Kirk Hazen focuses his research on variationist sociolinguistics, language variation & change, and dialects of English.
He promotes sociolinguistic goals by presenting dialect diversity programs to numerous communities, including future health professionals, social workers, and service organizations. Hazen also consults with legal counsel as an expert witness on contracts and potential defamation. As director of the West Virginia Dialect Project (dialects.english.wvu.edu), he has secured funding from state and federal sources (NSF & NEH) for linguistic research. Supervisors: Walt Wolfram
Appalachian Englishes in the Twenty-First Century, 2020
https://wvupressonline.com/node/853
Appalachian Englishes in the Twenty-First Century provides a ... more https://wvupressonline.com/node/853 Appalachian Englishes in the Twenty-First Century provides a complete exploration of English in Appalachia for a broad audience of scholars and educators. Starting from the premise that just as there is no single Appalachia, there is no single Appalachian dialect, this essay collection brings together wide-ranging perspectives on language variation in the region. Contributors from the fields of linguistics, education, and folklore debunk myths about the dialect's ancient origins, examine subregional and ethnic differences, and consider the relationships between language and identity-individual and collective-in a variety of settings, including schools. They are attentive to the full range of linguistic expression, from everyday spoken grammar to subversive Dale Earnhardt memes. A portal to the language scholarship of the last thirty years, Appalachian Englishes in the Twenty-First Century translates state-of-the-art research for a nonspecialist audience, while setting the agenda for further study of language in one of America's most recognized regions. Edited by Kirk Hazen September 2020 · 240pp · 6x9in PB 978-1-949199-55-0 · $29.99sp CL 978-1-949199-54-3 · $99.99s eBook 978-1-949199-56-7 · $29.99 5 images · 2 maps · 7 tables
... These are only some of the more curious examples of the all-things-eco credo. Clearly the lex... more ... These are only some of the more curious examples of the all-things-eco credo. Clearly the lexicon has grown richer because of it. Consider these lexical items taken from Sierra Magazine: eco-kosher and eco-theology. Indeed ...
What role does the family have in sociolinguistic variation? What questions should researchers pu... more What role does the family have in sociolinguistic variation? What questions should researchers pursue in examining language variation in the family?
Routledge Handbook of Contemporary English Pronunciation, 2018
With the naturalness and inevitability of language variation, regional pronunciations are part of... more With the naturalness and inevitability of language variation, regional pronunciations are part of every vibrant, living language on Earth. Accents are not something to be eliminated; they are to be celebrated as an integral part of humanity, language, and society. This chapter will explain how standard pronunciations are socially-preferred accents and highlight regional divides in usage in order to illustrate the importance of local pronunciations for differentiating insiders and outsiders. The chapter cannot encompass the totality of the thousands of regional, nonstandard accents of English around the world. Instead, it attempts to illustrate the kinds of current and long-term variation that develop in accents.
Rural Voices: Language, Identity, and Social Change across Place. Christine Mallinson & Lizzy Seale (eds.). Rural Voices: Language, Identity, and Social Change across Place. Washington, DC: Rowman & Littlefield. 75-90. , 2018
Over the last 19 years, the West Virginia Dialect Project (WVDP) has con- ducted sociolinguistic ... more Over the last 19 years, the West Virginia Dialect Project (WVDP) has con- ducted sociolinguistic investigations of English in Appalachia, assessing language variation and the social factors that guide its path. While some sociolinguistic variables are not undergoing change and others show no social marking, several demonstrate divisions between rural and non-rural speakers. Along with geographic region, orientation to higher-education, and social class, rurality guides speakers’ language variation choices. This chapter examines usage of several sociolinguistic variables—ING variation, coronal stop deletion (CSD), leveled was, demonstrative them, and a-prefixing—to demonstrate how Appalachian speech might be viewed as vernacular, as well as changes that are occurring. Language differences are found to mark the dialect regions of Appalachia, but some regional characteristics are also adopted as social markers of rurality. Sociolinguistic diversity for West Virginia speakers demonstrates the possible identity choices that rural Americans have, and the shifting social meanings show how conceptions of rurality are also in flux. How speakers portray themselves, and how outsiders perceive those markers, are part of the complex interplay and evolution of Appalachian identities.
