The lack of culturally appropriate norms for assessing the speech and language status of Malaysian children has been an ongoing issue in Malaysia. At present, there are no normative data against which to assess the phonological skills of Malaysian children. Malaysian Chinese children are usually bilingual or multilingual. They acquire English, Mandarin Chinese and Malay during their preschool years. English that is used in Malaysia is commonly recognized as Malaysian English (MalE). MalE has distinctive phonological characteristics that are different from those of so-called Standard English (SE). However, the variations of MalE may not be completely understood by many speech-language pathologists (SLPs) in Malaysia, and this may lead to difficulty in differentiating speech differences resulting from MalE dialectal features and true speech disorders. As well as establishing speech norms for MalE speaking children, information is needed about the current assessment practices of the phonological development of MalE speaking children. Three studies were carried out for the present thesis. The first study was designed to provide insight into Malaysian SLPs’ perspectives on the current use of articulation and phonology assessments in the country. It reports the results of a survey of 38 Malaysian SLPs in term of the types of articulation and phonological assessments currently used, SLPs’ perceptions about the adequacy and accuracy of current articulation and phonological assessment in meeting clinical needs, the experiences of SLPs in using current articulation and phonological assessments, as well as their perception of the need for further research in the areas of articulation and phonology. The findings indicated that informal articulation or phonological assessments were widely used. Only a minority of the respondents used standardized articulation or phonological assessments. The majority of the respondents felt that the lack of locally developed standardized tests and the utilization of informal assessments of articulation and phonology in their clinics did not provide accurate diagnoses or intervention plans. They felt that there was a need for collecting phonological developmental data and creating articulation and phonology assessments for Malaysian children. The second study was designed to identify characteristics of the consonant and vowel inventories of MalE as well as phonetic realizations of speech sounds, by investigating the speech production of ten adult Chinese speakers of MalE. The participants were asked to read a list of 206 single words which contained all expected MalE consonants, consonant clusters and vowels. These speech sounds were sampled in several different words and in different syllable-word positions. This study goes beyond previous studies of MalE phonology by using a quantitative auditory phonetic analysis. The characteristics observed were first categorized according to their frequency of occurrence and then further grouped into categories based on the possible influences of British English or American English as well as local Malaysian languages (Mandarin Chinese and Malay) and dialects. The interference patterns within MalE resulting from the influence of local languages and Chinese dialects were also discussed. The phonological features of MalE which converged with developmental phonological processes in SE children were explored. An understanding of the phonological features and realizations of MalE speech sounds is important because this will help speech-language pathologists to differentiate dialectal phonological features exhibited by MalE speaking children from phonological differences and disorders. The third study which was also the major study of this thesis was designed to provide valid and reliable normative data for the phonological development of MalE speaking Chinese children between the ages of 3 and 7 years. This study provided a description of the children’s phonological system in MalE in terms of i) age of acquisition of speech sounds, ii) speech sound accuracy and iii) phonological process use. 264 typically developing English speaking Malaysian Chinese children between the ages of 3 and 7 years were recruited to participate in this cross-sectional study. In a pilot study, eleven words were eliminated from the list used in the second study, leaving a list of 195 words which sampled consonants, consonant clusters and vowels in various syllable-word positions and phonotactic structures. The words were illustrated and presented colourfully in composite pictures to elicit a large and well-controlled single word speech sample. All the speech data gained were transcribed phonetically and analyzed quantitatively. The findings revealed that MalE children’s speech sound accuracy was underestimated when MalE dialectal features were not taken into consideration. MalE speaking children exhibited phonological acquisition patterns that were both similar and different to SE. The differences found were mainly due to the cross-linguistic effects of Mandarin Chinese and Malay which were acquired at the same time by MalE speaking children. The influence of Mandarin Chinese and Malay appeared to accelerate or delay the phonological acquisition of MalE based on phonetic similarity theory. The findings of the present study highlight the need to consider MalE dialectal features in the phonological analysis of MalE speaking children. The differences in phonological acquisition of MalE and SE indicate that the norms of SE are not suitable to be used for MalE speaking children. This study will provide useful and locally appropriate normative developmental data on phonological acquisition for MalE speaking Chinese children. Speech-language pathologists in Malaysia will be able to use it as a guideline in assessing and treating clients with articulation and phonological disorders. In addition, these normative developmental data are a prerequisite to the eventual establishment of a phonological assessment tool specifically designed for MalE.

