Research

My doctoral research has been a study of register variation in Dagbani employing the multidimensional (MD) analysis approach of Douglas Biber (1988). MD analysis involves the systematic tagging of a large corpus of (generally) naturally occurring text for a variety of linguistic features and conducting factor analysis based on the frequency of targeted linguistics variables. Factor analysis is used to identify clusters of frequently co-occurring variables, which are then interpreted as potentially explanatory “dimensions” of variation such as “Narrative versus Nonnarrative” or “Planned versus Unplanned.” Since its introduction in 1986, MD Analysis has gained popularity as a tool for corpus linguistic studies, however, it has largely only been applied to English-language data. My research contributes to the growing body of MD studies in other languages (Besnier, 1988; Biber, 1988; Biber et al., 2006; Biber & Hared, 1994; Kim & Biber, 1994). Thus far, MD analysis of register variation in Dagbani has largely corroborated the results of previous studies, finding what are arguably universal dimensions of variation (narrative, integrated, online versus planned, and interpersonal).

Experimental data collection and the linguistic differences between speech and writing.

Another component of my doctoral research has employed experimental data collection. My interest in register variation stems from an initial interest in the differences between speech and writing. Many insights in the field of register variation have come as a result of recognition that intuitive notions of categorical differences between speech and writing are largely due to the association of the two media of communication with stereotypical genres—generally conversation for spoken texts and technical or creative writing for written texts.  Hence, any conclusion about the differences between these sets of texts could equally be attributed to degree of planning, degree of formality, etc., and not medium of communication. In an attempt to reduce the number of additional contextual variables, I collected a modest corpus of written and spoken narratives from the same speakers. The narratives were based on the viewing of the same film (inspired by the Pear Stories (Chafe, 1979). Furthermore, for a portion of the participants, I also arranged to collect two different types of narrative (the film narrative and a personal narrative for which the prompting was inspired by Labov & Waletzky’s (1967) famous “danger of death” question for sociolinguistic narrative collection) and to collect a second written narrative and arrange a second recording for which the participants could take time to prepare their thoughts. (early aspects of this work also presented at WOCAL4)

African languages and linguistics.

I also have a general areal interest in African languages. My minor during PhD studies at Indiana University was in African studies and I completed a special concentration in African Languages & Linguistics offered through the IU Linguistics Department. In addition to obtaining advanced proficiency in the focal language of my doctoral dissertation, Dagbani (Niger-Congo, Gur), I have also studied Twi (Akan (Niger-Congo, Kwa)) and Kiswahili (Niger-Congo) to an advanced level during my studies at IU, writing seminar papers on hesitation phenomena in Twi and the reciprocal morpheme in Kiswahili. I worked on Tigrinya (Afro-Asiatic, Ethiopian) in our Field Methods course, applying data to papers on the acoustic properties of ejectives and the discursive strategies for conveying “adverbial” information in Tigrinya. As a research assistant for Professor Samuel Obeng, I have assisted in descriptive works on Efutu (Niger-Congo, Kwa) and Oku (Niger-Congo, Grassfields). I have also assisted Professor Paul Newman with research on and documentation of Hausa (Afro-Asiatic, Chadic).

Oral traditions.

As a broad-based methodology, the MD approach is presented as a means of painting a general picture of register variation for a given language—although the method can also be applied to a subset of genres (e.g., separating written from spoken texts) to further analyze the linguistic patterns shared between the texts and subgenres involved. In future research, I will focus on specific discursive features, specific genres, and specific dimensions of variations that emerge from MD analysis as particularly interesting foci for linguistic inquiry. For example, Dagbani, like most indigenous languages of Africa, has a rich oral heritage. These oral traditions offer a useful perspective for disambiguating the role the association of planned discourse with written genres. The oral texts are stored, transmitted, and performed verbally, but they are also to be considered a highly planned and systematically structured form of discourse. I will pursue more qualitative work involving text analysis and ethnographic methods. (work presented, e.g., at LSA 2008)

Left dislocation, discourse analysis.

Within the MD analysis of Dagbani I highlight left dislocation (LD) as a discursive feature targeted in the study. An example from the Dagbani corpus is provided in (1).

(1) [ti  mi    liɣiri  maa]i, ti  mali  lii   n-    sɔŋdi      -la    ŋun    sɔŋdi      o   maŋa

     1P  also money DEF,  1P have 4S INF  help-IMPF   FOC REL help-IMPF 3S  REFL

     'Our moneyi, we use iti to help those who help themselves.'

