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Carmichael, Katie. 2014. "I never thought I had an accent until the hurricane": Sociolinguistic variation in Post-Katrina Greater New Orleans. PhD thesis, Ohio State University.

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*Tillery, Jan. 1992. The locus of linguistic variation in Oklahoma. Stillwater: Oklahoma State University dissertation.

/aɪ/-monophthongization is a prominent and salient feature of the US South (Fridland 2003, Fridland 2012, Anderson 2008, Tillery 1992). Defined phonetically, it is a diphthong with an absent or shortened glide, often manifesting as /a:/ or /aæ/. This transition is characterized by the shift of /aɪ/ from a low central upgliding diphthong to a weakened and fronted monophthong (Fridland 2003, Bailey and Thomas 1998). In New Orleans, instances of /aɪ/-monophthongization have been observed (Schoux Casey 2018). Carmichael (2014) also confirms its presence in the area, particularly among the speakers of Yat English, a distinct dialect predominantly found in the suburban area of Chalmette (east of New Orleans). Yet, comprehensive analyses of this feature within the New Orleans context have remained limited.
In this presentation, I delve into the current state of the diphthong in New Orleans, drawing on a socially-balanced dataset of 115 speakers. The feature was studied in the framework of a project grounded in experimental sociolinguistics, with a focus on concepts such as salience, indexicality, and enregisterment.
Methodologically, the core tool was the Trajectory Length (TL) calculation, introduced by Fox and Jacewicz (2009). Although this approach closely resembles the Euclidean distance measure, it offers a more nuanced understanding of the formant trajectory by considering more data points, not just the beginning and end points. Both methods will be compared, complemented by visual illustrations. Linear mixed models served for statistical evaluation, determining the effects of various social (age, gender, education, ethnicity, location) and phonetic factors (manner and place of articulation, context, voicing, duration) on /aɪ/-monophthongization.
Among the more unexpected findings, older speakers in the area were more diphthongal than younger ones, with those in the age group 60+ exhibiting the longest TLs on average. Interestingly, ethnoracial affiliation did not significantly influence /aɪ/-monophthongization. As anticipated from a sociolinguistic standpoint, women showed longer TLs for /aɪ/ than men. Duration, both on its own and in interaction with the manner and place of articulation, also had a significant effect as predicted. In phonetic contexts, stops as a following environment conditioned shorter TLs, which was expected based on previous studies (Anderson 2002). Similarly, labiodentals and velars as places of articulation correlated with shorter TLs, and during the presentation, I will attempt to trace the coarticulatory effects that explain these phenomena.
In the course of the talk, I will further elaborate on the parameters mentioned above and more, such as the urban vs. suburban dynamic in the area, voicing, context, as well as a lexical review, showcasing the most frequent words with pronounced TL values. I will also provide a closer, qualitative look at individual cases to elucidate formant trajectory realizations. To contextualize within a broader sociolinguistic framework, I will compare the findings from New Orleans with declining trends in other Southern US urban centers (Baranowski 2008, Prichard 2010, Thomas 2001). Ultimately, I aim to offer a comprehensive analysis of /aɪ/-monophthongization in New Orleans English, paving the way for deeper insights into regional linguistic variations.