Book review: Perceptual Dialectology

[Harold F. Schiffman]

From: LINGUIST List 14.181 Sun Jan 19 2003

Title: Handbook of Perceptual Dialectology, Volume 2 2002 Publisher: John
Benjamins http://www.benjamins.com/, http://www.benjamins.nl



Editors: Daniel Long, Tokyo Metropolitan University and Dennis R. Preston,
Michigan State University


Abstract:

The Handbook of Perceptual Dialectology , Volume II, expands on the
coverage of both regions and methodologies in the investigation of
nonlinguists' perceptions of language variety. New areas studied
include Canada (anglophone and francophone), Cuba, Hungary, Italy,
Korea, and Mali, and most prominent among the new approaches are
studies of the salience of specific linguistic features in variety
identification and assessment. As in Volume I, the reader will find in
these chapters everything from the statistical treatment of the
ratings of dialect attributes to studies of the actual discourses of
nonlinguists discussing language variety. Dialectologists,
sociolinguistics, ethnographers, and applied linguists who work in
areas where language variety is a concern will appreciate the findings
and methods of these studies, but social scientists of every sort who
want to understand the role of language in the cultural lives of
ordinary people will also find much of interest here.


Table of Contents

List of Figures  ix-xiii
List of Tables  xv-xix
Preface
     Ronald R. Butters  xxi-xxii
Acknowledgments  xxiii
Introduction  xxv-xxxi
Miami Cuban Perceptions of Varieties of Spanish
     Gabriela Alfaraz  1-11
Aesthetic Evaluation of Dutch: Comparisons across Dialects, Accents,
and Languages
     Rene van Bezooijen  13-31
Perceptions of Languages in the Mandingo Region of Mali: Where Does
One Language Begin and the Other End?
     Ccile Canut-Hobe  33-41
Gender Differences in the Perception of Turkish Regional Dialects
     Mahide Demirci  43-52
Mental Maps: Linguistic-Geographic Concepts
     Willy Diercks  53-72
Attitudes of Montreal Students Towards Varieties of French
     Betsy E. Evans  73-95
An Acoustic and Perceptual Analysis of Imitation
     Betsy E. Evans  97-116
California Students' Perceptions of, You Know, Regions and Dialects?
     Carmen Fought  117-136
Perception of Dialect Distance: Standard and Dialect in Relation to
New Data on Dutch Varieties
     Ton Goeman  137-151
A Dialect with 'Great Inner Strength'? The Perception of Nativeness in
the Bergen Speech Community
     Paul Kerswill  153-173
Dialect Recognition and Speech Community Focusing in New and Old Towns
in England: The Effects of Dialect Levelling, Demography and Social
Networks
     Paul Kerswill and Ann Williams  175-206
Where is the "Most Beautiful" and the "Ugliest" Hungarian Spoken?
     Mikls Kontra  207-220
Microcosmic Perceptual Dialectology and the Consequences of Extended
Linguistic Awareness: A Case Study of Noirmoutier Island (France)
     Jean Le Lonard  221-250
Regional Differences in the Perception of Korean Dialects
     Daniel Long and Young-Cheol Yim  251-277
A Perceptual Dialectology of Anglophone Canada from the Perspective of
Young Albertans and Ontarians
     Meghan McKinnie and Jennifer Dailey-O'Cain  279-296
Madrid Perceptions of Regional Varieties in Spain
     Juliana Moreno Fernndez and Francisco Moreno Fernndez
     297-322
Attitudes Toward Midwestern American English
     Nancy Niedzielski  323-329
The Perception of Urban Varieties: Preliminary Studies from the South
of Italy
     Maria Teresa Romanello  331-350
A Perceptual Dialect Study of French in Switzerland
     Caroline L'Eplattenier-Saugy  351-365
Influence of Vowel Devoicing on Dialect Judgments by Japanese Speakers
     Midori Yonezawa  367-396
About the Contributors  397
Index  399

Hardback: ISBN: 1556197578, Pages: xxvi, 412 pp., Price: USD 174.00
Hardback: ISBN: 9027221855, Pages: xxvi, 412 pp., Price: EUR 174.00