Contact: The Interaction of Closely Related Linguistic Varieties and the History of English PDF
Preview Contact: The Interaction of Closely Related Linguistic Varieties and the History of English
Contact ‘Robert McColl Millar has emerged as a highly original and innovative C thinker. Drawing on predominant theories in the field, his latest work offers O a fresh and thought-provoking account of varieties in interaction, and his N illustrative showcases make this an ideal reading for anybody interested in the sociolinguistic evolution of English.’ T Daniel Schreier, University of Zurich A THE INTERACTION OF CLOSELY RELATED C LINGUISTIC VARIETIES AND THE HISTORY OF ENGLISH T While much has been written on dialect formation through contact between Robert McColl Millar dialects of the same language, the question of what happens when closely related but linguistically discrete varieties come into contact with each other has largely been neglected. Here Robert McColl Millar sets out to redress this imbalance, giving the reader the opportunity to analyse and consider a variety of different contact scenarios where the language varieties involved are close relatives and to explore the question: are the results of contacts of this type different in nature from those where linguistically distant (or entirely different) varieties come into contact? Bringing together the diverse theoretical positions associated with the production of new dialects as well as those associated with contact between closely related but discrete language varieties, the book invites the reader to R o evaluate different scholarly views using analysis from a range of different b case studies, largely derived from the history and diversity of English. It then e r goes on to demonstrate the similarities in process and end result between t contact involving discrete but closely related languages and between dialects M of the same language, and in doing so offers a new and insightful approach c C to issues of language contact. o l l M Robert McColl Millar is Professor in Linguistics and Scottish Language at the i University of Aberdeen l l a r Cover image: St Magnus Cathedral, Kirkwall © Claude Huot/Shutterstock.com Cover design: www.hayesdesign.co.uk ISBN 978-1-4744-0908-7 edinburghuniversitypress.com Contact Contact The Interaction of Closely Related Linguistic Varieties and the History of English Robert McColl Millar Edinburgh University Press is one of the leading university presses in the UK. We publish academic books and journals in our selected subject areas across the humanities and social sciences, combining cutting-edge scholarship with high editorial and production values to produce academic works of lasting importance. For more information visit our website: www.edinburghuniversitypress.com © Robert McColl Millar, 2016 Edinburgh University Press Ltd The Tun – Holyrood Road 12(2f) Jackson’s Entry Edinburgh EH8 8PJ Typeset in 10.5/12 Janson by Servis Filmsetting Ltd, Stockport, Cheshire, and printed and bound in Great Britain by CPI Group (UK) Ltd, Croydon CR0 4YY A CIP record for this book is available from the British Library ISBN 978 1 4744 0908 7 (hardback) ISBN 978 1 4744 0909 4 (webready PDF) ISBN 978 1 4744 0910 0 (epub) The right of Robert McColl Millar to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, and the Copyright and Related Rights Regulations 2003 (SI No. 2498). Contents Acknowledgements vi Glossary vii 1 Some introductory thoughts 1 2 New dialect formation and near-dialect contact 16 3 New dialect formation and time depth 57 4 Linguistic contact and near-relative relationships 106 5 English in the ‘transition period’: the sources of contact- induced change 124 6 Conclusions 171 Notes 178 References 190 Index 206 Acknowledgements The topics discussed in this book have concerned me since my late teens; over the last thirty years it has been my privilege discussing them in a range of fora, formal and informal, around the world. In recent years, many of these ideas have become focused when teaching advanced undergraduate and postgraduate courses; the input from my students has been invaluable. Towards the end of the writing of Contact, I received very useful advice from Edgar Schneider and Anke de Looper which made my life a little easier. My dear colleagues here at Aberdeen worked a little bit more in the Spring of 2014 so that I could get relief from teaching. I am grateful to both groups and hope to return the favour one day. Finally, a mention for my family. Sandra and Mairi are a source of endless fascination and rest for me. They both contribute immeasurably to my work and get very little in recompense. This book is dedicated to them. vi Glossary analytic Languages generally mark function through the position of phrases within a clause. Thus speakers of English primarily know which phrase in the clause represents the subject, direct object and so on, because of that phrase’s position in the clause. The ‘opposite’ of an analytic language is a synthetic one. It should be noted that these are not absolute states: there is a continuum between an absolutely analytic language and an absolutely synthetic one. Tok Pisin is more