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.

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.

This study examines some lexical and morphosyntactic variation found among the Swahili varieties in Zanzibar, Tanzania. It has been reported that there are three varieties in the island, and the new data collected in the villages inside the island suggest that there is a need for closer investigation and finer categorization of the Zanzibar varieties. Furthermore, there has been little discussion about the relationship between the Standard variety and other varieties or variation in the use of these varieties. In this paper, we report on the use of these Zanzibar varieties, namely, the town variety, Kiunguja-Mjini, the Northern varieties Kichaani, Kikibeni, Kitumbatu-Gomani, Kinungwi and Kimatemwe, and the Southern varieties Kijambiani, Kipaje and Kimakunduchi at the level of the lexicon. In addition, we examine the varieties of the Northern province – Kichaani, Kikibeni, Kitumbatu-Gomani, Kinungwi, and those of the Southern province – Kijambiani, Kipaje at the level of the grammar. In this paper, we concentrate on tense/aspect, the copula sentence, relative clause, and imperative. Among the data on these languages, we investigate, in particular, the variation among these varieties on the one hand, and the variation between these varieties and Standard Swahili on the other.

Submitted by Cássia Santos (cassia.bcufg@gmail.com) on 2014-11-10T12:45:44Z No. of bitstreams: 2 Dissertacao Wildinara Karlane Luiz da Silva - 2013.pdf: 4862355 bytes, checksum: 2a378e1f67d6d49f8c1a9964eec73ffb (MD5) license_rdf: 23148 bytes, checksum: 9da0b6dfac957114c6a7714714b86306 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Luciana Ferreira (lucgeral@gmail.com) on 2014-11-18T10:24:52Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 2 Dissertacao Wildinara Karlane Luiz da Silva - 2013.pdf: 4862355 bytes, checksum: 2a378e1f67d6d49f8c1a9964eec73ffb (MD5) license_rdf: 23148 bytes, checksum: 9da0b6dfac957114c6a7714714b86306 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2014-11-18T10:24:52Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 2 Dissertacao Wildinara Karlane Luiz da Silva - 2013.pdf: 4862355 bytes, checksum: 2a378e1f67d6d49f8c1a9964eec73ffb (MD5) license_rdf: 23148 bytes, checksum: 9da0b6dfac957114c6a7714714b86306 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2013-10-04 / This work is devoted to describe the behavior of pretonic mid vowels <E>and <O> in the speech community of Iporá / GO and grasp the linguistic and social factors that control the occurence of variants. This variable phenomenon has role in the demarcation of dialect areas in Brazil, in which three variants are found: high [i, u], closed-mid [e, o] and open-mid [ε, ͻ]. Based on the methodology of Variationist Sociolinguistics, this research is based on the sample of 22 participants with stratified profile according to sex / gender, age and level of education and the correlation between selected language and social independent variables such as: height of the following vowel, preceding and following contexts, grammatical class, distance from the tonic vowel, sex/gender, age, level of education and origin. The collected data in sociolinguistic interviews, after being transcribed and coded, were processed using the statistical program Goldvarb X. The results without data (almost) categorical point that the variants closed-mid and open-mid vowels, in Iporá, present an approximate percentage and a different distribution in relation to Formosa/GO (GRAEBIN, 2008), the other speech sample of Goiás, in which was studied the same phenomenon. The vowel harmonization is the rule that controls more variation in the use of the three variants <E>and <O>. The variables are less active in this variation and it is not a change in progress, because the variant high is linked to low level of education and variant open-mid to the participant's origin Bahia. The variant high of <O> is favored by elderly and the variantclosed-mid of <O> by young. The variant closed-mid of <E> is favored by female and the open-mid of <E> by male. / Este trabalho se dedica a descrever o comportamento das vogais médias pretônicas <E> e <O> na comunidade de fala de Iporá/GO e apreender os fatores linguísticos e sociais que controlam as ocorrências das variantes. Este fenômeno variável tem papel na demarcação de áreas dialetais no Brasil, em que são encontradas três variantes: a alta [i, u], a fechada [e, o] e a aberta [ε, ͻ]. Com base na metodologia da Sociolinguística Variacionista, esta pesquisa é baseada na amostra composta pela fala de 22 participantes com perfil estratificado quanto a sexo/gênero, faixa etária e escolaridade e na correlação entre variáveis independentes linguísticas e sociais selecionadas, tais como: altura da vogal seguinte, contexto precedente e seguinte, classe gramatical, distância da tônica, sexo/gênero, faixa etária, escolaridade e origem. Os dados colhidos nas entrevistas sociolinguísticas, após serem transcritos e codificados, foram processados no programa estatístico GoldVarb X. Os resultados sem dados (quase) categóricos apontam que as variantes aberta e fechada, em Iporá, apresentam percentuais próximos e uma distribuição diferente em relação a Formosa/GO (GRAEBIN, 2008), a outra amostra da fala goiana, na qual foi estudado o mesmo fenômeno. A harmonização vocálica é a regra que mais controla a variação no uso das três variantes de <E> e <O>.As variáveis sociais foram menos atuantes nesta variação e não se trata de uma mudança em progresso, pois o alçamento está ligado à baixa escolaridade e a abertura à origem do participante de ascendência baiana. O alçamento de <O> é favorecido por idosos e o fechamento de <O> por jovens. O fechamento de <E> é favorecido pelo sexo feminino e a abertura pelo masculino.

