Ashlee Dauphinais | University of Nebraska at Omaha (original) (raw)

Papers by Ashlee Dauphinais

Journal of Sociolinguistics, 2024

This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial ... more This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited and is not used for commercial purposes.

Language in Society, 2024

Despite the significance of intersex constituencies for explaining the social nature of sex and g... more Despite the significance of intersex constituencies for explaining the social nature of sex and gender, intersex linguistic and social practices remain a yet unexplored frontier within sociolinguistics. This article examines fundamental frequency (F0) and vowel formant (F1-F3) production by participants with Turner Syndrome (TS), one of the most common intersex chromosomal conditions, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. This analysis demonstrates significant differences in fundamental frequency and F3 among different participant groups. I argue that height, growth hormone, and chromosomes are fundamental in constructing womanhood for TS women. Along with relevant ethnographic data, these results call for a re-examination of the body within linguistic and anthropological understandings of 'womanhood' and 'femaleness'. This article highlights the ways these biological factors intersect with gendered perceptions of age and maturity, which can have real-world effects on linguistic practice and the social life of intersex individuals. (Brazilian Portuguese, fundamental frequency, gender, intersex, Turner Syndrome, vowel formants, critical intersex studies)* I N T R O D U C T I O N Much foundational work in sociophonetics has focused on the place of the 'female' and 'male' voice as it relates to the interplay between the biological and the social. Although the physical body and human sexual dimorphism have been cited as the underlying explanation for gendered linguistic practices, much scholarship, including observations of pitch differences and gendered speech across multiple language families, has demonstrated that purely biological explanations cannot account for the full range of gendered linguistic behavior (Sachs 1975; Simpson 2009; Zimman 2017). Recent research in embodied sociolinguistics and queer linguistics on gender non-normativity in the voice has challenged some of these assumptions about the source of such differences (Calder 2020; Zimman 2020). This coincides with a movement in sociocultural linguistics that has begun to examine the role of the body beyond the voice, bringing us to examine language as not just the voice and speech stream itself, but as part of a larger, embodied semiotic system.

This research presents an analysis of the distribution of subject pronouns and subject-verb word ... more This research presents an analysis of the distribution of subject pronouns and subject-verb word order (chapter 6). In contrast with the corpus-based study presented by Alfaraz and the work with Cubans in New York presented by Erker and colleagues, Ortiz, Dauphinais, and Aponte Alequín analyze data collected in Havana using acceptability judgment questionnaires and semi-spontaneous data. The results show that semantic-pragmatic variables have the greatest effect on pronoun realization and word order.

Spanish has been traditionally classified by grammatical descriptions as a language with free var... more Spanish has been traditionally classified by grammatical descriptions as a language with free variation in terms of Subject-Verb order (SV versus VS), with certain syntactic-semantic and syntactic-pragmatic restrictions governing each order. This supposed free variation appears to be facing resistance in Caribbean Spanish, since available data have demonstrated a tendency towards a more fixed SV order. However, this property has been less researched compared to other properties of the Null Subject Parameter (NSP) (Ortiz-López 2010; Otheguy & Zentella 2012). For this study, 2968 tokens from a corpus recorded in Cuba were coded according to different factors (subject type, NP complexity, unaccusativity), preferring SV order in 91% of the analyzed cases, while there is a sharp distinction between behavior in pronominal versus nominal NP, the unaccusative/unergative distinction was not a significant factor. Little variation was found in cases of subject pronouns and simple or less-heavy noun phrases, evidencing an almost fixed SV order. The results evidence a different typology within the NSP in Cuban Spanish (and possibly Caribbean Spanish), challenging many previous proposals for Spanish, leaving space for typological debate.

This paper analyzes the role and impact of a radio campaign about language among a sample of Puer... more This paper analyzes the role and impact of a radio campaign about language among a sample of Puerto Ricans living on the Island through semi-structured interviews in which they discussed both the campaign and issues relevant to the legitimation of a uniquely Puerto Rican Spanish.

