Words, Woods, Woyds: Variation and Accommodation in Schwar Realization among African American, White, and Houma Men in Southern Louisiana

Abstract

This study examines variation in the schwar realization for an area of rural Louisiana where local French varieties previously dominated and some bilingualism persists. A generational GoldVarb analysis of African American, white, and Houma (Native American) men’s speech reveals significant variation in r-ful, r-less, and diphthongal realizations by ethnoracial identity, age, and education. Apparent-time change suggests long-term, contact-influenced accommodation in which younger generations of African American men with Creole French ancestry increasingly use the dominant nondiphthongal and r-ful variants. In addition, effects of accommodation to dominant regional patterns found in the South today are observed in increasing levels of r-fulness across ethnoracial groups.

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