Category: Dialect

Problem statement

According to European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages (2009) and the report on its application in Cyprus, the Committee of Experts officially states that Roma in Cyprus referred to their language as Kurbetcha (p 5).

However, the Committee of Experts has proved to be unable to get any information concerning the use of Gurbetcha, the report states that they failed to find reliable information on whether Romani speak Gurbetcha or some other language that is far from Turkish Cypriot dialect or Greek Cypriot dialect and they stated the necessity of further information in the next report (Council of Europe 2009 p 5).

The current absence of available information on Gurbetcha and its possible variations arouses the necessity to investigate this sphere thoroughly. It is necessary to state that the people call themselves Gurbet and, consequently, their language is called Gurbetcha, however, the majority speaks Turkish Cypriot dialect (Phillips 2001, p 254).

Varnava et al. (2009) also mention the research by Williams who states that an advanced stage of assimilation to the Turkish Cypriot dialect with an almost complete loss of Gurbetcha in the younger generations of Roma occurred there (p 331). However, Constantinou (2007) states that Gurbetcha is now spoken by some Gypsies (p 264): the vast majority of grown-ups and some children continue speaking this dialect and understand the meaning of the words told in Gurbetcha.

The aim of this project is to identify the roots of the dialect Gurbetcha and compare it to the other Cypriot dialects and varieties and Cypriot Turkish dialects in particular. One of the most important purposes of the project under consideration is the clarification the Gurbetcha dialect as a Turkish Cypriot dialect with a number of Romani loan adaptations that are used by contact phenomenon or as a Romani dialect that is characterized by a number of Turkish loan adaptations.

The influence of Romani loanwords is evident for many Turkish Cypriot dialects, and Gurbetcha is considered one of those that undergo some changes. After the above-mentioned purposes are achieved, the time to evaluate the similarities and differences of the dialect from syntax, morphological, phonological, or semantic point of view comes.

Working hypothesis

The working hypothesis for the present research sounds like this: though Gypsies speak Turkish Cypriot Dialect, they also admit that their mother language is Gurbetcha. This is why it is possible to define Gurbetcha as Turkish Cypriot Dialect that is characterized by a number of Romani loan adaptations and has been formed as the result of the language mixing process. And this study is one of the first attempts to analyze the language as a significant variety of Cypriot Roma.

Background of the problem

Solid research pertaining to Romani has been conducted by British researchers Matras and Bakker. Matras (2009) presents his Romani Project that offers exhaustive information on the history of the Romani language, classification of Romani dialects, historical data from the sphere of linguistics, and the structure of Romani.

Matras (2005) has studied the status of Romani in Europe and offers his considerations as per the future of Romani, stressing the idea of linguistic pluralism in the use of Romani (Matras 2004, p 1). A guide to Romani linguistics composed by Bakker and Matras (2003) suggests that there has appeared and intensified great interest of the scholars in the language of Roma.

The scholars, who have presented their accounts of the linguistic research pertaining to Romani, emphasize their use of geographical and historical analysis as the main methods of investigation mainly in relation to dialect classification composition (Matras 2002; Trimikliniotis and Demetriou 2009).

As for the previous research and the results achieved, it may be stated that the results are focused basically on language pluralism in the use of Romani that fits the specific situation of a trans-national minority with dispersed, regional centers of cultural and public life (Matras 2004, p 1).

The essence of the present research is conditioned by several factors. First, it is the complete absence of linguistic research on Gurbetcha and Turkish Cypriot Dialect spoken by Cypriot Gypsies. Second, it is the threatening situation of Gurbechas dying out, since their number of Gypsies living in Cyprus is low (Kenrick and Taylor 1986).

If no research is conducted while there are accessible Gurbetcha-speakers, the opportunity to study the dialect can be lost in several years forever shifting the necessity to study its morphological, grammar, and other peculiarities. Besides, along with historical necessity to document the linguistic processes of Cypriot Gypsies dialect, there may be certain importance of the findings for the studied of other dialects of Gypsies living in other countries.

