Sara Zahler | UAlbany - Academia.edu (original) (raw)

Papers by Sara Zahler

Research paper thumbnail of Pragmalinguistic Variation in Electronic Personal Ads from Mexico City and London

The goal of the current study is to analyze variation in the description of one's desired partner... more The goal of the current study is to analyze variation in the description of one's desired partner in electronic personal advertisements across two varieties: Mexico City Spanish and London English. Variation in the " seeks " component of the typical schemata " X seeks Y for Z " (Shalom 1997, p. 190) is operationalized in terms of its lexico-grammatical variation. The distribution of the different constructions employed to express the " seeks " portion of the personal advertisement was then observed across the social variables of sex and orientation. Results indicate that despite overall linguistic similarities between the two languages, social patterning of variation differed. The canonical variant was employed more often in personal ads directed toward men in Mexico City Spanish, while it was used more frequently in ads directed toward women in London. Additionally, same sex orientations were more likely not to include the partner description in London ads, while this difference was not observed in Mexico City personals. These results indicate that the variants have acquired different social meanings in the two languages and cultures. Results are discussed in terms of cultural and functional differences in personal ads between the two communities.

Research paper thumbnail of Zahler, S. & Daidone, D. (2014). A variationist account of trill /r/ usage in the Spanish of Málaga. Indiana University Linguistics Club Working Papers, 14, 17-42.

This study analyzed trill variation in the Spanish of Málaga, Spain, and the factors that conditi... more This study analyzed trill variation in the Spanish of Málaga, Spain, and the factors that conditioned this variation. Data from twelve sociolinguistic interviews with men and women of different ages were analyzed acoustically with Praat and classified as the canonical trill or a different variant. Each token was then coded according to the following linguistic and extralinguistic factors: following vowel backness, position of /r/ in the word, grammatical category, number of syllables, syllable stress, corpus frequency, number of phonological neighbors, speaker age, and speaker sex. Results revealed that stressed syllables and the middle and older age groups favored the canonical trilled variant. Word-medial position and word-initial position after a consonant also favored the trill, while word-initial after a vowel or a pause disfavored the trill. Corpus frequency was negatively correlated with canonical /r/ production, i.e. higher frequency disfavored trills, while number of phonological neighbors was positively correlated, i.e. words with more phonological neighbors favored the trill. These findings suggest that future research should define word position in more detail and also consider corpus frequency and phonological neighborhood as variables. (Available at: https://www.indiana.edu/~iulcwp/wp/article/view/14A-02/136)

Research paper thumbnail of Variable Subject Doubling in Spoken Parisian French

University of Pennsylvania Working Papers in Linguistics, 2014

Subject doubling (SD) has long been a topic of interest for researchers. Numerous quantitative st... more Subject doubling (SD) has long been a topic of interest for researchers. Numerous quantitative studies demonstrate highly variable rates of SD across dialects (e.g. . However, few of the previous studies are variationist in nature, and those that are only examine one or two factors.

Research paper thumbnail of A variationist account of trill /r/ usage in the Spanish of Málaga

Iulc Working Papers, Sep 28, 2014

Research paper thumbnail of The Continuous Path of Grammaticalization in Modern Peninsular Spanish

University of Pennsylvania Working Papers in Linguistics, 2014

Haber + past participle (PP) is an example of a resultative construction that evolved into a perf... more Haber + past participle (PP) is an example of a resultative construction that evolved into a perfect form, known as the present perfect. This form derived from the Latin periphrastic perfect, which was "a possessive construction consisting of transitive habere followed by a direct object and agreeing past passive participle" (Lopez-Couso &

Research paper thumbnail of Daidone, D. & Zahler, S. (2016). The future is in the past: A diachronic analysis of variable future-in-the-past expression in Spanish. In A. Cuza, L. Czerwionka, & D. Olson (Eds.), Inquiries in Hispanic linguistics: From theory to empirical evidence (pp. 317-334). Philadelphia, PA: John Benjamins.

This study examines variation in Spanish future-in-the-past expression across six centuries in or... more This study examines variation in Spanish future-in-the-past expression across six centuries in order to determine if this variation parallels canonical future variation diachronically. Future-in-the-past tokens in the conditional (e.g., iría "would go") and imperfect go-periphrasis (e.g., iba a ir "was going to go") were extracted from two corpora and coded according to factors known to condition the variation between synthetic future (e.g., irá "will go") and periphrastic future (e.g., va a ir "is going to go"). Results indicate a rise in the use of the periphrastic form, analogous to the rise in the use of the periphrastic future. Additionally, most factors previously reported to influence canonical future variation were found to play a comparable role in future-in-the-past variation over time.

