Idiolect the form of language spoken by
every person has their own idiolect
Dialect uniformity in language within a certain group
when a group of speakers of a particular language differs noticeably
in its speech from another group
could be syntactic, phonetic, phonological, semantic, vocabulary or
Accent differences in pronunciation
Mutual intelligibility if speakers of one language variety can
understand speakers of another language variety and vice versa
Native New Yorkers can still understand English speakers in Texas
But in China, even though Mandarin and Cantonese are considered dialects
of the same language, they are not mutually intelligible.
But they ARE mutually intelligible in their written forms
Dialect continuum Dialect A is intelligible to dialect B which is
intelligible to dialect C which is intelligible to dialect D. But dialect
A is not intelligible to dialect D (Germany/Holland border)
Origins of language variation
physical boundaries mountains, rivers, deserts
slang evolves over time
Isoglosses lines on a map that separate dialectical boundaries
Types of variation
Most American dialects pronounce [t, d, n, s, z] with alveolar articulation,
but some New York City dialects have dental articulation and touch the
top of the teeth with the tongue
While most American dialects pronounce caught, dawn, and hawk
with the back lax vowel [?]
differently than the words cot, Don, and flock with [a]
some dialects pronounce them the same
Some Caribbean English dialects do not have the sounds [?]
and [ð] so they insert
a [t] instead
Some British English, like Bostonian English, drops the [r]
after vowels within a syllable [park] becomes [pak]
Some Black English does not allow [r] to follow a
consonant so [prof?s?]
Some Southern and Midwestern dialects in America have no
distinction between [?]
and [?]; there is only [?]
In some southeastern dialects, [æ]
occurs in pat, bad, and cap, but [a] in path, laugh,
Some American dialects do not mark third person singular
present tense they say he kiss, she sit, etc.
Some Black English dialects mark the habitual aspect on the
Standard English has the same verb for She is in there
now and She is in there every Tuesday.
Black English makes a distinction: She there now and
She be there every Tuesday.
In many Southern dialects, done serves as an auxiliary
She done already told you
Many dialects of English have the feature multiple negation Didnt nobody see it?
In British English, knock up means to "rouse from
sleeping," but in American English it means "to make pregnant."
Differences in words for carbonated beverage: pop, soda,
coke, soft drink, tonic, etc.
Dialectology study of linguistic variation
in terms of the geographical distribution of speakers
speakers are recorded on tape and then analyzed
computers can be used for quantitative analysis and visual
Atlas maps produced by computers to plot features
that distinguish one group from another
isoglosses are drawn
bundles of isoglosses indicate that people on one side of
the boundary share one variant while those on the other side share a different
English in North America
Eastern dialects are divided into Northern, Midland, and
Includes all of New England, New York and the Hudson Valley
They say [rut] instead of [r?t]
They use [s] instead of [z] in words like "greasy"
They lose the postvocalic [r] after vowels [ban] instead of [barn]
They use [a] instead of [æ]
in words like "aunt" and "bath"
Includes the Delaware and Ohio Valleys, West Virginia, Western
Carolina, Eastern Tennessee and the Upper Potomic and Shenandoah
"skillet" for "frying pan"
they keep the postvocalic [r]
"run" for a "small stream"
[frag] instead of [fr?g]
they drop the dipthong in words like "write", instead saying [rot]
Includes Virginia, North Carolina and South Carolina