Philip Burton
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- September 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780199266227
- eISBN:
- 9780191709098
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199266227.003.0003
- Subject:
- Religion, Early Christian Studies
This chapter considers Augustine's use of Greek and Latin terminology in the technical register of the Seven Liberal Arts (grammar, rhetoric, dialect, arithmetic, geometry, music, and philosophy). It ...
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This chapter considers Augustine's use of Greek and Latin terminology in the technical register of the Seven Liberal Arts (grammar, rhetoric, dialect, arithmetic, geometry, music, and philosophy). It is argued that despite his notional assent to the equality of all languages, Augustine in practice often uses Greek to express a liberal art when viewed negatively. At the same time, he takes advantage of the wider semantic range of the different Latin translations to demystify the arts, encouraging his reader to see them not as the prerogative of the educated few, but as something capable of being practised in the everyday life of everyone.Less
This chapter considers Augustine's use of Greek and Latin terminology in the technical register of the Seven Liberal Arts (grammar, rhetoric, dialect, arithmetic, geometry, music, and philosophy). It is argued that despite his notional assent to the equality of all languages, Augustine in practice often uses Greek to express a liberal art when viewed negatively. At the same time, he takes advantage of the wider semantic range of the different Latin translations to demystify the arts, encouraging his reader to see them not as the prerogative of the educated few, but as something capable of being practised in the everyday life of everyone.
Edwin L. Battistella
- Published in print:
- 2005
- Published Online:
- September 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780195172485
- eISBN:
- 9780199788187
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195172485.001.0001
- Subject:
- Linguistics, English Language
Are pronunciations such as cawfee and chawklit bad English? Is slang improper? Is it incorrect to mix English and Spanish, as in Yo quiero Taco Bell? Can you write “Who do you trust?” rather than ...
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Are pronunciations such as cawfee and chawklit bad English? Is slang improper? Is it incorrect to mix English and Spanish, as in Yo quiero Taco Bell? Can you write “Who do you trust?” rather than “Whom do you trust?” This book looks at traditional notions of bad language and argues that they are often based in sterile conventionality. Examining grammar and style, cursing, slang, political correctness, regional dialects, ethnic dialects, foreign accents, and language mixing, this book discusses the strong feelings evoked by language variation, from objections to pronunciation, to complaints about bilingual education. It explains the natural desire for uniformity in writing and speaking, and traces the association of mainstream norms to ideas about refinement, intelligence, education, character, national unity, and political values. The book argues that none of these qualities is inherently connected to language. It is tempting but wrong to think of slang, dialects, and nonstandard grammar as simply breaking the rules of good English. Instead, we should view language as made up of alternative forms of orderliness adopted by speakers depending on their purpose. Thus, we can study the structure and context of nonstandard language in order to illuminate and enrich traditional forms of language, and make policy decisions based on an informed engagement.Less
Are pronunciations such as cawfee and chawklit bad English? Is slang improper? Is it incorrect to mix English and Spanish, as in Yo quiero Taco Bell? Can you write “Who do you trust?” rather than “Whom do you trust?” This book looks at traditional notions of bad language and argues that they are often based in sterile conventionality. Examining grammar and style, cursing, slang, political correctness, regional dialects, ethnic dialects, foreign accents, and language mixing, this book discusses the strong feelings evoked by language variation, from objections to pronunciation, to complaints about bilingual education. It explains the natural desire for uniformity in writing and speaking, and traces the association of mainstream norms to ideas about refinement, intelligence, education, character, national unity, and political values. The book argues that none of these qualities is inherently connected to language. It is tempting but wrong to think of slang, dialects, and nonstandard grammar as simply breaking the rules of good English. Instead, we should view language as made up of alternative forms of orderliness adopted by speakers depending on their purpose. Thus, we can study the structure and context of nonstandard language in order to illuminate and enrich traditional forms of language, and make policy decisions based on an informed engagement.
Richard S. Kayne
- Published in print:
- 2005
- Published Online:
- September 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780195179163
- eISBN:
- 9780199788330
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195179163.003.0003
- Subject:
- Linguistics, Syntax and Morphology
This chapter discusses microcomparative syntax in the form of a review of a 1994 collection of essays by Paola Benincà, whose work has shown how Italian dialect syntax can provide an invaluable ...
