7/22/2019 causes of dialect
1/16
Causes for the development of dialects
what factors lead to dialect diversity?
how can dialect diversity persist in the face of mass
communication, increased mobility, and growing cultural
homogenization?
linguistic mechanisms
OVERVIEW
http://www.ifla.uni-stuttgart.de/~jilka/G4 Proseminar Dialectology
rule extension analogy transparency grammaticalization
phonetic / phonological phenomena changes in word meaning
sociohistorical mechanisms
language contact economic ecology
social stratification geographical factors
7/22/2019 causes of dialect
2/16
Causes for the development of dialects
UNDERLYING PRINCIPLES OF LANGUAGE STRUCTURE
all languages are dynamic systems that are constantly in theprocess of changing some groups of speakers adopt certain changes, while others do not (and
possibly adopt other changes instead)
creation of a dialect difference (if it continues: split into different languages) changes from within: language-internal change on the basis of the
organization of a specific language system (see followingsections)
http://www.ifla.uni-stuttgart.de/~jilka/G4 Proseminar Dialectology
c anges rom outs e: c anges tr ggere y contact to anot erdialect or language
influence of underlying principles of language explains occurrenceof similar if not identical phenomena in unrelateddialects/languages use of was with all persons (we was), regularized plural (oxes),
simplification of final consonant clusters (desk as /ds/) in HispanicEnglish varieties in California, Native American English in the Southwest,African American English in northern urban areas
7/22/2019 causes of dialect
3/16
Causes for the development of dialects
RULE EXTENSION
speakers seem to prefer language rules that are as general as
possible
over time a rule of limited application may come to apply in
more and more situations and to affect broader sets of items English has two types of personal pronouns, one for subjects (I see), one
for objects (She saw me, He gave the book to me)
http://www.ifla.uni-stuttgart.de/~jilka/G4 Proseminar Dialectology
,
Charlie went to the store (It is I is unnatural and old-fashioned to mostspeakers)
intrusive //: non-rhotic varieties drop final //, but insert it again when
next word starts with a vowel (e.g. / k stts/ vs. / k v /)
this insertion rule is often extended to words which do not underlyingly endin // at all, e.g. idea in the idea[] of it or law in law[] and order)
7/22/2019 causes of dialect
4/16
Causes for the development of dialects
ANALOGY
language forms which are similar in some ways (meaning,function, sound), but not in others, are made more similar
Proportional Analogy irregular processes are adapted to more regular ones
process of change expressed in a four-part relationshipx is to x as y is to y (x : x :: y : y)
cow : cows :: ox : oxes
cow : cows :: shee : shee s
http://www.ifla.uni-stuttgart.de/~jilka/G4 Proseminar Dialectology
walk : walked :: grow : growed
Minority Pattern Analogy: in rare cases minority patterns instead of themost regular pattern may reshape other irregular forms or even regular ones
brought brang/brung (phonological model sing, sang, sung)
dived
dove (phonological model: ride, rode) Leveling
forms within the paradigm of a word/lexical entry are made more similarsimple past conjugation of to be in southern dialects:
I was, you was, he/she/it was, we was, you was, they was
7/22/2019 causes of dialect
5/16
Causes for the development of dialects
THE TRANSPARENCY PRINCIPLE
simplifications such as those promoted by rule extension andanalogy are counterbalanced by the need to ensure that meaningdistinctions are as clear as possible to listeners
Transparency Principle
preserving or introducing distinctions to enhance comprehensibility e.g. southern speakers who eliminate subject-verb agreement marking for to
be (all forms was) do not eliminate positive-negative marking (was vs.wasnt) and even use different roots for the negative forms
