28.703, Diss: Talking about Space: The Spatial Reference System of Irish English

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LINGUIST List: Vol-28-703. Mon Feb 06 2017. ISSN: 1069 - 4875.

Subject: 28.703, Diss: Talking about Space: The Spatial Reference System of Irish English

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Date: Mon, 06 Feb 2017 16:15:56
From: Stephen Lucek [luceks at tcd.ie]
Subject: Talking about Space: The Spatial Reference System of Irish English

 
Institution: Trinity College Dublin 
Program: Centre for Language and Communication Studies 
Dissertation Status: Completed 
Degree Date: 2015 

Author: Stephen Stanley Lucek

Dissertation Title: Talking about Space: The Spatial Reference System of Irish
English 

Linguistic Field(s): Cognitive Science
                     Sociolinguistics


Dissertation Director(s):
Jeffrey L Kallen

Dissertation Abstract:

This thesis considers three central aims: how Irish people talk about space,
what kind of variation is in these data, and why variation occurs. diachronic
variation and apparent time variation are both considered, with prospects for
future research proposed.

In the Background chapter, spatial cognition is described in detail,
concentrating on how the English language deals with space. Conceptual
Metaphor Theory is put forward as an analytical tool that bridges the gap
between cognition and sociolinguistic variation. 

Then, the traditional Irish English Spatial Reference System is derived from
extant studies of dialect use in Roscommon, Donegal, and Kilkenny. These data
are then paired with data from the general studies of Irish English where
competing views of Irish substrate transfer and standardisation are posited,
creating a rudimentary Spatial Reference System. The rudimentary system is
then tested against the data in the SPICE-Ireland corpus, with further
refinements of the system included.

The Methodology chapter details the methods used in similar studies conducted
by the Nijmegen researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics
and those used in broad sociolinguistic studies. The methodological impetus of
the current study is presented, and the instruments, protocol, and the
recruitment process are described. This chapter with some actual data, showing
how these data were collected, coded, and how they are to be reported in the
following chapters.

The Results chapter is an exhaustive presentation of the interview data,
organised by types of space (e.g. UP, OUT, OR ACROSS) and evaluated for the
experiential truth of each statement. These spatial conceptualisations are
then organised by the type of motion or orientation represented in the
conceptualisation along with other conceptualisations (e.g. professional
conceptualisation). The Questionnaire data are also discussed, where the
Participants are tested on specific traditional, general, or conceptual
features of the Spatial Reference System, with the results explained by each
question or image set.

The Analysis chapter takes the spatial conceptualisations of each Participant
and plots them on UP/DOWN and OUT/IN maps, which emphasises the difference
between physical space and conceptual space. Physical and conceptual metaphors
are proposed that offer a way of explaining how physical and conceptual space
are related and also what kind of variation exists in the data. This chapter
concludes by proposing a Unified Irish English Spatial Reference System.

The Conclusions summarise the findings and how they relate to extant theories
of language variation. I describe the potential for replicability of the
study, as well as detailing future research.




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