Vsevolozhskaya A.A. Regional Variety of English in Alaska: Linguistic Specificities
DOI: https://doi.org/10.15688/jvolsu2.2026.1.9
Anastasia A. Vsevolozhskaya
Postgraduate Student, HSE Doctoral School of Philology, Researcher, Centre of Sociocultural and Ethnolinguistic Research, National Research University Higher School of Economics, Moscow, Russia
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https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3083-4079
Abstract. The understudied variety of English in Alaska (Alaskan English), which is spoken by Native Alaskans living in rural areas, is of great scientific interest, primarily due to its linguistic specificities as well as historical context and conditions of its emergence. The aim of the article is to reveal and analyse some of the linguistic traits of the Alaskan variety. The data used in the present study encompasses 73 transcribed semi-structured interviews that contain personal narratives of Native Alaskans of various ethnic origins and generations, whose language acquisition took place in different contexts. In particular, the narratives of Upper Kuskokwim Athabascans and the representatives of Kodiak Creole population have been analysed. The scrutiny reveals such characteristics of the regional variety of English in Alaska as the use of specific vocabulary, lack of differentiation between verb tenses, non-standard use of articles and number (singular and plural) indicators, double negation and the use of never as a marker of negation of a certain action in the past. The author advances a hypothesis on the influence of some sociolinguistic factors (in particular, language shift and the conditions of the English language acquisition) on the formation of the mentioned linguistic characteristics. The results contribute to a better understanding of the processes that enabled Alaskan English emergence and serve as a basis for future research into the language situation in the region.
Key words: Alaska, ethnocultural community, regional variety, English, language shift.
Citation. Vsevolozhskaya A.A. Regional Variety of English in Alaska: Linguistic Specificities. Vestnik Volgogradskogo gosudarstvennogo universiteta. Seriya 2. Yazykoznanie [Science Journal of Volgograd State University. Linguistics], 2026, vol. 25, no. 1, pp. 120-135. (in Russian). DOI: https://doi.org/10.15688/jvolsu2.2026.1.9
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