Doing Real Time: Chronicling Language Change in Appalachia.
Saved in:
| Title: | Doing Real Time: Chronicling Language Change in Appalachia. |
|---|---|
| Language: | English |
| Authors: | Dannenberg, Clare J. |
| Peer Reviewed: | N |
| Page Count: | 17 |
| Publication Date: | 2001 |
| Document Type: | Reports - Research Speeches/Meeting Papers |
| Descriptors: | Geographic Regions, Morphology (Languages), Phonology, Regional Dialects, Sociolinguistics, Syntax |
| Geographic Terms: | West Virginia |
| Abstract: | This study profiled phonological and morphosyntactic configurations of Appalachian English in the context of local and regional contact varieties, investigating the status of fronted /o/ and monopthong /ay for this variety and discussing such features as r-lessness, copula absence, plural -s absence on measure/count nouns, and a-prefixing. It investigated longitudinal variation and change in two Appalachian English-speaking communities located in Mercer and Monroe Counties (southeastern West Virginia). These two counties were the sites of one of the earliest sociolinguistic depictions of modern Appalachian speech. Data were extracted from interviews with 18 speakers (8 from a 1976 study and 10 from the current study). Participants varied in age and were lifelong residents of the counties. Results indicated that Mercer and Monroe County speech did not insulate itself from surrounding local and regional contact varieties. This variety seemed to be cultivating a few distinct variables within the context of the region. Results provided real time support for the apparent time construct and mapped the direction of language change away from Appalachian English toward a more localized variety. This suggests that Appalachian English may not be a discrete, broad ranging dialect anymore, but rather an amalgamation of regional varieties dependent on local community norms. (SM) |
| Entry Date: | 2003 |
| Accession Number: | ED468878 |
| Database: | ERIC |
| Abstract: | This study profiled phonological and morphosyntactic configurations of Appalachian English in the context of local and regional contact varieties, investigating the status of fronted /o/ and monopthong /ay for this variety and discussing such features as r-lessness, copula absence, plural -s absence on measure/count nouns, and a-prefixing. It investigated longitudinal variation and change in two Appalachian English-speaking communities located in Mercer and Monroe Counties (southeastern West Virginia). These two counties were the sites of one of the earliest sociolinguistic depictions of modern Appalachian speech. Data were extracted from interviews with 18 speakers (8 from a 1976 study and 10 from the current study). Participants varied in age and were lifelong residents of the counties. Results indicated that Mercer and Monroe County speech did not insulate itself from surrounding local and regional contact varieties. This variety seemed to be cultivating a few distinct variables within the context of the region. Results provided real time support for the apparent time construct and mapped the direction of language change away from Appalachian English toward a more localized variety. This suggests that Appalachian English may not be a discrete, broad ranging dialect anymore, but rather an amalgamation of regional varieties dependent on local community norms. (SM) |
|---|