http://www.ifla.uni-stuttgart.de/~jilka/G4 Proseminar Dialectology
was vs. werent (Outer Banks, North Carolina)
am/is/are vs. aint
can [ken, kn, kn] vs. caint [knt]
use of Multiple Negation (also Negative Concord)
e.g. I dont know nothing this form of negation is standard in manylanguages such as Spanish (No s nada) and also used to be common in Oldand Middle English (ic ne wt nwiht)
7/22/2019 causes of dialect
6/16
Causes for the development of dialects
GRAMMATICALIZATION
assigning new meanings to particular grammatical structures
double modals in Southern American English
I might could go with you expresses lessened intensity that can only becircumscribed by a longer sentence such as I may be able to go out with
you but Im not really sure in Standard English
counterfactual liketa in Southern American English
It was so cold out there, I liketa died is used in a nonfactual way andsim l indicates that it was ver cold (not that the s eaker was was in an
http://www.ifla.uni-stuttgart.de/~jilka/G4 Proseminar Dialectology
real danger). liketa comes from original like to have and is similar inmeaning to almost, however it is only used in a figurative, never in afactual sense
habitual be in African American English
He (always) be coming to school late indicates a habitual or ongoingaction or state. In other types of sentences speakers of African AmericanEnglish use finite forms (am, is, are etc.) or no form of be at all(He coming to school right now)
7/22/2019 causes of dialect
7/16
Causes for the development of dialects
PHONETIC AND PHONOLOGICAL PHENOMENA I
articulation-related changes
some speech sounds (or combinations thereof) involve more complexmovements of the tongue or other speech organs or more intricatecoordination of the articulators than others
substitution: a more natural sound replaces a marked onee.g. use /t/, /s/ or /f/ for // and /d/ or /z/ for // (clothes as /klz/)
assimilation: neighboring sounds become more similar to each other
e.g. in + possible = impossible (labial place of articulation);
http://www.ifla.uni-stuttgart.de/~jilka/G4 Proseminar Dialectology
out ern us ness as ns stop manner o art cu at on
weakening: less blockage of airflow in the oral cavity (weaker obstruction)
e.g. tapping in American English: better as /b/
glottalization in Southeastern British English: bottle as /bl/
elision: deletion of a sound, frequently to simplify consonant clusters
e.g. final /s/ following consonant clusters: tests as /tst/ epenthesis: insertion of a sound
e.g. athlete as /li:t/ (breaking up consonant cluster)
insertion of homorganic stops adjacent to nasal (thunder vs. Donner)
7/22/2019 causes of dialect
8/16
Causes for the development of dialects
PHONETIC AND PHONOLOGICAL PHENOMENA II
consequences of the organization of the phoneme inventory
phonological distinctions within the system are maintained if the functionalload is high, a change that makes one phoneme too similar to another caninduce a chain shift across the whole system (e.g. Great Vowel Shift in
Middle English, Northern Cities Chain Shift, Australian Chain Shift etc.)
sporadic sound changes
changes that do not occur broadly across the system but in individual cases
http://www.ifla.uni-stuttgart.de/~jilka/G4 Proseminar Dialectology
ss m a on: e.g. r- - ss m a on avo mu p e or n e same wor ,
either by changing sound quality (colonel as /knl/) or elision (governor
as /gvn/)
metathesis: sounds changing position within the word, e.g. bryde > bird,
thridde > third, hros > horse, ask > aks
well-formedness of syllables sequences of CV syllables are most natural, processes like elision and
epenthesis can create these structures, e.g. nuclear as nucular
7/22/2019 causes of dialect
9/16
Causes for the development of dialects
CHANGES IN WORD MEANING
dialect areas do of course show lexical and semantic differences
same meaning, different word: often relating to food and drink items, e.g.