Language Variety in the New South: Change and Variation, Jeffrey Reaser, Eric Wilbanks, Karissa Wojcik, and Walt Wolfram (eds). Chapel Hill, NC: UNC Press. 321-343., 2018
Are linguists ready to exploit significant cultural moments to advance linguistic justice? The Li... more Are linguists ready to exploit significant cultural moments to advance linguistic justice? The Linguistic Society of America (LSA) has created materials to answer people’s questions, including the social justice questions that arise in the increasingly diverse rural and city areas of the New South. Certainly, such information will help the cause of sociolinguistic justice in the New South, where lingering effects of past discrimination and subordination — linguistic and otherwise — continue to affect the lives of established and new minority groups. A fundamental problem in advancing issues related to linguistic social justice is that few people recognize either language as a topic requiring scientific study or linguists as the people who understand and engage in such endeavors. Even fewer people recognize language’s relation to social justice. The challenge is for linguists to employ their expertise to engage society, both for their profession and for linguistic social justice.
Appalachia Revisited Book Subtitle: New Perspectives on Place, Tradition, and Progress. William Schumann and Rebecca Adkins Fletcher, editors. Lexington, KY: University Press of Kentucky. 119–138., 2016
Ain’thology The History and Life of a Taboo Word, 2015
Ain't is an iconic stereotype for rural speakers in the United States, eliciting polarized views ... more Ain't is an iconic stereotype for rural speakers in the United States, eliciting polarized views of social identity, class, and education. In this chapter, Kirk Hazen, Jacqueline Kinnaman, Lily Holz, Madeline Vandevender, and Kevin Walden consider the current linguistic and sociolinguistic features of ain't as it is used in West Virginia. Hazen et al. include an account of the morphology, phonology, and vernacularity of ain't as it applies to this region of Appalachia and discuss possible trends of iconicity that give it the reputation it carries today. Using interviews from the West Virginia Corpus of English in Appalachia-an inventory of native speakers from West Virginia collected over an eight-year period and balanced by age, sex, and region-the authors assessed the usage and frequency of ain't in extemporaneous speech. In addition, a sociolinguistic survey conducted with a variety of native West Virginians enabled them to gauge the attitudes of the participants with regards to the vernacularity of ain't. Hazen et al. find that, while the stigma of ain't continues into the 21st century, ain't persists and will continue to do so as a dynamic, complex shibboleth and identity marker in West Virginia.
The Variability of Current World Englishes. Eugene Green and Charles F. Meyer, editors. Topics in English Linguistics series. New York, NY: Mouton de Gruyter. 41–59., 2014
The chapter is organized around sociolinguistic variables with potentially multiple linguistic in... more The chapter is organized around sociolinguistic variables with potentially multiple linguistic influences. The main point of this chapter is that for any variable investigated, especially morphological variation, the researcher must deter- mine what linguistic factors influence the variation. For the variables examined here, the background research is summarized, a research problem is presented, and then the empirical evidence for arriving at a cogent explanation is set out. Through these different examples of language variation patterns, the relative influence of morphological, phonological, and lexical factors is assessed. The first language variation patterns are copula absence (e.g., She ∅ out late) and past-tense wont2 (e.g., We wont going yesterday) from Warren County, NC (Hazen 2000). Next are the language variation patterns drawn from the work of the West Virginia Dialect Project in Appalachia, including potential linguistic influences on was contraction (e.g., We’s out last night), suffixal -ing (e.g. We were walki[n]), and coronal stop deletion (e.g., past → pas’ ).
A chapter for Ham, R., Gainor, S.J., Jones, R., Durbin, M., Lambert, J., (Eds.), Rural Culture: West Virginia’s Legacy, Morgantown, WV, Mountain State Geriatric Education Center. 49–57., 2006
Cultural competence for medical professionals will improve patient care both in the clinical envi... more Cultural competence for medical professionals will improve patient care both in the clinical environment but also for patients at home. Medical professionals need to understand their patients' language variation patterns in order to provide the best care possible.
African American English is part of Appalachia and varies regionally across the Appalachian range... more African American English is part of Appalachia and varies regionally across the Appalachian range. African American Appalachian English shares some traits with both lowland Southern varieties and other dialects in Appalachia.
The study of language variation in linguistics is a hybrid enterprise. In some respects, it is a ... more The study of language variation in linguistics is a hybrid enterprise. In some respects, it is a branch of sociolinguists, examining the ebb and flow of language in society. In other respects, it is more closely aligned with linguistics, developing explanations and models for complex linguistic systems. From this diverse work, the study of variation is often connected to the communities themselves, and scholars have worked to rectify false perceptions of vernacular dialect varieties.