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This chapter discusses microcomparative syntax in the form of a review of a 1994 collection of essays by Paola Benincà, whose work has shown how Italian dialect syntax can provide an invaluable window on aspects of universal grammar (UG) that might have gone unnoticed in work restricted to the best-known Romance languages. Although the discussion is limited to Romance, the point clearly extends to other families as well. The extent to which closely related dialects can vary in their syntax is widely underestimated. Benincà's work has, over the past twenty or so years, contributed substantially toward rectifying that misapprehension.Less
This chapter discusses microcomparative syntax in the form of a review of a 1994 collection of essays by Paola Benincà, whose work has shown how Italian dialect syntax can provide an invaluable window on aspects of universal grammar (UG) that might have gone unnoticed in work restricted to the best-known Romance languages. Although the discussion is limited to Romance, the point clearly extends to other families as well. The extent to which closely related dialects can vary in their syntax is widely underestimated. Benincà's work has, over the past twenty or so years, contributed substantially toward rectifying that misapprehension.
Edwin L. Battistella
- Published in print:
- 2005
- Published Online:
- September 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780195172485
- eISBN:
- 9780199788187
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195172485.003.0006
- Subject:
- Linguistics, English Language
This chapter discusses attitudes toward regional and ethnic English dialects, and ebonics. It is argued that mainstream perceptions of ethnic, regional, and social dialects often reflect stereotypes ...
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This chapter discusses attitudes toward regional and ethnic English dialects, and ebonics. It is argued that mainstream perceptions of ethnic, regional, and social dialects often reflect stereotypes about the intelligence and industriousness of dialect speakers. These perceptions also reflect assumptions about dialects creating communication barriers and having negative economic consequences. The dominant viewpoint advocates assimilation to an idealized Standard English rather than accommodation of mainstream discourse to bidialectism and vernacular discourse.Less
This chapter discusses attitudes toward regional and ethnic English dialects, and ebonics. It is argued that mainstream perceptions of ethnic, regional, and social dialects often reflect stereotypes about the intelligence and industriousness of dialect speakers. These perceptions also reflect assumptions about dialects creating communication barriers and having negative economic consequences. The dominant viewpoint advocates assimilation to an idealized Standard English rather than accommodation of mainstream discourse to bidialectism and vernacular discourse.
Stephen R. Anderson
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- January 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780197264607
- eISBN:
- 9780191734366
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- British Academy
- DOI:
- 10.5871/bacad/9780197264607.003.0002
- Subject:
- Linguistics, Syntax and Morphology
This chapter examines the Surmiran dialect which is a form of Swiss Rumantsch. Surmiran is a Romance language which is one of the spoken languages in the canton of Graubünden in Switzerland. The ...
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This chapter examines the Surmiran dialect which is a form of Swiss Rumantsch. Surmiran is a Romance language which is one of the spoken languages in the canton of Graubünden in Switzerland. The emphasis of this chapter is on a single verb which lacks many of the forms other verbs possess, hence forcing the speakers to use a distinct, but almost synonymous verb as an alternative. Treated within a broader context, the verb dueir in Sumiran which is a Latin reflex of the dēbēre, provides an opportunity to evaluate how gaps should be treated within the context of Optimal Theory. This defectiveness in the Surmiran dueir was a result of the morphologization of the vowel alternations of the Swiss Rumantsch.Less
This chapter examines the Surmiran dialect which is a form of Swiss Rumantsch. Surmiran is a Romance language which is one of the spoken languages in the canton of Graubünden in Switzerland. The emphasis of this chapter is on a single verb which lacks many of the forms other verbs possess, hence forcing the speakers to use a distinct, but almost synonymous verb as an alternative. Treated within a broader context, the verb dueir in Sumiran which is a Latin reflex of the dēbēre, provides an opportunity to evaluate how gaps should be treated within the context of Optimal Theory. This defectiveness in the Surmiran dueir was a result of the morphologization of the vowel alternations of the Swiss Rumantsch.
Robert McColl Millar
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- March 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780748623167
- eISBN:
- 9780748651528
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Edinburgh University Press
- DOI:
- 10.3366/edinburgh/9780748623167.001.0001
- Subject:
- Linguistics, English Language
The Scots dialects of northern Scotland, Orkney, and Shetland are among the most traditional varieties of ‘English’, exhibiting features not current elsewhere for centuries. Until recently, they were ...
