LL-L "Language varieties" 2009.10.21 (01) [EN]

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L O W L A N D S - L - 21 October 2009 - Volume 01
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From: Wesley Parish <wes.parish at paradise.net.nz>
Subject: LL-L "Language varieties" 2009.10.19 (03) [EN]

> From: Paul Tatum <ptatum at blueyonder.co.uk>
 > Subject: LL-L "Language varieties" 2009.10.18 (01) [EN]
>
> From: Sandy Fleming <sandy at fleimin.demon.co.uk <mailto:
 > sandy at fleimin.demon.co.uk>>
 >  Subject: LL-L "Language varieties" 2009.10.16 (03) [EN]
>
>   From: Mark Dreyer <mrdreyer at lantic.net <mailto:mrdreyer at lantic.net>>
 >
> >  Subject: LL-L "Language varieties" 2009.10.15 (01) [EN]
> >
> >  Dear Mark, Ron & Co:
> >
> >  Subject: LL-L "Language varieties"
> >
<snip>
>
> Anyway, a question that I'm interested in seems to be going unanswered
> here, and that is, do languages change even if there isn't contact with
> other languages? A small island with only a few dialects of one language
> and no outside contact would be hard to find these days, but such was
> less unusual in the past, so would these languages still have kept
> changing, and in what ways?

That is the precise reason why Polynesian languages are so important to the
linguist - after the Polynesian dispersal across the Pacific, the chances of
Hawaiians being influenced by Easter Islanders or Marquesans by Samoans or
New Zealand Maori by Tahitians, was rather minimal - Samoan by Tongan is
rather more likely - Tonga did have an empire in the easternmost islands of
the Fiji group; and I'll bet you didn't know that!

New Zealand was settled by a few separate groups speaking closely related
dialects about eight hundred years ago; South Island Maori now has some
phonological differences from most of the North Island dialects, eg k
instead
of ng, so Kati Mamoe where the North Island dialects would say Ngati and
cutting the final vowel off, eg kaik' instead of kainga, though I think that
applies only to the Southlands and the West Coast dialects; and the
Northlands (Te Tai Tokerau) dialect has evolved in the direction of
palatization of ti and si.

FWIW, Akaloa is Whangaroa.

We humans are a quarrelsome lot - i suspect that had a lot to do with it.
Can't go around sounding like our neighbours, can we? ;)

Just my 0.02c worth

Wesley Parish
--
Clinersterton beademung, with all of love - RIP James Blish
-----
George Kelischek - "To impress those high-tech computer types,
tell them what an Ocarina really is:
an animal-activated-solid-state-
multi-frequency-sound-synthesizer."
-----
Mau e ki, he aha te mea nui?
You ask, what is the most important thing?
Maku e ki, he tangata, he tangata, he tangata.
I reply, it is people, it is people, it is people.

----------

From: R. F. Hahn
<sassisch at yahoo.com<http://uk.mc264.mail.yahoo.com/mc/compose?to=sassisch@yahoo.com>
>
Subject: Language varieties

Tēnā koe, Wes. Ka pai kē! Kia ora! Great to hear from you again.

In case your response came before you read later installments you must have
found out in the meantime that I responded with like sentiment.

Even if one's interests are confined to a specific area, it's necessary to
step out once in a while to see what theoretical knowledge can be gleaned
from other areas. As you said, Polynesian is an important field in
linguistics in that interference is minimal if not absent in most cases. We
are assuming that the islands on which the Polynesian ancestors settled had
been uninhabited (which may or may not be true in all cases). Migration
waves seem to have been only Polynesian; so at least in theory we are
dealing with Polynesian strata only if with any sub- and adstrata at all.
There was no written language until European colonization, though there were
and still are highly prestigious oratorical registers and styles that may
affect the everyday varieties not unlike written languages have been doing
in other cases.

Wes, I think that old-time dialectical diversion in a place such as New
Zealand is to be expected. Until one or two centuries ago, the average
person anywhere in the world did not venture far beyond his or her village,
less so if water or rugged land needed to be crossed. I believe that the
Polynesian languages are not immune from the generalizing influences of
today's formal education and the printed and electronic media that promote
one variety per language pretty much all over the world.

Me te aroha nui ki a koutou katoa!
Reinhard/Ron
Seattle, USA

•

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