California English

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 the East Coast 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 lay 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 ^[1]. 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.^[2] 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^[3]

One topic that has begun to receive much attention amongst scholars in recent years has been the emergence of a vowel shift unique to California. Much like other vowel shifts occurring in North America such as the Southern Vowel Shift and the Northern Cities Vowel Shift, the California Vowel Shift is noted for a systematic chain shift of several vowels.

File:Cavowelshift.jpeg

This image, taken from researcher Penelope Eckert's webpage, does not use IPA but provides a useful visualization of the vowel shift now taking place. It is worth noting that while it describes the "Northern California Vowel Shift" (where Eckert conducts research), scholars have found the same processes occurring in Southern California, as well. 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). A similar chart only using words to illustrate the shift is less technical but useful in understanding how the California Vowel Shift works. 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.

File:Californiavowelshift2.jpg

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.

The term "California drawl" is sometimes used to described the practice of lengthening the accented syllable's vowel in time, taking up to twice as long as the time given to other vowels in a word, and sometimes accompanied by a shift of the accent to another syllable. Unlike the "Southern drawl" or the Texas-style "Western drawl", no twang or changes to the vowel's value (e.g. a diphthong) are introduced: the Californian simply pronounces the accented vowel for a longer time than the other vowels in the word. This is most noticeable in the native pronunciations of "San Francisco" and "Sacramento". Non-Californian pronunciation would sound like "San Fran CIS co" and "Sac ra MEN to" with each syllable equally timed and the accent placed on the penult. A California drawl pronunciation would be "SAAAN Fran cis co" and "SAAACK ra men to" with the so-called short-A æ sound unchanged in value but held for a longer time.^{[citation needed]}

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 (a person of mixed racial heritage—especially, but not limited to, half-Asian/half-European-Americans in common California usage) and fob (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 Los Angeles residents (and Southern Californians generally) are likely to refer to US Highway 101 or Interstate 5, for example, as the 101 and the 5^[4], residents of the San Francisco Bay Area and 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.

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 depends on what generation the person speaking was born into and the cultural influences on that person. For example, according to one former California resident, in the 1970s it was common in Los Angeles to refer to freeways by name instead of by its highway number (i.e., to say "the San Diego Freeway" instead of "the 405" was common in the 1970s).^{[citation needed]}

Influence of California English

California English is in a somewhat unusual position amongst English varieties in that it is spoken in a state noted for its high concentration of media-related industries such as television, radio, and films, which are commonly broadcast throughout the United States and often the rest of the world. While scholarly linguistic studies have shown that media have little or no effect upon people's accents [5], the prevalence of California English in the media at least popularizes and increases familiarity with speech norms associated with California English. The desirable lifestyles and images often associated with the state of California undoubtedly lend prestige, at least in the U.S. and Canada, to the speech varieties spoken by its inhabitants. Even as California speech diverges from other dialects, some have argued the predominance of media and the prestige associated with California have elevated California English to a de facto form of "standard" American English^{[citation needed]}, although that is contested by critics who maintain Midwestern English is still roughly the speech norm generally considered as General American or "standard" American English.^{[citation needed]}

Notes

^ . ISBN 978-1-4051-2108-8. {{cite book}}: Missing or empty |title= (help); Unknown parameter |Author= ignored (|author= suggested) (help); Unknown parameter |Publisher= ignored (|publisher= suggested) (help); Unknown parameter |Title= ignored (|title= suggested) (help); Unknown parameter |Year= ignored (|year= suggested) (help)
^ Ladefoged, Peter (1999). "American English." In Handbook of the International Phonetic Association, 41–44, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-63751-1.
^ . ISBN 3-11-016746-8. {{cite book}}: Missing or empty |title= (help); Unknown parameter |Author= ignored (|author= suggested) (help); Unknown parameter |Publisher= ignored (|publisher= suggested) (help); Unknown parameter |Title= ignored (|title= suggested) (help); Unknown parameter |Year= ignored (|year= suggested) (help)
^ Geyer, Grant (2001). "'The' freeway in southern California." American Speech 76:221–225.

External links