‘Broken English’, ‘dialect’ or ‘Bahamianese’?

The study investigates language attitudes in The Bahamas, addressing the current status of the local creole in society as well as attitudinal indicators of endonormative reorientation and stabilization. At the heart of the study is a verbal guise test which investigates covert language attitudes among educated Bahamians, mostly current and former university students; this was supplemented by a selection of acceptance rating scales and other direct question formats. The research instrument was specifically designed to look into the complex relationships between Bahamian Creole and local as well as non-local accents of standard English and to test associated solidarity and status effects in informal settings. The results show that the situation in The Bahamas mirrors what is found for other creole-speaking Caribbean countries in that the local vernacular continues to be ‘the language of solidarity, national identity, emotion and humour, and Standard the language of education, religion, and officialdom’ (Youssef 2004: 44). Notably, the study also finds that standard Bahamian English outranks the other metropolitan standards with regard to status traits, suggesting an increase in endonormativity.

Figurative Interpretation of Oscillatory and Multidirectional Movement in the Scottish English

This work is devoted to the study of the semantics of the verbs denoting oscillatory and multidirectional movement in the English dialect Scots, and identifying ways of metaphorical modeling of the semantics of this type of movement. The objectives of the study are to define the group of dialectical metaphorical verbs, and to describe the sphere of axiological orientation of metaphorical images of this type of movement in the Scottish dialect. The results of the study showed that the class of verbs of this type of movement is rather representative. The work shows not just the study of a certain form of movement, but the identification of those components of semantics in the dialectical verb vocabulary, which are the basis of metaphorical likening of processes and phenomena of different spheres of activity. As part of the study, the authors concluded that the “orientation point” component is one of the main traits on which metaphorical transfer was based. Therefore, the analysis was carried out taking into account the interaction of signs of the direction of movement, which influence the formation of a metaphorical image. Images of oscillatory and multidirectional movement are the source sphere for metaphorical modeling of the social, emotional sphere of human existence, as well as physiological aspects of people.

OED and EDD: comparison of the printed and online versions

This paper revisits the issue of the opaque interrelationship between the English Dialect Dictionary (EDD) and the Oxford English Dictionary (OED). While work on OED3, the online version, has been in progress since 2000, the EDD was digitised in three phases between 2006 and 2019. EDD 3.0, with its sophisticated interface, was launched in April 2019. This paper ventures to question the OED’s policy of providing or omitting source evidence for some of its data. After a survey of the unequal aims and structures of the two dictionaries from their beginnings down to the end of OED2 (1989), the focus of the paper is on their relationship with regard to the two online versions, first as described by recent OED editors, and then by examining the interfaces. A quantitative analysis of the lexical variants attributed to Worcestershire in the two dictionaries is used as a test case to show that OED3 has borrowed more data from EDD (Online) than the OED entries attest and the ranking-list of sources misleadingly suggests. The paper critically analyses the OED’s practice of providing source evidence only for quotations, but generally not for (dialectal) variants.

Joseph Wright’s sources in the English Dialect Dictionary: evidence of spoken English from EDD Online

Linguists of historical English, of traditional dialects and present-day varieties of English, generally rely on written texts, now often available in the form of corpora. However, the historical development of English, including its regional dialects, was naturally rooted in the spoken vernacular, rather than the literary standard. This paper, based on EDD Online (3.0), therefore, argues that the wealth of sources as used by Wright in his comprehensive English Dialect Dictionary (EDD) should no longer be disregarded, given that no better information is available. After a critical assessment of the widespread scepticism towards the EDD sources and of the different motivation of scholars not primarily concerned with traditional dialects (such as OED lexicographers), the paper first provides a survey of the different types of sources used by the EDD and presented in different lists and tables in EDD Online, and then focuses on the unpublished sources. The subsequent section shows that part of the problem of spoken sources results from the unjustified insistence of many scholars on phonetics to be the level of linguistic interest. In answer to the OED’s scepticism towards Wright’s sources as expressed in a paper by Durkin (2010a), the final section provides an analysis of Northamptonshire dialect words as a test case, with various linguistic issues beyond the OED’s focus on the temporal frame of reference.

