causes of dialect

7/22/2019 causes of dialect

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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


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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)


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


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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)


,

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)


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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


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


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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


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)


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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


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)


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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);


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)


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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


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


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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


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


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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


dialects are most likely to develop in situations of physical and/or

social separation among groups of speakers


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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)


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


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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


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


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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


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


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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


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


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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


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


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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


Australia/New Zealand: first settlers early 19th century

South Africa: 5000 English settlers in 1820

Wales: acquisition of English in mid-19th century

causes of dialect

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