Ethnicity has long been recognised as a factor in language variation and change (e.g., Labov 1966), including in Australia (e.g., Horvath 1985), and, more recently, there has been a wave of ethnolectal research across the globe (e.g., Cheshire et al. 2011; Hoffman & Walker 2010). Yet, criteria for assigning ethnicity are varied, frequently problematic, and often not made explicit (cf., Hoffman & Walker 2010: 38-41). Recognising the complexity of ethnic affiliation, we draw on an Ethnic Orientation Index established by Hoffman and Walker (2010) to develop a measure applicable to minority communities in Australia, utilising content analysis of sociolinguistic interviews.
We focus on second-generation Chinese-Australians of Cantonese background, from Hong Kong and Guangzhou. Our sample of 22 young adults from Sydney sits firmly within Australia’s middle class with respect to education level, occupation, and suburb, as is characteristic of the community as a whole. Participants report that their social networks are predominantly Chinese- and Asian-Australian. To assess ethnic orientation, we extract all relevant comments from the content of sociolinguistic interviews (e.g., language proficiency, study, and use; participation in Chinese cultural events; experiences of discrimination), score each comment, and determine a composite score for each participant.
We conduct acoustic analyses of the vowels in FLEECE, FACE, GOAT, PRICE, and MOUTH in the speech of the Chinese-Australians, contextualised in relation to the patterning of Anglo-Australians over time (n=16,000). As well as being homogeneous with respect to class, we find that, unlike young Anglo-Australians, Chinese-Australians exhibit limited gender differences, with both men and women producing vowel realisations consistent with those of middle-class Anglo women. We ask, then, whether the community may be differentiated according to ethnic orientation, and whether that might impact their patterns of language use, and their participation in language variation and change in Australian English.