Research design

At the beginning of the research, it is necessary to find out the peculiarities of the chosen community and the manner of speaking preferred. The evaluation of these peoples origins and the origins of their language is a good way to start with.

The theme under consideration requires qualitative research that has several peculiarities to be mentioned. First, the idea to use questionnaires was chosen. However, taking into consideration the fact that the chosen community cannot actually read and write, another idea was chosen: interviews.

This technique is regarded as a combination of observation under highly structured conditions and paper-and-pencil data recording will be used (Perry 2005, p 119). The choice of the interview as the main investigative technique also has a number of powerful grounds like the possibility to change the conditions of the process and make an interviewer be able to comprehend the essence of questions (Perry 2005; Thomas 2003).

As for ethical considerations and human subject protection, the interview will be composed of cultural and linguistic peculiarities of the population of the research (Wengraf 2001, p. 65). The community under discussion is eager to save their anonymity with respect to their traditions, interests, and beliefs.

As for the data, that is needed for the research; this will be the written results of my observations. With the help of thorough and constant observations, it is possible to find out a lot of information on the communitys lifestyle, interests, beliefs, and traditions. In addition to the recordings of interviews and their transcripts that will enable us to identify and analyze morphological, syntactical, phonological peculiarities of the analyzed dialects.

Expected results

The data gathered using interviews will be analyzed from a purely linguistic perspective. First, the analysis of the dialect identified and the language chosen will be made to define whether words and their structure are closer to a Romani dialect or these words have several features for a Turkish dialect. Such analysis should help to define the peculiarities of the dialect and clear up what the Gurbetcha peculiarities are.

The processes of language mixing and loan adaptation will be studied based on the morphological, syntactical, phonological, and lexical analysis.

The results achieved by the researcher aim at showing the status of Roman Turkish Cypriot Gurbetcha and the evaluation of the linguistic on both sociological and structural continuum that takes place between Roman and Cypriot Turkish.

Reference List

Bakker, P. & Matras, Y. 2003, Bibliography of Modern Romani Linguistics: Including a Guide to Romani Linguistics. John Benjamins Publishing Company, Philadelphia, PA.

Constantinou, C. M. 2007, Aporias of Identity: Bicommunalism, Hybridity and the Cyprus Problem, Cooperation and Conflict, no. 42, pp. 247-270.

Council of Europe: Committee of Ministers 2009 European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. Application of the Charter in Cyprus. Web.

Kenrick, D., & Taylor, G. 1986, Gypsies in Cyprus. Web.

Matras, Y. 2002 Romani: A Linguistic Introduction, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.

Matras, Y. 2009, Romani Project, Manchester, England. Web.

Matras, Y. 2005, The classification of Romani dialects: A geographical-historical perspective, in General and Applied Romani Linguistics, eds. B Schrammel & Halwachs, DW, Lincom Europa, Munich. pp. 7-26.

Matras, Y. 2005, The status of Romani in Europe, Report. Council of Europes Language Policy Division. Web.

Matras, Y. 2004, The future of Romani: Toward a policy of linguistic pluralism. Web.

Perry, F. L. 2005, Research in Applied Linguistics: Becoming A Discerning Consumer, Routledge, London.

Phillips, D. J. 2001, Peoples on the Move: Introducing the Nomads of the World. William Carey Library, Carlisle.

Thomas, R. M. 2003, Blending Qualitative & Quantitative Research Methods in Thesis and Dissertations. Corwin Press, London.

Trimikliniotis, N., & Demetriou, C. 2009, The Cypriot Roma and the Failure of Education: Anti-Discrimination and Multiculturalism as a Post-accession Challenge in The Minorities of Cyprus: Development Patterns and the Identity of the Internal-Exclusion, eds N Coureas & C Demetriou, Cambridge Scholars Publishing, Cambridge.

