Claire Nance
Biographic Data
| ID | 637124 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Claire Nance |
| GIVEN NAMES | Claire |
| FAMILY NAME | Nance |
| SIGNATURE | NANCE C |
| AFFILIATIONS | Lancaster University |
| ORCID | 0000-0001-5953-155X |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 20 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 78 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 20 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2013 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 5 |
Accent Change in the Wake of the Industrial Revolution: Tracing Derhoticisation Across Historic North Lancashire
This article applies a social model of historical dialect evolution in 19th‐century Britain to the analysis of sociophonetic data. Our aim is to assess where new dialect formation is likely to occur, and where it is not. Using recordings from 27 speakers, we first analyse coda rhoticity in north Lancashire, UK. The speakers were born 1890–1917 in three urban settlements which contrast in social makeup and history. The quantitative analysis shows …
Producing a smaller sound system: Acoustics and articulation of the subset scenario in Gaelic–English bilinguals
When a bilingual speaker has a larger linguistic sub-system in their L1 than their L2, how are L1 categories mapped to the smaller set of L2 categories? This article investigates this “subset scenario” (Escudero, 2005) through an analysis of laterals in highly proficient bilinguals (Scottish Gaelic L1, English L2). Gaelic has three lateral phonemes and English has one. We examine acoustics and articulation (using ultrasound tongue imaging) of lat…
Articulatory phonetics in the market: Combining public engagement with ultrasound data collection
This paper is a methodological contribution outlining an approach we have developed to recording ultrasound tongue imaging and audio research data as part of public engagement work. The paper is based on our experience of recording in East Lancashire, UK, at two such events as well as building on the work of other colleagues who have conducted similar projects. We have successfully managed to collect relevant articulatory research data while prov…
Third language phonological acquisition: Understanding sound structure in a multilingual world
The field of third language acquisition has gathered increased attention over the last three decades. However, phonological acquisition in an L3 is still relatively understudied within the field, despite there likely being over a billion people regularly using an L3 worldwide. In this paper, we review experimental and theoretical studies of sequential L3 acquisition to date and aim to give implications for future L3 phonological acquisition resea…
Sound change or community change? The speech community in sound change studies: A case study of Scottish Gaelic
This paper considers the typical focus of analysis in a sound change study across generations: the speech community. I argue that changes in social practices across generations may mean that generational comparisons can be problematic, and these issues are particularly pertinent in small and endangered language communities. Using data from Scottish Gaelic (Celtic, ISO = gla), a minority endangered language of Scotland, I exemplify the challenges …
Place identity and authenticity in minority language revitalisation: Scottish Gaelic in Glasgow
Aims and objectives: This paper first aims to examine how young Gaelic-English bilinguals in immersion education produce aspects of Gaelic phonology. We second consider the extent to which they acquire aspects of a traditional dialect. Third, we investigate how young new speakers outside of a traditional community negotiate place identity and authenticity. Methodology: Our methodology first consists of quantitative acoustic and auditory phonetic …
Phonetic typology and articulatory constraints: The realization of secondary articulations in Scottish Gaelic rhotics: Supplementary Material
Intonational Variation in the North-West of England: The Origins of a Rising Contour in Liverpool
This paper investigates intonation in the urban dialect of Liverpool, Scouse. Scouse is reported to be part of a group of dialects in the north of the UK where rising contours in declaratives are a traditional aspect of the dialect. This intonation is typologically unusual and has not been the subject of detailed previous research. Here, we present such an analysis in comparison with Manchester, a city less than 40 miles from Liverpool but with a…
Diachronic phonological asymmetries and the variable stability of synchronic contrast
This article aims to understand the development of diachronic asymmetries in phonological systems by evaluating the variability stability of synchronic contrasts. We focus on sonorant systems involving secondary palatalisation, grounded in the claim that palatalised laterals are more common than palatalised rhotics cross-linguistically. Our analysis reports acoustic and articulatory data on Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic language with a large sonorant…
Phonetic typology and articulatory constraints: The realization of secondary articulations in Scottish Gaelic rhotics
