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Lookup NU author(s): Professor Karen CorriganORCiD
This is the authors' accepted manuscript of an article that has been published in its final definitive form by Cambridge University Press, 2020.
For re-use rights please refer to the publisher's terms and conditions.
The Republic of Ireland (ROI) and Northern Ireland (NI) have recently become attractive migrant destinations. Two main dialectal varieties are recognised on the island, but little is known about their adoption by new speakers. Focusing on a panlectal feature, discourse-pragmatic like, we conducted a quantitative sociolinguistic investigation of its adoption by 17 young Polish and Lithuanian migrants in Armagh (NI), and 36 Polish and Chinese adults in Dublin (ROI), with comparator samples drawn from native speakers. Findings show that like rates in both cities diverge, but that migrants mirror local frequencies. Clause-final like is restricted primarily to native speakers, but is twice as frequent in Armagh than in Dublin. English proficiency has a significant effect on the likelihood of young migrants in Armagh adopting the clause-final variant. The paper’s significance also stems from the original contribution it makes to our understanding of how sociolinguistic competence is acquired in ‘superdiverse’ settings.
Author(s): Corrigan K, Diskin C
Publication type: Article
Publication status: Published
Journal: Language in Society
Year: 2020
Volume: 49
Issue: 5
Pages: 745-773
Print publication date: 01/11/2020
Online publication date: 06/12/2019
Acceptance date: 21/06/2019
Date deposited: 21/08/2019
ISSN (print): 0047-4045
ISSN (electronic): 1469-8013
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
URL: https://doi.org/10.1017/S0047404519000800
DOI: 10.1017/S0047404519000800
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