The Emergence of Regional Dialects

As we discussed before, dialects become recognizable and unique through the development of distinctive features

There are a few common processes/factors in the development of distinctive features:

• Retention
• Naturally occurring internal language change
• Language contact
• Coining

We’ll go through each process and identify some examples

 

Retention involves bringing features of original dialects/languages spoken by a community into their new language/dialect.

Some examples:

• Double modals (‘might should’) in Appalachian English, a feature retained from Scottish English
• /ɪ/ → /i/, /ɑ/ → /a/ in Chicano English, influence from Spanish

What are some other examples of retention?

 

Naturally occurring internal language change: sometimes, language just… changes, similar to a random mutation in DNA. This is not a conscious decision, or the result of outside influence.

Some examples:

• Lexical metathesis in Southern English: ‘peckerwood’, ‘hoppergrass’
• ɔ/ɑ (cot/caught) merger in most of the US – these vowels have ‘blended’ together over time

What are some other examples of naturally occurring language change?

 

Language contact involves borrowing or structural influence from another (neighboring) language. This is different from retention in that it involves influence from a language the community did not historically speak.

Some examples:

• In American English: possum (from Algonquian), canyon (from Spanish)
• In NYC English: bodega (from Spanish)
• In Hawaiian Creole: obake (from Japanese)

What are some other examples of language contact that distinguish certain dialects?

 

Coining involves creating new words/phrases.

Some examples:

• ‘Jawn’ in Philadelphia English
• ‘Deadass’ in NYC English (though this has spread!)

What are some other examples of coining?

 

 

Regional + Social Dialects – Examples

We’ll go through a few examples of commonly studied regional and social dialects, and some of their distinctive features.

Discussion of dialects is necessarily generalized – not all speakers in these communities use these features, and some of the features might shift over time

 

Appalachian English (regional)

• Characterized by a high rate of phonological deletion, /ŋ/ → /n/ (runnin’), /r/-full (idear)
• Plural /ɪz/ (desks pronounced as /dɛskɪz/), a-prefixing (a-huntin’), double modals (might should)
• Distinctive vocabulary: reckon, poke, boomer, afeared

 

California English (regional)

• Distinctive vocabulary: dude, gnarly, awesome, bitchin’
• Distinctive discourse patterns: ‘like’ as a discourse marker, quotative all (she was all..)
• Vowel shift among younger speakers:

(this is where ‘betch’ comes from!)

 

 

Chicano English (social)

• Influence of Spanish phonology:
  -ing pronounced as [iŋ]
  /æ/ & /ɑ/ → [a] (example: vowel in ‘lamp’ pronounced further back)
  /ʃ/ → [tʃ] (‘shopping’ pronounced similar to ‘chopping’)
  /z/ → [s] (‘raise’ pronounced similar to ‘race’)
• Distinctive vocabulary: abuela, cholo (not as common now), in/on interchangeable

 

African American Vernacular English (social)

• /θ/ → [t] or [f] (‘with’ = [wɪt] or [wɪf])
• /ð/ → [d] or [v] (‘the’ = [də])
• Reduction of final consonant clusters (‘hand’ = [hæn]), final devoicing (‘pig’ = [pɪk])
• Habitual be, BIN (remote past), deletion of –s verbal inflection and be, multiple negation
• Distinctive vocabulary: ain’t, some, steady

 

Do those examples fit with your experience of those dialects?

What other dialects are you familiar with? What distinctive features are associated with them?

 

 

Where is English spoken?

Of course, English is not just spoken in the United States, and some of our students have knowledge of other, non-US varieties of English.

There are at least 75 countries/territories where English is spoken as a first language or is an official second language, and many more where English is not official, but still widely spoken.

It is estimated that one in three people worldwide speak English.

 

 

The Spread of English

English is often associated with countries like the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, which were all part of the British empire and involved a significant amount of settler colonialism – English-descent populations relocating in large numbers and taking control of the land.

While each of these contexts has unique dialects, the majority status of English-speakers ensured some linguistic and cultural similarity.

 

English is also widely spoken (sometimes as an official language) throughout West Africa, East Africa, South Asia, East Asia, the South Pacific, and the Caribbean. English also arrived in these places through colonialism, but often without mass population relocation.

‘English’ was imposed by a ruling minority onto local populations, leading to more linguistic and cultural variation.

 

English continues to spread through trade, neo-colonialism, tourism, cultural influence, and social media.

 

What non-U.S. Englishes are you familiar with? Where/how did you interact with them?

What are some distinctive linguistic features of these Englishes?

What is the difference between a foreign accent and a non-U.S. English?

What makes you a native speaker of English?

What English should people learn?

 

 

Up next

Next week, we’ll keep talking about variation, focusing specifically on African American Language!

 

(art at the top by Molly Mendoza)