Le romani, ou romanes, est une langue parlée historiquement par des communautés qui s’autodénomment « Roms », « Sintos » et « Calos ». Dans cette thèse, on se propose d'analyser une page du réseau social Facebook, comportant de nombreux messages en langue romani. Dans un premier temps, nous identifierons les dialectes présents sur la page et étudierons la diversité des pratiques orthographiques. Puis, on analysera comment la variation est prise en compte par les locuteurs, en évoquant les problématiques d'intercompréhension, d'identité et de revitalisation. Le but de notre recherche est de faire un état des lieux des besoins, réussites et représentations des locuteurs du romani afin d’accompagner ce qui pourrait être un processus d’autogestion langagière. / Romani, also known as Romanes, is a language historically spoken by communities who call themselves “Roma”, “Sinti” and “Kalo”. The purpose of this thesis is to study a page of the social network Facebook which includes many messages written in Romani language. First of all, we will identify the dialects used on the page and we will describe the diversity of spelling practices. Then, we wil analyze the way variation is taken into account by the speakers, discussing the issues of mutual understanding, identity and revitalization. Our research focuses on determining the needs, successes and representations of the Romani speakers in order to support a possible linguistic self-management.

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

Cette étude porte sur la forme périphrastique había- + do/-to/-cho que la tradition grammaticale répertorie comme le « plus-que-parfait de l’indicatif », en espagnol contemporain. Après avoir interrogé les différentes approches auxquelles a donné lieu l’étude de cette forme verbale, nous en proposons un signifié unique en langue qui en subsume l’ensemble des manifestations discursives. Pour cela, nous adoptons les principes théoriques de la « linguistique du signifiant », laquelle postule l’unicité du signe linguistique – à un signifiant correspond un seul signifié, et inversement – et accorde la primauté à la lecture de la structure sémiologique du signifiant. Cette approche nous conduit à replacer había- + do/-to/-cho au sein des réseaux signifiants de l’espagnol, et à reconsidérer la structuration modale du système verbal de cette langue. Enfin, nous nous employons à décrire le fonctionnement discursif de la périphrase en syntaxe, dans l’élaboration de séquences narratives, d’une part, mais aussi dans les « cas limites » que représentent les emplois diatopiques en situation de contact de langue en Amérique (contact espagnol / guarani en particulier) / This study focuses on the periphrastic form había- + do/-to/-cho that the grammatical tradition identifies as the ‘pluperfect (past perfect) indicative’ in contemporary Spanish. After reviewing the different approaches to this verbal form, we provide a unique signified for this form that is able to subsume all its discursive manifestations. For this purpose, we adopt the theoretical principles of the ‘Linguistics of the signifier’, which postulates the unity of the linguistic sign – i.e. a signifier corresponds to a single signified, and vice versa – and gives priority to the semiological structure of the signifier. This approach leads us to reexamine había- + do/-to/-cho within the signifying networks of Spanish, and to reconsider the modal structure of the verbal system. Finally, we describe the discursive syntactic behaviour of the Spanish pluperfect, in the development of narrative sequences, but also in certain Latin American diatopic occurrences (contact Spanish / Guarani in particular) since they are ‘borderline case’ among the pluperfect discursive occurrences