Redefining Regional French

1. Auflage 2005
ISBN: 978-1-904350-50-7
Verlag: Maney Publishing

Buch, Englisch, 172 Seiten, Format (B × H): 126 mm x 172 mm, Gewicht: 532 g

Reihe: Legenda Research Monographs in French Studies

This study challenges the orthodox view that emergent regional varieties of French represent no more than an ephemeral dialect residue of little theoretical interest. It follows the life cycle of an obsolescent urban Picard variety, spoken in a mining town in the Pas-de-Calais, and attempts to unravel the complex reasons behind the survival of some local variants at the expense of others. Applying a sociolinguistic model developed by Peter Trudgill, it shows how the processes of levelling and simplification have driven change in a dialect contact situation, giving rise to a new, stable variety or koine. This is compared with other new urban varieties in Sweden and the UK, where different economic, social and demographic conditions have produced very different linguistic outcomes. The emergence of Regional French in the north, it is argued, may herald the start of a new diversification of French in Europe. This book will therefore interest both students of French and of language variation more generally.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Hornsby, David

Fachgebiete

• Geisteswissenschaften Sprachwissenschaft Fremdsprachenerwerb und -didaktik
• Geisteswissenschaften Sprachwissenschaft Sprachwissenschaften
• Geisteswissenschaften Literaturwissenschaft Literaturwissenschaft

Inhaltsverzeichnis

The Rise and Fall of Dialects in France, Sources of Variation in the Bassin Minier, Variation and change in the Bassin Minier (part contents)

Über Autor(innen)

David Hornsby is Lecturer in French at the University of Kent. He publishes on language variation and on the history of French, and was a research consultant for the BBC's Voices project (2005) into contemporary British accent and dialect variation.