analytic than is English, for instance. case, grammatical A case system expresses functional relationships within the clause, normally marked through the use of inflectional morphology. Languages with a ‘rich’ case system often have a more flexible element order system than do those which have little or no case marking. Marking case through morphology is a powerful representa- tion of synthetic tendencies. convergence While most linguistic change is divergent, convergence, the coming together over time of previously discrete language varieties, is not uncommon. Historically, Modern Dutch may be descended not from one ancestor, but rather three, which have coalesced. creole Most scholars believe that creoles are the descendants of pidgins. Creoles share many of their features with their pidgin ancestors, but are the native languages of some speakers. Their formation represents a radical breach from the lexifier language: essentially, creoles are independent languages, capable of the same nuances of expression as any ‘natural’ language. Because many creoles are spoken in colonial or post-colonial environments, a post-creole continuum often develops. In these circumstances, different forms of language develop; some of these are closer to the original creole, some to the lexifier language. It should be noted that stages along the continuum do not represent vii viii contact absolute states: native speakers regularly move along it, depending on social context. creoloid It has been suggested that some language varieties – creoloids – have been formed by processes similar to, but not the same as, those which produce creoles. With creoles, it is believed that a radical breach with the lexifier language has taken place; this produces a separate language. No such breach is present with creoloids, which generally remain mutually intelligible with varieties of the lexifier languages for a considerable period after the change in state. They nevertheless exhibit many of the simplifying tendencies exhibited by creoles. Afrikaans is, perhaps, the most widely spoken creoloid. divergence This happens when two or more language varieties become increasingly discrete from each other over time. Divergence is probably the mainstream form of language change. Thus Modern English and Modern High German share a common ancestor; for a while, the two varieties were dialects of the same language. Now little or no mutual comprehension is possible. drift As proposed by Sapir, drift is the tendency by which a language (or, by extension, languages) develops across its linguistic system in essentially the same way, in essentially the same direction. gender, grammatical Many languages employ a system something like a very large form of noun class, termed grammatical gender. In some languages grammatical gender appears to have some relationship with natural sex. This relationship is rarely straightforward; many other gen- der-bearing languages exhibit no such connection. Gender relationships can be realised through functional morphology and the use of definers. lexifier language This is the prestigious standardised language of a (normally colonial or post-colonial) territory where a pidgin or creole (or both) is used. Its lexis is normally the central source of vocabulary for an incipient pidgin; it is also highly influential on the development of later creoles. near-relative variety Most language varieties are related genetically (that is, by descent) to other language varieties. Naturally, most related varieties which are considered part of the same language – dialects – closely resemble each other. This means that mutual intelligibility is generally straightforward. Even when greater linguistic distance is glossary ix involved, mutual comprehension is still possible, albeit with a little effort. On the other hand, languages are normally portrayed as being discrete entities, even in connection with their closer relatives. Of course, this is often the case: native speakers of Norwegian cannot understand German without learning that language, even though the two languages share many lexical, phonological and structural features. But occasionally, language varieties are considered discrete entities but nevertheless are sufficiently closely related to each other that some mutual recognition of similarity and at least some intelligibility are pos- sible. What are the results of near-relative linguistic contact? How do these compare with other types of contact? pidgin A pidgin is a radically simplified-use language created in situ- ations where speakers of at least three languages have no language in common. Pidgins do not have native speakers; their nativised descend- ants are, according to most analyses, creoles. synthetic Languages express function through form, such as through their use of grammatical case. Thus, in Polish, while there are main- stream element order patterns, most functional information is carried by inflections. It should be noted that there is a continuum between an absolutely analytic language and an absolutely synthetic one. Finnish is more synthetic than is Polish, for instance.
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