Varnava, A., Coureas, N., & Elia, M. 2009, The Minorities of Cyprus: Development Patterns and the Identity of the Internal-Exclusion. Cambridge Scholars, Cambridge.

Wengraf, T. 2001, Qualitative Research Interviewing: Biographic Narrative and Semi Structured Methods. SAGE, London.

Introduction

Baby language is quite hard to understand, as babies often speak words that may sound related to what adults speak, but different in pronunciation. Therefore, it is important to listen to babies carefully to grasp what they intend to say. In my study of baby dialect, I chose to observe Fahad, a three-year-old Arabic baby from Saudi Arabia. He lives with his mother, a stay at home wife aged 30 years, and his father, a 35-year-old teacher who teaches sign language to the deaf. Baby Fahad also has two younger sisters aged two years and seven months old. Fahad is a very active boy, which enables him to grasp a lot in terms of speech, and do so quickly. The analysis of this paper discusses Fahads grasp of Arabic dialect due to the influence of the Arabic language speakers around him. The paper also analyzes the conditions favoring his fast learning and the challenges he may encounter.

Development of the dialect

The babys parents both speak Arabic as their first language, which leaves him with only one language to learn. Hence, he has to pick up Arabic dialect. The boy continues to learn the Arabic language from his mother, who is always home with him. Fahad also picks up some words from the father when the dad returns from work. However, he cannot learn much adult Arabic from the younger sisters because they are still too young to have proper knowledge of the language. The result is that the Fahads dialect is affected by his younger sisters simple and toddler vocabulary, which slows down his learning of the Arabic language. Therefore, the environment favors his learning because his mother is always around to teach him. The baby also learns by imitation and picks up words from conversations between his parents. Since his father is a sign language teacher, he might not be much of an oral communicator, which affects the three-year-olds acquisition of vocabulary.

Data

Analysis

7. K=T

8. SR=A

11. SH=S 12. LA=WA 13. KH=H

Assimilation

12. WA=LA

Shortening of words

2. LEVES=Z (TELEVESYON TO TEZYON)

5. KATSHAB TO SHBB

Omissions

4. KA from KAKAW

6. L from LAMBH

9. I from IPAD

14. TH from THALAJA

Conclusion

I came up with the conclusion that Fahad picked up the Arabic dialect as most of his words relate closely to the Arabic adult speech. Fahads surroundings and relations influenced his choice of dialect. The mother, father and the environment around him are Arabic, and their environment is dominated by Arab locals. Hence, Fahads dialect is heavily affected by the Arabic language. The babys mother played a big role in his choice of dialect as she is always in the house. The baby tries to say whatever the mother says as he feels she is always right. Therefore, it is important that the mother speaks proper Arabic for Fahad to pick up the right words. According to Fahad, his mother is always right. Therefore, what she speaks must always be right. The case shows that babies learn by imitation.

I observed that this baby could not pronounce some syllables like sh and sr correctly. He also showed difficulty in pronouncing l in some instances. There are syllables that seemed easier for the baby to pronounce. Therefore, he replaced the hard ones with the easy ones. An example is his replacement of k with t. The baby does not struggle to pronounce the hard words because he would rather use what is easier for him to pronounce. Other words were quite long for the baby to pronounce. Therefore, Fahad used short-form of the words. An example is the shortening of televesyon to tezyon. The baby also completely omits some syllables or letters from words. Examples include his omission of l in lambh, ka in kakaw and katshab. th in thalaja and i in iPad.

The main challenge in Fahads learning of the adult vocabulary is the presence of his younger siblings. Fahad tends to use baby talk with them as because he loves to play with them. However, this prevents him from improving his dialect quickly because they are also in the process of learning. The boys younger sisters are not in a position to correct him or improve his dialect because they use baby talk. Since the younger siblings are always around him, it is hard for him to improve his dialect at the required pace. The boy may end up using baby talk longer than expected.