Conference Presentations by Ashlee Dauphinais

Recent advances in phonetic analysis have led researchers to re-examine sounds that were previous... more Recent advances in phonetic analysis have led researchers to re-examine sounds that were previously assumed to be contextually neutralized or merged into a single pronunciation in Puerto Rican Spanish (Beaton, 2015; Simonet et al., 2008). Previous research alludes to a variety of non-lateralized liquid consonants, specifically a bunched /ɾ/ and retroflex /ɾ/ in the speech of young Puerto Rican speakers (Beaton, 2015; Delgado-Díaz & Galarza, 2014; Simonet et al., 2008). Little is understood about the acoustic properties of these non-neutralized sounds in Puerto Rican Spanish (henceforth PRS) as studies on coda liquids in this dialect have focused on lateralization and neutralization with /l/, such as in minimal pairs arma (‘weapon’) and alma (‘soul’). Laboratory context and relationship with researcher have been cited as possible factors that influence coda liquid production in PRS due to the stigmatized nature of this phenomenon (Luna, 2010; Simonet et al., 2008).
The present work uses recordings of informal sociolinguistic interviews and a sentence creation task of 22 Puerto Ricans in San Juan between the ages of 18 and 35 collected in 2017. From these, a total of 1,138 tokens of coda vowel + liquid segments were extracted and measured over 5 timepoints in the and categorized across to seven perceptual categories (bunched /r/, retroflex /r/, lateral /l/, trill /r/, tap /r/, vocalized, and deletion). This study examines duration and formant structure (F1, F2, F3, F4) of these coda rhotics and laterals to determine the acoustic properties of these previously-considered “neutralized” sounds. The conditionings of various factors (task, orthography, word position, stress, vowel, preceding and following consonants, and gender) were analyzed and subjected to mixed-effect linear regression in R. The findings of the analysis show that across both orthographic and contexts, bunched (36% of tokens) and retroflex (18% of tokens) variants are frequent sounds in coda position, and there is robust evidence to show that they differ significantly from each other in duration and F3. The lateral /l/ is also distinguished from the bunched and retroflex /r/s in terms of duration and F4. Coda liquid production was also conditioned by task, with retroflex /r/ more present in the informal interview (80% of tokens) in comparison with the sentence task (20%), suggesting possible methodological complications in previous studies due to the laboratory setting and formal nature of the experiments. Significant factor groups included perceptual category (lateral, retroflex, bunched), task (interview vs. task), and following sound (in the case of duration). These results challenge previous studies on PRS leaving room for debate on incomplete neutralization and near mergers and is conditioned by linguistic and social factors, including orientation towards the United States and sound-symbolic connections with American English rhotics.

How are semantic roles used in the media to naturalize the place of diverse social actors and con... more How are semantic roles used in the media to naturalize the place of diverse social actors and construct a hierarchy in US-Cuba relations? Through a study of the interactions between linguistic structures and socio-political hierarchies, I draw connections between agency, the property of entities to have some control over their own behavior, whose actions in the world affect the actions of other entities, and the grammatical encoding of semantic agentivity, i.e. having the semantic role of agent. (Duranti, 1994; Hill & Mannheim, 1992).
Recurring patterns in the mapping of semantic roles are known to create causal relationships between entities and actions, and serve as a powerful tool for constructing the world (Fowler, 1991). The hierarchical ordering of roles predicts which role a given entity will occupy in certain syntactic positions (subject, direct object, etc.), given that they are organized according to general semantic principles (Fillmore, 1968). Previous literature has shown that the remapping of semantic roles leads to the naturalization of certain discourses such as gentrification (Modan & Wells, 2015), rape and sexual assault (Erlich, 2001; Henley et al, 1995), and others. In the case of US-Cuba relations, the naturalization of semantic mappings reflects real world agency and power inequalities.
Media in the US, Miami, and Cuba have given increased attention to US-Cuba relations since changes enacted by President Obama in 2014, when he announced an opening of relations with the Cuban government. Using the framework of Critical Discourse Analysis (van Dijk, 1993), I examine social actors and the semantic roles they occupy in representations of bilateral relations between Cuba and the US in mainstream press articles. To understand discourse about US-Cuba relations, I collected relevant articles from three US newspapers, two Miami newspapers, and two Cuban newspapers discussing recent changes in policy toward Cuba. I identified five key participants: (1) Cuba and the Cuban government, (2) the Cuban people, (3) the US and the US government, (4) US citizens, and (5) US businesses. I coded each mention, reference, and description of each of these participant groups, then analyzed common themes and recurring grammatical patterns across newspapers.
My analysis revealed asymmetries in the semantic roles occupied by different participants in the sociopolitical sphere. In the US newspapers, the US government and US business were overwhelmingly mapped to Agent roles, while Cubans were mostly found in Experiencer and Patient roles. In Cuban newspapers, there were fewer asymmetries between participants: US and Cuban governments, as well as US and Cuban citizens, were assigned equal distributions of semantic roles.
My findings show how Cubans and Cuban-American relations are constructed in the media, by illuminating power structures encoded in language meant for broader consumption. My results reflect political and historical dynamics and policies enacted between the two nations, which have had substantial consequences for the Cuban people over the past several decades. More generally, these results highlight the importance of semantic role analysis in denaturalizing dominant discourses and highlighting alternate framings found in different media sources.

