Figure 2.8 Northern Cities Chain Shift (abstracted)
Source: Adapted from Labov et al. (2006)
The first stage of the series of shifts began sometime in the mid-twentieth
century, most likely with the raising, tensing, and diphthongization of /æ/
(as in bad) moving toward the diphthong /Iə/. If you say be + at together
quickly, you’ll end up with the shifted version of bat (bæt > bIət). Another
example: the woman’s name Ann is pronounced like the man’s name Ian
where the NCCS has taken place.
As the first stage of the change goes forward and /æ/ moves out and into
the diphthong system, the empty spot begins to be filled with the second
stage shift, /α/ > /æ/, and so on. In a series of phonological changes like this
we talk about a chain, as if vowels fell in a neat line, one after the other. In
fact, it’s a messy, drawn-out business that can only really be examined once
it’s well underway.
Sociolinguists are especially interested in how the stages of the NCCS
relate to each other, and how they are motivated. Is there a social group who
is driving the shift? Does it have to do with age or gender or economics or
some complex interaction of all these and other social markers? For the
NCCS, the questions are especially intriguing because the chain shift is such
a large one (about 34 million people are taking part, in some or all parts),