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The Scots dialects of northern Scotland, Orkney, and Shetland are among the most traditional varieties of ‘English’, exhibiting features not current elsewhere for centuries. Until recently, they were spoken in communities whose traditional occupations have encouraged the equation of speech with local identity. They have all also been affected by contact with Gaelic, or Norse, or both. In recent years, however, the decline of traditional industries has been matched by the discovery of oil off their coasts, encouraging in-migration of speakers of many varieties of English and other languages. How well have these varieties maintained their traditional natures at the start of the 21st century? This book provides a description of the phonological, structural, and lexical natures of these varieties; a history of the varieties in relation to the areas in which they are spoken; examples of the language of native speakers; and an annotated bibliography that points the reader towards more specialised works.Less
The Scots dialects of northern Scotland, Orkney, and Shetland are among the most traditional varieties of ‘English’, exhibiting features not current elsewhere for centuries. Until recently, they were spoken in communities whose traditional occupations have encouraged the equation of speech with local identity. They have all also been affected by contact with Gaelic, or Norse, or both. In recent years, however, the decline of traditional industries has been matched by the discovery of oil off their coasts, encouraging in-migration of speakers of many varieties of English and other languages. How well have these varieties maintained their traditional natures at the start of the 21st century? This book provides a description of the phonological, structural, and lexical natures of these varieties; a history of the varieties in relation to the areas in which they are spoken; examples of the language of native speakers; and an annotated bibliography that points the reader towards more specialised works.
ANDRÉ LEMAIRE
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- January 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780197264010
- eISBN:
- 9780191734946
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- British Academy
- DOI:
- 10.5871/bacad/9780197264010.003.0014
- Subject:
- Religion, Biblical Studies
Together with material archaeology and the literary tradition of the Hebrew Bible, epigraphy is one of the main sources for the history of ancient Israel in the ninth century BCE. Although limited in ...
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Together with material archaeology and the literary tradition of the Hebrew Bible, epigraphy is one of the main sources for the history of ancient Israel in the ninth century BCE. Although limited in number, West Semitic inscriptions throw some light on the history of this period. This chapter examines ninth-century West Semitic inscriptions and the historical information they contain regarding the history of ninth-century Israel. It starts with the Hebrew inscriptions, followed by inscriptions in the neighbouring southern Levant countries as well as Aramaic inscriptions from Upper Mesopotamia. The chapter deals first with inscriptions in ‘Canaanite’ dialects before analysing inscriptions written in Aramaic dialects. The Mesha and Tel Dan steles are the main West Semitic inscriptions that help us understand the history of Israel and Judah during the ninth century BCE.Less
Together with material archaeology and the literary tradition of the Hebrew Bible, epigraphy is one of the main sources for the history of ancient Israel in the ninth century BCE. Although limited in number, West Semitic inscriptions throw some light on the history of this period. This chapter examines ninth-century West Semitic inscriptions and the historical information they contain regarding the history of ninth-century Israel. It starts with the Hebrew inscriptions, followed by inscriptions in the neighbouring southern Levant countries as well as Aramaic inscriptions from Upper Mesopotamia. The chapter deals first with inscriptions in ‘Canaanite’ dialects before analysing inscriptions written in Aramaic dialects. The Mesha and Tel Dan steles are the main West Semitic inscriptions that help us understand the history of Israel and Judah during the ninth century BCE.
Paul Kiparsky
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- May 2008
- ISBN:
- 9780199226511
- eISBN:
- 9780191710193
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199226511.003.0006
- Subject:
- Linguistics, Phonetics / Phonology
Compared to more familiar varieties of Swedish, the dialects spoken in Finland have rather diverse syllable structures. The distribution of distinctive syllable weight is determined by grammatical ...
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Compared to more familiar varieties of Swedish, the dialects spoken in Finland have rather diverse syllable structures. The distribution of distinctive syllable weight is determined by grammatical factors, and by varying effects of final consonant weightlessness. In turn it constrains several gemination processes which create derived superheavy syllables, in an unexpected way which provides evidence for an anti-neutralization constraint. Stratal OT, which integrates OT with Lexical Phonology, sheds light on these complex quantity systems.Less
Compared to more familiar varieties of Swedish, the dialects spoken in Finland have rather diverse syllable structures. The distribution of distinctive syllable weight is determined by grammatical factors, and by varying effects of final consonant weightlessness. In turn it constrains several gemination processes which create derived superheavy syllables, in an unexpected way which provides evidence for an anti-neutralization constraint. Stratal OT, which integrates OT with Lexical Phonology, sheds light on these complex quantity systems.