Appalachian Englishes in the Twenty-First Century, 2020
https://wvupressonline.com/node/853
Appalachian Englishes in the Twenty-First Century provides a ... more https://wvupressonline.com/node/853 Appalachian Englishes in the Twenty-First Century provides a complete exploration of English in Appalachia for a broad audience of scholars and educators. Starting from the premise that just as there is no single Appalachia, there is no single Appalachian dialect, this essay collection brings together wide-ranging perspectives on language variation in the region. Contributors from the fields of linguistics, education, and folklore debunk myths about the dialect's ancient origins, examine subregional and ethnic differences, and consider the relationships between language and identity-individual and collective-in a variety of settings, including schools. They are attentive to the full range of linguistic expression, from everyday spoken grammar to subversive Dale Earnhardt memes. A portal to the language scholarship of the last thirty years, Appalachian Englishes in the Twenty-First Century translates state-of-the-art research for a nonspecialist audience, while setting the agenda for further study of language in one of America's most recognized regions. Edited by Kirk Hazen September 2020 · 240pp · 6x9in PB 978-1-949199-55-0 · $29.99sp CL 978-1-949199-54-3 · $99.99s eBook 978-1-949199-56-7 · $29.99 5 images · 2 maps · 7 tables
... These are only some of the more curious examples of the all-things-eco credo. Clearly the lex... more ... These are only some of the more curious examples of the all-things-eco credo. Clearly the lexicon has grown richer because of it. Consider these lexical items taken from Sierra Magazine: eco-kosher and eco-theology. Indeed ...
What role does the family have in sociolinguistic variation? What questions should researchers pu... more What role does the family have in sociolinguistic variation? What questions should researchers pursue in examining language variation in the family?
Routledge Handbook of Contemporary English Pronunciation, 2018
With the naturalness and inevitability of language variation, regional pronunciations are part of... more With the naturalness and inevitability of language variation, regional pronunciations are part of every vibrant, living language on Earth. Accents are not something to be eliminated; they are to be celebrated as an integral part of humanity, language, and society. This chapter will explain how standard pronunciations are socially-preferred accents and highlight regional divides in usage in order to illustrate the importance of local pronunciations for differentiating insiders and outsiders. The chapter cannot encompass the totality of the thousands of regional, nonstandard accents of English around the world. Instead, it attempts to illustrate the kinds of current and long-term variation that develop in accents.
Rural Voices: Language, Identity, and Social Change across Place. Christine Mallinson & Lizzy Seale (eds.). Rural Voices: Language, Identity, and Social Change across Place. Washington, DC: Rowman & Littlefield. 75-90. , 2018
Over the last 19 years, the West Virginia Dialect Project (WVDP) has con- ducted sociolinguistic ... more Over the last 19 years, the West Virginia Dialect Project (WVDP) has con- ducted sociolinguistic investigations of English in Appalachia, assessing language variation and the social factors that guide its path. While some sociolinguistic variables are not undergoing change and others show no social marking, several demonstrate divisions between rural and non-rural speakers. Along with geographic region, orientation to higher-education, and social class, rurality guides speakers’ language variation choices. This chapter examines usage of several sociolinguistic variables—ING variation, coronal stop deletion (CSD), leveled was, demonstrative them, and a-prefixing—to demonstrate how Appalachian speech might be viewed as vernacular, as well as changes that are occurring. Language differences are found to mark the dialect regions of Appalachia, but some regional characteristics are also adopted as social markers of rurality. Sociolinguistic diversity for West Virginia speakers demonstrates the possible identity choices that rural Americans have, and the shifting social meanings show how conceptions of rurality are also in flux. How speakers portray themselves, and how outsiders perceive those markers, are part of the complex interplay and evolution of Appalachian identities.
Language Variety in the New South: Change and Variation, Jeffrey Reaser, Eric Wilbanks, Karissa Wojcik, and Walt Wolfram (eds). Chapel Hill, NC: UNC Press. 321-343., 2018
Are linguists ready to exploit significant cultural moments to advance linguistic justice? The Li... more Are linguists ready to exploit significant cultural moments to advance linguistic justice? The Linguistic Society of America (LSA) has created materials to answer people’s questions, including the social justice questions that arise in the increasingly diverse rural and city areas of the New South. Certainly, such information will help the cause of sociolinguistic justice in the New South, where lingering effects of past discrimination and subordination — linguistic and otherwise — continue to affect the lives of established and new minority groups. A fundamental problem in advancing issues related to linguistic social justice is that few people recognize either language as a topic requiring scientific study or linguists as the people who understand and engage in such endeavors. Even fewer people recognize language’s relation to social justice. The challenge is for linguists to employ their expertise to engage society, both for their profession and for linguistic social justice.
