Crossroads at the linguistic market: Canadian raising and post-vocalic-R on Mount Desert Island

Abstract

Local identity practices are not as straight-forward as originally predicted (Labov 1972a, 1963). In this thesis, I build on previous work on local identity practices (e.g. Blake and Josey 2003), Josey (2004), Wolfram (1997) in an investigation of local feature maintenance and local identity practice on Mount Desert Island, a tourist-dependent community in Eastern New England. Based on analysis of interviews with 12 native speakers, I find that a local feature, the dropping of post-vocalic-R is moribund in the community. The r-less variant is maintained among older speakers. A gender and age pattern with a capital pattern (Bourdieu 1972, 1986, 1991) was found. I also examine the community’s use of Canadian Raising (Chambers 1973). I find that /aj/ and /aw/raising are introduced to the community with a great range of social variation as found in other communities in the northern US where raising is observed (e.g. Vance 1987, Dailey-O’Cain 1997).