DAVID BERESFORD-JONES and PAUL HEGGARTY
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- January 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780197265031
- eISBN:
- 9780191754142
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- British Academy
- DOI:
- 10.5871/bacad/9780197265031.003.0003
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, American History: pre-Columbian BCE to 500CE
This chapter proposes a new and more coherent interdisciplinary prehistory of the Andes, based firstly on a long overdue re-examination of the relationships between the various regional ‘dialects’ ...
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This chapter proposes a new and more coherent interdisciplinary prehistory of the Andes, based firstly on a long overdue re-examination of the relationships between the various regional ‘dialects’ within the Quechua language family; and secondly on a more satisfactory correlation with the archaeological record. The founding principle is that language families necessarily reflect past expansive processes, whose traces should also be clear in the archaeological record. It provides a logic by which to assess correspondences between archaeological and linguistic patterns, on the three levels of when, where, and why particular language expansions occurred. In the Andes, the horizons thus offer the most natural explanations for the major Quechua and Aymara dispersals. With the Incas too late for the time-depth of either family, the Wari Middle Horizon emerges as the most plausible candidate for the first major expansion of Quechua, and not (as per traditional linguistic thinking) of the Aymara family, here tentatively associated with the Early Horizon instead.Less
This chapter proposes a new and more coherent interdisciplinary prehistory of the Andes, based firstly on a long overdue re-examination of the relationships between the various regional ‘dialects’ within the Quechua language family; and secondly on a more satisfactory correlation with the archaeological record. The founding principle is that language families necessarily reflect past expansive processes, whose traces should also be clear in the archaeological record. It provides a logic by which to assess correspondences between archaeological and linguistic patterns, on the three levels of when, where, and why particular language expansions occurred. In the Andes, the horizons thus offer the most natural explanations for the major Quechua and Aymara dispersals. With the Incas too late for the time-depth of either family, the Wari Middle Horizon emerges as the most plausible candidate for the first major expansion of Quechua, and not (as per traditional linguistic thinking) of the Aymara family, here tentatively associated with the Early Horizon instead.
K. R. Norman
- Published in print:
- 2003
- Published Online:
- January 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780197262856
- eISBN:
- 9780191753961
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- British Academy
- DOI:
- 10.5871/bacad/9780197262856.003.0006
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, Asian and Middle Eastern History: BCE to 500CE
This chapter goes back to the beginnings of Buddhism, in fact to that ancient problem: What language or languages did the Buddha speak? It discusses Old Indo-Aryan and the origin of the Prakrit ...
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This chapter goes back to the beginnings of Buddhism, in fact to that ancient problem: What language or languages did the Buddha speak? It discusses Old Indo-Aryan and the origin of the Prakrit dialects, the language(s) of the Buddha and the Jina, Old Māgadhī, the migration of the Buddhist teachings, the writing down of the canon in Ceylon, anomalous forms in the Theravādin canon, anomalous forms and the Aśokan inscriptions, and why anomalies remain in the Pāli canon.Less
This chapter goes back to the beginnings of Buddhism, in fact to that ancient problem: What language or languages did the Buddha speak? It discusses Old Indo-Aryan and the origin of the Prakrit dialects, the language(s) of the Buddha and the Jina, Old Māgadhī, the migration of the Buddhist teachings, the writing down of the canon in Ceylon, anomalous forms in the Theravādin canon, anomalous forms and the Aśokan inscriptions, and why anomalies remain in the Pāli canon.
John Nerbonne and Charlotte Gooskens (eds)
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- September 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780748640300
- eISBN:
- 9780748671380
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Edinburgh University Press
- DOI:
- 10.3366/edinburgh/9780748640300.001.0001
- Subject:
- Linguistics, Applied Linguistics and Pedagogy
This book explores dialects and social differences in language computationally, examining topics such as how (and how much) linguistic differences impede intelligibility, how national borders ...