Another reason Fahad uses baby talk a lot is that his parents are not strict. The parents neither pay close attention to correct his mistakes nor do they try to teach him how to pronounce some words. The mother and father leave it up to him to pick words from their conversations. Sometimes they speak to him in his childish dialect while playing with him. I would recommend that the parents take him to school because Fahad has attained an age where he can start attending a daycare or kindergarten. He can improve his vocabulary and speech because the teachers correct the mistakes, making it easier for him to learn. There are also kids of similar age, making the surrounding free of baby talk. The lessons at the daycare will make it faster for Fahad to learn the Arabic language properly and do away with baby talk. Therefore, the daycare will greatly improve his dialect.

I would also recommend that Fahads parents get stricter in correcting his speech. Whenever he makes a mistake in his pronunciation, his parents should put more effort to teach him the correct pronunciation. The parents should make him repeat the words that trouble him often until he can pronounce it clearly because repetition is also a way of learning. The parents should also refrain from using baby language while playing with him and his siblings. Fahads dialect is bound to improve if all the recommended measures are implemented.

Problem statement

According to European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages (2009) and the report on its application in Cyprus, the Committee of Experts officially states that Roma in Cyprus referred to their language as Kurbetcha (p 5).

However, the Committee of Experts has proved to be unable to get any information concerning the use of Gurbetcha, the report states that they failed to find reliable information on whether Romani speak Gurbetcha or some other language that is far from Turkish Cypriot dialect or Greek Cypriot dialect and they stated the necessity of further information in the next report (Council of Europe 2009 p 5).

The current absence of available information on Gurbetcha and its possible variations arouses the necessity to investigate this sphere thoroughly. It is necessary to state that the people call themselves Gurbet and, consequently, their language is called Gurbetcha, however, the majority speaks Turkish Cypriot dialect (Phillips 2001, p 254).

Varnava et al. (2009) also mention the research by Williams who states that an advanced stage of assimilation to the Turkish Cypriot dialect with an almost complete loss of Gurbetcha in the younger generations of Roma occurred there (p 331). However, Constantinou (2007) states that Gurbetcha is now spoken by some Gypsies (p 264): the vast majority of grown-ups and some children continue speaking this dialect and understand the meaning of the words told in Gurbetcha.

The aim of this project is to identify the roots of the dialect Gurbetcha and compare it to the other Cypriot dialects and varieties and Cypriot Turkish dialects in particular. One of the most important purposes of the project under consideration is the clarification the Gurbetcha dialect as a Turkish Cypriot dialect with a number of Romani loan adaptations that are used by contact phenomenon or as a Romani dialect that is characterized by a number of Turkish loan adaptations.

The influence of Romani loanwords is evident for many Turkish Cypriot dialects, and Gurbetcha is considered one of those that undergo some changes. After the above-mentioned purposes are achieved, the time to evaluate the similarities and differences of the dialect from syntax, morphological, phonological, or semantic point of view comes.

Working hypothesis

The working hypothesis for the present research sounds like this: though Gypsies speak Turkish Cypriot Dialect, they also admit that their mother language is Gurbetcha. This is why it is possible to define Gurbetcha as Turkish Cypriot Dialect that is characterized by a number of Romani loan adaptations and has been formed as the result of the language mixing process. And this study is one of the first attempts to analyze the language as a significant variety of Cypriot Roma.

Background of the problem

Solid research pertaining to Romani has been conducted by British researchers Matras and Bakker. Matras (2009) presents his Romani Project that offers exhaustive information on the history of the Romani language, classification of Romani dialects, historical data from the sphere of linguistics, and the structure of Romani.

Matras (2005) has studied the status of Romani in Europe and offers his considerations as per the future of Romani, stressing the idea of linguistic pluralism in the use of Romani (Matras 2004, p 1). A guide to Romani linguistics composed by Bakker and Matras (2003) suggests that there has appeared and intensified great interest of the scholars in the language of Roma.