Study of mythological lexemas in modern linguistics

The article is given to considering semantics and recurrence of “Legendary creatures” names of the Germanic root within the English dialect. The creator looks at semantic implications of three lexemes of Germanic beginning designating legendary animals, analyzes standardizing recurrence of these lexemes in four corpuses, five sort sub-corpuses of the English dialect. The semantic implications of lexemes are distinguished; the lexemes are positioned agreeing to polysemy-monosemy feature and the recurrence within the present day English dialect. The paper considers the conceivable interrelations between the semantic, recurrence

The Conservative North – the Phonological Makeup of Northern English Features

The Northern English dialect has always been a source of curiosities and many contrasts, boggling the mind of linguists who would wish to confine it within some limits of linguistic definitions. Starting from its Old English forefather, Northumbrian, onwards, the Northern dialect has proved to be both influential and resistant to external influences. Its borders defy clear categorization as understood by clear-cut variables, providing more for a fuzzy and volatile framework of relations among different Northern varieties. This is somewhat justified by the very nature of the Northern speech which seems to be a product of as much the history as the culture and tradition so deeply rooted in the hearts of Northerners. Against the backdrop of folklore and popular myths surrounding the local varieties, the Northern tongue has developed its unique features based on two contrasting linguistic trends in morphology and phonology. Among those, one can observe strong innovative and influential tendencies in the area of morphology and much resistance to changes or external influences in terms of phonology. It seems particularly surprising that the phonological analysis of the Northern dialect will very often appear to be an analysis of the dialect of the past with many characteristics having remained unaltered since the old times and being now a symbol of pride and affinity for a particular social group. The aim of this article is to investigate some of those phonological relics, trying to “establish historical continuities” and relating the today’s forms to the past. The analysis will include both vowels and consonants, focusing predominantly on such concepts as the retention of [U], lack of diphthongization, lack of palatalization, rhoticity, and the cluster [xw], and it will involve textual examples from modern times backwards. The results of such a study should present a reliable picture of the Northern dialect, which, despite its morphologically innovative nature proved earlier, is characterised by conservative and traditional phonological values, adding colour to the Northerners’ speech and ensuring its special status within the English dialectal family.

The Dialect Features and Distinguish Approach of Scottish English (Note 1)

If standard official language is a glass of water, the dialect is like soup with a flavor of your hometown. The locals in Scotland pride themselves on speaking English with a Scottish accent, but its obscurity always leaves us at a loss. In order to understand Scottish English dialects better, this article first briefly analyzes the language classification in Scotland. Then, using empirical research methods, interviews with the 10 most representative speakers of Scottish English dialects are selected from the eight regions of Scotland. The audio is used as a research corpus. The corpus is 49 minutes and 17 seconds long, with a total number of 9293 words. It focuses on the analysis of the accent, vocabulary, and grammatical structure of the Scottish English dialect. Finally, suggestions are made on Scottish English listening and discerning ability training.

Nasalance Scores for Normal Speakers of American English Obtained by the Nasometer II Using the MacKay-Kummer SNAP-R Test

Objective: To establish nasalance score norms for adolescent and young adult native speakers of American English and also determine age-group and gender differences using the Simplified Nasometric Assessment Procedures (SNAP) Test-R and Nasometer II. Design: Prospective study using a randomly selected sample of participants. Setting: Greater Cincinnati area and Miami University of Ohio. Participants: Participants had a history of normal speech and language development and no history of speech therapy. Participants in the adolescent group were recruited from schools in West Clermont and Hamilton County, whereas the young adults were recruited from Miami University of Ohio. The participants of both groups were residents of Cincinnati, Ohio or Oxford, Ohio and spoke midland American English dialect. Outcome Measures: Mean nasalance scores for the SNAP Test-R. Results: Normative nasalance scores were obtained for the Syllable Repetition/Prolonged Sounds, Picture-Cued, and Paragraph subtests. Results showed statistically significant nasalance score differences between adolescents and young adults in the Syllable Repetition, Picture-Cued, and Paragraph subtests, and between males and females in the Syllable Repetition and the Sound-Prolonged subtests. A significant univariate effect was found for the syllables and sentences containing nasal consonants and high vowels compared to syllables and sentences containing oral consonants and low vowels. Across all the SNAP Test-R subtests, the females’ nasalance scores were higher than the males. A significant univariate effect was also found across nasal syllables, and high vowels such that the females’ nasalance scores were higher than the males. Tables of normative data are provided that may be useful for clinical purposes. Conclusion: Norms obtained demonstrated nasalance score differences according to age and gender, particularly in the Syllable Repetition/Prolonged Sound subtest. These differences were discussed in light of potential reasons for their existence and implications for understanding velopharyngeal function. In addition, nasalance scores are affected by the vowel type and place of articulation of the consonant. These facts should be considered when nasometry is used clinically and for research purposes.