Course paper Theme: Dialect words in English Content: Introduction

Course structure: The course work consists of an introduction, two chapters, a conclusion and a list of references.


Chapter 1. Features of studying the dialects of Great Britain.
1.1 English dialectology as a science.
Dialectology (linguistic geography, areal linguistics) is a branch of linguistics whose task is to study the varieties (variants) of a given language used by a more or less limited number of people connected by a territorial (and at the same time social or professional) community. Dialectology studies not only the phonetic, grammatical and lexical features of a particular dialect, but also mutual contacts between dialects, as well as the "leveling" of dialect differences under the influence of a literary norm or, conversely, changes that have arisen in a literary standard under the influence of dialects. In this regard, the tasks of dialectology include the establishment of the territory (area) of the distribution of similar in form and significance phenomena of phonetics (isophones), grammar (isomorphs), vocabulary (iso-lexes) and semantics (isosems) not only within a given dialect, but also within adjacent or non-adjacent areas and drawing them on geographical maps, which in this case are called linguistic maps.
On the basis of maps of individual linguistic phenomena, isoglosses are drawn - lines marking the boundaries of certain territories in which certain phenomena have a similar implementation. At the same time, both more general and more particular varieties of phenomena existing in a given territory can be plotted on the map. It should be borne in mind that different phenomena may have an unequal degree of certainty of territorial distribution on the map (especially in the case of lexical phenomena). Subsequently, the isoglosses are combined into bundles on the basis of the similarity of linguistic phenomena in a particular territory, allocated by these isoglosses. In this case, the isoglosses are combined into one bundle, not only by the general similarity of outlines, but taking into account that the area of ​​distribution of the phenomenon identified by the isogloss is on the same side of the isoglosses connected into bundles.
Further study of dialects involves comparing similarities between several bundles of isoglosses; taken together, they distinguish territories occupied by dialects, which, by the sum of some signs, can be opposed to dialects of other territories. In this regard, for example, lexical isoglosses between the northern and southern counties of Great Britain, established by H. Orton (Leeds) and E. Dith (Zurich) on the basis of a continuous field survey of these territories in 1962-1963, are of interest. The published materials (five volumes in total), covering the dialects of six northern counties and the Isle of Man, as well as some southern counties, contain the answers of informants to a questionnaire compiled by the authors (the work indicates the age of the informants, profession, place of birth, gender and peculiarities of individual pronunciation and word usage). The material is presented in the form of a collection of dialect synonyms for a wide range of concepts, indicating the areal variants of pronunciation, as well as morphological and syntactic features of the use of the words in question. Somewhat earlier, a similar study of the dialects of Scotland was undertaken by A. Macintosh.¹
Let's consider some of the lexical isoglosses established through the questionnaire of H. Orton and E. Deet. In the southern counties, the following synonyms for "pigsty" have been found: pig's house, (pig's) lewze, pig pound, pig-stall, sty, pig's-crow; in the northern counties the same concept is expressed by the words: creeve, muchlagh, hull, cree-sty. The concept of "whetstone" in the southern counties is conveyed by synonyms: balker, bat, burr, rifle, ribber, suggs, and in the northern counties - bull, free-, lea-, sand-stone, straik. The concept of "chimney" in the southern counties is expressed by synonyms: chimney (stack), flue, tun, and in the northern counties - chimblet, lum. The concept of "fork" in the southern counties is conveyed by the words: evil, prongs, forks, and in the northern counties - forks, grip. The concept of "potato" in the southern counties is expressed by synonyms: murphies, spuds, chitties, potatoes, and in the northern counties - only potatoes. The following specific lexemes of the northern counties can be noted: get high, get off 'go bad (about meat)'; juice 'shears (for shearing sheep)'; patch 'seagull'; picture 'ham; piggin' trough; reading 'fat; slape 'bald; spliced ​​'married; stee 'ladder'; sug-gan 'rope; sucky 'kettle. In southern dialects, for example, lexemes are specific: getpindy, get sticky 'go bad (about meat)'; barton 'cowshed; bilboes 'chain for tying cattle; bever 'light breakfast; blewits 'mushrooms; dodman (hodman) 'snail; dodment 'wheel grease'; helve 'jug' (as a verb 'to gossip'); irritable 'quick; lords 'wood for the stove (fire)'; meet up with 'pull up k.-l.'; piers' red worm; risk 'barley on the eye; tacker 'shoemaker; throng 'busy (= busy); west 'barley on the eye; yusen 'feeding trough for livestock, etc.
The tasks of dialectology also include the study of fluctuations in linguo-geographic boundaries and the clarification of the historical and synchronous reasons for the emergence, existence, preservation and disappearance of certain features of various layers of the language (literary standard, social and territorial dialects and idiolects) in a certain territory or in different areas. In this regard, the study of the interaction, contacting of these linguistic stratifications, analysis of substrates, superstrata, etc. is of great importance.
