LANE 422 SOCIOLINGUISTICS Summarized From SOCIOLINGUISTICS An Introduction
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LANE 422 SOCIOLINGUISTICS Summarized From SOCIOLINGUISTICS An Introduction to Language and Society Peter Trudgill 4 th edition. 2000, Prepared by Dr. Abdullah S. Al-Shehri 1
Chapter 8 Language and Geography 2
Earlier, n We discussed the importance of ‘geographical barriers and distance’ in causing language variation. n When a linguistic innovation occurs in one area, it may subsequently spread to other areas, particularly those nearest to it, so long as no serious barriers and distance exist. n A good example of a linguistic innovation that has spread geographically in England is the loss of English prevocalic /r/ in words like cart, car, farm, and yard. 3
Usually, n Linguistic innovation is initiated by speakers in the urban centers. n It also often spreads initially from one urban center to another, and only later reaches the countryside. n This is due to the economic, demographic and cultural dominance of town over country, and the intensity of communication network between towns. n The spread of linguistic features from one area to another is therefore not (always) dependant on geographical proximity. 4
Why are there more regional dialect variation in England than in America and Australia though the last two countries are bigger? n English has been spoken in England for longer period (1500 years) than in America and Australia (300 years or less). n English has been spoken for longer period in the east of the United States than in the more recently settled west, so there is also more regional dialect variation there. n Australia, for example, is a country as big as the USA, and has as yet virtually no regional dialect variation at all because it has not existed for very long and is thinly populated. 5
Dialect Leveling and the Disappearance of Regional Dialects n Dialect leveling is the process whereby differences between regional dialects disappear over time. n Dialect leveling is an interesting process as it appears to be behind ongoing linguistic change in many countries. n In England however, traditional dialects are disappearing, but the larger (urban) modern dialects are continuing to diverge. 6
Koinéization and the Formation of New Dialects n New dialects emerge as a result of a process called Koinéization. n A koiné language means ‘common language’ in Greek. n A koiné is a dialect that developed as a result of contact between two or more mutually intelligible varieties of the same language. n A koiné variety emerges as a new spoken dialect in addition to the pre-existing dialects of the same language. n A koiné is thus not the result of a ‘natural evolution’ of dialects. n American, Australian and New Zealand Englishes are believed to have been the result of Koinéization. 7
Geographical, Social and Language Barriers n We saw earlier how geographical barriers such as rivers, mountains and spatial distance can act to hamper the spread of linguistic features and help create regional dialect variation. n A third type of barrier, which does not necessarily act to prevent the spread of linguistic innovation is language itself. n Linguistic innovation, it seems, spreads not only from one regional or social variety to another; it may also spread from one language to another. n An example of this is the spread in Europe of the fashionable Parisian uvular [R] into other languages. 8
The Development of Linguistic Areas n The diffusion of linguistic innovation across language boundaries, particularly when grammar, vocabulary and phonetics are all involved, results in the development of a linguistic area. n One of the most interesting linguistic areas in Europe is the Balkans (Serbia, Macedonia, Albania, Greece, Bulgaria and Romania). n Over the centuries, languages in these countries have acquired a number of common features sometimes known as ‘Balkanisms’, not shared by most other European languages. n An example of ‘Balkanisms’ is ‘the postponed definite article’ (the): in four of the Balkan languages the article ‘the’ is placed after the noun. n The Indian subcontinent and southern Africa are also good examples of areas where unrelated languages have common 9
The Spread of Linguistic Innovation n Linguistic innovations spread from one dialect or language to another geographically adjacent dialect or language. n If spreading of a linguistic innovation takes place across language boundaries, on a large scale, linguistic areas are formed. n Broadly speaking, it appears that only grammatical and phonological features require geographical proximity to diffuse. n Lexical items appear to spread across languages regardless of proximity through lexical borrowing. 10