Dans le cadre de cette étude sur l’intégration de l’emprunt à l’arabe dialectal en français et de l’emprunt au français en arabe dialectal dans l’ouest algérien, nous avons tenté, tout au long de notre travail, de manifester notre intérêt pour l’arabe dialectal algérien, et son rapport avec la langue française.Cette étude sur l’intégration phonologique et morphologique d’emprunts porte essentiellement sur des verbes et des substantifs, divisés en trois chapitres. À chaque étape de notre analyse, nous avons cherché à mettre en évidence le fonctionnement du verbe – ou du substantif – en arabe dialectal en nous appuyant sur deux types de lexèmes : ceux qui viennent de l’arabe dialectal et ceux qui sont empruntés au françaisDans le premier chapitre, qui est composé de deux parties, nous avons essayé d’étudier, dans une première partie, les différents substantifs et verbes existant en arabe dialectal, ensuite, nous avons vu dans une deuxième partie, les adaptations au niveau phonologique et morphologique avec des exemples proposés en arabe dialectal algérien.Dans le deuxième chapitre, nous avons analysé uniquement au niveau phonologique l’adaptation des substantifs et des verbes empruntés au français en arabe dialectal à partir d’exemples tirés de notre corpus oral. Ce dernier, nous a permis de voir et d’analyser les différents discours au niveau phonologique en prenant en considération les emprunts, en l’occurrence les verbes et les substantifs, utilisés par nos interlocuteurs.Dans le troisième et dernier chapitre de cette étude, nous avons opté pour la variété de la langue française, bien représentée à l’ouest du pays dans la presse écrite d’expression française, où les items issus des variétés locales parlées en Algérie sont présents. Il s’agit du français de type algérien, observé l’adaptation morphologique d’emprunts à l’arabe dialectal dans le français dans les pratiques langagières des journalistes de la presse écrite, utilisé par un chroniqueur à partir d’exemples tirés de notre corpus écrit.Nous avons pu constater, dans le cadre de cette étude sur l’emprunt en Algérie, que ce phénomène linguistique demeure un des principaux procédés qui contribuent à l’enrichissement du français local et des discours médiatiques, plus particulièrement dans l’ouest algérien. / As part of this study on the integration of French dialectal borrowing into French and the borrowing of French in dialectal Arabic in western Algeria, we have tried, throughout our work, to demonstrate our interest in Algerian dialect Arabic and its relation to the French language.This study on the phonological and morphological integration of borrowings focuses on verbs and nouns, divided into three chapters. At each stage of our analysis, we sought to highlight the functioning of the verb - or noun - in dialectal Arabic by relying on two types of lexemes: those from dialectal Arabic and those borrowed from French.In the first chapter, which is composed of two parts, we tried to study, in a first part, the different nouns and verbs existing in dialectal Arabic, then, we saw in a second part, the adaptations at the phonological level and morphological with examples offered in Algerian dialect Arabic.In the second chapter, we analyzed only at the phonological level the adaptation of nouns and verbs borrowed from French in dialectal Arabic from examples taken from our oral corpus. The latter allowed us to see and analyze the different speeches at the phonological level by taking into account the borrowing, in this case the verbs and nouns used by our interlocutors.In the third and last chapter of this study, we opted for the variety of the French language, well represented in the west of the country in the French-language print media, where items from local varieties spoken in Algeria are present. This is the Algerian-French kind of language, observed the morphological adaptation of borrowing to dialectal Arabic in French in the language practices of the journalists of the written press, used by a chronicler from examples taken from our written corpus.We have seen in this study, which this linguistic integration of borrowings in Algeria remains one of the main processes that contribute to the enrichment of local French and media discourses, especially in western Algeria.