En español y en otras lenguas, existe cierta "variación libre" entre el orden sujeto-verbo (SV)... more En español y en otras lenguas, existe cierta "variación libre" entre el orden sujeto-verbo (SV) y verbo-sujeto (VS). Se ha propuesto que el orden responde tanto a restricciones sintáctico-semánticas (hipótesis inacusativa) como sintáctico-pragmáticas (hipótesis focal) (Perlmutter, 1978; Burzio, 1981, 1986; Levin & Rappaport-Hovav, 1995; Cardinaletti, 1997; Bullock & Toribio, 2007; Bosque & Gutiérrez-Rexach, 2008; Sorace, 2011). Esta supuesta variación libre del español parece encontrar resistencia en el español caribeño (EC), pues se ha observado que esta zona presenta una tendencia hacia un orden SV más fijo (1b, 2b) en comparación con los dialectos del español no-caribeños (EnC) (1a, 2a) (Suñer, 1983; Toribio, 1994; Morales, 1999; Ordóñez y Olarrea, 2006; Ortiz López, 2010; Camacho 2011, 2012, 2013; Dauphinais & Ortiz López, 2013). De corroborarse estas observaciones, el EC violaría ciertas restricciones semánticas y discursivas, y, como consecuencia, estaría distanciándose del resto del español y asociándose a lenguas como el inglés, el francés, entre otras. No se puede afirmar con certeza este cambio tipológico, pues esta propiedad ha sido poco explorada frente a otras propiedades del parámetro de sujeto nulo (PSN) (Otheguy & Zentella, 2012). Los datos que se manejan son principalmente sincrónicos y cualitativos, y responden a cuestionarios sobre juicios de aceptabilidad y a evidencia cuantitativa de ciertas zonas del EC. No existen datos provenientes del español cubano de la Isla en cuanto a esta y a otras propiedades del PSN, que sustenten una tipología distinta.
El presente trabajo se propone aportar hallazgos naturales contundentes sobre el orden de palabras en el español hablado en Cuba que contribuyan al debate del PSN. Específicamente, en este estudio se investigan tanto los factores lingüísticos (tipo de sujeto, tipo de cláusula, clase léxica del verbo, etc.) como sociales (nivel de instrucción, sexo, y edad) que inciden en el orden SV (1b, 2b) y VS (1a, 2a) en el español cubano desde una perspectiva variacionista y tipológica (Tagliamonte, 2012). Para este estudio, se realizó un trabajo de campo in situ en Cuba durante 2013-2014. Siguiendo la entrevista sociolingüística semi-espontánea, se grabaron a 44 hablantes de tres zonas geolectales de Cuba, distribuidos según el nivel de instrucción, el sexo, y la edad. Para el análisis, se tomaron en cuenta todos los entornos oracionales con sujeto pronominal o nominal presente, y con el auxilio de Goldvarb Lion for Macintosh, se correlacionó el orden oracional con las variables lingüísticas: tipo de sujeto, nivel de empotramiento del sintagma nominal, estructura sintáctica de la oración, clase léxica del verbo, y los factores sociales ya mencionados. Luego, se compararon los datos de los cubanos con otros resultados naturales de República Dominicana, Puerto Rico, y Barranquilla (Colombia) (Dauphinais & Ortiz López, 2013). Los hallazgos de este estudio prueban contundentemente que el español cubano prefiere el orden SV en el 92% de los casos, independientemente del tipo de sujeto, pero con un peso significativo mayor con formas pronominales. Asimismo, ni el tipo de cláusula, ni la clase semántica del verbo condicionan el orden SV, pronominal. Por ende, este dialecto parece no exhibir la variación SV/VS, en los casos pronominales y nominales simples, ni sigue las restricciones semánticas y pragmáticas que supuestamente la condicionan. Según los pesos estadísticos, este comportamiento en favor del SV tampoco lo altera ninguno de los factores sociales puestos a prueba (zona dialectal, nivel de instrucción, sexo, y edad). Estos resultados demuestran que en el español cubano, y también en el resto del EC, (Ortiz López, 2010; Dauphinais & Ortiz López, 2013; Comínguez, en progreso), los pronombres de sujeto y el ordenamiento de palabras han perdido funciones discursivas de tipo peso informacional, foco y contraste (Sorace, 2003, 2005, 2011) y semánticas, por ejemplo la no-distinción de la clase léxica del verbo (hipótesis inacusativa, Burzio, 1986; Levin/Rappaport-Hovav, 1995). Se prueba empíricamente que estas variedades antillanas y también la continental caribeña (Barranquilla), evidencian una tipología distinta al español general en esta y otras varias propiedades del PSN (Otheguy & Zentella, 2012; Camacho 2012, 2013), lo cual reta muchas de las propuestas sintácticas para el español (Suñer, 1994; Ordóñez & Olarrea, 2006; Gooddall, 2008), y abre el espacio para el debate tipológico y las explicaciones genéticas.
Ejemplos:
1. (a) ¿Dónde vives (Ø/ tú)? (EnC)
(b) ¿Dónde tú vives?? (EC)
2. (a) Llegó Juan de viaje. (EnC)
(b) Juan llegó de viaje . (EC)

