1. Synchronic and Diachronic Variation Variation in space and time

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

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

4. 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

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

6. 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).

7. 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

8. 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

9. 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

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

11. Trudgill, Dialects, p.102

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

13. Dialect map for Arm Phonetic variation in present day English

14. Trudgill, Dialects, p.53

15. 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)

16. Dialect map for but Phonetic variation in present day English

18. 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

19. 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)

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

22. 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)

23. 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

24. Lexical variation in traditional dialects play in traditional dialects

26. 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

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

29. Lexical variation in traditional dialects dig in traditional dialects

31. 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

32. Lexical variation in traditional dialects trough in traditional dialects

34. 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

36. Morphological variation in traditional dialects you in traditional dialects

38. 2nd pers pronouns before ±1700 subjectobject sgthouthee plyeyou

39. 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)

40. Morphological variation in traditional dialects Am I in traditional dialects

44. What about French?

45. 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

46. 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

47. 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

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

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

51. 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

52. Social variation Social class Ethnic group Sex Age Profession Other occupations

53. Social class and variation: England

54. Social class and accent variation: England

55. 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

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

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

58. 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

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

60. 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.”

61. 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%

62. 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

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

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

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

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

67. Language use and identification Centralization of vowels in Martha’s Vineyard [  ]  [  ] and [  ]  [  ] Ageayaw 75-2522 61-753537 46-606244 31-458188 14-303746

68. Geographical distribution of centralization ayaw Down-island3533 Up-island6166

69. Degree of centralization and orientation towards Martha’s Vineyard PersonsOrientationayaw 40Positive6362 19Neutral3242 6Negative0908