Language Shift in Southern New England

This book investigates morphosyntactic variation during a unique case of language shift in two of New England's oldest and most well-known Franco-American communities: Southbridge, MA and Woonsocket, RI. The shift from French to English is rapidly nearing completion in Southbridge, where French is quickly fading to become a memory. Author Louis Stelling explores morphosyntactic variation and the advance of language shift using historical documentation, U.S. census figures and interviews conducted with sixty-nine informants. By comparing the state of Franco-American to the other major varieties of North American French, this book completes the portrait of French on the continent. The distinction made between qualitative and quantitative variation will also be useful for those investigating other cases of language contact and shift.