linguistic chauvenisms

[Dennis R. Preston]

Herb,

You mean, of course, a case of folk linguistics which is not true.
"Folk" and "false" are not synonyms (at least not for professionals).

dInIs

>A retired colleague of mine, a literature professor,
>just emailed me an anecdote about residents of Les iles
>de la Madeleine, just off Prince Edward Island,
>whose "forebears, in departing from France, carried with
>them a hatred of the incumbent king.  Boycotting r
>(standing for roi) has been their traditionalized
>response to the situation."  Apparently the French
>dialect spoken on those islands today is, at least to
>some degree, r-less.  Is there any support for this
>claim, or is it another case of folk linguistics?  Are
>there other stories of groups so consciously making a
>phonological change for such political reasons and
>maintaining it across generations?  Is this an extreme
>example of the Martha's Vineyard/Ocracoke phenomenon?
>
>Herb Stahlke