The social and linguistic conditioning of back vowel fronting across ethnic groups in Memphis, Tennessee

Abstract

While a number of recent studies have documented the back vowel changes affecting White varieties nationally, few studies have examined back vowel fronting in non-Anglo dialects or compared the social and linguistic commonalties and contrasts in the progress of the shift and the vowel classes affected. The present study explores how ethnic and regional alignment affects the dispersion of fronting in three key back vowel classes, the BOOT, BOOK, and BOAT classes. Using instrumental acoustic measurement of relevant vowel classes, this article will examine both the social and linguistic conditioning governing the fronting of these classes in White and Black speakers in Memphis, TN, looking at these results in light of those found by Anderson, Milroy & Nguyen (2002), Ash (1996), and Labov (1994) elsewhere in the US.