Appalachia Revisited Book Subtitle: New Perspectives on Place, Tradition, and Progress. William Schumann and Rebecca Adkins Fletcher, editors. Lexington, KY: University Press of Kentucky. 119–138., 2016
Ain’thology The History and Life of a Taboo Word, 2015
Ain't is an iconic stereotype for rural speakers in the United States, eliciting polarized views ... more Ain't is an iconic stereotype for rural speakers in the United States, eliciting polarized views of social identity, class, and education. In this chapter, Kirk Hazen, Jacqueline Kinnaman, Lily Holz, Madeline Vandevender, and Kevin Walden consider the current linguistic and sociolinguistic features of ain't as it is used in West Virginia. Hazen et al. include an account of the morphology, phonology, and vernacularity of ain't as it applies to this region of Appalachia and discuss possible trends of iconicity that give it the reputation it carries today. Using interviews from the West Virginia Corpus of English in Appalachia-an inventory of native speakers from West Virginia collected over an eight-year period and balanced by age, sex, and region-the authors assessed the usage and frequency of ain't in extemporaneous speech. In addition, a sociolinguistic survey conducted with a variety of native West Virginians enabled them to gauge the attitudes of the participants with regards to the vernacularity of ain't. Hazen et al. find that, while the stigma of ain't continues into the 21st century, ain't persists and will continue to do so as a dynamic, complex shibboleth and identity marker in West Virginia.
The Variability of Current World Englishes. Eugene Green and Charles F. Meyer, editors. Topics in English Linguistics series. New York, NY: Mouton de Gruyter. 41–59., 2014
The chapter is organized around sociolinguistic variables with potentially multiple linguistic in... more The chapter is organized around sociolinguistic variables with potentially multiple linguistic influences. The main point of this chapter is that for any variable investigated, especially morphological variation, the researcher must deter- mine what linguistic factors influence the variation. For the variables examined here, the background research is summarized, a research problem is presented, and then the empirical evidence for arriving at a cogent explanation is set out. Through these different examples of language variation patterns, the relative influence of morphological, phonological, and lexical factors is assessed. The first language variation patterns are copula absence (e.g., She ∅ out late) and past-tense wont2 (e.g., We wont going yesterday) from Warren County, NC (Hazen 2000). Next are the language variation patterns drawn from the work of the West Virginia Dialect Project in Appalachia, including potential linguistic influences on was contraction (e.g., We’s out last night), suffixal -ing (e.g. We were walki[n]), and coronal stop deletion (e.g., past → pas’ ).
A chapter for Ham, R., Gainor, S.J., Jones, R., Durbin, M., Lambert, J., (Eds.), Rural Culture: West Virginia’s Legacy, Morgantown, WV, Mountain State Geriatric Education Center. 49–57., 2006
Cultural competence for medical professionals will improve patient care both in the clinical envi... more Cultural competence for medical professionals will improve patient care both in the clinical environment but also for patients at home. Medical professionals need to understand their patients' language variation patterns in order to provide the best care possible.
African American English is part of Appalachia and varies regionally across the Appalachian range... more African American English is part of Appalachia and varies regionally across the Appalachian range. African American Appalachian English shares some traits with both lowland Southern varieties and other dialects in Appalachia.
The study of language variation in linguistics is a hybrid enterprise. In some respects, it is a ... more The study of language variation in linguistics is a hybrid enterprise. In some respects, it is a branch of sociolinguists, examining the ebb and flow of language in society. In other respects, it is more closely aligned with linguistics, developing explanations and models for complex linguistic systems. From this diverse work, the study of variation is often connected to the communities themselves, and scholars have worked to rectify false perceptions of vernacular dialect varieties.
After 50 years of scholarship, variationist methods have been expanded to accomplish a wider dive... more After 50 years of scholarship, variationist methods have been expanded to accomplish a wider diversity of goals, yet early approaches developed from 20th century dialectology and served dialectological goals. After the 1990, the broader field of sociolinguistics began to shift its focus from the correlation of demographic categories with sociolinguistic variables at the level of the speech community to the explanation of social meaning as created by individuals’ use of language variation patterns, designated as a shift to a third wave of sociolinguistics. In this shift, there is less focus on dialects as geographically anchored entities, but there is also an opportunity to foster dialectology to account for individuals’ patterns within dialects. This paper illustrates how the traditional dialectology methods can be used to establish “third wave dialectology”.
