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By approaching dialect and standard language from a folk linguistic perspective, this thesis aims to investigate how laypeople perceive, talk about and orient towards dialect and standard language in a dialect area close to the perceived linguistic and administrative centre of Sweden. It consequently focuses on dialect and standard language as socially meaningful entities, rather than as sets of linguistic features, and studies a dialect area as it is understood by those who identify with it. To explore these issues, group interviews, a set of quantitative tests among adolescents and a ‘mental mapping’ task were used. Participants’ descriptions of the local dialect suggest that many of them regard the dialect and the standard language as separate language systems. The standard language, strongly associated with writing, is perceived as formal and artificial. In contrast, dialect is understood simply as speech signalling local belonging. Variation expressing local belonging typically not regarded as dialect by dialectologists, is mentioned by participants more than once. The extent to which dialectal resources are described to be expected depends on the participants’ understanding of place, context and interlocutors. In some contexts, using dialect seems to be a way of overtly signalling one’s belonging to the local community. In this way the dialect is still important, perhaps even as a means of consolidating the local community’s existence. At the same time, however, the prototypical speaker is described as being old, indicating that spoken dialect is not particularly relevant today. By examining dialect and standard language as cultural phenomena in the area at the present time, it is shown how they can be used to construct one’s own group in relation to others, both regionally and locally within the area investigated. Although the local spoken language is considered close to the standard, the mechanisms controlling how language users determine their own dialect boundaries are arguably the same as in more complex dialect areas. Linguistic differences need not be large, or even in current use, to be perceived as distinct and important.

Thesis (Ph.D. (Translation Studies and Linguistics)) -- University of Limpopo, 2021 / This study explores the influence of the Khelobedu Dialect on Standard Sepedi with a special focus on the students’ writing. A classroom is a space where students need to feel the confidence to take part in classroom activities, language should not be a barrier. Post-1994, South Africa had to take quick measures to redress the injustices that were implemented towards indigenous languages by the previous government. This meant that South African indigenous languages were elevated to official status. Part of this process of officiating indigenous languages of South Africa was based on the concept of language planning which required that official languages must have orthography. This meant that those dialects which did not have orthography could not form part of the standardisation process. Khelobedu is one of the dialects in Sepedi which was left out during the standardisation of Sepedi. This was because of the settlement of the missionaries in South Africa. With the growing need to promote multilingualism and to use indigenous languages for learning and teaching, students who speak Khelobedu as a first language face challenges in the Multilingual classroom where Sepedi is used as a medium of instruction. Instruments such as individual interviews, focus group interviews and document analysis was used to gather data for this qualitative study. The data for this study has revealed that students face various challenges in the Multilingual Studies classroom, in the individual interviews participants have highlighted challenges such as phonological, spelling and finding relevant terminologies from their first language to the standardised Sepedi. The data from the focus group has revealed that most of the participants agree that these challenges are predominant. Both types of interviews revealed that participants will appreciate having orthography from the first language be added to the standard Sepedi. Document analysis instrument data has revealed the challenges that the students face in the Multilingual Studies classroom. With the current trends in Higher Education where education is evolving and issues of inclusivity are of importance, the study suggests a model for the re-standardisation of Sepedi where orthography from Khelobedu can be added through the process of corpus language planning. / National Institute for the Humanities and Social Sciences (NIHSS)

