Speaking and Being Chin in America: A Linguistic and Anthropological Look at a Refugee Community from Burma (Myanmar)

Abstract

Refugees have received considerable attention in recent years, across academic, popular, and political spheres. Using a range of methodologies, the three articles in this dissertation illuminate several aspects of the linguistic and social lives of Chin refugees from Burma (Myanmar) now living in Indiana, U.S.A. This includes an examination of language use from the smallest levels of language (phonetic documentation) to some of the largest (language and self-identification). Looking at language use among high-school-aged Chin refugees, the first article is a linguistic anthropological analysis of the ways 1.5 generation refugee youth use a range of linguistic resources to position themselves in relation to identity labels, such as “American” and “Chin.” The second article presents the first instrumental acoustic phonetic documentation Matu, one of the Chin languages, including a description of three realizations of the rhotic consonant, a reconsideration of the Matu “voiceless nasals” as breathy-voiced nasals, and a description of “aspirated” fricatives. The third article uses acoustic and aerodynamic data to examine the production of voiceless nasals – a cross-linguistically rare type of speech sound – in Hakha Chin. These nasals are structurally complex, biphasic sounds, which change voicing or manner during their duration. Together, the three articles in this dissertation provide insight into several aspects of the language use of Chin refugees and improve our understanding of the varied experiences of refugees living in the U.S.