Synchronic and Diachronic Variation Variation in space and time

Synchronic variation : Sociolinguistics Geographical variation (dialects) Social variation (‘social dialects’) –Social class –Ethnic group –Sex –Age –Profession –Other occupations

The illusion of the linguistic unity The English language The French language Role of schools, mobility and media

Synchronic variation British vs American English Phonological differences –pronunciation of final –r (near, hurt) –pronunciation of /  / vs. /  / (goat) –stress patterns la’boratory vs ‘laboratory ciga’rette vs ‘cigarette a’pplicable vs ‘applicable

Synchronic variation British vs American English Lexical differences –petrol vs gasoline –lift vs elevator –trousers vs. pants

Synchronic variation British vs American English Syntactic differences –X is different to Y vs X is different than Y –Have you met Mr. Hawkins? I think I might have (done).

Ideolect, dialect, language Each speaker of English/French has an internalized grammar  ideolect No platonic ideal form for the English/French language Dialects (first definition) –systematic differences –mutually intelligible –not inferior: standard English is a dialect

Dialects vs accents Accent (within the linguistic community): variation limited to pronunciation Accent (foreign, e.g. “French accent”): systematic variation in pronunciation due to influence of native language

Dialect maps and isoglosses Choose a linguistic variable, e.g. “what do you call the shoes that you use for doing gym and sports?” Carry out a survey over a given geographical area, using observation points Plot the results on a map

Dialect map for gymshoes What do you call the shoes you use for doing gym?

Trudgill, Dialects, p.102

Dialect map for gymshoes Lexical variation in present day English Correlation with the dialect areas established on phonetic criteria

Dialect map for Arm Phonetic variation in present day English

Trudgill, Dialects, p.53

Dialect map for Arm Phonetic variation in present day English –Originally r is pronounced in all positions and in all dialects of English –250 years ago some dialects begin to drop r before a consonant (arm) or at the end of a word before a pause (far)

Dialect map for but Phonetic variation in present day English

Dialect map for but Phonetic variation in present day English –north and south are distinguished in their pronunciation of e.g. but, up, cup, butter, some, other, luck etc. –south: but [  ] vs put [  ] –north : but and put : same vowel [  ] –The north preserves the Middle English vowel system

Traditional dialects Extensive variation in –phonology –lexicon –morphology –syntax Data based on a survey carried out in 313 localities in England in the 1950s (cf. The Linguistic Atlas of England)

Phonological variation Pronunciation of arm in traditional dialects in the 1950s

Phonological variation Pronunciation of arm in traditional dialects in the 1950s –compare map for present day pronunciation –begins in the south east and spreads towards north and west –areas of partial retention (r)

Arbitrariness of value judgements on pronunciation stigmatization of r retention in Britain compare h deletion (hill = ill = [  ]) (innovative variant stigmatized) positive judgment on r retention in certain US varieties

Lexical variation in traditional dialects play in traditional dialects

Lexical variation in traditional dialects play in traditional dialects –heavy influence of Old Norse on English (they, egg, skirt, …) –especially in the lower North (200 years of bilingualism –Compare Norwegian leike

Lexical variation in traditional dialects child in traditional dialects –compare with Norwegian barn

Lexical variation in traditional dialects dig in traditional dialects

Lexical variation in traditional dialects dig in traditional dialects –dig is borrowed from Old French diguer (‘dig a ditch’) –previous verbs delve and grave are limited to the geographical edges of the country

Lexical variation in traditional dialects trough in traditional dialects

Lexical variation in traditional dialects trough in traditional dialects –trough cannot be adopted independently in 3 areas –new form manger (standard technical term) spreads along communication lines

Morphological variation in traditional dialects you in traditional dialects

2nd pers pronouns before ±1700 subjectobject sgthouthee plyeyou

Change in 2 nd pers pronouns plural becomes polite form for singular addressees (compare Fr. vous) complete disappearance of the old singular forms in standard English introduction of youse as 2 nd pers pl in some English dialects introduction of yall (= you all) as 2 nd pers pl in some American dialects (southern)

Morphological variation in traditional dialects Am I in traditional dialects

What about French?