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With the rising importance of Mandarin Chinese since the 80s, researchers have paid more attention to the Mandarin learners of heritage backgrounds who can understand or speak Mandarin Chinese before entering Chinese as a Foreign Language (CFL) programs. However, the study of Fangyan-speaking learners of Mandarin Chinese has been long neglected and still remains scarce. This interview study was conducted with twelve Fangyan-speaking learners of Mandarin in U.S. universities with an aim of investigating the linguistic knowledge and ethno-cultural identities that Fangyan-speaking students bring to college-level CFL classrooms. Another focus of this study is to investigate the perception Fangyan-speaking students have about their linguistic abilities and what Fangyan-speaking students are perceived to be the expectations of their instructors and peers. This study was conducted in two CFL programs: a long-established dual-track program in a research university and a newly-established mixed track program in a teaching university. Both Fangyan-speaking students and their instructors were recruited for interviews and document data were collected from both students and their instructors. A modification of Krashen’s Input Hypothesis (1981) was employed in categorizing four types of Mandarin input, in which Cantonese pronunciation for reading purposes and media consumption were found to play important roles in Fangyan-speaking students’ Mandarin learning. Analysis of the data also revealed that Fangyan-speaking participants’ ethno-cultural identities may exhibit a nature of “hybridity” (Young, 1995) owing to their family immigration histories. Implications derived from the findings are offered for researchers, practitioners, and administrators of programs that serve tertiary CFL learners. / text

This thesis is a comparative study of Pai and Swati. The Pai language is spoken in the easten1 parts of the Mpumalanga Province of the Republic of South Africa. The study concentrates on the correspondences and differences of the speech sounds of these two languages and reference is also made to the morphology. The previous comprehensive work on Pai was by Ziervogel (1956) where he classified the Pai language as one of the three dialects of Eastern Sotho. He also considered the Swati elements present in Pai to be merely borrowings. The present investigation into the history of the Pai people indicates that Pai may have had links with languages other than those belonging to the Sotho group and, from the evidence, an Nguni connection has become a distinct possibility. The speech sounds of Pai are described in detail in chapter two and corresponding speech sounds in Swati are included. The vowels of both languages receive special attention because Pai apparently has a seven-vowel system and Swati a five-vowel system. The corresponding consonants in these two languages soon points towards a relationship that is based on more than just borrowed items. In chapter three the Ur-Bantu sounds of Meinhof and their reflexes in Swati and Pai are described and compared. The wide variety of attestations in Pai and the instability of some phonemes are indicative of a language that has been subjected to many outside influences and that is at the moment in a state of flux. In chapter four some aspects of the morphology are described in order to highlight the peculiar characteristics of Pai as an individual language. The relationship with Swati is again emphasized by the findings in this chapter. A statistical analysis of the speech sounds of Pai and Swati in chapter five indicates that an Nguni core of sounds exists that is shared by both these languages. A re-classification of Pai within the language context of that area may therefore be necessary. / African Languages / D. Litt. et Phil. (African Languages)

The present study is an investigation of acoustic correlates corresponding to the category [voice] in two dialects of Venezuelan Spanish. The Andean mountain dialect Mérida (MER) and Caribbean coastal dialect Margarita (MAR) are thought to differ systematically in the phonetic implementation of the Spanish phonological stop series along the lines of lowland and highland divides commonly reported for Latin American Spanish. Specifically, MER has been characterized by a greater percentage of occlusive pronunciations, MAR by more fricative and/or approximant realizations of phonological stops. To test what repercussions these differences in consonant articulation have on the acoustic correlates that encode [voice], a production experiment was run. Informants were 25 adult monolingual speakers of Venezuelan Spanish from the areas of El Tirano (Margarita Island) and San Rafael de Mucuchíes (Mérida state). The materials were 44 CV syllable prompts. Target syllables were analyzed with respect to the following: consonant closure duration, VOT, %VF, RMS, preceding vowel duration, CV ratio, F1 onset frequency, F0 contour, and burst. Statistical analysis using a linear mixed model ANOVA tested for fixed effects of voicing category, dialect and condition (speeded/unspeeded) and interactions of voicing category * dialect and dialect * condition. Results showed that the dialects MER and MAR vary significantly in RMS. In addition, the following correlates were significant for the interaction of voicing category * dialect: consonant duration, VOT, %VF, RMS, CV ratio and burst. Generally, the nature of the differences indicates a greater separation between [± voice] values in MER than in MAR (notably divergent are VOT and RMS). These results imply that while the same acoustic correlates of [voice] are operative in both fortis and lenis dialects of Spanish, [± voice] categories relate differently. Furthermore, with regard to prosody and rate of speech, most significant differences in condition occurred in initial position while most significant differences in the interaction of voicing category * dialect were linked to medial position. The results of this study are relevant to current research on the specifics of dialectal variation in consonant systems. They also have wider implications for the general mapping of phonetics to phonology in speech. / text

