Topics in perceptual dialectology Perceptual dialectology

1 topics in perceptual dialectology

1.1 linguistic vs. folk linguists
1.2 factors in deciding boundaries

1.2.1 geography
1.2.2 social classes
1.2.3 slang


1.3 pleasantness , correctness
1.4 historical perceptual dialectology
1.5 language attitude studies

topics in perceptual dialectology
linguistic vs. folk linguists

one of areas of perceptual dialectology discerning linguistic , folk judgments. study zoë boughton investigates perceptual dialectology in northern france through dialect identification task. subjects asked identify regional origin of speaker after listening voice samples. pays de la loire respondents (from nancy , rennes, respectively northeastern , northwestern regions) not successful @ correctly identifying regional origins of voice samples, able detect differences between nancy , rennes speakers. results suggest 2 regional-perceptual axes: north/east relating regional or social accent divergence, while west/centre/paris more related standardness of accent , convergence. usage of authentic speech samples identification reveals how subjects able perceive differences between dialects according own folk beliefs.

factors in deciding boundaries
geography

people regard own dialect distinct other quite similar ones. study of bostonians reflected tendency. people outside of new england area saw speech having single bostonian accent, while bostonians perceived different dialect boundaries, own region being separate rest of new england area. when 50 bostonians asked draw perceived dialect boundaries , rate degrees of pleasantness , correctness examine similarities , differences, varied significantly, reflecting difficulty of establishing distinct dialect boundaries when mapping isoglosses.

social classes

perceptual dialectology concerns social dialects regional dialects. social dialects associated social classes or groups, rather region. example of african american vernacular english, attributed lower education, ignorance, , laziness. in 1 study, white college males asked imitate black male speech , vice versa. findings concluded white college males understood researcher meant when asked white male subjects talk black man. when completing assigned task, white males had ready-made phonology, set of paralinguistic features of pitch range, rhythm, , vocal quality, , rich , detailed variety of roles , topics. of roles white male subjects portrayed included basketball player, hip, cool person, , street person. topics included dancing, violence, , slavery. yet, white males had extremely limited number of morphological , syntactic devices , small comically exaggerated lexicon (including ethnically stereotyped lexemes).

slang

slang can influential non-linguists in determining dialect boundaries are. many of labels in dialect mapping task focused on slang terms when studying perceptual dialectology of english spoken in california. university of california, santa barbara students asked label map of california according subjects, particularly southern californians, used hella identify northern california region. dude used identify san diego region.

pleasantness , correctness

ratings of pleasantness , correctness of dialects vary between speakers of different dialects. speakers southern accent memphis, tennessee, rated other southern regions less correct other regions, no less pleasant. surprisingly, rated own speech least educated , pleasant. speakers memphis more aware of distinctions among dialects within south, not aware of differences in other regions such west, lumping 1 largely correct area. there varying ratings of pleasantness , correctness among regions within south. when english speakers reno, nevada rated southern english, rated less correct , pleasant , different own speech.

historical perceptual dialectology

historical perceptual dialectology allows linguists examine how , why dialects in past gained popularity. linguists gain chance examine how perceptual dialectology of dialects of languages have evolved on given time. principal scholar examining perceptual dialectology dennis preston, , methodology involves interview-based techniques. applying initial methodology used in field of perceptual dialectology impossible when examining dialects of past.

historical perceptual dialectology must not confused historical linguistics, concerned changes in linguistic phenomena on time. unlike historical linguistics, historical perceptual dialectology used contribute social understanding of language , used link dialect perceptions political , intellectual history. historical perceptual dialectology has ability date emergence of dialects.

issues historical perceptual dialectology include relying on text of literate population of past. considering perceptual dialectology interested in perceptions of common folk, relying on data social group of population not accurate representation of general population. subjects should taken large pool when using interview techniques such dennis preston s. issue having single case examine.

alexander maxwell, scholar of historical perceptual dialectology, examined emergence of 3 dialects of slovak , how general population of slovak speakers came accept 3 dialects of slovak exist. maxwell used articles written amateur linguists , language planners. interested in seeing how slovak perceptual dialectology had evolved on time reach consensus of general population. maxwell found perceptions of dialects shifted political shifts.

examining historical perceptual dialectology, evidence shows shifts in perceptions of dialects directly correlated historical shifts, whether political, intellectual, or social. these studies imply need study linguistics respect history.

language attitude studies

in addition studying how , nonlinguistics identify dialects, perceptual dialectology considers attributes nonlinguists assign dialects.

when informants associate particular language variety particular group, presumed social attributes of group transferred dialect itself. dialect associated attributes when informants cannot correctly identify source of dialect. thus, dialects can come index perceived social attributes such formality, politeness, friendliness, intelligence, snobbishness, , other traits. individuals use these variants can gain appearance of social traits attributed dialect.