Que serait un bon dictionnaire du dialecte occitan de Nice ? Afin de répondre à cette question, la Réflexion préliminaire articule un propos théorique de nature métalexicographique et linguistique avec une étude ciblée du champ d’application dialectal. Sur le plan théorique, le modèle général d’élaboration et d’analyse des outils lexicographiques que l’on propose est couplé à une étude de la problématique dialectale. Un retour sur les aspects fondamentaux de la linguistique du signe complète le tout. Il montre que le dictionnaire – dialectal en particulier – gagne à adopter le point de vue de la sémantique motivation¬nelle, selon laquelle le caractère essentiellement arbitraire des unités lexi¬cales doit être réfuté. Conformément à la méthode fondamentale suggérée dans la mise au point théorique, le développe¬ment s’intéresse en détail au contexte lexicographique puis aux configurations linguistique et socio¬linguistique du dialecte niçois. L’analyse historico-critique insiste sur la diversité des dictionnaires occitans et sur les limites d’une lexicographie d’oc qui, depuis la fin de son âge d’or (de 1840 au début du XXe siècle) a cessé de développer des méthodes innovantes. Ce panorama lexicographique débouche sur l’inventaire de nou¬veaux besoins. L’étude (socio)linguistique qui le suit s’attache à définir l’espace dialectal niçois, à présenter les modalités de la variation et à circonscrire l’état de langue actuel. Elle aboutit à une proposition de structuration des données protéiformes qui repose sur la désignation (et sur l’élaboration) d’une variété référentielle. L’échantillon du Dictionnaire variationnel du niçois constitue le point d’orgue de la réflexion. / What would characterize a good dictionary of Nice’s Occitan dialect? To answer this question, this PhD dissertation links a theoretical approach of a metalexicographical and linguistic nature with a targeted study of the specific dialectal field of application. On the theoretical level, the thesis proposes a general model for the development and analysis of lexicographical tools that is coupled with a study of the dialectal problematic. A return to the basic aspects of the linguistic sign completes the whole and shows that a dictionary – especially a dialectal one – benefits greatly from the adoption of the motivational semantics point of view, according to which the arbitrary character of lexical units must be refuted. Following the basic method suggested in the theoretical section, the development also examines the lexicographical context and then studies in detail the linguistic and sociolinguistic configurations of the Niçois dialect. The historico-critical analysis insists on the diversity of Occitan dictionaries and on the limits of an Occitan lexicography which, since the end of its golden age (from 1840 to the beginning of the 20th century) has ceased to develop innovative methods. This lexicographical panorama leads to an inventory of new needs. The (socio-)linguistic study which follows sets out to define the dialectal space of Niçois, to present the modalities of variation and to circumscribe the current state of the language. It concludes with a proposal for the structuring of protean data based on the designation (and on the elaboration) of a referential variety. A sample of the Variational Dictionary of Niçois is the culmination of the study.

The present study investigates the translation of dialectal elements in literary texts from the German and Swedish linguistical and cultural areas. Translation theory generally advises against the translation of dialectal elements in standard language texts thereby implicitly questioning their creative and communicative function. The aim of the study is to investigate to what extent the dialectal elements in the source text are translated by corresponding dialectal elements in the target text thereby promoting a "cultural transfer" or whether a translation method based on translation theory is used. The linguistic material from the novels Die Räuberbande by the German author Leonhard Frank, Tjärdalen by the Swedish author Sara Lidman and Kapten Nemos bibliotek by the Swedish author Per Olov Enquist is microanalyzed. In doing so, the phonetical-phonological, morphological and syntactical dialectal features in the three source texts are treated methodically and are exemplarily and systematically presented together with their translation variants in the target language. The study focuses mainly on the translations of dialectal lexicology, which is investigated according to its contrastive function regarding the translations of standard language, thereby examining its adequacy. By including all the dialectal lexemes appearing in the works and their translations empirical dates have been compiled as a result of the translation methods. The study´s analyses demonstrate that dialectal elements are mainly translated into standard language, that a large part of dialectisms is paraphrased and that a small part is rendered by spoken language without regional limits. A tendency towards increasing use of dialectal elements through the times can be detected as well as a propensity to adapt the translation to the stylistical preferences in the receiving country. Thus, "cultural transfer" is not promoted.