Specificities of French in the North Phonological differences –Je ne sais pas (rounded a) –Tiens ! Thierry. (palatalization of [  ] →[  ]) Lexical differences –wassingue (vs. serpillère) –souper (vs. dîner) Syntactic differences –C’est pour moi manger ce soir

French traditional dialects Latin origin of the romance dialects spoken in France: historical depth of change No mutual intelligibility between geographically separated dialects No mutual intelligibility with standard French Dialect continuity: usually no complete breaks, mutual intelligibility at (relatively) short distances

French traditional dialects Bunches of isoglosses separate major dialect areas –e.g. between the oil and oc dialects and between wallon and picard –often corresponding to geographical or political boundaries Politics of eradication of dialects in France –Schools –The army

..... Southern limit of mener (cp Occitan mina) ---- Southern limit of heure (cp Occitan ora) _._. Southern limit of chanter (cp Occitan cantar)

Situation of Romance dialects in Belgium Speakers of Walloon and Picard are dying out Theater programs on television in dialect

Language vs dialect Mutual intelligibility Dialect continuity Political and sociological distinctions –“A language is a dialect with an army and a navy” Max Weinreich –Catalan was considered a dialect under Franco –Norwegian and Danish are mutually intelligible

Social variation Social class Ethnic group Sex Age Profession Other occupations

Social class and variation: England

Social class and accent variation: England

Language and social class Verbs in 3 rd pers sg present tense without –s –She like him very much. –He don’t know a lot, do he? –It go ever so fast Studies in Norwich and Detroit Classify speakers according to social class (non linguistic criteria) Count percentage of times each speaker uses verbs with and without –s in recordings

Language and social class ClassNorwichClassDetroit MMC0%UMC1% LMC2%LMC10% UWC70%UWC57% MWC87%LWC71% LWC97% Verbs without –s in Norwich and Detroit

Language and social class Same types of results replicable for many different features –Phonology, morphology, lexicon, syntax

Language and ethnic group African American English (AAE) Studies in Detroit –80% success rate in recognition of blacks vs. whites given a few seconds of recording –Speech specificities not due to ethnic group but to environment –AAE is not inferior to other varieties

Some characteristics of AAE Phonological –Loss of interdental fricatives [  ]  [  ], [  ]  [  ] Ruth  [  ] (=roof), brother  [  ] [  ]  [  ] (word initial position) those  [  ] (=doze)

Some characteristics of AAE Syntax and semantics –Double negatives (far broader than AAE) He don’t know nothing. –Habitual be John be happy.“John is always happy.” John happy.“John is happy now.” He be late.“He is habitually late.” He late.“He is late this time.”

Language and sex Study of walkin’ (non RP) vs walking (RP) in Norwich (4% means speakers used the –in’ variant in 4% of the cases where it is possible and the –ing variant in 96%) MMCLMCUWCMWCLWC Male4%27%81%91%100% Female0%3%68%81%97%

Language and sex General tendencies noted in England –Women are more status conscious than men –Working class culture (and speech) are associated with masculinity Under-reporting of RP uses by men and over-reporting by women

Language and age Age grading: specific usages identifying speaker with age group Differences in language between age groups representing ongoing change

Language and profession, etc. Technical or specialized vocabularies (jargon) –Utility based aspects –Identificational aspects (e.g. groupe nominal vs. syntagme nominal) Slang –Identificational aspects

Language use and identification Centralization of vowels in Martha’s Vineyard

Language use and identification Centralization of vowels in Martha’s Vineyard [  ]  [  ] and [  ]  [  ] –while, pie, night –out, house, trout

Language use and identification Centralization of vowels in Martha’s Vineyard [  ]  [  ] and [  ]  [  ] Ageayaw

Geographical distribution of centralization ayaw Down-island3533 Up-island6166

Degree of centralization and orientation towards Martha’s Vineyard PersonsOrientationayaw 40Positive Neutral3242 6Negative0908