Phonological individuation in a former Danish settlement in South Dakota, USA

Publikation: Bidrag til tidsskriftTidsskriftartikelfagfællebedømt

The article describes the manifestation and distribution of 15 phonological variables in a rural heritage language community in South Dakota, USA. I discuss to what extent dialect convergence has occurred in this former Danish settlement. The data sample encompasses speakers born in Northwest Jutland in Denmark, as well as speakers born in South Dakota to parents who emigrated from Northwest Jutland. The analysis shows that dialectal convergence has not occurred to any significant degree, in spite of what may be expected; speakers born in South Dakota have significantly more dialectal features in their speech than the speakers born in Denmark. The analysis also reveals a sizeable degree of inter-speaker variation within both groups, as well as a considerable variation between the variables with respect to how likely they are to be realized dialectally versus nondialectally. The results are discussed in relation to theories of shared linguistic repertoire and individuation in small speech communities.
OriginalsprogEngelsk
TidsskriftJournal of Germanic Linguistics
Vol/bind30
Udgave nummer2
Sider (fra-til)95-130
Antal sider36
ISSN1470-5427
StatusUdgivet - 18 apr. 2018

ID: 162186305