This dissertation investigates subject expression patterns in Dominican Spanish (DS). In this variety, the null subject constructions associated with Non-Caribbean Spanish co-exist with the widespread use of overt subjects, which are found in specific constructions that are either rare or unattested in other Spanish varieties. Interestingly, these structures co-exist in the Dominican grammar with the null subject constructions associated with Non-Caribbean Spanish. While subject expression has been studied in a number of Spanish dialects within the generative and the variationist paradigms, monolingual Dominican Spanish, to the best of my knowledge, has not been investigated in previous variationist work. This study covers this gap by examining a large corpus of spontaneous speech (N=6005) gathered in the capital city of Santo Domingo and a rural area in the northwestern Cibao region. Furthermore, in line with the cohesive approach to syntactic variation developed in recent work (Adger and Smith 2005), theoretical implications are drawn from quantitative results. The results obtained in this study show that null and overt subject patterns in DS are regulated by the same constraints that have been found relevant in previous variationist work, i.e. discourse-related factor groups and Person (Otheguy, Zentella and Livert, 2007). These results depart from previous work in that evidence for language change in progress has been found in subject position patterns, rather than in null and overt subject distribution. When this phenomenon is examined, urban, young, high-middle class and female speakers arise as the social groups leading grammatical restructuring. Quantitative and qualitative evidence is taken into account for testing previous syntactic-theoretical proposals on DS. Taking the cartographic approach to syntactic structure (Rizzi 1997) as a point of departure, it will proposed that multiple specifier positions are available within the TP and CP fields to host strong and weak subjects. This proposal, in turn, makes it possible to account for the Null Subject Parameter profile displayed by synchronic DS without resorting to competing grammars in the minds of the speakers.

This dissertation investigates subject expression patterns in Dominican Spanish (DS). In this variety, the null subject constructions associated with Non-Caribbean Spanish co-exist with the widespread use of overt subjects, which are found in specific constructions that are either rare or unattested in other Spanish varieties. Interestingly, these structures co-exist in the Dominican grammar with the null subject constructions associated with Non-Caribbean Spanish. While subject expression has been studied in a number of Spanish dialects within the generative and the variationist paradigms, monolingual Dominican Spanish, to the best of my knowledge, has not been investigated in previous variationist work. This study covers this gap by examining a large corpus of spontaneous speech (N=6005) gathered in the capital city of Santo Domingo and a rural area in the northwestern Cibao region. Furthermore, in line with the cohesive approach to syntactic variation developed in recent work (Adger and Smith 2005), theoretical implications are drawn from quantitative results. The results obtained in this study show that null and overt subject patterns in DS are regulated by the same constraints that have been found relevant in previous variationist work, i.e. discourse-related factor groups and Person (Otheguy, Zentella and Livert, 2007). These results depart from previous work in that evidence for language change in progress has been found in subject position patterns, rather than in null and overt subject distribution. When this phenomenon is examined, urban, young, high-middle class and female speakers arise as the social groups leading grammatical restructuring. Quantitative and qualitative evidence is taken into account for testing previous syntactic-theoretical proposals on DS. Taking the cartographic approach to syntactic structure (Rizzi 1997) as a point of departure, it will proposed that multiple specifier positions are available within the TP and CP fields to host strong and weak subjects. This proposal, in turn, makes it possible to account for the Null Subject Parameter profile displayed by synchronic DS without resorting to competing grammars in the minds of the speakers.

