Contemporary Perspectives in Geolinguistics and Dialectology

A special issue of Languages (ISSN 2226-471X).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (1 December 2019) | Viewed by 22502

Special Issue Editor


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Guest Editor
Universitat de Barcelona, 08007 Barcelona, Spain
Interests: dialectology; geolinguistics; linguistic variation; lexicograhy; morphology

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues.

The study of dialects from several perspectives and using different methods currently arouses the interest of scholars who work on different aspects of geolinguistics and dialectology concerned with grammatical, lexical, phonetic and phonological features that correspond to regional areas.

The aim of this Special Issue is to bring together current research focusing on the field of dialectology and geolinguistics. We particularly welcome contributions that are involved with regional, social or historical variation in language, with exploitation and diffusion of dialect sources (atlases, dictionaries and corpora), and with technologies or methodologies that can be applied to the investigation of quantitative dialectal data. We also invite researchers who develop approaches related to dialect contact, dialectal ideologies and perception, and who offer new insights regarding methods and techniques in dialectology.

Prof. Maria-Pilar Perea
Guest Editor

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Keywords

  • Geolinguistics
  • Perceptual dialectology
  • Dialectometry
  • Linguistic variation
  • Social dialectology
  • Dialect Sources: Atlases, Dictionaries, Grammars, Corpora
  • Methodologies in Dialectology
  • Dialects in relation to space and time
  • Dialectology and dialects in the 21st Century

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Published Papers (5 papers)

