Chapter 1 | Exercises

Exercise 1.1

Listen to the below clip of speakers pronouncing words with the THOUGHT vowel (i.e., bought and talk) in different ways.

Based on each speaker’s pronunciation of the thought vowel, where do you think each speaker is from?
Which speaker’s pronunciation is closest to your own pronunciation of the thought vowel?

Exercise 1.2

In rural dialects of the United States, including in Southern Appalachia, some words that end in ‐ing can take an a‐, pronounced as uh, attached to the beginning of the word (Wolfram 1980, 1988). We call this a‐ prefixing because the a‐ is a prefix attached to the front of the ‐ing word. The language pattern or “rule” for this form allows the a‐ to attach to some words but not to others. In this exercise, you will figure out this fairly complicated rule by looking at the kinds of ‐ing words that a‐ can and cannot attach to.

Use your inner feelings, or “gut reactions,” about language. These inner feelings, called intuitions, tell us where we can and cannot use certain structures. As linguists trying to describe a dialect, our task is to figure out the precise structural reasons for these inner feelings and to state the exact patterns that characterize the usage pattern.

Look at the sentence pairs in List A and decide which sentence in each pair sounds better with an a‐ prefix. For example, in the first sentence pair, does it sound better to say A‐building is hard work or She was a‐building a house? For each sentence pair, just choose one sentence that sounds better with the a‐.

List A: Sentence pairs for a‐ prefixing

a. Building is hard work.
b. She was building a house.
a. He likes hunting.
b. He went hunting.
a. The child was charming the adults.
b. The child was very charming.
a. He kept shocking the children.
b. The story was shocking.
a. They thought fishing was easy.
b. They were fishing this morning.

Examine each of the sentence pairs in terms of the choices for the a‐ prefix and answer the following questions.

Do you think there is some pattern that guided your choice of an answer? You can tell if there is a definite pattern by checking with other people who did the same exercise on their own.

Do you think that the pattern might be related to parts of speech? To answer this, see if there are any parts of speech where you cannot use the a‐ prefix. Look at ‐ing forms that function as verbs and compare those with ‐ing forms that operate as nouns or adjectives. For example, look at the use of charming as a verb (a) and as an adjective (b) in sentence 3.

The first step in figuring out the pattern for the a‐ prefix is related to the part of speech of the ‐ing word. Now let’s look at another difference related to prepositions such as from and by. Based on the sentence pairs in List B, state whether or not the a‐ form can be used after a preposition. Use the same technique you used for List A. Select the sentence that sounds better for each sentence pair and say whether it is the sentence with or without the preposition.

List B: A further detail for a‐ patterning

a. They make money by building houses.
b. They make money building houses.
a. People can’t make enough money fishing.
b. People can’t make enough money from fishing.
a. People destroy the beauty of the mountains through littering.
b. People destroy the beauty of the mountains littering.

We now have another detail for figuring out the pattern for a‐ prefix use related to prepositions. But there is still another aspect to the pattern of a‐ prefix use. This time, however, it is related to pronunciation. For the following ‐ing words, try to figure out what it is about the pronunciation that makes one sentence sound better than the other. To help you figure out the pronunciation trait that is critical for this pattern, the stressed or accented syllable of each word is marked with the symbol ́. Follow the same procedure that you did above and choose the sentence in each pair that sounds better.

List C: Figuring out a pronunciation pattern for the a‐ prefix

a. She was discóvering a trail.
b. She was fóllowing a trail.
a. She was repéating the chant.
b. She was hóllering the chant.
a. They were fíguring the change.
b. They were forgétting the change.
a. The baby was recognízing the mother.
b. The baby was wrécking everything.
a. They were décorating the room.
b. They were demánding more time off.

Say exactly how the pattern for attaching the a‐ prefix works. Be sure to include the three different details from your examination of the examples in Lists A, B, and C.

In List D, say which of the sentences may take an a‐ prefix. Use your understanding of the rule to explain why the ‐ing form may or may not take the a‐ prefix.

List D: Applying the a‐ prefix rule

She kept handing me more work.
The team was remémbering the game.
The team won by playing great defense.
The team was playing real hard.
The coach was charming.

1.2 Answers

List A:

1) B, 2) B, 3) A, 4) A, 5) B

The verbs that sound better with the a-prefix are more “verby”; that is, they are action verbs as opposed to gerunds or adjectives.

List B:

1) B, 2) A, 3) B

The a-prefix doesn’t sound as natural after a preposition.

List C:

1) B, 2) B, 3) A, 4) B, 5) A

The -ing word must be an action verb, it must not occur after a preposition, and it must has primary stress on its first syllable.

