scholarly journals Incorporating dialectal variation into the introductory phonetics course: The class is the data

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul E Reed
Keyword(s):  
Dialectal Variation

Cross-dialectal variation in Arabic: Competing prestigious forms

1987 ◽  
Vol 16 (3) ◽  
pp. 359-367 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hassan R. Abd-El-Jawad
Keyword(s):  
Social Groups ◽  
Standard Variety ◽  
Adequate Description ◽  
Sociolinguistic Variation ◽  
Dialectal Variation ◽  
Standard Arabic ◽  
Arabic Sociolinguistics ◽  
Informal Settings ◽  
Spoken Arabic ◽  
Modern Standard

ABSTRACTMost researchers of Arabic sociolinguistics assume the existence of a sociolinguistic continuum with a local vernacular at the bottom and the standard variety at the top. Those researchers seem to equate the terms “prestige” and “standard”; consequently, they tend to consider Modern Standard Arabic (MSA) as the only prestige variety in all settings. This article presents evidence showing that if an adequate description of sociolinguistic variation of spoken Arabic is to be met, it is necessary to posit not only one standard speech variety, MSA, but also other prestigious local or regional varieties which act as local spoken standards competing with MSA in informal settings. It will be shown in the reported cases that in certain contexts speakers tend to switch from their local forms – though these latter may be identical to MSA – to other local features characteristic of other dominant social groups and that happen to be marked [–MSA], These local prestigious norms act like the standard spoken norms in informal settings. (Diglossic model, prestigious varieties, stereotypes, dominant social groups, competing standards, spoken Arabic).

Mapping variation in Basque: The BiV database

2019 ◽  
Vol 23 (2) ◽  
pp. 347-374
Author(s):  
Beatriz Fernández ◽  
Ane Berro ◽  
Iñigo Urrestarazu ◽  
Itziar Orbegozo
Keyword(s):  
Open Access ◽  
Research Group ◽  
Linguistic Variation ◽  
Online Database ◽  
Dialectal Variation ◽  
Fine Grained ◽  
User Friendly

Abstract The aim of this paper is to present the Euskara Bariazioan/Basque in Variation (BiV) database, a project launched by the Basque and Beyond (Bas&Be) research group. This open-access online database, available in both Basque and English versions, is intended to facilitate research on Basque morphosyntactic features that show cross-dialectal variation. Based on data obtained from questionnaires, the BiV provides the user with a description of each feature together with illustrative examples, and accompanies each entry with a map graphically depicting the distribution of variation. The resulting fine-grained picture of the distribution of morphosyntactic phenomena across Basque varieties has the ultimate goal of improving our understanding of the systematicities and connections that underlie variation. Thanks to its user-friendly format, the database can be used easily by anyone who is interested in Basque morphosyntax in particular and cross-linguistic variation in general. The results obtained thus far show that while some features have the same distribution across Basque varieties as that previously reported, others are spreading and thus have a wider geographical presence than has been described in the literature.

Language sources and the reconstruction of early languages

Diachronica ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 37 (3) ◽  
pp. 273-317
Author(s):  
Brigitte L. M. Bauer
Keyword(s):  
Language Evolution ◽  
Old French ◽  
Literary Texts ◽  
Sociolinguistic Variation ◽  
Dialectal Variation ◽  
Social Variation ◽  
Original Emphasis ◽  
French Grammar ◽  
Incomplete Picture

Abstract This article argues that with the original emphasis on dialectal variation, using primarily literary texts from various regions, analysis of Old French has routinely neglected social variation, providing an incomplete picture of its grammar. Accordingly, Old French has been identified as typically featuring e.g. “pro-drop”, brace constructions, and single negation. Yet examination of these features in informal texts, as opposed to the formal texts typically dealt with, demonstrates that these documents do not corroborate the picture of Old French that is commonly presented in the linguistic literature. Our reconstruction of Old French grammar therefore needs adjustment and further refinement, in particular by implementing sociolinguistic data. With a broader scope, the call for inclusion of sociolinguistic variation may resonate in the investigation of other early languages, resulting in the reassessment of the sources used, and reopening the debate about social variation in dead languages and its role in language evolution.

The use of stative progressives by school-age learners of English and the importance of the variable context

2018 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 195-224 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert Fuchs ◽  
Valentin Werner
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Foreign Language ◽  
Intermediate Level ◽  
School Age ◽  
Advanced Learners ◽  
Dialectal Variation ◽  
Aspect Hypothesis ◽  
Intermediate Learners

Abstract Previous studies indicate that even advanced learners of English as a Foreign Language and speakers of English as a Second Language extend the progressive to stative verbs, contrary to the predictions of the Aspect Hypothesis (AH). We test this claim based on a corpus of beginning and lower intermediate learner writing produced by speakers of three languages with and three without a progressive. In contrast to previous studies, we measure the frequency of stative progressives using the variable context method, which is frequently used in research on dialectal variation. Results reveal that stative progressives are very rare at the beginning/lower intermediate level, regardless of the presence of a progressive in the learners’ L1, confirming the claim of the AH for beginning and lower intermediate learners. Moreover, stative progressives mostly occur in contexts that are grammatical in native usage, especially in the interlanguage of learners with a progressive in their L1.

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