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Constructing the (m)other: A-prefixing, stance, and the lessons of motherhood

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  14 May 2013

Allison Burkette
Allison Burkette*
Affiliation:
Department of Modern Languages, University of Mississippi, C-115 Bondurant Hall, University, MS 38677, [email protected]
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Abstract

The present study examines two unprompted versions of the same story, related by a mother and daughter in separate sociolinguistic interviews. Following a quantitative intraspeaker comparison of their use of grammatical features associated with Appalachian English within the entirety of their interviews, this study undertakes a close reading of the narratives (along with additional passages from the daughter) to demonstrate the manner in which the two women construct their identities as “mother” and as “other” through conversational narrative and the use of local dialect features. Specifically, this article addresses the use of regional grammatical variables to enact speaker stances toward mothering, focusing on two women's independent recollections of a single incident and how these narratives dialogically construct the (m)other. (Language variation, Appalachian English, stancetaking, motherhood)*

Type
Articles
Information
Language in Society , Volume 42 , Issue 3 , June 2013 , pp. 239 - 258
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2013 

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