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This book explores dialects and social differences in language computationally, examining topics such as how (and how much) linguistic differences impede intelligibility, how national borders accelerate and direct change, how opinion and hearsay shape perceptions of language differences, the role of intonation (melody), the differences between variation in pronunciation and vocabulary, and techniques for recognising structure in larger collections of linguistic data. The computational investigations engage more traditional work deeply, and a panel discussion focuses on the opportunities and risks of pursuing humanities research using computational science. There is also an introduction that attempts to sketch perspectives from which to approach the individual contributions.Less
This book explores dialects and social differences in language computationally, examining topics such as how (and how much) linguistic differences impede intelligibility, how national borders accelerate and direct change, how opinion and hearsay shape perceptions of language differences, the role of intonation (melody), the differences between variation in pronunciation and vocabulary, and techniques for recognising structure in larger collections of linguistic data. The computational investigations engage more traditional work deeply, and a panel discussion focuses on the opportunities and risks of pursuing humanities research using computational science. There is also an introduction that attempts to sketch perspectives from which to approach the individual contributions.
Georg Petzl
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- January 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780197265062
- eISBN:
- 9780191754173
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- British Academy
- DOI:
- 10.5871/bacad/9780197265062.003.0004
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, European History: BCE to 500CE
Part I of this chapter reviews its subject historically, showing how inscriptions allow us to see the development of the Greek dialects, the effects on Greek of contact with other languages, ...
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Part I of this chapter reviews its subject historically, showing how inscriptions allow us to see the development of the Greek dialects, the effects on Greek of contact with other languages, especially Latin, and the ways in which styles of utterance and uses of language changed through time. Part II, a brief systematic review, illustrates three modes of language: poetry, with illustrations from funerary epigrams much influenced by Homer and the dramatists; prose, with its range of variations by genre and by degree of rhetorical influence, but also very directly in the form of precise citations of words and phrases used in assemblies; and Kunstprosa, the blend of prose and poetry, illustrated by the style and vocabulary of the inscription of Antiochos I of Commagene on his monument at Nemrud Dagh in South East Turkey.Less
Part I of this chapter reviews its subject historically, showing how inscriptions allow us to see the development of the Greek dialects, the effects on Greek of contact with other languages, especially Latin, and the ways in which styles of utterance and uses of language changed through time. Part II, a brief systematic review, illustrates three modes of language: poetry, with illustrations from funerary epigrams much influenced by Homer and the dramatists; prose, with its range of variations by genre and by degree of rhetorical influence, but also very directly in the form of precise citations of words and phrases used in assemblies; and Kunstprosa, the blend of prose and poetry, illustrated by the style and vocabulary of the inscription of Antiochos I of Commagene on his monument at Nemrud Dagh in South East Turkey.
Clive Holes (ed.)
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- October 2018
- ISBN:
- 9780198701378
- eISBN:
- 9780191770647
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780198701378.001.0001
- Subject:
- Linguistics, Historical Linguistics, Sociolinguistics / Anthropological Linguistics
This book, by a group of leading international scholars, outlines the history of the spoken dialects of Arabic from the Arab conquests of the seventh century up to the present day. It specifically ...
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This book, by a group of leading international scholars, outlines the history of the spoken dialects of Arabic from the Arab conquests of the seventh century up to the present day. It specifically investigates the evolution of Arabic as a spoken language, in contrast to the many existing studies that focus on written Classical or Modern Standard Arabic. The volume begins with a discursive introduction that deals with important issues in the general scholarly context, including the indigenous myth and probable reality of the history of Arabic; Arabic dialect geography and typology; types of internally and externally motivated linguistic change; social indexicalization; and pidginization and creolization in Arabic-speaking communities. Most chapters then focus on developments in a specific region—Mauritania, the Maghreb, Egypt, the Levant, the Northern Fertile Crescent, the Gulf, and South Arabia—with one exploring Judaeo-Arabic, a group of varieties historically spread over a wider area. The remaining two chapters in the volume examine individual linguistic features of particular historical interest and controversy, specifically the origin and evolution of the b- verbal prefix, and the adnominal linker –an/–in. The volume will be of interest to scholars and students of the linguistic and social history of Arabic as well as to comparative linguists interested in topics such as linguistic typology and language change.Less
This book, by a group of leading international scholars, outlines the history of the spoken dialects of Arabic from the Arab conquests of the seventh century up to the present day. It specifically investigates the evolution of Arabic as a spoken language, in contrast to the many existing studies that focus on written Classical or Modern Standard Arabic. The volume begins with a discursive introduction that deals with important issues in the general scholarly context, including the indigenous myth and probable reality of the history of Arabic; Arabic dialect geography and typology; types of internally and externally motivated linguistic change; social indexicalization; and pidginization and creolization in Arabic-speaking communities. Most chapters then focus on developments in a specific region—Mauritania, the Maghreb, Egypt, the Levant, the Northern Fertile Crescent, the Gulf, and South Arabia—with one exploring Judaeo-Arabic, a group of varieties historically spread over a wider area. The remaining two chapters in the volume examine individual linguistic features of particular historical interest and controversy, specifically the origin and evolution of the b- verbal prefix, and the adnominal linker –an/–in. The volume will be of interest to scholars and students of the linguistic and social history of Arabic as well as to comparative linguists interested in topics such as linguistic typology and language change.