Theses & Dissertations by Ashlee Dauphinais

En español, y en otras lenguas, existe cierta "variación libre" entre el orden sujeto-verbo (SV... more En español, y en otras lenguas, existe cierta "variación libre" entre el orden sujeto-verbo (SV) y verbo-sujeto (VS). Se ha propuesto que el orden responde tanto a restricciones sintáctico-semánticas (hipótesis inacusativa) como sintáctico-pragmáticas (hipótesis focal) (Bosque & Gutiérrez-Rexach, 2009; Bullock & Toribio, 2008; Burzio, 1981, 1986; Cardinaletti, 1997; Levin & Rappaport-Hovav, 1995; Perlmutter, 1978; Sorace, 2011). Esta supuesta "variación libre" del español parece encontrar resistencia en el español caribeño (EC), pues se ha observado que esta zona presenta una tendencia hacia un orden SV más fijo (1b, 2b) en comparación con los dialectos del español no-caribeños (EnC) (1a, 2a) (Camacho 2011, 2012, 2013; Dauphinais & Ortiz López, 2013; Morales, 1999; Ordóñez & Olarrea, 2006; Ortiz López, 2010; Suñer, 1983; Toribio, 1994). De corroborarse estas observaciones, el EC violaría ciertas restricciones semánticas y discursivas y, como consecuencia, se estaría distanciando de las descripciones tipológicas del español como lengua. Su estructura, en lo que respecta al SV, parecería a lenguas como el inglés, el francés, los criollos, entre otras. No se puede afirmar con certeza este cambio tipológico, pues esta propiedad no ha sido explorada diacrónicamente, y los datos sincrónicos que se manejan son escasos, frente a otras propiedades del parámetro de sujeto nulo (PSN) (Otheguy & Zentella, 2012). Los resultados hasta la fecha son principalmente sincrónicos y cualitativos, y responden a cuestionarios sobre juicios de aceptabilidad o a evidencia cuantitativa de ciertas zonas del EC. No existen datos provenientes del español cubano de la Isla en cuanto a esta y a otras propiedades del PSN, que prueben la estructura preferida, y si se trata de una tipología distinta.
El presente trabajo aporta hallazgos naturales contundentes sobre el orden de palabras en el español hablado en Cuba que abonan al debate del PSN. Específicamente, en este estudio se investigaron tanto factores lingüísticos (el tipo de sujeto, el tipo de cláusula, la clase léxica del verbo, la función de foco, etc.), como sociales (nivel de instrucción, sexo y género) que inciden en el orden SV (1a, 2a) vs. VS (1b, 2b): (1a). ¿Dónde tú vives? ; (2b). Juan llegó de viaje. vs. 2a. ¿Dónde vives (Ø/ tú)? y (2b). Llegó Juan de viaje.) En el español cubano desde una perspectiva variacionista y de interfaces (Tagliamonte, 2012). Para este estudio, se realizó un trabajo de campo in situ en Cuba durante 2013-2014. Siguiendo la entrevista