The scholars, who have presented their accounts of the linguistic research pertaining to Romani, emphasize their use of geographical and historical analysis as the main methods of investigation mainly in relation to dialect classification composition (Matras 2002; Trimikliniotis and Demetriou 2009).

As for the previous research and the results achieved, it may be stated that the results are focused basically on language pluralism in the use of Romani that fits the specific situation of a trans-national minority with dispersed, regional centers of cultural and public life (Matras 2004, p 1).

The essence of the present research is conditioned by several factors. First, it is the complete absence of linguistic research on Gurbetcha and Turkish Cypriot Dialect spoken by Cypriot Gypsies. Second, it is the threatening situation of Gurbechas dying out, since their number of Gypsies living in Cyprus is low (Kenrick and Taylor 1986).

If no research is conducted while there are accessible Gurbetcha-speakers, the opportunity to study the dialect can be lost in several years forever shifting the necessity to study its morphological, grammar, and other peculiarities. Besides, along with historical necessity to document the linguistic processes of Cypriot Gypsies dialect, there may be certain importance of the findings for the studied of other dialects of Gypsies living in other countries.

Research design

At the beginning of the research, it is necessary to find out the peculiarities of the chosen community and the manner of speaking preferred. The evaluation of these peoples origins and the origins of their language is a good way to start with.

The theme under consideration requires qualitative research that has several peculiarities to be mentioned. First, the idea to use questionnaires was chosen. However, taking into consideration the fact that the chosen community cannot actually read and write, another idea was chosen: interviews.

This technique is regarded as a combination of observation under highly structured conditions and paper-and-pencil data recording will be used (Perry 2005, p 119). The choice of the interview as the main investigative technique also has a number of powerful grounds like the possibility to change the conditions of the process and make an interviewer be able to comprehend the essence of questions (Perry 2005; Thomas 2003).

As for ethical considerations and human subject protection, the interview will be composed of cultural and linguistic peculiarities of the population of the research (Wengraf 2001, p. 65). The community under discussion is eager to save their anonymity with respect to their traditions, interests, and beliefs.

As for the data, that is needed for the research; this will be the written results of my observations. With the help of thorough and constant observations, it is possible to find out a lot of information on the communitys lifestyle, interests, beliefs, and traditions. In addition to the recordings of interviews and their transcripts that will enable us to identify and analyze morphological, syntactical, phonological peculiarities of the analyzed dialects.

Expected results

The data gathered using interviews will be analyzed from a purely linguistic perspective. First, the analysis of the dialect identified and the language chosen will be made to define whether words and their structure are closer to a Romani dialect or these words have several features for a Turkish dialect. Such analysis should help to define the peculiarities of the dialect and clear up what the Gurbetcha peculiarities are.

The processes of language mixing and loan adaptation will be studied based on the morphological, syntactical, phonological, and lexical analysis.

The results achieved by the researcher aim at showing the status of Roman Turkish Cypriot Gurbetcha and the evaluation of the linguistic on both sociological and structural continuum that takes place between Roman and Cypriot Turkish.

Reference List

Bakker, P. & Matras, Y. 2003, Bibliography of Modern Romani Linguistics: Including a Guide to Romani Linguistics. John Benjamins Publishing Company, Philadelphia, PA.

Constantinou, C. M. 2007, Aporias of Identity: Bicommunalism, Hybridity and the Cyprus Problem, Cooperation and Conflict, no. 42, pp. 247-270.

Council of Europe: Committee of Ministers 2009 European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. Application of the Charter in Cyprus. Web.

Kenrick, D., & Taylor, G. 1986, Gypsies in Cyprus. Web.

Matras, Y. 2002 Romani: A Linguistic Introduction, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.

Matras, Y. 2009, Romani Project, Manchester, England. Web.