Mapping of Old English dialect features is based mainly on the study of language documents, which can be proven to belong to one or another narrow region: in this case, it is especially important to compare the largest possible number of different (by genre, place of origin, etc.) linguistic monuments. Of great importance for establishing the area of ​​distribution of certain phenomena in ancient dialects, and especially the obscure meanings of rarely occurring words, is the study of ancient and new toponymy. In addition, the analysis of toponymy in a number of cases makes it possible to establish (for a particular territory) words that are not attested in linguistic monuments as independent lexemes.
The reconstruction of such lexemes is especially convincing if it is confirmed by the material of closely related languages. Thus, on the basis of the Old English toponymy attested in the Old English Charters (Charters), the following words can be reconstructed: kett 'grave [of kette in the hlawas; ad tumulum vocitatem kett (Worcestershire)]. Wed Swiss Chitt' dip. In the meaning of "grave" this word is found in Otfried: ketti. The word is represented in the Low German place name Kettenkamp (≈ 'field of graves') in the district of Osnabrück. In "Charters" there is a word nowhere attested harað forest (in haraðum centurn unido; haredum centum plaustra onuste per tot apit.) Place names with this element are found in the south of Great Britain (in Kent): Hartridge, Hardres. In the Germanic language area, this element is found only in the Alemannic area (Dvn. hart, Swabian. Hart). Wed place names such as Harz, Herthen (in Switzerland, near Basel), Hart (near Munich), Hardhof (in Switzerland).
Some dialect words that were very common 80 - 100 years ago as common nouns are now preserved only in toponyms, which, in this regard, acquire special value. So, the word wych 'salt mine, common in its time in Cheshire and Worcestershire, now continues to exist only in toponyms: Northwych, Middlewych, etc.
Modern dialects are studied mainly by interviewing informants who come from different areas of the surveyed territory and are not the same in terms of sex, age, and social affiliation. The most significant way to observe and directly study the living dialect usage in connected speech should be recognized as the principle formulated by the famous American linguist V. Labov for sociolinguistics, but no less important for linguogeography, because social phenomena are inconceivable without studying territorial ones, and only then territorial ones acquire linguistic weight when they are explored against a social background. This principle states: "In order to obtain data important for linguistic theory, one should observe how people speak when they are not observed."²
However, in order to obtain more dissected dialect characteristics, the most effective method is still questioning, i.e. use of questionnaires addressed to speakers of dialects. These questionnaires (for example, of the type used by H. Orton and E. Deet during the continuous field survey of English territorial dialects) contain questions about the main language means used to indicate the activities of speakers of dialects, i.e. about the names of objects, animals, as well as the most common actions related to the nature of their life (meaning, mainly, rural life).
The questions offered to the informants are also aimed at clarifying dialect synonyms, separating the layer of more commonly used from less commonly used words, as well as words that are becoming obsolete or have already gone out of use, but have not yet been forgotten by speakers of dialects of the older generation. The questionnaire, in addition, makes it possible to identify the peculiarities of pronunciation and grammar in a particular territory. Unfortunately, the linguistic atlas of Great Britain has not yet been compiled, only preparatory work is underway to create it. Several maps of the areal distribution of individual words in the English dialects of Ulster are contained in the collection "Ulster Dialects". In addition, the German dialectologist W. Fierack published 342 maps reflecting the features of the areal distribution of individual words, phrases and some grammatical phenomena in the counties of central and southern England. These maps were compiled as early as 1937-1938. the famous linguist G.S. Lowman (he died in 1941) on the basis of a continuous dialectological survey of the indicated area. G. Lowman's research, published by W. Firekk, is in fact the first work where the lexical and grammatical material of the English territorial dialects is systematically compared with the corresponding material of the American dialects. E. Kolb published a phonological atlas of the northern area of ​​Great Britain. This atlas, along with "Survey of English Dialects" by X. Orton and E. Deet, should be recognized as one of the major achievements of English dialectography in recent years. An extensive linguistic atlas of Scotland has now been published. X. Orton and N. Wright and 1973 published 251 dialect maps that illustrate the areal distribution of lexical material identified in the "Survey of English Dialects".
The study of dialects provides invaluable and truly inexhaustible material not only for penetrating into the deepest sources of the language, its historical past, but also allows you to sensibly, without bias and one-sidedness, evaluate and understand the commonality of the formation and development of the literary norm, various social and professional dialects, as well as language variants, originated outside the main territory of the language (for example, American, Canadian, Australian English). Only taking dialect data into account opens up the possibility of understanding not only the so-called "deviations" from the rules of pronunciation and grammar, but also these rules themselves, and can serve as a solid basis for studying the formation and development of the meanings of words.