Barbara Johnstone (born March 24, 1952) is an American professor of rhetoric and linguistics at

Carnegie Mellon University Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) is a private research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. The institution was established in 1900 by Andrew Carnegie as the Carnegie Technical Schools. In 1912, it became the Carnegie Institu ...

. She specializes in discourse structure and function,

sociolinguistics Sociolinguistics is the descriptive, scientific study of how language is shaped by, and used differently within, any given society. The field largely looks at how a language changes between distinct social groups, as well as how it varies unde ...

, rhetorical theory, and methods of

text analysis Content analysis is the study of documents and communication artifacts, known as texts e.g. photos, speeches or essays. Social scientists use content analysis to examine patterns in communication in a replicable and systematic manner. One of the ...

. She was the editor in chief of ''

Language in Society ''Language in Society'' is a peer-reviewed academic journal of sociolinguistics. It was established in 1972 and is published five times a year by Cambridge University Press. The current editors in chief are Susan Ehrlich (York University) and ...

'' from 2005 to 2013, and is the editor of ''Pittsburgh Speech & Society,'' a website about Pittsburgh English for non-linguists. She has published several books, including ''Speaking Pittsburghese ''(2013) and ''Discourse Analysis, ''2nd Ed''.'' (2008). She has also written for ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

.''

Education

Johnstone received her bachelor of arts in linguistics from

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Stat ...

. She received her master's and her doctorate in linguistics at the

University of Michigan The University of Michigan (U-M, U of M, or Michigan) is a public university, public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest institution of higher education in the state. The University of Mi ...

Career

She taught at Indiana University – Purdue University Fort Wayne (1981-1985),

Georgetown University Georgetown University is a private university, private Jesuit research university in Washington, D.C., United States. Founded by Bishop John Carroll (archbishop of Baltimore), John Carroll in 1789, it is the oldest Catholic higher education, Ca ...

(1985-1987), and

Texas A&M University Texas A&M University (Texas A&M, A&M, TA&M, or TAMU) is a public university, public, Land-grant university, land-grant, research university in College Station, Texas, United States. It was founded in 1876 and became the flagship institution of ...

(1987-1997), followed by her current position of professor of rhetoric and linguistics at

since 1997. Johnstone has also published papers on gender and language, Arabic language discourse, as well as many other linguistic topics. On top of that, she also wrote a book called the "Linguistic Individual," discussing self-expression in language.

Research on Pittsburghese

Johnstone is recognized as an expert on

Pittsburgh English Western Pennsylvania English, known more narrowly as Pittsburgh English or popularly as Pittsburghese, is a dialect of American English native primarily to the western half of Pennsylvania, centered on the city of Pittsburgh, but potentially ap ...

, locally known as "Pittsburghese." Her research is concerned with how the dialect is "constructed through local talk, and talk about talk," connecting "people's understandings of language and place" with language change. Her 2013 book ''Speaking Pittsburghese: The Story of a Dialect'', is a summation of her scholarly work on

. The book is a sociolinguistic analysis of the history of Pittsburgh English and how it has changed over time, with a focus on the process of enregisterment and how the dialect is linked to local identity. It also explores the history and local use of some of Pittsburgh's most emblematic words, including "

yinz ''Yinz'' (see below for other spellings) is a Grammatical person, second-person plural pronoun used mainly in Western Pennsylvania English. It is most prominent in Pittsburgh, but it is also found throughout the cultural region known as Appalachia ...

," "nebby," and "dahntahn." Johnstone also focuses on phonological features of "pittsburghese" such as the monophthongal /aw/.

Research on Texas women

Johnstone has written about

style-shifting In sociolinguistics, a style is a set of linguistic variants with specific social meanings. In this context, social meanings can include group membership, personal attributes, or beliefs. Linguistic variation is at the heart of the concept of l ...

among Texas women. In her article, "Uses of southern-sounding speech by contemporary Texas women", Johnstone delves into how Texas women use different ways of talking, which range from "automatic and nonstrategic" to "very planned and strategic". In another article, titled "Sociolinguistic Resources, Individual Identities, and Public Speech Styles of Texas Women", Johnstone studied how women in Texas form linguistic identities based on their own individual backgrounds, such as ethnicity, region of living, as well as the linguistic models they experienced in their lives.

References

External links

Selected Works of Barbara Johnstone (articles available for download)

Ep. 9 of the Podcast ''Re:verb'' June 17, 2018 "How does language influence our identity (and vice-versa)? (w/ Barbara Johnstone)"
{{DEFAULTSORT:Johnstone, Barbara Carnegie Mellon University faculty Living people Linguists from the United States American women linguists 1952 births American academic journal editors