Much progress has been made in the last 200 years with regard to understanding the origins and mechanisms of sound change. It is hypothesized that many sound changes originate in biomechanical constraints on speech production or in the misperception of sounds. These production and perception pressures explain a wide range of sound changes across the world's languages, yet we also know that sound change is not inevitable. For example, similar phon…
Scottish Gaelic
Scottish Gaelic is a minority language of Scotland spoken by approximately 58,000 people, or 1% of the Scottish population (speaker numbers from the 2011 Census available in National Records of Scotland 2015). Here, we refer to the language as ‘Gaelic’, pronounced in British English as /ɡalɪk/, as is customary within the Gaelic-speaking community. In Gaelic, the language is referred to as Gàidhlig /kaːlɪc/. Gaelic is a Celtic language, closely re…
The Gaelic crisis in the vernacular community: A comprehensive sociolinguistic survey of Scottish Gaelic
This book presents the results of a substantial study completed by a team of colleagues, most of whom are at the University of the Highlands and Islands. The analysis considers the use of Scottish
Scottish Gaelic revitalisation: Progress and aspiration
Bilingual language exposure and the peer group: Acquiring phonetics and phonology in Gaelic Medium Education
Aims and objectives: This paper aims to examine the acquisition of phonetics and phonology in the context of Scottish Gaelic immersion schooling. I explore the effect of differing home language backgrounds among primary school children on the production of laterals and stop consonants. Design/methodology/approach: Acoustic analysis was performed on Gaelic and English speech data collected from children in Gaelic Medium Education in the Outer Hebr…
An acoustic-articulatory study of bilingual vowel production: Advanced tongue root vowels in Twi and tense/lax vowels in Ghanaian English
Identity, accent aim, and motivation in second language users: New Scottish Gaelic speakers’ use of phonetic variation
This paper examines the use of phonetic variation in word‐final rhotics among nineteen adult new speakers of Scottish Gaelic, i.e. speakers who did not acquire the language through intergenerational transmission. Our speakers learned Gaelic as adults and are now highly advanced users of the language. We consider variation in their rhotic productions compared to the productions of six older, traditional speakers. Previous approaches to variation i…
Intonational variation and change in Scottish Gaelic
New' Scottish Gaelic speakers in Glasgow: A phonetic study of language revitalisation
This article analyses phonetic variation among young people who have learned a minority language in immersion schooling as part of revitalisation measures. Such speakers are increasingly referred to as 'new speakers' in an expanding body of literature. The variable phonetic features analysed are vowels, laterals, and intonation in the speech of new Gaelic speakers from Glasgow and the Isle of Lewis. Results support previous work suggesting that n…
Phonetic variation in Scottish Gaelic laterals
Pre-aspiration and post-aspiration in Scottish Gaelic stop consonants
This paper aims to describe pre-aspirated and post-aspirated stops in an endangered language, Scottish Gaelic. Our small-scale study investigates several acoustic parameters of Scottish Gaelic stop consonants designed to measure the duration and noisiness of aspiration of the stop in its immediate phonetic context. Our study expands on previous phonetic descriptions of phonemic (pre-)aspiration in three ways: firstly, we provide a more complete d…
Identity, accent aim, and motivation in second language users: New Scottish Gaelic speakers’ use of phonetic variation
This paper examines the use of phonetic variation in word‐final rhotics among nineteen adult new speakers of Scottish Gaelic, i.e. speakers who did not acquire the language through intergenerational transmission. Our speakers learned Gaelic as adults and are now highly advanced users of the language. We consider variation in their rhotic productions compared to the productions of six older, traditional speakers. Previous approaches to variation i…
Phonetic variation in Scottish Gaelic laterals
Pre-aspiration and post-aspiration in Scottish Gaelic stop consonants
This paper aims to describe pre-aspirated and post-aspirated stops in an endangered language, Scottish Gaelic. Our small-scale study investigates several acoustic parameters of Scottish Gaelic stop consonants designed to measure the duration and noisiness of aspiration of the stop in its immediate phonetic context. Our study expands on previous phonetic descriptions of phonemic (pre-)aspiration in three ways: firstly, we provide a more complete d…
New' Scottish Gaelic speakers in Glasgow: A phonetic study of language revitalisation
This article analyses phonetic variation among young people who have learned a minority language in immersion schooling as part of revitalisation measures. Such speakers are increasingly referred to as 'new speakers' in an expanding body of literature. The variable phonetic features analysed are vowels, laterals, and intonation in the speech of new Gaelic speakers from Glasgow and the Isle of Lewis. Results support previous work suggesting that n…
Intonational variation and change in Scottish Gaelic
Diachronic phonological asymmetries and the variable stability of synchronic contrast
