BARAM, KELEM, ISTEVATRM: THE ROLE OF PHONOLOGICAL REDUCTION IN FORMING IDEOLOGIES ABOUT WESTERN KAZAKH SPEECH
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Date
2024-04-11
Authors
Turaliyeva, Zhansaya
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Nazarbayev University School of Sciences and Humanities
Abstract
People in Kazakhstan often perceive the speech of individuals from the Western regions of the country negatively. Reports from speakers of other regions claim that Western Kazakh (WK) speech is rude and understanding it is difficult. Hereby, my capstone examines that WK speakers tend to reduce phonologically the most frequently and due to it, the negative attitudes towards WK speech exist.
My studies reveal that WK speakers do employ phonological reduction more often. Specifically, Westerners phonologically reduce verbs 50% more than North-Eastern Kazakh speakers. The data was collected from MultiCorSKL recordings. I have analysed 5 minutes of each of the 8 speakers from both dialects. This finding suggests that phonological reduction may explain why WK speakers are perceived to be fast speakers. The most frequent examples were producing “деймін” as “дим” and “барамын” as “барам.”
To understand how the perception of this phonological feature is extended by listeners to moral assessment about WK speakers, I aimed to show the steps through which phonological reduction is iconized into evaluations of rudeness in the case of WK speakers. Iconization is a process through which language users infuse structural linguistic elements with symbolic significance, often reflecting cultural values or moral judgments (Irvine and Gal, 2000; Chen, 2018). To address this question, I conducted a matched-guise experiment. Participants from different regions of Kazakhstan listened to an 1-minute audio sample of spontaneous conversation, which was recorded by a WK speaker, without knowing the dialect and had to guess the dialect solely based on the audio. Half of participants successfully identified the dialect as WK, while the rest identified the dialect as Southern. This suggests that the dialect is not readily distinguishable to native speakers of Kazakh unless they are informed that the speaker is from the Western region, and consequently, speaks WK.
Subsequently, I analyze the responses of these participants to identify whether they perceive WK negatively and if so, the reasons behind such perceptions. People indicate that the negative perceptions may result from cultural beliefs associating the Kishi Juz, inhabitants of the Western region, with traits like cruelty and aggression due to being historically known for their warrior heritage. Moreover, every participant agrees that the frequent reduction of verbs in the speech affects their comprehension more, which makes them feel irritated. These results indicate that the negative attitudes towards the WK are primarily ideological constructs, which may not be negatively perceived in the absence of relevant information.
Taken together, these results suggest that the frequent phonological reduction of WK speakers may affect the negative attitudes about WK being shaped.
References
Chen, S. C. (2018). Visualizing language ideologies and verbalizing perceived linguistic boundaries: The case of Mandarin Chinese in contemporary Taiwan. Global Chinese, 4(1), 11-36.
Irvine, J. T., & Gal, S. (2000). Language Ideology and linguistic differentiation. In Paul Kroskrity (ed.), Regime of Language: Ideologies, Polities, and Identities, 35-83. Santa Fe, NM: School of American Research.
Description
Keywords
Type of access: Open access, Kazakh language phonology, Kazakh language ideologies, Kazakh language varieties, Phonological reduction, Western Kazakh variety
Citation
Turaliyeva, Zh. (2024). Baram, Kelem, Istevatrm: The Role of Phonological Reduction in Forming Ideologies About Western Kazakh Speech. Nazarbayev University School of Sciences and Humanities