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Research

14 pages, 5830 KiB  
Article
From Regional Dialects to the Standard: Measuring Linguistic Distance in Galician Varieties
by Xulio Sousa
Languages 2020, 5(1), 4; https://doi.org/10.3390/languages5010004 - 13 Jan 2020
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 6842
Abstract
The analysis of the linguistic distance between dialect varieties and the standard variety typically focuses on establishing the influence exerted by the standard norm on the dialects. In languages whose standard form was established and implemented well after the beginning of the last [...] Read more.
The analysis of the linguistic distance between dialect varieties and the standard variety typically focuses on establishing the influence exerted by the standard norm on the dialects. In languages whose standard form was established and implemented well after the beginning of the last century, however, such as Galician, it is still possible to perform studies from other perspectives. Unlike other languages, standard Galician was not based on a single dialect but aspired instead to be supradialectal in nature. In the present study, the tools and methods of quantitative dialectology are brought to bear in the task of establishing the extent to which dialect varieties of Galician resemble or differ from the standard variety. Moreover, the results of the analysis underline the importance of the different dialects in the evaluation of the supradialectal aim, as established by the makers of the standard variety. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Contemporary Perspectives in Geolinguistics and Dialectology)
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16 pages, 531 KiB  
Article
Polite Language Forms as Markers of an Emerging New Language Order in Nikkei-Brazilian Japanese
by Akemi Yamashita
Languages 2019, 4(3), 49; https://doi.org/10.3390/languages4030049 - 27 Jun 2019
Viewed by 3757
Abstract
This paper presents the results from a linguistically-oriented discourse-completion questionnaire administered in Nikkei-Brazilian (Japanese Brazilian) communities, examining in particular: (1) the use of polite language forms, (2) terms used to address one’s spouse, as well as (3) the social characteristics and cultural backgrounds [...] Read more.
This paper presents the results from a linguistically-oriented discourse-completion questionnaire administered in Nikkei-Brazilian (Japanese Brazilian) communities, examining in particular: (1) the use of polite language forms, (2) terms used to address one’s spouse, as well as (3) the social characteristics and cultural backgrounds of the informants (e.g., age, sex, generation, nationality, place of birth, place of residence, whether they have lived in the Colonia (i.e., rural communities originally established as exclusively Japanese settlements), where their parents come from, education, and their first language). In this paper, I argue that the use of polite language forms in Nikkei-Brazilian Japanese reflects the different social histories that the two groups identified in this study have been through. The first group consists of those who have experience of Colonia society, whose characteristic use of polite language forms includes: (a) traditional Japanese spousal address terms, such as otoo-san or otoo-chan (father) when the wife addresses her spouse, and okaa-san or okaa-chan (mother) when the husband addresses his spouse; (b) the Western Japanese dialectal polite suffixes -reru/-rareru; and (c) exalting and humbling polite language forms which indicate the relative social positions of the addressees. The second group consists of those who reside in urban areas without experience of life in the Colonia, whose characteristic use of polite language forms includes: (a) Brazilian Portuguese spousal address terms; (b) the use of polite language forms which show the speaker’s friendliness and distance-reducing; and (c) a greater use of standard polite language forms, namely -desu, -masu. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Contemporary Perspectives in Geolinguistics and Dialectology)
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15 pages, 5382 KiB  
Article
On the Relationship of the Degrees of Correspondence of Dialects and Distances
by Takuichiro Onishi
Languages 2019, 4(2), 37; https://doi.org/10.3390/languages4020037 - 14 Jun 2019
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 3306
Abstract
This study analyzes the relationship between the degrees of resemblance and distances between dialects based on several dialectological atlases. This analysis investigates various correspondence data with respect to total valid data in setting reference places and comparison places. The degree of correspondence (DC) [...] Read more.
This study analyzes the relationship between the degrees of resemblance and distances between dialects based on several dialectological atlases. This analysis investigates various correspondence data with respect to total valid data in setting reference places and comparison places. The degree of correspondence (DC) can be calculated by quantifying the degree of resemblance. I adopt a great-circular distance for the distance between the source and a comparison place. It is possible to graph the data with distances and DCs along the X and Y axes, respectively. The analysis yields five main results. (1) DC has an inverse relationship with distance in most places, here called the main sequence. However, there are exceptional places called peculiar groups. (2) One of the peculiar groups was caused by in-migration. (3) Another peculiar group is found on islands having very narrow land areas divided by the sea. (4) The main sequence can be classified into two types of linguistic classes. The grammatical data show a stepping slope instead of a gentle slope in the lexical data. (5) The main sequence shows a precise linear relationship over a narrow area. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Contemporary Perspectives in Geolinguistics and Dialectology)
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18 pages, 6791 KiB  
Article
Interplay of Phonological, Morphological, and Lexical Variation: Adjectives in Japanese Dialects
by Chitsuko Fukushima
Languages 2019, 4(2), 31; https://doi.org/10.3390/languages4020031 - 1 Jun 2019
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 3812
Abstract
This paper examines the interplay of phonological, morphological, and lexical variation focusing on adjectives in Japanese dialects. Previous studies of adjectives in the Niigata dialects of the Japanese language analyzed the ongoing changes in dialectal variation amongst the young generation of Japanese. In [...] Read more.
This paper examines the interplay of phonological, morphological, and lexical variation focusing on adjectives in Japanese dialects. Previous studies of adjectives in the Niigata dialects of the Japanese language analyzed the ongoing changes in dialectal variation amongst the young generation of Japanese. In this paper, the data derived from the geolinguistic survey and dialect dictionaries are used to verify the estimated changes in phonological, morphological, and lexical variation. The variation of adjectives is examined by classifying forms with regard to the distinction between standard/dialectal forms. The phonological types of adjectives played a role in the interpretation of the phonological variation and change. Most changes of phonological types are phonologically explained but include change by analogy. The lexical variation is intertwined with phonological variation and morphological variation. The morphological distributions which vary according to the conjugation form are one example of lexical diffusion. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Contemporary Perspectives in Geolinguistics and Dialectology)
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17 pages, 5810 KiB  
Article
Tonal Proximity Relationship in the Spanish of the Canary Islands in the Light of Dialectometry
by Josefa Dorta and María José González Rodríguez
Languages 2019, 4(2), 29; https://doi.org/10.3390/languages4020029 - 27 May 2019
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 3671
Abstract
Traditional linguistic geography has not dealt with issues relating to the prosodic study of languages and linguistic varieties. The international project AMPER (Atlas Multimédia Prosodique de l’Espace Roman) achieves a key milestone in this area by studying the prosody of Romance [...] Read more.
Traditional linguistic geography has not dealt with issues relating to the prosodic study of languages and linguistic varieties. The international project AMPER (Atlas Multimédia Prosodique de l’Espace Roman) achieves a key milestone in this area by studying the prosody of Romance languages and varieties in order to disseminate research outcomes in the form of interactive online atlases. Using prosodic data from a wide corpus of declarative and interrogative sentences, obtained from a range of informants from the seven Canary Islands (AMPERCan), a dialectometric study was carried out with a tool especially designed within the framework of AMPER. Correlation values, dendrograms as well as multivariate analysis by means of the multidimensional scaling technique (MDS), have enabled us to establish relationships of close prosodic proximity among the Canary Islands. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Contemporary Perspectives in Geolinguistics and Dialectology)
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