary of Varieties of English, ► pp. 363 ff.
[no author supplied]
2016. References. In Sociolinguistic Styles, ► pp. 192 ff.
[no author supplied]
2023. References. In Sounds of English Worldwide, ► pp. 354 ff.
This list is based on CrossRef data as of 2 july 2024. Please note that it may not be complete. Sources presented here have been supplied by the respective publishers.
Any errors therein should be reported to them.