This article aims to understand the development of diachronic asymmetries in phonological systems by evaluating the variability stability of synchronic contrasts. We focus on sonorant systems involving secondary palatalisation, grounded in the claim that palatalised laterals are more common than palatalised rhotics cross-linguistically. Our analysis reports acoustic and articulatory data on Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic language with a large sonorant…
Phonetic typology and articulatory constraints: The realization of secondary articulations in Scottish Gaelic rhotics
Much progress has been made in the last 200 years with regard to understanding the origins and mechanisms of sound change. It is hypothesized that many sound changes originate in biomechanical constraints on speech production or in the misperception of sounds. These production and perception pressures explain a wide range of sound changes across the world's languages, yet we also know that sound change is not inevitable. For example, similar phon…
An acoustic-articulatory study of bilingual vowel production: Advanced tongue root vowels in Twi and tense/lax vowels in Ghanaian English
Third language phonological acquisition: Understanding sound structure in a multilingual world
The field of third language acquisition has gathered increased attention over the last three decades. However, phonological acquisition in an L3 is still relatively understudied within the field, despite there likely being over a billion people regularly using an L3 worldwide. In this paper, we review experimental and theoretical studies of sequential L3 acquisition to date and aim to give implications for future L3 phonological acquisition resea…
Intonational Variation in the North-West of England: The Origins of a Rising Contour in Liverpool
This paper investigates intonation in the urban dialect of Liverpool, Scouse. Scouse is reported to be part of a group of dialects in the north of the UK where rising contours in declaratives are a traditional aspect of the dialect. This intonation is typologically unusual and has not been the subject of detailed previous research. Here, we present such an analysis in comparison with Manchester, a city less than 40 miles from Liverpool but with a…
Pre-aspiration and post-aspiration in Scottish Gaelic stop consonants
This paper aims to describe pre-aspirated and post-aspirated stops in an endangered language, Scottish Gaelic. Our small-scale study investigates several acoustic parameters of Scottish Gaelic stop consonants designed to measure the duration and noisiness of aspiration of the stop in its immediate phonetic context. Our study expands on previous phonetic descriptions of phonemic (pre-)aspiration in three ways: firstly, we provide a more complete d…
Phonetic variation in Scottish Gaelic laterals
Intonational variation and change in Scottish Gaelic
New' Scottish Gaelic speakers in Glasgow: A phonetic study of language revitalisation
This article analyses phonetic variation among young people who have learned a minority language in immersion schooling as part of revitalisation measures. Such speakers are increasingly referred to as 'new speakers' in an expanding body of literature. The variable phonetic features analysed are vowels, laterals, and intonation in the speech of new Gaelic speakers from Glasgow and the Isle of Lewis. Results support previous work suggesting that n…
Identity, accent aim, and motivation in second language users: New Scottish Gaelic speakers’ use of phonetic variation
This paper examines the use of phonetic variation in word‐final rhotics among nineteen adult new speakers of Scottish Gaelic, i.e. speakers who did not acquire the language through intergenerational transmission. Our speakers learned Gaelic as adults and are now highly advanced users of the language. We consider variation in their rhotic productions compared to the productions of six older, traditional speakers. Previous approaches to variation i…
An acoustic-articulatory study of bilingual vowel production: Advanced tongue root vowels in Twi and tense/lax vowels in Ghanaian English
Bilingual language exposure and the peer group: Acquiring phonetics and phonology in Gaelic Medium Education
Aims and objectives: This paper aims to examine the acquisition of phonetics and phonology in the context of Scottish Gaelic immersion schooling. I explore the effect of differing home language backgrounds among primary school children on the production of laterals and stop consonants. Design/methodology/approach: Acoustic analysis was performed on Gaelic and English speech data collected from children in Gaelic Medium Education in the Outer Hebr…
Scottish Gaelic
Scottish Gaelic is a minority language of Scotland spoken by approximately 58,000 people, or 1% of the Scottish population (speaker numbers from the 2011 Census available in National Records of Scotland 2015). Here, we refer to the language as ‘Gaelic’, pronounced in British English as /ɡalɪk/, as is customary within the Gaelic-speaking community. In Gaelic, the language is referred to as Gàidhlig /kaːlɪc/. Gaelic is a Celtic language, closely re…
The Gaelic crisis in the vernacular community: A comprehensive sociolinguistic survey of Scottish Gaelic
This book presents the results of a substantial study completed by a team of colleagues, most of whom are at the University of the Highlands and Islands. The analysis considers the use of Scottish
Scottish Gaelic revitalisation: Progress and aspiration