ABSTRACT As part of a larger research study, this paper describes calculus students’ reasoning ab... more ABSTRACT As part of a larger research study, this paper describes calculus students’ reasoning about the Intermediate Value Theorem (IVT) in verbal, written, and graphical form. During interviews, students were asked to verbally describe the IVT in their own words. They then provided written descriptions, watched video of their verbal descriptions, and then compared the two. Finally, the students were asked to draw a graph that illustrated the IVT and were asked to discuss how the graph related to their written response. Our goal for this portion of the study was to make students more aware of their own language, to better attend to the precision necessary in mathematical language, and to strengthen their understanding of the IVT through this process. Data indicate that self-editing and attempting to identify discrepancies between mathematical statements can help students to more carefully analyze their own mathematical language and notation. We also saw that student use of notation and understanding of notation are not necessarily related at this level of mathematics.
The nature of language diversity in small, isolated communities is considered by examining a uniq... more The nature of language diversity in small, isolated communities is considered by examining a unique sociolinguistic situation in which a lone African-American family has resided for over 130 years on a small island community located off the Southeastern coast of the United States. The Anglo-American community maintained a distinctive dialect due to their isolation from the mainland United States, while the sole African-American family maintained a variety heavily influenced by African-American Vernacular English. Although some assimilation to the surrounding Anglo-American variety has taken place, a number of salient African-American Vernacular English features are still used by the single African-American resident of the Island. At the same time, the most marked items of the Anglo-American Outer Banks variety have not been assimilated, thus demonstrating the symbolic exclusion of the African-American speaker from the Anglo community despite her life-long residency.
An/A in Appalachia
The word one has extensive entry in the OED which includes the origin of the... more An/A in Appalachia
The word one has extensive entry in the OED which includes the origin of the indefinite determiner pairing an/a. The original form was reduced to just a vowel before consonants (e.g. a sword). The modern allomorphic split resides in the phonological division before vowels (an) and before consonants (a), reminiscent of the birth of the possessive my form OE mīn, where the final nasal was maintained much longer before vowels (e.g. mine eyes have seen the glory). We argue that an/a is headed for the same path of reduction so that future varieties of English would have only a before all phonological environments.
In related research, Roeder (2012: 225) defines Definite Article Reduction (DAR) as “the definite article ‘the’… variably pronounced as either the full form… or as a vowel-less reduced variant.” Following her research and that of Jones (1999), we analyze the following phonological environment since determiners are syntactically attached to the following noun or adjective phrases, the preceding segment is of little importance in the reduction of the article. The following phonological environment for an/a in the speech of 67 native Appalachians was assessed phonologically and acoustically for variability, including pitch, intensity, and glottal pulsing. We also take into account the following syntactic environment (adjective or noun). To supplement this analysis and add a greater range of data, we also provide analysis of an/a patterns from the Corpus of Historical American English (COHA) and local student essays.
The results indicate that although the reduction of an to a in prevowel environments is still an incipient change, certain phonological traits favor it. Most prominent among them are the nasalization of the following vowel (e.g. a anvil), glottalization of the following vowel (e.g. [ə ɂep] a ape), and the rendering of determiner itself as a reduced schwa [ə]. The social trends present in the data are weak, and this variation does not appear to be part of any native’s sociolinguistic awareness of Appalachian speech. The evidence from COHA does indicate that it is a rare occurrence in older writing, but modern student essays show an increasing usage of the fully reduced a in all environments. References: Jones, Mark J. 1999. The Phonology of Definite Article Reduction. Leeds Studies in English 30: 103–121.
Roeder, Rebecca V. 2012. Definite Article Reduction and the Obligatory Contour Principle in York English. Transactions of the Philological Society 110.2: 225-240.