In Scandinavian languages there are many popular bird names, most of which have been recorded in the dialect archives in the Nordic countries. The thesis concentrates on the bird names for snipes, i.e. the common snipe, the great snipe, the jacksnipe and the woodcook, in all approx. 330 different names. Some of these are recognized throughout Scandinavia, while others are only sparsely confirmed in single dialects. An especially large number of names refer to the common snipe, mainly due to its typical vibrating sound. Since the sound resembles a certain unobtrusive whinny from a horse or bleat from a goat or a sheep, many of the names contain words associating to these animals. Names describing a creaking sound mostly refer to the woodcock. Fairly common are names describing the protruding beak, a characteristic feature of all snipes. In order to give a complete semantic and etymological picture, all words forming part of the names have been identified and sorted by category, i.e. words indicating a common implicit meaning. The categories in turn have been divided into two main groups: words describing different sounds, and words describing visual impressions. In addition, names describing popular beliefs and those transferred from other bird species are presented. Factors that influence origin, formation, existence and development of bird names have been considered. With the etymological discussion forming the necessary background, ethnological aswell as cultural influences complete the picture of the naming process. Man's need for identification and classification of phenomena in his environment as well as the presence vs. lack of affect are important factors in the process. As is shown, a striking sound along with a particular appearence has inspired many affected popular names, while scientific names largely refer to visual, non-affected impressions. Due to man's present lack of everyday connection with nature many of the popular bird names presented are no longer in use. However, some of the names prove to be fairly young, which shows that the process of popular classification and naming is still a functioning part of our language and culture. / <p>Doktorsavhandling vid Uppsala universitet, 1996.</p>

George Bernard Shaw’s Pygmalion (1912) and its musical adaptation, My Fair Lady (1956) offer 20th century’s most famous example of dialect acquisition: the transformation of Eliza Doolittle under the tutelage of Professor Henry Higgins. The opportunity to work on Barksdale Theatre’s production of My Fair Lady (2012), both as the actress playing Eliza Doolittle and as a dialect coach for the production, prompted an analysis of the dialect pedagogy of Henry Higgins. The centenary of Pygmalion is also a prime juncture to document, in contrast or complement to Higgins’ model, contemporary theories and techniques of dialect pedagogy. Chapter one of this thesis explores the ideology of dialect acquisition, addressing the issues of dialect prestige and standard speech. Chapter two examines the rapport between teacher/coach and learner/actor, including a comparison of teacher-centered and learner-centered pedagogies and the influence of expectancy theories on learner growth. Chapter three details the methods of dialect acquisition, addresses language learning theories as applied to dialect learning, and offers practical exercises and techniques. The conclusion outlines areas of future consideration to enhance the dialect acquisition process in the classroom and rehearsal hall.

The aim of this thesis is to demonstrate the developmental dynamics and the current state of two language means found on the periphery of use (not only) in the media - transgressives and dialectisms - in the Krkonoše - Jizerské hory magazine. In the theoretical part, the issue of transgressives and Czech dialects, in more detail the dialect of Podkrkonoší region, is described. The thesis does not systematically address dialectisms that do not meet the criteria of dialect of Podkrkonoší region. Part of the theoretical part is also a short chapter briefly introducing the monitored periodical. The methods used in the practical part are qualitative and quantitative analysis. The transgressives and dialectisms found in the magazine are analyzed in detail in terms of their kind, normality, functional use, or their separation by punctuation marks (only the use of quotation marks in dialectisms). The final chapter then interprets the developmental dynamics of the observed phenomena, including an outline of possible reasons behind the occurrence of the monitored elements on the pages of the monitored periodical at present. So far, the literature has not dealt with the emergence of dialectisms of Podkrkonoší region (and dialectal elements in general) in the media, also for this reason, this work can be...