LL-L: "Language varieties" LOWLANDS-L, 26.FEB.2000 (03) [E]

Sat Feb 26 22:51:34 UTC 2000

 =======================================================================
 L O W L A N D S - L * 26.FEB.2000 (03) * ISSN 189-5582 * LCSN 96-4226
 Posting Address: <lowlands-l at listserv.linguistlist.org>
 Web Site: <http://www.geocities.com/sassisch/rhahn/lowlands/>
 User's Manual: <http://www.lsoft.com/manuals/1.8c/userindex.html>
 =======================================================================
 A=Afrikaans, Ap=Appalachean, D=Dutch, E=English, F=Frisian, L=Limburgish
 LS=Low Saxon (Low German), S=Scots, Sh=Shetlandic
 =======================================================================

From: Pat Reynolds [pat at caerlas.demon.co.uk]
Subject: LL-L: "Language varieties" (was "Etymology") LOWLANDS-L, 25.FEB.2000
(05) [E]

In message <38B6BD5C.AD29C46A at yahoo.com>, Lowlands-L Administrator
<sassisch at yahoo.com> writes
>> BTW, Ron, can you tell me if there are regional varieties ('accents')
>> in Australia like there are in the USA. That is, can one tell if X is from
>> Melboure and Y is from Brisbane?
The only Australian accent I can tell is Newcastle.  I once worked with
someone from Newcastle, Australia, and then when I met someone a couple
of years later, also from Newcastle, she sounded so similar that I asked
her 'did you live in Newcastle' and yes, she too grew up there.

Bet wishes to all,
--
Pat Reynolds
pat at caerlas.demon.co.uk
   "It might look a bit messy now, but just you come back in 500 years time"
   (T. Pratchett)

----------

From: G Halliday [G.Halliday at xtra.co.nz]
Subject: LL-L: "Language varieties" LOWLANDS-L, 25.FEB.2000 (06) [E]

Ron Wrote

> Finally, have you or someone else heard of any dialectal variation in
these
> two countries where variety-specific features are attributable to local
> concentrations of specific European English varieties or other languages,
such
> as Scottish English and/or Scots features in one area versus, say,
Southern
> English features in another area?

The generally voiced opinion among NZ linguists is that there is little
regional variation in NZ English with two exceptions mentioned below. It is
probably true that what variation exists is hard to detect, partly because
it is small and partly because it is masked by differential changes that are
quite wide spread at the moment. The latest book on NZEng, published this
year mentions that there has been little work done on regional variation but
there are two major studies being done on Southland and Taranaki rural
dialects the results of which are not yet available.

There are no doubt differences due to the retention of older forms in
smaller centres such as greater retention of the vowel in <or> in words such
as because or the vowel in <ash> in dance. Maori English is also somewhat
different and influences the speech of some non-Maori. That said the
differences may still be there - there was an acoustic study looking at
vowel format differnces between Auckland and a small Northland town (same
end of the same island) that found significant differences. There seem to be
some differences emerging (coming to light) between the main centres as
well.

There is quite a reasonable amount of influence from Scots overall some
lexical - (slater is the universal word for woodlouse, wee is common as are
a range of dozens of other Scots words) some phonological although these are
harder to prove (a voiceless fricative finally in <with>, greater retention
of the  whales/Wales distinction, possibly the centralisation of the vowel
in <fish> and centralisation of /u/ ).

The only suggestions for regional dialects have been the West Coast of the
South Island, with claims of Irish influence and the long recognised
Southland dialect area in the south of the South Island. Its distinctiveness
is considered to be due to Scots influence. It extends to North Otago but
excludes Dunedin and seems to be in retreat. Its most famous feature is what
is called the "Southland Burr", r-colouring of post-vocalic r, but there is
also a distinct s and some slight differences in some vowels - these are
less well-documented. There is also a lot of Scotish vocabulary in the area.

This is rather a long posting, but NZEng has received a lot of attention
over the last ten years - far more than AusEng even in Aus. journals and is
quite an exciting area, with three major books and several dictionaries.
There is also currently an annual NZ English newsletter dedicated to ongoing
research as well as frequent articles in Te Reo - the journal of the NZ
Linguistic Society.

Geordie Halliday

----------

From: R. F. Hahn (Lowlands-L Administrator) [sassisch at yahoo.com]
Subject: "Language varieties

Thanks for taking the trouble of elaborating on your previous posting,
Geordie.  I find the NZ situation very interesting, especially this remark:

> Maori English is also somewhat
> different and influences the speech of some non-Maori.

In this connection, I wonder if extensive work has been done on Canadian
English phonology and possible Native influences.  The English "accents" of
many Native Americans in both Canada and the United States seem to share a
lot, irrespective of what the respective ancestral languages are/were.  Much
of it is in intonation (usually fairly flat), but I also notice vowel
qualities, such as long vowels where many other dialects have diphthongs,
namely [o:] (elsewhere [oU], etc.) and [e:] (elsewhere [EI] etc.), which I
also seem to hear in non-Native Canadian and Minnesota dialects (and of course
in Scottish dialects).  I'm wondering if we are dealing with Native "accents"
having filtered into the dialects of Canada and the northern Midwest of the
USA, or if Native Americans have simply adopted those (possibly
Scottish-influenced) northern phonologies and have passed them on to Native
Americans farther south.  Has anyone ever tried to tackle this?

Pat, you wrote:

> In message <38B6BD5C.AD29C46A at yahoo.com>, Lowlands-L Administrator
> <sassisch at yahoo.com> writes
> >> BTW, Ron, can you tell me if there are regional varieties ('accents')
> >> in Australia like there are in the USA. That is, can one tell if X is > from
> >> Melboure and Y is from Brisbane?

Actually, it was Bob Thiel who wrote that, not I.

Regards,

Reinhard/Ron

==================================END===================================
 You have received this because your account has been subscribed upon
 request. To unsubscribe, please send the command "signoff lowlands-l"
 as message text from the same account to
 <listserv at listserv.linguistlist.org> or sign off at
 <http://linguistlist.org/subscribing/sub-lowlands-l.html>.
 =======================================================================
 * Please submit contributions to <lowlands-l at listserv.linguistlist.org>.
 * Contributions will be displayed unedited in digest form.
 * Please display only the relevant parts of quotes in your replies.
 * Commands for automated functions (including "signoff lowlands-l") are
   to be sent to <listserv at listserv.linguistlist.org> or at
   <http://linguistlist.org/subscribing/sub-lowlands-l.html>.
 * Please use only Plain Text format, not Rich Text (HTML) or any other
   type of format, in your submissions
 =======================================================================