Rate of Change

[petegray]

>> we see a lot of convergence due to greatly improved communications .....
>> breakdown of dialects, ... locally colored standard language.

> but what seems to be crucial in causing this is not literacy and standard
> language media, but rather increased mobility of speakers.

The example of Swiss German provokes a response from me.  In nearby Bavaria,
there is frequent use of a "locally coloured standard", and different versions
of dialect and coloured or uncoloured standard are used in different linguistic
contexts.  The standard language is not felt to be alien, merely socially
inappropriate in certain contexts.  Across the border in Switzerland, however,
the standard language is felt to be alien, and is both resisted and resented as
a medium of speech, although it is the norm for printed language.  The local
dialects are strongly fragmented, and sometimes not easily mutually
comprehensible.

Lack of mobility in a mountainous terrain is clearly part of the cause, but
attitudes are also a powerful factor.   Some German Swiss would rather speak
English to other German speakers than sully their lips with the "bookish"
standard language.

Peter