Matras, Y. 2005, The classification of Romani dialects: A geographical-historical perspective, in General and Applied Romani Linguistics, eds. B Schrammel & Halwachs, DW, Lincom Europa, Munich. pp. 7-26.

Matras, Y. 2005, The status of Romani in Europe, Report. Council of Europes Language Policy Division. Web.

Matras, Y. 2004, The future of Romani: Toward a policy of linguistic pluralism. Web.

Perry, F. L. 2005, Research in Applied Linguistics: Becoming A Discerning Consumer, Routledge, London.

Phillips, D. J. 2001, Peoples on the Move: Introducing the Nomads of the World. William Carey Library, Carlisle.

Thomas, R. M. 2003, Blending Qualitative & Quantitative Research Methods in Thesis and Dissertations. Corwin Press, London.

Trimikliniotis, N., & Demetriou, C. 2009, The Cypriot Roma and the Failure of Education: Anti-Discrimination and Multiculturalism as a Post-accession Challenge in The Minorities of Cyprus: Development Patterns and the Identity of the Internal-Exclusion, eds N Coureas & C Demetriou, Cambridge Scholars Publishing, Cambridge.

Varnava, A., Coureas, N., & Elia, M. 2009, The Minorities of Cyprus: Development Patterns and the Identity of the Internal-Exclusion. Cambridge Scholars, Cambridge.

Wengraf, T. 2001, Qualitative Research Interviewing: Biographic Narrative and Semi Structured Methods. SAGE, London.

Introduction

Baby language is quite hard to understand, as babies often speak words that may sound related to what adults speak, but different in pronunciation. Therefore, it is important to listen to babies carefully to grasp what they intend to say. In my study of baby dialect, I chose to observe Fahad, a three-year-old Arabic baby from Saudi Arabia. He lives with his mother, a stay at home wife aged 30 years, and his father, a 35-year-old teacher who teaches sign language to the deaf. Baby Fahad also has two younger sisters aged two years and seven months old. Fahad is a very active boy, which enables him to grasp a lot in terms of speech, and do so quickly. The analysis of this paper discusses Fahads grasp of Arabic dialect due to the influence of the Arabic language speakers around him. The paper also analyzes the conditions favoring his fast learning and the challenges he may encounter.

Development of the dialect

The babys parents both speak Arabic as their first language, which leaves him with only one language to learn. Hence, he has to pick up Arabic dialect. The boy continues to learn the Arabic language from his mother, who is always home with him. Fahad also picks up some words from the father when the dad returns from work. However, he cannot learn much adult Arabic from the younger sisters because they are still too young to have proper knowledge of the language. The result is that the Fahads dialect is affected by his younger sisters simple and toddler vocabulary, which slows down his learning of the Arabic language. Therefore, the environment favors his learning because his mother is always around to teach him. The baby also learns by imitation and picks up words from conversations between his parents. Since his father is a sign language teacher, he might not be much of an oral communicator, which affects the three-year-olds acquisition of vocabulary.

Data

Analysis

7. K=T

8. SR=A

11. SH=S 12. LA=WA 13. KH=H

Assimilation

12. WA=LA

Shortening of words

2. LEVES=Z (TELEVESYON TO TEZYON)

5. KATSHAB TO SHBB

Omissions

4. KA from KAKAW

6. L from LAMBH

9. I from IPAD

14. TH from THALAJA

Conclusion

I came up with the conclusion that Fahad picked up the Arabic dialect as most of his words relate closely to the Arabic adult speech. Fahads surroundings and relations influenced his choice of dialect. The mother, father and the environment around him are Arabic, and their environment is dominated by Arab locals. Hence, Fahads dialect is heavily affected by the Arabic language. The babys mother played a big role in his choice of dialect as she is always in the house. The baby tries to say whatever the mother says as he feels she is always right. Therefore, it is important that the mother speaks proper Arabic for Fahad to pick up the right words. According to Fahad, his mother is always right. Therefore, what she speaks must always be right. The case shows that babies learn by imitation.