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Books by Kirk Hazen
Appalachian Englishes in the Twenty-First Century provides a complete exploration of English in Appalachia for a broad audience of scholars and educators. Starting from the premise that just as there is no single Appalachia, there is no single Appalachian dialect, this essay collection brings together wide-ranging perspectives on language variation in the region. Contributors from the fields of linguistics, education, and folklore debunk myths about the dialect's ancient origins, examine subregional and ethnic differences, and consider the relationships between language and identity-individual and collective-in a variety of settings, including schools. They are attentive to the full range of linguistic expression, from everyday spoken grammar to subversive Dale Earnhardt memes. A portal to the language scholarship of the last thirty years, Appalachian Englishes in the Twenty-First Century translates state-of-the-art research for a nonspecialist audience, while setting the agenda for further study of language in one of America's most recognized regions. Edited by Kirk Hazen September 2020 · 240pp · 6x9in PB 978-1-949199-55-0 · $29.99sp CL 978-1-949199-54-3 · $99.99s eBook 978-1-949199-56-7 · $29.99 5 images · 2 maps · 7 tables
Papers by Kirk Hazen
discrimination and subordination — linguistic and otherwise — continue to affect the lives of established and new minority groups. A fundamental problem in advancing issues related to linguistic social justice is that few people recognize either language as a topic requiring scientific study or linguists as the people who understand and engage in such endeavors. Even fewer people recognize language’s relation to social justice. The challenge is for linguists to employ their expertise to engage society, both for their profession and for linguistic social justice.
Appalachian Englishes in the Twenty-First Century provides a complete exploration of English in Appalachia for a broad audience of scholars and educators. Starting from the premise that just as there is no single Appalachia, there is no single Appalachian dialect, this essay collection brings together wide-ranging perspectives on language variation in the region. Contributors from the fields of linguistics, education, and folklore debunk myths about the dialect's ancient origins, examine subregional and ethnic differences, and consider the relationships between language and identity-individual and collective-in a variety of settings, including schools. They are attentive to the full range of linguistic expression, from everyday spoken grammar to subversive Dale Earnhardt memes. A portal to the language scholarship of the last thirty years, Appalachian Englishes in the Twenty-First Century translates state-of-the-art research for a nonspecialist audience, while setting the agenda for further study of language in one of America's most recognized regions. Edited by Kirk Hazen September 2020 · 240pp · 6x9in PB 978-1-949199-55-0 · $29.99sp CL 978-1-949199-54-3 · $99.99s eBook 978-1-949199-56-7 · $29.99 5 images · 2 maps · 7 tables
discrimination and subordination — linguistic and otherwise — continue to affect the lives of established and new minority groups. A fundamental problem in advancing issues related to linguistic social justice is that few people recognize either language as a topic requiring scientific study or linguists as the people who understand and engage in such endeavors. Even fewer people recognize language’s relation to social justice. The challenge is for linguists to employ their expertise to engage society, both for their profession and for linguistic social justice.
The word one has extensive entry in the OED which includes the origin of the indefinite determiner pairing an/a. The original form was reduced to just a vowel before consonants (e.g. a sword). The modern allomorphic split resides in the phonological division before vowels (an) and before consonants (a), reminiscent of the birth of the possessive my form OE mīn, where the final nasal was maintained much longer before vowels (e.g. mine eyes have seen the glory). We argue that an/a is headed for the same path of reduction so that future varieties of English would have only a before all phonological environments.
In related research, Roeder (2012: 225) defines Definite Article Reduction (DAR) as “the definite article ‘the’… variably pronounced as either the full form… or as a vowel-less reduced variant.” Following her research and that of Jones (1999), we analyze the following phonological environment since determiners are syntactically attached to the following noun or adjective phrases, the preceding segment is of little importance in the reduction of the article. The following phonological environment for an/a in the speech of 67 native Appalachians was assessed phonologically and acoustically for variability, including pitch, intensity, and glottal pulsing. We also take into account the following syntactic environment (adjective or noun). To supplement this analysis and add a greater range of data, we also provide analysis of an/a patterns from the Corpus of Historical American English (COHA) and local student essays.
The results indicate that although the reduction of an to a in prevowel environments is still an incipient change, certain phonological traits favor it. Most prominent among them are the nasalization of the following vowel (e.g. a anvil), glottalization of the following vowel (e.g. [ə ɂep] a ape), and the rendering of determiner itself as a reduced schwa [ə]. The social trends present in the data are weak, and this variation does not appear to be part of any native’s sociolinguistic awareness of Appalachian speech. The evidence from COHA does indicate that it is a rare occurrence in older writing, but modern student essays show an increasing usage of the fully reduced a in all environments.
References:
Jones, Mark J. 1999. The Phonology of Definite Article Reduction. Leeds Studies in English 30: 103–121.
Roeder, Rebecca V. 2012. Definite Article Reduction and the Obligatory Contour Principle in York English. Transactions of the Philological Society 110.2: 225-240.