The Border
My main research is about dialect contact between Canadian and American English and the effect of the border on diffusion. Do people near the border sound more similar to each other than people further away? How do Canadians and Americans use their linguistic differences to separate themselves from each other? What about when people move across the border?
I've been looking at Canadians and Americans who live near the border in Niagara, ON and Niagara, NY. I'm interested in how place identity and its connection with place-linked features like Canadian Raising and the Northern Cities Shift might affect which features are adopted or maintained.
Here's a painting I did of the Horseshoe Falls!