I observed that this baby could not pronounce some syllables like sh and sr correctly. He also showed difficulty in pronouncing l in some instances. There are syllables that seemed easier for the baby to pronounce. Therefore, he replaced the hard ones with the easy ones. An example is his replacement of k with t. The baby does not struggle to pronounce the hard words because he would rather use what is easier for him to pronounce. Other words were quite long for the baby to pronounce. Therefore, Fahad used short-form of the words. An example is the shortening of televesyon to tezyon. The baby also completely omits some syllables or letters from words. Examples include his omission of l in lambh, ka in kakaw and katshab. th in thalaja and i in iPad.

The main challenge in Fahads learning of the adult vocabulary is the presence of his younger siblings. Fahad tends to use baby talk with them as because he loves to play with them. However, this prevents him from improving his dialect quickly because they are also in the process of learning. The boys younger sisters are not in a position to correct him or improve his dialect because they use baby talk. Since the younger siblings are always around him, it is hard for him to improve his dialect at the required pace. The boy may end up using baby talk longer than expected.

Another reason Fahad uses baby talk a lot is that his parents are not strict. The parents neither pay close attention to correct his mistakes nor do they try to teach him how to pronounce some words. The mother and father leave it up to him to pick words from their conversations. Sometimes they speak to him in his childish dialect while playing with him. I would recommend that the parents take him to school because Fahad has attained an age where he can start attending a daycare or kindergarten. He can improve his vocabulary and speech because the teachers correct the mistakes, making it easier for him to learn. There are also kids of similar age, making the surrounding free of baby talk. The lessons at the daycare will make it faster for Fahad to learn the Arabic language properly and do away with baby talk. Therefore, the daycare will greatly improve his dialect.

I would also recommend that Fahads parents get stricter in correcting his speech. Whenever he makes a mistake in his pronunciation, his parents should put more effort to teach him the correct pronunciation. The parents should make him repeat the words that trouble him often until he can pronounce it clearly because repetition is also a way of learning. The parents should also refrain from using baby language while playing with him and his siblings. Fahads dialect is bound to improve if all the recommended measures are implemented.

Language is something that has already existed a long time ago because it is a way or method that is used for people to communicate with others whether it is spoken or written. Every person in this world uses language differently affected by many factors such as social class that is one of the factors that affect how people use language because of the purpose and the status that they have. People’s social class is also affected by other factors such as financial and educational factors. Now I’m going to do research for the relation between social classes and language and see the effect of social class on how people use language. The researcher aims to find out the difference in language use among people in different social classes. Research shows that there is a difference in the language use among people belonging to different social classes.

To begin with, dialect is a language from specific regions or social groups that have its own rules in grammar, vocabulary, and accent. So, a non-standard dialect is a type of dialect that doesn’t follow the rules in the dialect itself and doesn’t have the standards that are needed for the correct dialect rules. People in the low social class refers to people who have a low education background,low in financial income, and sometimes homeless. They usually don’t go to school because of their financial issues. According to the UNESCO, there are 264 million students that don’t go to school affected by their financial issues and this shows that people in the low social class will find it very difficult to go to school. Their children will also copy them with their non-standard dialects that they have been using to communicate to their children which makes them unable to learn the correct rules in their language dialects. That’s why people that belong to low social class often speak/use non-standard dialects. The International Linguistic Community Online said that children will use dialects from people around them and that proves that children that come from low social class will copy dialects from people around them such as their parents. Those are the causes which make the cycle of people in the low social class using a non-standard dialect continues.