Matthew Hart
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- May 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780195390339
- eISBN:
- 9780199776191
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195390339.003.0004
- Subject:
- Literature, 20th-century Literature and Modernism
This chapter analyzes the late poems of Basil Bunting. It questions why Bunting's return to northern England in middle age — a nostos that shapes his autobiographical poem, Briggflatts (1966) ...
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This chapter analyzes the late poems of Basil Bunting. It questions why Bunting's return to northern England in middle age — a nostos that shapes his autobiographical poem, Briggflatts (1966) — has come to dominate the critical reception of a body of poems that begins with three decades of globe‐trotting. The chapter explores the tension between Bunting's rejection of dialect orthography and his assumption of a Northumbrian vernacular interpretive community. It historicizes this anomaly by reading Briggflatts through Bunting's involvements in poetry performance and arts patronage, and via the United Kingdom's history of regional reform without constitutional change at the center.Less
This chapter analyzes the late poems of Basil Bunting. It questions why Bunting's return to northern England in middle age — a nostos that shapes his autobiographical poem, Briggflatts (1966) — has come to dominate the critical reception of a body of poems that begins with three decades of globe‐trotting. The chapter explores the tension between Bunting's rejection of dialect orthography and his assumption of a Northumbrian vernacular interpretive community. It historicizes this anomaly by reading Briggflatts through Bunting's involvements in poetry performance and arts patronage, and via the United Kingdom's history of regional reform without constitutional change at the center.
Nancy C. Dorian
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- September 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780195385939
- eISBN:
- 9780199870141
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195385939.001.0001
- Subject:
- Linguistics, Sociolinguistics / Anthropological Linguistics
Linguistic variation has been studied primarily in communities with the dominant social organization of our time: ethnic diversity, socioeconomic stratification, and a population size precluding ...
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Linguistic variation has been studied primarily in communities with the dominant social organization of our time: ethnic diversity, socioeconomic stratification, and a population size precluding community‐wide face‐to‐face interaction. In such communities literacy introduces extra‐community linguistic norms, and variation correlates with ethnicity and class. This study investigates variation in the ancestral language of a population with a very different social structure: small size, dense kinship ties, common occupation, absence of social stratification. Their Gaelic shows a high level of socially neutral individual variation, with variants originating in settlement‐period dialect mixture; a subsequent history of social isolation, endogamy, and regular face‐to‐face interaction eliminated any need for linguistic accommodation, while social homogeneity and absence of extra‐community norms permitted the variants to remain socially neutral. Examination of the theoretical assumptions and established methodologies prevailing in dialectology and descriptive linguistics offers a number of explanations for delayed recognition of linguistic variation unrelated to social class or other social sub‐groupings. Detailed examination of the social structure of one community offers explanations for the strikingly divergent usage of close kin and age‐mates. Reports of similar variation phenomena in locations with similar social‐setting and social‐organization features (minority‐language pockets in Ireland, Russia, Norway, Canada, and Cameroon) permit the recognition of factors that contribute to the emergence and persistence of socially neutral inter‐speaker and intra‐speaker variation. Facets of language use related to social structure remain to be investigated in communities with still other forms of social organization before the few communities that represent them disappear altogether.Less
Linguistic variation has been studied primarily in communities with the dominant social organization of our time: ethnic diversity, socioeconomic stratification, and a population size precluding community‐wide face‐to‐face interaction. In such communities literacy introduces extra‐community linguistic norms, and variation correlates with ethnicity and class. This study investigates variation in the ancestral language of a population with a very different social structure: small size, dense kinship ties, common occupation, absence of social stratification. Their Gaelic shows a high level of socially neutral individual variation, with variants originating in settlement‐period dialect mixture; a subsequent history of social isolation, endogamy, and regular face‐to‐face interaction eliminated any need for linguistic accommodation, while social homogeneity and absence of extra‐community norms permitted the variants to remain socially neutral. Examination of the theoretical assumptions and established methodologies prevailing in dialectology and descriptive linguistics offers a number of explanations for delayed recognition of linguistic variation unrelated to social class or other social sub‐groupings. Detailed examination of the social structure of one community offers explanations for the strikingly divergent usage of close kin and age‐mates. Reports of similar variation phenomena in locations with similar social‐setting and social‐organization features (minority‐language pockets in Ireland, Russia, Norway, Canada, and Cameroon) permit the recognition of factors that contribute to the emergence and persistence of socially neutral inter‐speaker and intra‐speaker variation. Facets of language use related to social structure remain to be investigated in communities with still other forms of social organization before the few communities that represent them disappear altogether.
