“Mam, my trousers is fa’in doon!”: Community, caregiver, and child in the acquisition of variation in a Scottish dialect

Recent work on acquisition in sociolinguistic research suggests that some aspects of the structured variation found in adult speech are evident in children’s speech from the very start of language acquisition, and input from the primary caregiver is crucial in this process. In this article we contribute to this research by conducting a cross-sectional analysis of the acquisition of variable forms in a Scottish dialect. Two linguistic variables are targeted in the speech of eleven children (2;10–3;6) and their primary caregivers. Quantitative analysis of over 5000 contexts of use demonstrates that one variable is conditioned by social and linguistic constraints in the speech of the caregiver and these constraints are matched by the children. In contrast, the other variable is influenced by a complex array of linguistic constraints only. We explore the ramifications of these findings for understanding the mechanisms involved in acquisition of variation from the very earliest stages. Over the past few decades, sociolinguistic research has concentrated on the structured heterogeneity inherent in all speech and how this variation is conditioned by both internal and external linguistic constraints (e.g., Weinreich, Labov, & Herzog, 1968). The predominant focus of this research has been on adolescent and adult speech, but what about variation at the source, that is, the acquisition of variable forms from the very youngest age, as shown in (1)? (1) Mam my tr [öõ]sers is fa’in d [u:] n . . . they’re too big. (Kieran 3;3) Chambers (2003:174) made the common-sense observation that “when children acquire their mother tongues, they evidently acquire the local variants and the We gratefully acknowledge the support of the Economic and Social Research Council for award no. RES-000-22-0447. We thank Jack Chambers, Paul Foulkes, and three anonymous reviewers for very helpful feedback on earlier versions of this manuscript. We would also like to thank Hazel Steele for her input to the project in its early stages, and Moira Smith, our invaluable on-site fieldworker. We dedicate this article to the caregivers and children of Buckie who were willing to share their walks, playtimes, bathtimes, and even “meltdowns,” all in the name of linguistic research. Language Variation and Change, 19 (2007), 63–99. Printed in the U.S.A. © 2007 Cambridge University Press 0954-3945007 $9.50 DOI: 10.10170S0954394507070044