Research paper thumbnail of Pragmalinguistic Variation in Electronic Personal Ads from Mexico City and London

The goal of the current study is to analyze variation in the description of one's desired partner... more The goal of the current study is to analyze variation in the description of one's desired partner in electronic personal advertisements across two varieties: Mexico City Spanish and London English. Variation in the " seeks " component of the typical schemata " X seeks Y for Z " (Shalom 1997, p. 190) is operationalized in terms of its lexico-grammatical variation. The distribution of the different constructions employed to express the " seeks " portion of the personal advertisement was then observed across the social variables of sex and orientation. Results indicate that despite overall linguistic similarities between the two languages, social patterning of variation differed. The canonical variant was employed more often in personal ads directed toward men in Mexico City Spanish, while it was used more frequently in ads directed toward women in London. Additionally, same sex orientations were more likely not to include the partner description in London ads, while this difference was not observed in Mexico City personals. These results indicate that the variants have acquired different social meanings in the two languages and cultures. Results are discussed in terms of cultural and functional differences in personal ads between the two communities.

Research paper thumbnail of Zahler, S. & Daidone, D. (2014). A variationist account of trill /r/ usage in the Spanish of Málaga. Indiana University Linguistics Club Working Papers, 14, 17-42.

This study analyzed trill variation in the Spanish of Málaga, Spain, and the factors that conditi... more This study analyzed trill variation in the Spanish of Málaga, Spain, and the factors that conditioned this variation. Data from twelve sociolinguistic interviews with men and women of different ages were analyzed acoustically with Praat and classified as the canonical trill or a different variant. Each token was then coded according to the following linguistic and extralinguistic factors: following vowel backness, position of /r/ in the word, grammatical category, number of syllables, syllable stress, corpus frequency, number of phonological neighbors, speaker age, and speaker sex. Results revealed that stressed syllables and the middle and older age groups favored the canonical trilled variant. Word-medial position and word-initial position after a consonant also favored the trill, while word-initial after a vowel or a pause disfavored the trill. Corpus frequency was negatively correlated with canonical /r/ production, i.e. higher frequency disfavored trills, while number of phonological neighbors was positively correlated, i.e. words with more phonological neighbors favored the trill. These findings suggest that future research should define word position in more detail and also consider corpus frequency and phonological neighborhood as variables. (Available at: https://www.indiana.edu/~iulcwp/wp/article/view/14A-02/136)

Research paper thumbnail of Variable Subject Doubling in Spoken Parisian French

University of Pennsylvania Working Papers in Linguistics, 2014

Subject doubling (SD) has long been a topic of interest for researchers. Numerous quantitative st... more Subject doubling (SD) has long been a topic of interest for researchers. Numerous quantitative studies demonstrate highly variable rates of SD across dialects (e.g. . However, few of the previous studies are variationist in nature, and those that are only examine one or two factors.

Research paper thumbnail of A variationist account of trill /r/ usage in the Spanish of Málaga

Iulc Working Papers, Sep 28, 2014

Research paper thumbnail of The Continuous Path of Grammaticalization in Modern Peninsular Spanish

University of Pennsylvania Working Papers in Linguistics, 2014

Haber + past participle (PP) is an example of a resultative construction that evolved into a perf... more Haber + past participle (PP) is an example of a resultative construction that evolved into a perfect form, known as the present perfect. This form derived from the Latin periphrastic perfect, which was "a possessive construction consisting of transitive habere followed by a direct object and agreeing past passive participle" (Lopez-Couso &

Research paper thumbnail of Daidone, D. & Zahler, S. (2016). The future is in the past: A diachronic analysis of variable future-in-the-past expression in Spanish. In A. Cuza, L. Czerwionka, & D. Olson (Eds.), Inquiries in Hispanic linguistics: From theory to empirical evidence (pp. 317-334). Philadelphia, PA: John Benjamins.

This study examines variation in Spanish future-in-the-past expression across six centuries in or... more This study examines variation in Spanish future-in-the-past expression across six centuries in order to determine if this variation parallels canonical future variation diachronically. Future-in-the-past tokens in the conditional (e.g., iría "would go") and imperfect go-periphrasis (e.g., iba a ir "was going to go") were extracted from two corpora and coded according to factors known to condition the variation between synthetic future (e.g., irá "will go") and periphrastic future (e.g., va a ir "is going to go"). Results indicate a rise in the use of the periphrastic form, analogous to the rise in the use of the periphrastic future. Additionally, most factors previously reported to influence canonical future variation were found to play a comparable role in future-in-the-past variation over time.