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How YouTubers' voices evolve, with Andrew Cheng
May 8, 2025
Linguist Andrew Cheng, a professor at the University of Hawaii specializing in sociolinguistics, delves into the intriguing ways accents shift over time, especially among YouTubers influenced by geographic moves. He discusses second dialect acquisition, demonstrating how individuals can adopt new speech patterns while retaining their originals. The conversation also emphasizes the fluidity of vowels and how social contexts shape speech modifications, highlighting the dynamic relationship between language and identity.
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Quick takeaways
- Second dialect acquisition highlights how individuals may alter their speech patterns when moving to different regions with distinct dialects.
- The study of YouTubers provides rich longitudinal data for analyzing accent evolution and the social factors influencing language change over time.
Deep dives
Understanding Second Dialect Acquisition
Second dialect acquisition refers to the process where individuals, after acquiring one dialect of a language, begin to adopt another dialect later in life. This phenomenon can occur when someone moves to a different region where a distinct dialect is spoken, prompting potential changes in pronunciation and speech patterns. The extent of these changes may vary, as some speakers may retain their original dialect while subtly incorporating elements of the new one. This raises interesting questions regarding conscious versus unconscious shifts in language, and how we can track these changes through time.
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