06/10/20
SOCIOLINGUISTICS L.5
R EGIONAL DIALECTOLOGY
Regional dialectology is the study of how language varies from
one region to another; it also examines how languages change
over time
Early dialectologists assumed that languages change as speakers
distance themselves from one another
Dialectologists
- Pioneers of European d.: Wenker and Gilliéron
- America: American Dialect Society
This interest in dialects was driven by the fear of loss of original
dialect
F OUR STANDARDS OF SUBSEQUENT DIALECTOLOGICAL STUDIES
How languages change in the US
• In the beginning dialectologists tried to map NORMs (Non-
mobile, Old, Rural, Males
• Data collection: questionnaire
• Priority to vocabulary item
• Presentation of results: isoglosse
M APPING DIALECTS (lecture 2)
•Dialect atlas: map showing distribution of linguistic forms by area
1
s
.
:
)
:
s
s
s
:
.
.
:
, 06/10/20
•Isogloss: a line on a map that shows the geographical distribution
of a linguistic feature (sound, grammatical construction, word,
etc.).
•Bundle of isoglosses: isoglosses that pattern together;
overlapping isoglosses (lines across which several features change
at once) often mark a dialect boundary
•Dialect boundary: border between two language varieties
! Dialect areas are de ned by bundles of overlapping isoglosses
•Focal area: an area which is the source of linguistic innovation
(usually an economic or cultural center)
•Relic area: an area in which older forms of a dialect have been
preserved
•Remnant dialect: a dialect spoken in a relic area but which can
have its own linguistic innovation
Dialectologists are interested in overlaps of isoglosses
T WO WAYS OF DESCRIBING LANGUAGE VARIATION WITHIN A DIALECT AREA:
1. Dialect mixture: coexistence of two or more dialects in one
are
2. Free variation: random variation with no signi canc
The important question is why and when there is a variation.
V ARIATIONIST SOCIOLINGUISTICS
Weinreich, Labov, Herzog proposed that languages show “orderly
heterogeneity”
Ground-breaking assumption: because patterns of variation in
language correlate with social dimensions, studying variation in
2
a
.
fi :
s
fi e
.
SOCIOLINGUISTICS L.5
R EGIONAL DIALECTOLOGY
Regional dialectology is the study of how language varies from
one region to another; it also examines how languages change
over time
Early dialectologists assumed that languages change as speakers
distance themselves from one another
Dialectologists
- Pioneers of European d.: Wenker and Gilliéron
- America: American Dialect Society
This interest in dialects was driven by the fear of loss of original
dialect
F OUR STANDARDS OF SUBSEQUENT DIALECTOLOGICAL STUDIES
How languages change in the US
• In the beginning dialectologists tried to map NORMs (Non-
mobile, Old, Rural, Males
• Data collection: questionnaire
• Priority to vocabulary item
• Presentation of results: isoglosse
M APPING DIALECTS (lecture 2)
•Dialect atlas: map showing distribution of linguistic forms by area
1
s
.
:
)
:
s
s
s
:
.
.
:
, 06/10/20
•Isogloss: a line on a map that shows the geographical distribution
of a linguistic feature (sound, grammatical construction, word,
etc.).
•Bundle of isoglosses: isoglosses that pattern together;
overlapping isoglosses (lines across which several features change
at once) often mark a dialect boundary
•Dialect boundary: border between two language varieties
! Dialect areas are de ned by bundles of overlapping isoglosses
•Focal area: an area which is the source of linguistic innovation
(usually an economic or cultural center)
•Relic area: an area in which older forms of a dialect have been
preserved
•Remnant dialect: a dialect spoken in a relic area but which can
have its own linguistic innovation
Dialectologists are interested in overlaps of isoglosses
T WO WAYS OF DESCRIBING LANGUAGE VARIATION WITHIN A DIALECT AREA:
1. Dialect mixture: coexistence of two or more dialects in one
are
2. Free variation: random variation with no signi canc
The important question is why and when there is a variation.
V ARIATIONIST SOCIOLINGUISTICS
Weinreich, Labov, Herzog proposed that languages show “orderly
heterogeneity”
Ground-breaking assumption: because patterns of variation in
language correlate with social dimensions, studying variation in
2
a
.
fi :
s
fi e
.