List D:

1. She kept a-handing me more work.
Yes, because “handing” s a verb, it’s not after a preposition, and it has primary stress on the first syllable.

2. The team was remembering the game.
No, because “remembering” has primary stress is on the second syllable.

3. The team won by playing great defense.
No, because “playing” comes after a preposition.

4. The team was a-playing real hard.
Yes, because “playing” is a verb, it’s not after a preposition, and it has primary stress on the 5. first syllable.

6. The coach was charming.
No, because “charming” is an adjective.

Exercise 1.3

Common popular labels for what we call Standard American English (SAE) or Mainstream American English (MAE) are “correct English,” “proper English,” “good English,” and “grammatical English.”

What do these labels tell us about the public perception of standard dialects in terms of the myths about dialects we discussed above?
What do they say about the ideology that informs the interpretation of dialects in our society?

By language ideology here, we mean ingrained, unquestioned beliefs about the way the world is, the way it should be, and the way it has to be with respect to language.

What implications do these terms have for those dialects that are considered “corrupt,” “bad,” or “ungrammatical” versions of the standard?

1.3 Answers

“Proper” connotes higher status, and/or correctness or appropriateness. This insinuates that Standard English is appropriate all the time; furthermore it insinuates, thus, that nonstandard dialects are corrupt/broken, or deficient versions of English that are inappropriate in any use.

“Good” connotes a value judgment, as if to say that some dialects are bad – or moreover, that the speakers of those dialects are bad.

“Grammatical” insinuates that standard is synonymous with grammaticality, and thus that nonstandard dialects are ungrammatical – or random, lacking rules.

Exercise 1.4

There are a couple of levels of standards that seem to be noticeable to people when they listen to speech. We don’t usually comment on MAE, but we may comment on a person’s speech if it is not considered standard. It is, however, possible to call attention to speech because it sounds too formal or “proper.” Forms that are too standard for everyday conversation are sometimes referred to as HYPERSTANDARD ENGLISH.

In the following sets of sentences, identify which sentences you would characterize as (1) vernacular or “nonstandard” English, (2) Informal Standard English or MAE, and (3) hyperstandard English. What forms in the sentences are responsible for your assessments? Are there any sentences you’re not sure about? Why?

a. He’s not as smart as I.
b. He’s not so smart as I.
c. He ain’t as smart as me.
d. He not as smart as me.
a. He’s not to do that.
b. He not supposed to do that.
c. He don’t supposed to do that.
d. He’s not supposed to do that.
a. I’m right, ain’t I?
b. I’m right, aren’t I?
c. I’m right, am I not?
d. I’m right, isn’t I?
a. If I was going to do that, I would start right now.
b. If I were going to do that, I would start right now.
c. Were I to do that, I would start right now.
d. I would start right now, if I was going to do that.
a. A person should not change her speech.
b. One should not change one’s speech.
c. A person should not change their speech.
d. A person should not change his or her speech.

Why do people sometimes comment about other people’s speech because it sounds too proper?

1.4 Answers

1. A) 3, B) 3, C) 1, D) 1
2. A) 3, B) 1, C) 1, D) 2
3. A) 1, B) 2, C) 3, D) 1
4. A) 2, B) 3, C) 3, D) 2
5. A) 2, B) 3, C) 2, D) 3

Some people comment on speech that is “too proper” because they believe that the speaker is acting higher status/class/education than they are (i.e. acting “above their raisings”). Others comment on speech that is too proper when they expect the speaker to be more vernacular, for example when many commented during the 2008 presidential race that Barack Obama was surprisingly “articulate while Black” (cf. Alim & Smitherman 2009).

Exercise 1.5

Linguistic profiling involves using vocal cues to identify the probable ethnic or other social affiliation of a person (often over the telephone). Such profiling, with potential subsequent discrimination against those profiled as belonging to the “wrong” ethnic or social group, can happen in many contexts, including in employment, housing, and criminal justice. It is estimated that between two and four million cases annually of linguistic discrimination related to housing (between 6000 and 15,000 cases per day) take place in the United States, a violation of the Fair Housing Act: Sec. 804. [42 U.S.C. 3604 b] that states that it is unlawful “[t]o discriminate against any person in the terms, conditions, or privileges of sale or rental of a dwelling, or in the provision of services or facilities in connection therewith, because of race, color, religion, sex, familial status, or national origin.”

Watch the public service announcement about linguistic profiling produced by the Department of Housing and Urban Development, in consultation with sociolinguist John Baugh.

Have you ever experienced or heard about experiences involving linguistic profiling? If so, discuss your observations.

What kinds of differences in profiling might occur when people hear voices they judge to belong to non-native speakers of English versus native speakers of vernacular dialects of English?