Brooklynese in N.O.

[Arnold M. Zwicky]

On Sep 13, 2005, at 8:06 PM, Grant Barrett wrote:

> "Perhaps most noticeable of all is the common Brooklynese spoken by
> most New Orleanians as a result of Brooklyn middle school teachers
> being imported to New Orleans over a hundred years ago to help
> educate New Orleans children."
>
> http://www.americandaily.com/article/9095
>
> Comments?

ordinary people are very reluctant to admit the possibility of
coincidence, even when the events in question are ones that have a
modest probability of occurring on their own.  this is especially
true in situations where estimating the probability of some
occurrence requires specialized knowledge -- as in the case of
phonetic changes (like the ones involved in yielding what is
conventionally represented as "boid" from an r-less pronunciation of
"bird"), where ordinary people have no way of judging phonetic
naturalness, and can only go on their impression that certain
pronunciations are remarkable.

when "the same" event happens on two different occasions, some
explanation is then called for.  this explanation can be common cause
(i have been asked whether Brooklyn and New Orleans were settled by
the same people, and also whether there's something about life in
Brooklyn and New Orleans -- the weather, maybe, or the flatness of
the landscape, or working-class life -- that would trigger the same
changes) or it can be one event causing the other (as in this tale
about Brooklyn teachers being imported to New Orleans and carrying
their pronunciations from one place to the other).

from the point of view of ordinary people, chance resemblance --
coincidence -- is the *least* likely account.  everything happens for
a reason.  there's a meaning for every event.

so when a linguist tells them that "bird" >> "boid" (both actuation
and spread) is just one of those events that has some small chance of
happening at any time, ordinary people are profoundly unsatisfied:
that's not an explanation, just a profession of ignorance.  show us
the real meaning!  give us the reason!

this profound suspicion of chance is only too familiar, of course.
note the widespread antipathy to the central ideas of Darwinian
evolution, and the wrenching of some of these ideas into teleological
terms (giraffes have long necks *so that* they  can eat leaves high
up on trees).

arnold (zwicky at csli.stanford.edu)