Prosodic rhythm, or the durational variation between syllables, is my most studied linguistic variable. Prosodic rhythm varies language to language
which can affect the English of bilinguals
and can, eventually, become markers of ethnic identity.
Related work
Carter, López Valdez, Sims 2020 (Paper pdf)
Sims 2019 (Presentation pdf)
African American Language (AAL) refers to the set of linguistic and cultural
features that are used by African Americans. Scholars have argued on the origins of AAL varieties, but no consensus has yet been made.
Many contemporary scholars agree that AAL is a continuum that ranges from mainstream varieties to the varieties often colloquially called 'ebonics' or 'ghetto slang'.
AAL varieties are rule based and systematic, just like all the other the Englishes spoken worldwide, however the variety is often disparaged because of it's association with Black Americans.
Related work
Sims 2017 (Presentation pdf)
'Accents' in English often relate to variation in the vowels of an individual's speech. Regionally, southern vowels differ from northern vowels or California vowels.
Locally, AAL vowels can differ from the mainstream variety spoken in the area. Similar to rhythm, some of these vocalic differences are due to contact between languages, but others
are related more to identity.
Stay tuned to learn more!
The dichotomy between white and Black and the ethnic separations within the white category are incredibly important to US society.
The ethnic subcategorizations between individuals who are categorized as racially Black are often left unconsidered.
My dissertation was conducted at a primarily Black, but ethnically diverse middle school.
The neighborhood has a history of ethnic tensions between Haitian immigrants and African Americans, but how does this play out among middle schoolers?
Stay tuned to learn more!
As we age, we are constantly changing things about ourselves; the way I spoke at 13 is vastly different from how I spoke at 30. The pre-teens in my dissertation
are at cross roads. Throughout their time in middle school they will explore what kind of teen they wish to be and begin to change their clothing, hairstyles, and speech to reflect
their new identities.
Stay tuned to learn more!
Many studies of sociolinguistic variation between adolescents are conducted in schools with relatively stable populations.
My dissertation, on the other hand, was conducted in a school that constantly changes: the administration changes yearly, teachers are hired then fired (sometimes within a just a few weeks),
student courses are switched regularly, and parents pull their children out, when able, to put them into charter
and private schools. This constant flux creates an environment in which identities and friendships can change for each student multiple times within a year
for factors external to their own wishes.
Stay tuned to learn more!
| 2022 | Ellen Thompson, Nandi Sims, Reyneiro Castro. Interrogative constructions in Cuban Spanish as a second language. (pdf) |
| Nandi Sims. Prosodic rhythm among African- and Haitian-American adults in Miami. | |
| 2020 | Phillip Carter, Lydda López Valdez, Nandi Sims. New Dialect Formation Through Language Contact: Vocalic and prosodic developments in Miami English. American Speech. (pdf) |
| 2019 | Nandi Sims. Prosodic Rhythm among African American and Haitian Americans in Miami. Paper presented at Southeastern Conference on Linguistics (SECOL) 2019, Boca Raton, FL, USA (pdf) |
| 2018 | Nandi Sims and Martha Austen. Social Meaning within Contact Features in Miami English. Paper presented at the Society of Pidgin and Creole Languages (SPCL) Winter Meeting, Salt Lake City, UT, USA (pdf) |
| 2017 | Nandi Sims. The Northern Subjects Concord Rule and Verbal-s in Ex-Slave Narrative AAVE. Paper presented at the North American Research Network in Historical Sociolinguistics (NARNiHS), Lexington, KY, USA (pdf) |
| 2014 | Nandi Sims. A First Look at Miami Latino English: Tracking Spanish substrate influence through prosodic and vocalic variation. Paper presented at the 43rd New Ways of Analyzing Variation Conference (NWAV), Chicago, IL, USA (pdf) |