DiC 8 - Dialect Death

newspapers made questionnaires + distributed them in areas of traditional dialects

- huge loss in recognition of local dialect words

- words don't occur frequent enough in everyday speech

words which are more widespread= more likely to be recognized

1. lexical

2. phonological

3. morphological

4. syntax

(not very popular among linguists)

EDP Survey:

- survey conducted by a newspaper of dialect words.

- SE of England: traditional, distinct dialect of English > Norfolk

- ppl were asked for a translation/recognition

- recognition of local dialect words

problems with lexical features:

- in natural speech, a word may not occur at all, you have to ask what word they would use (lexical choice)

> intuitions can be wrong = PROBLEM

- recognized: local dialect words

- problems: lexical features

> words on list could not only be found in East Anglia

> more broadly used words are more likely to be recognized than more local ones

-Kingston 2000

-strange dialect features seem to be dying out.

Watt & Milroy 1999

NURSE, GOAT, FACE

-also dying out.

-gender difference: males retaining traditional forms more than women > often reoccurs

Trudgill 1974

-rather odd dialect features are disappearing

Structural Attrition:

East Anglia Study

3rd person zero, unstressed schwa, breaking

>dying out

Structural Attrition

Newcastle Study

NURSE, GOAT, FACE

> dying out

> gender differences: males retaining more

Structural attrition

Norwich Study

>odd dialect features dying out

-can be tracked easily

-from 1880s getting lost

-areas are getting smaller

-in some places they survive

-migration London > SW = spreading effect

produce /r/ where it isn't = often last attempt to resist

-fishing place

-ppl go there on holiday

-rural, isolated BUT there is contact

>dialect is dying out

-locals are moving off

-population is reducing

-no huge tourism + travel

>reverse in dialect: dialects diverge from main island

-big demographic loss

-able to resist changes from london + keep distinctive dialect features

-focussing its dialect

-diverging from mainstream

>cities where trad. features survive (strange!). dialectologists would have expected the contrary, but MIGRATION makes sense of this

contact (demographic)

appears to affect historically locally embedded words more than words with a wider regional and national currency

-women have a leading role in attrition progress.

-it's not the standard RP taking over

more regular and intensive contact with speakers of other dialects due to extensive social, economic + geographical mobility (which weakens social networks)