Philomen Probert
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- September 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780199279609
- eISBN:
- 9780191707292
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199279609.003.0003
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, Literary Studies: Classical, Early, and Medieval
This chapter surveys some of the salient characteristics of the ancient Greek accent system: its phonetic nature (traditionally described as a ‘pitch accent’); the contrast between acute and ...
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This chapter surveys some of the salient characteristics of the ancient Greek accent system: its phonetic nature (traditionally described as a ‘pitch accent’); the contrast between acute and circumflex accentuations; the phonological limitations on the placement of the accent (law of limitation and sōtêra rule); accentual properties of word-final diphthongs; proclitics and enclitics; and accentuation of Greek dialects other than Koine. A concluding section explores the extent and consistency of the information on the accentuation of Hellenistic Koine.Less
This chapter surveys some of the salient characteristics of the ancient Greek accent system: its phonetic nature (traditionally described as a ‘pitch accent’); the contrast between acute and circumflex accentuations; the phonological limitations on the placement of the accent (law of limitation and sōtêra rule); accentual properties of word-final diphthongs; proclitics and enclitics; and accentuation of Greek dialects other than Koine. A concluding section explores the extent and consistency of the information on the accentuation of Hellenistic Koine.
Philomen Probert
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- September 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780199279609
- eISBN:
- 9780191707292
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199279609.003.0004
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, Literary Studies: Classical, Early, and Medieval
The evidence for ancient Greek accentuation is tantalizingly achronological, and there is no direct evidence until the Hellenistic period. This chapter surveys the indirect evidence pointing to ...
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The evidence for ancient Greek accentuation is tantalizingly achronological, and there is no direct evidence until the Hellenistic period. This chapter surveys the indirect evidence pointing to elements of continuity between different periods in the history (or prehistory) of the Greek accent system up to the Hellenistic period, and to elements of change. Evidence for continuity is drawn from comparisons with accentuation in other Indo-European languages, especially Vedic Sanskrit; from comparison between the accent systems attested for different Greek dialects; and from the relative chronology of the law of limitation and quantitative metathesis. Significant prehistoric Greek innovations are the law of limitation; the recessive accentuation of the finite verb; and the accent shifts described by Wheeler’s law, Vendryes’ law, and Bartoli’s law. Wheeler’s law is treated in particular detail.Less
The evidence for ancient Greek accentuation is tantalizingly achronological, and there is no direct evidence until the Hellenistic period. This chapter surveys the indirect evidence pointing to elements of continuity between different periods in the history (or prehistory) of the Greek accent system up to the Hellenistic period, and to elements of change. Evidence for continuity is drawn from comparisons with accentuation in other Indo-European languages, especially Vedic Sanskrit; from comparison between the accent systems attested for different Greek dialects; and from the relative chronology of the law of limitation and quantitative metathesis. Significant prehistoric Greek innovations are the law of limitation; the recessive accentuation of the finite verb; and the accent shifts described by Wheeler’s law, Vendryes’ law, and Bartoli’s law. Wheeler’s law is treated in particular detail.
Nicholas Hope
- Published in print:
- 1999
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780198269946
- eISBN:
- 9780191600647
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0198269943.003.0009
- Subject:
- Religion, Church History
Continues the theme of reform: here as an attempt to develop an active gathered congregation modelled consciously on the congregation of the New Testament and early Church. Spirituality, individual ...
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Continues the theme of reform: here as an attempt to develop an active gathered congregation modelled consciously on the congregation of the New Testament and early Church. Spirituality, individual daily devotional exercise, homiletic reform and the introduction of a modern congregational hymn book are examined. A high vernacular replaced local dialect.Less
Continues the theme of reform: here as an attempt to develop an active gathered congregation modelled consciously on the congregation of the New Testament and early Church. Spirituality, individual daily devotional exercise, homiletic reform and the introduction of a modern congregational hymn book are examined. A high vernacular replaced local dialect.