As one of dozens of linguistic features, I had to limit left dislocation to a general category, although research on this topic has identified a variety of motivations for this linguistic construction (Givon, 1983; Prince, 1997). In my dissertation research I find a prominent correlation between left dislocation and the spoken mode of communication regardless of other dimensions such as degree of planning and interaction. As a result, I have been following up with a mixture of qualitative and quantitative methods to make a more thorough investigation of the distribution of left dislocation and related discourse strategies (right dislocation, topicalization) in the Dagbani corpus. (work presented at WOCAL6) 

Relative constructions.

Dagbani is among the languages displaying Head Internal Relative clause (HIRC) constructions (also known as Internally Headed Relative Clause (IHRC)), in which the head noun does not appear to undergo movement. (Note: in Dagbani this only applies to object relatives such as that in (2). Subject relatives such as the one at the end of the sentence in (1) follow a pattern more parallel to the use of relative pronouns in English.)

(2) ti   ni            daa   lihi      kpɛrigu   shɛli          maa

     1P  SUB/REL   TD2  watch   play      certain/REL  DEF

     'The play we watched [the other day]'

The same object-relative can also be rendered as [ [Kpɛrigu shɛli]i ti ni daa lihi ei maa] (i.e., the less unique Head External Relative Construction where the head noun undergoes movement to the periphery of the NP). A large body of studies has looked at this phenomenon, but primarily from the standpoint of syntactic theory (see, e.g., Cole 1987). I plan to take advantage of my collection of Dagbani data to contribute to the line of inquiry on HIRC constructions employing corpus linguistics methods and discourse analysis to account for the distribution of variable HIRC versus HERC object-relative constructions in Dagbani. I expect the realization of an object relative construction as either HERC or HIRC will be influenced by a combination of factors including the discourse status of the relativized noun and syntactic position of the relative clause.  (work presented at WOCAL6)

Research interests: African Languages and Linguistics, Sociolinguistics, Register Variation, Sociolinguistic Variation, Pragmatics, Discourse Analysis, Corpus Linguistics, Written and Spoken Communication, Language and Politics, Literacy, Mother Tongue Literacy and Education, Language Policy, Information Structure, Serial Verb Constructions, Reduplication, Relative Constructions, Hesitation Phenomena, Oral Traditions. 

References.

Besnier, Niko. (1988). The linguistic relationships of spoken and written Nukulaelae registers. Language 62, 384-414.

Biber, Douglas. (1988). Variation across speech and writing. New York and Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Biber, Douglas, Davies, Mark, Jones, James K., & Tracy-Ventura, Nicole. (2006). Spoken and written register variation in Spanish: A multi-dimensional analysis.Corpora 1, 1-37.

Biber, Douglas, & Hared, Mohamed. (1994). Linguistic correlates of the transition to literacy in Somali language adaptation in six press registers. In Douglas Biber & Edward Finegan (Eds.), Sociolinguistic perspectives on register (pp. 182-216). New York and Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Chafe, Wallace (Ed.). (1977). The Pear stories: Cognitive, cultural, and linguistic aspects of narrative production. Norwood, NJ: Ablex.

Cole, Peter. (1987). The structure of internally headed relative clauses. Natural Language and Linguistic Theory, 5, 277-302.

Talmy Givón (Ed.). (1983). Topic continuity in discourse: A quantitative cross-language study. Amsterdam and Philadelphia: John Benjamins.

Jang S.-Ch. (1998). Dimensions of spoken and written Taiwanese: A corpus-based register study. Ph.D. Dissertation. University of Hawaii.

Kim, Yong-Jin, & Biber, Douglas. (1994). A corpus-based analysis of register variation in Korean. In Douglas Biber & Edward Finegan (Eds.), Sociolinguistic perspectives on register (pp. 157-181). New York and Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Labov, William, & Waletzky, Joshua. (1967). Narrative analysis. In June Helm (Ed.),Essays on the verbal and visual arts (pp. 12-44). Seattle: University of Washington Press.

Prince, Ellen. (1997). On the functions of left-dislocation in English discourse. In A. Kamio (Ed.), Directions in functional linguistics (pp. 117–44). Philadelphia/Amsterdam: John Benjamins.

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