sub, hoagie, grinder, hero for submarine sandwich
same word, different meaning: to mommuck meaning to bother, harassin Outer Banks, North Carolina, but to make a mess of in southeastern
North Carolina
environmental and cultural influences: some foods only exist in certain
http://www.ifla.uni-stuttgart.de/~jilka/G4 Proseminar Dialectology
areas, ess mar ne-re ate voca u ary n an - oc e areas
new words can be made up (coined), e.g. meehonkey (game on
Ocracoke Island) or created by compounding, e.g. hushpuppies (bite-
sized pieces of deep-fried cornmeal batter)
dialect words may spread and become standard words: ranch
(southwestern US), bisque (cream soup, New England)
standard words may retract to regional use: garret (attic) or yonder
(over there) only survive in the rural South
7/22/2019 causes of dialect
10/16
Causes for the development of dialects
SOCIOHISTORICAL MECHANISMS
language is a highly structured communicative code that also
functions as a kind of cultural behavior
social differentiation is likely to correspond to language
differences
http://www.ifla.uni-stuttgart.de/~jilka/G4 Proseminar Dialectology
dialects are most likely to develop in situations of physical and/or
social separation among groups of speakers
7/22/2019 causes of dialect
11/16
Causes for the development of dialects
LANGUAGE CONTACT
language contact influences both language development and
specific dialect formation
lexical borrowings
mocassin, racoon, chipmunk (Native American languages) bureau, prairie, depot (18th century French)
New Orleans: lagniappe (small gift or bonus)
Southern Pennsylvania: stollen (type of cake)
http://www.ifla.uni-stuttgart.de/~jilka/G4 Proseminar Dialectology
morphological borrowings suffix -fest in songfest, beerfest, slugfest from German compound
Suffix -ee in draftee, trainee, enlistee from French
transferred syntactic structures
Southern Pennsylvania: Are you going with? from German
7/22/2019 causes of dialect
12/16
Causes for the development of dialects
ECONOMIC ECOLOGY
ecologically based occupations such as fishing in coastal areas,
mining in mountain regions, or farming in the plains mainly bring
about the development of specialized vocabulary
effect on direction and rate of language change in grammar andpronunciation:
metropolitan regions are typically centers of change, while rural areas are
http://www.ifla.uni-stuttgart.de/~jilka/G4 Proseminar Dialectology
as rural language features are often associated with long-established heritage,
they sometimes (in rare cases) spread as a counterreaction to an influx of
outsiders in the area:
e.g. in Oklahoma rural constructions like Shes fixing to go to church now have
spread to the cities as well, so native Oklahomans can assert their identity
7/22/2019 causes of dialect
13/16
Causes for the development of dialects
SOCIAL STRATIFICATION I
members of different social classes distinguish themselves fromone another in a whole range of social behaviors including thetype of language they use
communication networks who people talk to on a regular basis is an important factor in thedevelopment of dialect differences
regions affected by patterns of transportational flow and population movement
http://www.ifla.uni-stuttgart.de/~jilka/G4 Proseminar Dialectology
High-Density: all speakers interact (everyone knows everyone)
Multiplex: speakers interact with the same speakers in different social arenas (e.g.families live in same neighborhood + work in same place)
Low-Density: speaker all know a particular individual but dont interact with eachother
Uniplex: interacting with different sets of people in different social spheres speakers in high-density, multiplex networks cling to to localized,
vernacular language varieties, while speakers in uniplex, low-densitynetworks are quicker to adopt new outside features
7/22/2019 causes of dialect
14/16
Causes for the development of dialects
SOCIAL STRATIFICATION II
group reference people often want to be considered part of a particular social group and
project their identity with this group in many ways including talking likeother members of the group
group membership may be voluntary or without choice, but often carriesconnotations of pride and loyalty
e.g. members of established families on the Massachusetts island of Marthas
Vineyard heightened their usage of certain unusual vowel sounds in order to
http://www.ifla.uni-stuttgart.de/~jilka/G4 Proseminar Dialectology
distinguish themselves from tourists motivation to switch between dialects (e.g. people returning home for
family visits)
personal identity
dialect features are often associated with certain character traitse.g. Anglo teenagers who want to be cool adopt features of African American
English
7/22/2019 causes of dialect
15/16
Causes for the development of dialects
GEOGRAPHICAL FACTORS I
natural boundaries (rivers, lakes, mountains, valleys) can separate
groups of speakers, determine the routes they take and where they
settle (sea islands off the Carolina coast are examples of isolated
dialects) settlement
North American dialect differences can be traced back to dialect differences
http://www.ifla.uni-stuttgart.de/~jilka/G4 Proseminar Dialectology
Distinct phases of settlement
Phase 1: move into area with attractive environment, original culture
Phase 2: occupy all land, new cultural identity, cohesive society (may lead to
elimination of established cultures, e.g. Native Americans)
Phase 3: regional populations define themselves with respect to others (culture,commerce, transportation), localized with unique identity
7/22/2019 causes of dialect
16/16
Causes for the development of dialects
ORIGINS OF VARIETIES
Scotland: Northumbrian dialect of Old English Scots
decline begins around 1600; Union of Parliaments 1707 Scottish English
Ireland: English speakers since 1200, almost disappeared by 1600
rise of English with renewed political domination
North America: first crucial settlements in 17th century
rhotic non-rhotic
http://www.ifla.uni-stuttgart.de/~jilka/G4 Proseminar Dialectology
Australia/New Zealand: first settlers early 19th century
South Africa: 5000 English settlers in 1820
Wales: acquisition of English in mid-19th century
Top Related