Darbo objektas. Antano Tatarės veikalo „Pamokslai išminties ir teisybės“ (Tatarė, 1987, Vilnius: Vaga, 20–143 psl.) zanavykų šnektos, priskiriamos vakarų aukštaičių kauniškių patarmei, tarminės ypatybės. Darbo hipotezė. A. Tatarės veikale „Pamokslai išminties ir teisybės“ atsispindi tik vakarų aukštaičių kauniškių pietinės šnektos – zanavykų – fonetinės ir morfologinės ypatybės. Darbo tikslas. Ištirti Antano Tatarės veikalo „Pamokslai išminties ir teisybės“ vakarų aukštaičių kauniškių zanavykų šnektos tarmines ypatybes. Darbo uždaviniai: 1. Naudojantis rastomis tarmybėmis, nurodyti pagrindines vakarų aukštaičių kauniškių zanavykų šnektos fonetines ir morfologines ypatybes; 2. Išrinktas vakarų aukštaičių patarmės zanavykų šnektos tarmines ypatybes suskirstyti pagal kalbos lygmenis (fonetikos, morfologijos, žodžių darybos, sintaksės, leksikos); 3. Naudojantis dialektologine, istorinės gramatikos ir kt. literatūra, ištirti rastus tarminius vartojimo atvejus. 4. Naudojantis rastais pavyzdžiais, apibūdinti A. Tatarės pastangas prisidedant prie kalbos norminimo darbų. Darbo metodai: 1. Aprašomasis-analitinis. Rastų fonetinių, morfologinių, sintaksinių, žodžių darybos, leksikos tarmybių aprašymas, remiantis fonetikos ir fonologijos, morfologijos, sintaksės, istorinės gramatikos, kalbos kultūros šaltiniais. 2. Lyginamasis. Tarmybių pavyzdžiai lyginami su bendrine kalba, artimoms zanavykams tarmėmis. Darbo struktūra. Darbą sudaro įvadas, dėstomoji dalis, išvados, priedai... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] / The object of the paper. The dialectal features of zanavykai dialect, labelled as the subdialect of western aukštaičiai kauniškiai, in Antanas Tatarė‘s work “Pamokslai išminties ir teisybės“ (Tatarė 1987, Vilnius: Vaga, 20–143 pages). The hypothesis of this paper. A. Tatarė‘s work “Pamokslai išminties ir teisybės“ reflects only phonetic and morphological features of the southern subdialect of western aukštaičiai kauniškiai (zanavykai). The aim of the paper is to explore the dialectal features of zanavykai dialect in Antanas Tatarė‘s work “Pamokslai išminties ir teisybės“. The goals of this paper are: 1. To indicate the main phonetic and morphological features of the subdialect of western aukštaičiai kauniškiai (zanavykai) by using found vernacularisms. To distribute the selected dialectal features of western aukštaičiai subdialect of zanavykai dialect according to language levels (phonetics, morphology, word formation, syntax, lexis); 2. To investigate the found cases of dialectal use by using dialectological, historical grammar and etc. literature. The methods of the paper: 1. The descriptive-analytic method. The description of found phonetic, morphological, syntactic, word formation, lexical vernacularisms, based on the resources of phonetics and phonology, morphology, syntax, historical grammar, language culture. 2. The comparative method. The examples of vernacularisms are compared with common language, dialects close to zanavykai. The stucture of this paper. The work... [to full text]

This dissertation investigates subject expression patterns in Dominican Spanish (DS). In this variety, the null subject constructions associated with Non-Caribbean Spanish co-exist with the widespread use of overt subjects, which are found in specific constructions that are either rare or unattested in other Spanish varieties. Interestingly, these structures co-exist in the Dominican grammar with the null subject constructions associated with Non-Caribbean Spanish. While subject expression has been studied in a number of Spanish dialects within the generative and the variationist paradigms, monolingual Dominican Spanish, to the best of my knowledge, has not been investigated in previous variationist work. This study covers this gap by examining a large corpus of spontaneous speech (N=6005) gathered in the capital city of Santo Domingo and a rural area in the northwestern Cibao region. Furthermore, in line with the cohesive approach to syntactic variation developed in recent work (Adger and Smith 2005), theoretical implications are drawn from quantitative results. The results obtained in this study show that null and overt subject patterns in DS are regulated by the same constraints that have been found relevant in previous variationist work, i.e. discourse-related factor groups and Person (Otheguy, Zentella and Livert, 2007). These results depart from previous work in that evidence for language change in progress has been found in subject position patterns, rather than in null and overt subject distribution. When this phenomenon is examined, urban, young, high-middle class and female speakers arise as the social groups leading grammatical restructuring. Quantitative and qualitative evidence is taken into account for testing previous syntactic-theoretical proposals on DS. Taking the cartographic approach to syntactic structure (Rizzi 1997) as a point of departure, it will proposed that multiple specifier positions are available within the TP and CP fields to host strong and weak subjects. This proposal, in turn, makes it possible to account for the Null Subject Parameter profile displayed by synchronic DS without resorting to competing grammars in the minds of the speakers.