Katrina Navickas
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- May 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780199559671
- eISBN:
- 9780191721120
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199559671.003.0003
- Subject:
- History, British and Irish Modern History
This chapter discusses aspects of patriotism, particularly the role of the volunteer corps and patriotic propaganda. Civic patriotism provided an arena within which social and political tensions ...
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This chapter discusses aspects of patriotism, particularly the role of the volunteer corps and patriotic propaganda. Civic patriotism provided an arena within which social and political tensions manifested themselves rather than were resolved. It surveys the motivations for volunteering and the impact the invasion scares had upon inhabitants' geographical identities. It shows how local authorities used the invasion scares to boost their own civic identity as well as demonstrate their patriotism. This attempt to gain hegemony over the meaning of patriotism riled radicals and others who felt equally under threat by the French. The chapter also analyzes local patriotic literature, including a rethinking of the popular dialect ballad, ‘Jone o'Grinfilt’. It argues that the Napoleonic Wars fostered a distinctive ‘Lancashire Britishness’.Less
This chapter discusses aspects of patriotism, particularly the role of the volunteer corps and patriotic propaganda. Civic patriotism provided an arena within which social and political tensions manifested themselves rather than were resolved. It surveys the motivations for volunteering and the impact the invasion scares had upon inhabitants' geographical identities. It shows how local authorities used the invasion scares to boost their own civic identity as well as demonstrate their patriotism. This attempt to gain hegemony over the meaning of patriotism riled radicals and others who felt equally under threat by the French. The chapter also analyzes local patriotic literature, including a rethinking of the popular dialect ballad, ‘Jone o'Grinfilt’. It argues that the Napoleonic Wars fostered a distinctive ‘Lancashire Britishness’.
Rhona Alcorn, Joanna Kopaczyk, Bettelou Los, and Benjamin Molineaux (eds)
- Published in print:
- 2019
- Published Online:
- May 2021
- ISBN:
- 9781474430531
- eISBN:
- 9781474460163
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Edinburgh University Press
- DOI:
- 10.3366/edinburgh/9781474430531.001.0001
- Subject:
- Linguistics, Historical Linguistics
Drawing on the resources created by the Institute of Historical Dialectology at the University of Edinburgh (now the Angus McIntosh Centre for Historical Linguistics), such as eLALME (the electronic ...
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Drawing on the resources created by the Institute of Historical Dialectology at the University of Edinburgh (now the Angus McIntosh Centre for Historical Linguistics), such as eLALME (the electronic version A Linguistic Atlas of Late Medieval English), LAEME (A Linguistic Atlas of Early Middle English) and LAOS (A Linguistic Atlas of Older Scots), this volume illustrates how traditional methods of historical dialectology can benefit from new methods of corpus data-collection to test out theoretical and empirical claims. In showcasing the results that these digital text resources can yield, the book highlights novel methods for presenting, mapping and analysing the quantitative data of historical dialects, and sets the research agenda for future work in this field. Bringing together a range of distinguished researchers, the book sets out the key corpus-building strategies for working with regional manuscript data at different levels of linguistic analysis including syntax, morphology, phonetics and phonology. The chapters also show the ways in which the geographical spread of phonological, morphological and lexical features of a language can be used to improve our assessment of the geographical provenance of historical texts.Less
Drawing on the resources created by the Institute of Historical Dialectology at the University of Edinburgh (now the Angus McIntosh Centre for Historical Linguistics), such as eLALME (the electronic version A Linguistic Atlas of Late Medieval English), LAEME (A Linguistic Atlas of Early Middle English) and LAOS (A Linguistic Atlas of Older Scots), this volume illustrates how traditional methods of historical dialectology can benefit from new methods of corpus data-collection to test out theoretical and empirical claims. In showcasing the results that these digital text resources can yield, the book highlights novel methods for presenting, mapping and analysing the quantitative data of historical dialects, and sets the research agenda for future work in this field. Bringing together a range of distinguished researchers, the book sets out the key corpus-building strategies for working with regional manuscript data at different levels of linguistic analysis including syntax, morphology, phonetics and phonology. The chapters also show the ways in which the geographical spread of phonological, morphological and lexical features of a language can be used to improve our assessment of the geographical provenance of historical texts.