sociolingüística semi-espontánea, se grabaron a 44 hablantes de tres zonas geolectales de Cuba, distribuidos según el nivel de instrucción, el género, y la edad. Asimismo, se administró un cuestionario sobre 25 juicios de aceptabilidad en torno al orden SV/VS. Para el análisis, se tomaron en cuenta todos los entornos oracionales con sujeto pronominal o nominal presente, y con el auxilio de Rbrul, se correlacionó el orden oracional SV/VS con las variables lingüísticas: tipo de sujeto, nivel de empotramiento del sintagma nominal, estructura sintáctica de la oración, clase léxica del verbo, etc. y los factores sociales ya mencionados. Luego, se compararon los hallazgos de los 44 cubanos con otros resultados naturales de hablantes de República Dominicana, Puerto Rico y Barranquilla (Colombia) (Dauphinais & Ortiz López, 2013). Los hallazgos de este estudio prueban contundentemente que el español cubano prefiere y acepta el orden SV en más del 90% de los casos, independientemente del tipo de sujeto, pero con un peso significativo mayor con formas pronominales. Asimismo, ni el tipo de cláusula, ni la clase semántica del verbo condicionaron el orden SV de manera significativa. Por ende, este dialecto, y los dialectos del EC, exhibe el orden SV con sujetos pronominales y nominales simples, en violación a las supuestas restricciones semánticas y pragmáticas que condicionan la sintaxis del español. Según los pesos estadísticos, este comportamiento en favor del SV tampoco se ve alterado por los factores sociales puestos a prueba (zona dialectal, nivel de instrucción, sexo, y edad). Estos resultados demuestran que en el español cubano, y también en el resto del EC, (Comínguez, 2013; Dauphinais & Ortiz López, 2013; Ortiz López, 2010), los pronombres de sujeto y el ordenamiento de palabras han perdido funciones discursivas de tipo peso informacional, foco y contraste (Sorace, 2003, 2005, 2011) y semánticas, como la no- distinción de la clase léxica del verbo (hipótesis inacusativa: Burzio, 1986; Levin & Rappaport-Hovav, 1995). Los resultados de esta investigación prueban empíricamente que estas variedades antillanas, y también la continental caribeña (Barranquilla), evidencian una tipología distinta del español general en esta y otras varias propiedades del PSN (Otheguy & Zentella, 2012; Camacho 2012, 2013), lo cual reta muchas de las propuestas sintácticas para el español (Suñer, 1994; Ordóñez & Olarrea, 2006; Gooddall, 2008), al poner en entredicho el binarismo de las propiedades del PSN y la tipología del español como lengua. Este estudio valida la microvariación dialectal dentro del modelo de interfaces.

Journal of Sociolinguistics, 2024

Language in Society, 2024