Field Work in Utah English English Language Society Meeting February 8, 2007
What do these signs have in common? Utahisms!
Why is it important to do field work in a language like Utah English? 1.dialect prejudice 2.dialect change 3.dialect acquisition 4.social factors that influence dialect 5.speech pathology 6.computer language processing 7.heritage/ genealogy
Why do field work in Utah English? From The Phonological Atlas of Northern America
Why do field work in Utah English? Utah is also a great place to study dialect acquisition and social factors (like religion)
How do you do field work in a language like English? Usually we need a lot of speakers, so... 1.interviews 2.phone calls 3.covert observations 4.public forums 5.door-to-door We decided on door-to-door—so the four of us got a map of Utah County and each took a different section
The Utah English Project Team Diane, Wendy, Jared and Danny
Some of the Questions from the Survey 1.In what building does a farmer keep his animals? 2.Name the days of the week 3.What is the term for a sweetened carbonated beverage? 4.If you had to say there’s a difference, what’s the difference between a bag and a sack? 5.What do you say when people say thank you to you?
What were some of the challenges of doing field work in dialects of English? 1.Achievement of a random sample 2.Recording of the speakers 3.Confusion over some of the questions 4.Worry about keeping anonymity 5.Worry about saying the wrong thing 6.Anger of some of the groups (non-LDS participants) 7.Belief that they did not have a Utah “accent” 8.Suspicions about our work/danger to us
Some more fun things we encountered 1.Overexcitement about helping us out 2.People’s feelings about Utah English 3.Coaching by husbands/wives
NWAV and LSA 2005