This thesis focuses on the historical development of dialectal variation in the Gaelic languages with special reference to Irish. As a point of departure, competing scholarly theories concerning the historical relationships between Goidelic dialects are laid out. Next, these theories are tested using dialectometric methods of linguistic analysis. Dialectometry clearly suggests the Irish of Ulster is the most linguistically distinctive of Irish dialects. This perspective on the modern dialects is utilised in subsequent chapters to clarify our understanding of the history of Gaelic dialectal variation, especially during the Old Irish period (AD 600–900). Theoretical and methodological frameworks that have been used in the study of the historical dialectology of Gaelic are next outlined. It is argued that these frameworks may not be the most appropriate for investigating dialectal variation during the Old Irish period. For the first time, principles from historical sociolinguistics are here applied in investigating the language of the Old Irish period. In particular, the social and institutional structures which supported the stability of Old Irish as a text language during the 8th and 9th centuries are scrutinised from this perspective. The role of the ecclesiastical and political centre of Armagh as the principal and central actor in the relevant network structures is highlighted. Focus then shifts to the processes through which ‘standard’ languages emerge, with special reference to Old Irish. The evidence of a small number of texts upon which modern understandings of Old Irish was based is assessed; it is argued that these texts most likely emerged from monasteries in the northeast of Ireland and the southwest of Scotland. Secondly, the processes through which the standard of the Old Irish period is likely to have come about are investigated. It is concluded that the standard language of the period arose primarily through the agency of monastic schools in the northeast of Ireland, particularly Armagh and Bangor. It is argued that this fact, and the subsequent prominence of Armagh as a stable and supremely prestigious centre of learning throughout the period, offers a sociolinguistically robust explanation for the apparent lack of dialectal variation in the language. Finally, the socio-political situation of the Old Irish period is discussed. Models of new-dialect formation are applied to historical evidence, and combined with later linguistic evidence, in an attempt to enunciate dialectal divisions which may have existed during the period.

This dissertation investigates subject expression patterns in Dominican Spanish (DS). In this variety, the null subject constructions associated with Non-Caribbean Spanish co-exist with the widespread use of overt subjects, which are found in specific constructions that are either rare or unattested in other Spanish varieties. Interestingly, these structures co-exist in the Dominican grammar with the null subject constructions associated with Non-Caribbean Spanish. While subject expression has been studied in a number of Spanish dialects within the generative and the variationist paradigms, monolingual Dominican Spanish, to the best of my knowledge, has not been investigated in previous variationist work. This study covers this gap by examining a large corpus of spontaneous speech (N=6005) gathered in the capital city of Santo Domingo and a rural area in the northwestern Cibao region. Furthermore, in line with the cohesive approach to syntactic variation developed in recent work (Adger and Smith 2005), theoretical implications are drawn from quantitative results. The results obtained in this study show that null and overt subject patterns in DS are regulated by the same constraints that have been found relevant in previous variationist work, i.e. discourse-related factor groups and Person (Otheguy, Zentella and Livert, 2007). These results depart from previous work in that evidence for language change in progress has been found in subject position patterns, rather than in null and overt subject distribution. When this phenomenon is examined, urban, young, high-middle class and female speakers arise as the social groups leading grammatical restructuring. Quantitative and qualitative evidence is taken into account for testing previous syntactic-theoretical proposals on DS. Taking the cartographic approach to syntactic structure (Rizzi 1997) as a point of departure, it will proposed that multiple specifier positions are available within the TP and CP fields to host strong and weak subjects. This proposal, in turn, makes it possible to account for the Null Subject Parameter profile displayed by synchronic DS without resorting to competing grammars in the minds of the speakers.