3.4.5

Dialects - Dialectal Variations

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Dialect - Dialectal Variations

One of the easiest ways to map dialectal variations is to look at what names people give to things.

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Example

  • The bread in the picture can be called a bread roll, barm cake, bap, cob, roll, or bun.
Illustrative background for Traditional and mainstream dialects Illustrative background for Traditional and mainstream dialects  ?? "content

Traditional and mainstream dialects

  • Peter Trudgill believes that we can classify dialectal words into two categories – traditional and mainstream.
    • Traditional dialects use ‘old’ and often rural lexemes and grammatical constructions.
    • Mainstream dialects are the more common lexical and grammatical constructions, used by a majority within a geographical area.
  • Through a process called lexical attrition, the traditional dialectal words are dying out.

Jump to other topics

1Language Levels

2Language, The Individual & Society

3Language Diversity & Change

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