UNF professor investigates language and identity in Florida dialect project
Dr. Jessica Chandras, assistant professor of anthropology at the University of North Florida, is researching the Floridian dialect and how it relates to language. By engaging with the local community, the project hopes to share interesting details about Northeast Florida language as well as create materials that students can use to practice analysis in linguistic anthropology courses.
The research was inspired by a Newsy article that discusses a decline of diversity in American English accents, dialects and vocabulary. A subtext to the article, and related studies, is anxiety over disappearing language as evidence of disappearing identities and a collective forgetting of regional history. Chandras plans to use these studies as a starting point to explore and engage with UNF and public communities about how Floridians understand their regional language use and perceptions of a distinct “Floridian” dialect of English, or absence of one, and how this relates to notions of identity.
Chandras will work with Sarah Shiell, a student research assistant, supported by funding from the UNF Digital Humanities Institute (DHI). Chandras is a linguistic anthropologist trained in qualitative, ethnographic and sociolinguistic research methods. Most of her research is focused on Indian language and education. She is a 2022-23 DHI Faculty Fellow.