Sound change or community change? The speech community in sound change studies: A case study of Scottish Gaelic
This paper considers the typical focus of analysis in a sound change study across generations: the speech community. I argue that changes in social practices across generations may mean that generational comparisons can be problematic, and these issues are particularly pertinent in small and endangered language communities. Using data from Scottish Gaelic (Celtic, ISO = gla), a minority endangered language of Scotland, I exemplify the challenges …
Place identity and authenticity in minority language revitalisation: Scottish Gaelic in Glasgow
Aims and objectives: This paper first aims to examine how young Gaelic-English bilinguals in immersion education produce aspects of Gaelic phonology. We second consider the extent to which they acquire aspects of a traditional dialect. Third, we investigate how young new speakers outside of a traditional community negotiate place identity and authenticity. Methodology: Our methodology first consists of quantitative acoustic and auditory phonetic …
Phonetic typology and articulatory constraints: The realization of secondary articulations in Scottish Gaelic rhotics: Supplementary Material
Intonational Variation in the North-West of England: The Origins of a Rising Contour in Liverpool
This paper investigates intonation in the urban dialect of Liverpool, Scouse. Scouse is reported to be part of a group of dialects in the north of the UK where rising contours in declaratives are a traditional aspect of the dialect. This intonation is typologically unusual and has not been the subject of detailed previous research. Here, we present such an analysis in comparison with Manchester, a city less than 40 miles from Liverpool but with a…
Diachronic phonological asymmetries and the variable stability of synchronic contrast
This article aims to understand the development of diachronic asymmetries in phonological systems by evaluating the variability stability of synchronic contrasts. We focus on sonorant systems involving secondary palatalisation, grounded in the claim that palatalised laterals are more common than palatalised rhotics cross-linguistically. Our analysis reports acoustic and articulatory data on Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic language with a large sonorant…
Phonetic typology and articulatory constraints: The realization of secondary articulations in Scottish Gaelic rhotics
Much progress has been made in the last 200 years with regard to understanding the origins and mechanisms of sound change. It is hypothesized that many sound changes originate in biomechanical constraints on speech production or in the misperception of sounds. These production and perception pressures explain a wide range of sound changes across the world's languages, yet we also know that sound change is not inevitable. For example, similar phon…
Third language phonological acquisition: Understanding sound structure in a multilingual world
The field of third language acquisition has gathered increased attention over the last three decades. However, phonological acquisition in an L3 is still relatively understudied within the field, despite there likely being over a billion people regularly using an L3 worldwide. In this paper, we review experimental and theoretical studies of sequential L3 acquisition to date and aim to give implications for future L3 phonological acquisition resea…
Producing a smaller sound system: Acoustics and articulation of the subset scenario in Gaelic–English bilinguals
When a bilingual speaker has a larger linguistic sub-system in their L1 than their L2, how are L1 categories mapped to the smaller set of L2 categories? This article investigates this “subset scenario” (Escudero, 2005) through an analysis of laterals in highly proficient bilinguals (Scottish Gaelic L1, English L2). Gaelic has three lateral phonemes and English has one. We examine acoustics and articulation (using ultrasound tongue imaging) of lat…
Articulatory phonetics in the market: Combining public engagement with ultrasound data collection
This paper is a methodological contribution outlining an approach we have developed to recording ultrasound tongue imaging and audio research data as part of public engagement work. The paper is based on our experience of recording in East Lancashire, UK, at two such events as well as building on the work of other colleagues who have conducted similar projects. We have successfully managed to collect relevant articulatory research data while prov…
Accent Change in the Wake of the Industrial Revolution: Tracing Derhoticisation Across Historic North Lancashire
This article applies a social model of historical dialect evolution in 19th‐century Britain to the analysis of sociophonetic data. Our aim is to assess where new dialect formation is likely to occur, and where it is not. Using recordings from 27 speakers, we first analyse coda rhoticity in north Lancashire, UK. The speakers were born 1890–1917 in three urban settlements which contrast in social makeup and history. The quantitative analysis shows …
Linguistic Variation and Morphology (19 works) · Linguistics (18 works) · Phonetics and Phonology Research (15 works) · Psychology (12 works) · History (10 works) · Sociology (10 works) · Computer Science (8 works) · Language, Discourse, Communication Strategies (7 works) · Multilingual Education and Policy (7 works) · Phonology (6 works)