Furthermore, the upper class people which usually belong to a royal/wealthy family are more likely well educated because of their large amount of financial income and all the facilities they have. Standard dialect is the opposite of non-standard dialect that means it is a type of a language dialect that follows all the standards and has more formality. According to Oxfam International, rich children are 7 times more likely to finish secondary school than a child that comes from a poor family. This shows that a child from a rich family is more likely to be well educated than children who comes from a poor family. Wikipedia also said that children coming from the royal British family use a private tutor to educate them in each lesson and there are a lot of lessons they will learn. Those statements show that people coming from the rich/royal family are more likely to be a well educated person and for that they will know how to speak a good standard language dialect to people around them.

In addition, people coming from the middle class are more likely to speak standard dialect and learn how to use standard dialect than non-standard dialect because of their wish to be in the upper class. The middle class people’s financial background is usually stabil and they have a standard amount of financial income. So, a lot of people in the middle class are able to go to school and learn how to use a standard language dialect. But they have some difficulties in going to the best education institution because of the expensive price. Brokings said that people coming from the middle class are less selective in institutions and colleges and Slideshare also said that people coming from the middle class often use standard dialect because they are hoping/wishing to be in the upper class. Those statements show that people coming from the middle class are more likely to use standard dialect than non-standard dialect because they want to upgrade themselves to be in the upper class.

The role of African American literature in recent years has been to illuminate for the modern world the sophistication and beauty inherent in the culture and dialect these people developed for themselves in the American South. When writers such as Zora Neale Hurston and Langston Hughes insisted upon retaining the dialect of the characters in their stories and poems, they managed to convey to a future world the great depth of feeling and meaning their particular culture retained within their natural speech as well as the complexity of thought this required. While they were criticized for this particular writing style at the time (Minnick 2004), their insistence on preserving the language and beat of the speech on the street has provided modern scholars with the opportunity to understand more of the complexity of communication illustrated through their natural flow and use of sophisticated literary devices. Without this attempt at preservation, much of the richness of this community might have been lost or forgotten (Wolfram 2000). Through such abstract literary tools as metynomy, writers like Hurston managed to illustrate that the black culture retained an intuitive understanding of the use of poetic language to convey oceans of shadowy meaning to the active audience, but this representation could only be captured within their natural language. Hughes, working during a much later time period when black people were still struggling for basic rights, also put this literary device to use in his poetry. Although the black southern dialect is taken as an indication of an uneducated and nearly mindless people, African American literature written in dialect such as that of Zora Neale Hurston and Langston Hughes capture the depth, sophistication and beauty inherent in this culture that might have gone unrecognized.

It has been widely recognized that Zora Neale Hurston is a master storyteller with a fine command of language and the linguistic tools commonly available to authors (Heard 2007). This is particularly evident in her novel Their Eyes Were Watching God, published in 1937. The book was published at a time in which black people in America were no longer slaves and many of the young people, including Hurston herself, had no memory of being a slave. However, the laws in America made living conditions for black people not much better than slavery, especially in the southern regions. They were struggling to gain recognition within the greater community as fully intelligent and equally capable human beings, so a book of Hurston’s style, in which the black dialect has been preserved, created a great deal of controversy. Hurston carefully preserved the dialect of the south through a phonetic spelling of much of the actual conversation that could be heard among people sitting and talking on the porch steps in any small town in the south. However, careful study of her text reveals that Hurston’s use of this diction does not indicate a lower form of communication used by her characters. Instead, her inclusion of sophisticated literary tools, particularly her inventive use of metonymy, demonstrates a different but equally or perhaps more expressive form of communication within this community of people.

Metonymy is a literary tool that is very similar, yet still different from, metaphor. Metaphors are identified as a suggested comparison between two things, wherein one thing can be replaced with another thing in an almost identical relationship. An example of this would be would be the way Janie saw her life at the beginning of Chapter 2: “Janie saw her life like a great tree in leaf with the things suffered, things enjoyed, things done and undone. Dawn and doom was in the branches” (Hurston 8). One can make a relation between the tree being described here and the tree of life, each growing and branching, the first providing a material image for the metaphysical concept of the second. This metaphor is extended throughout the book as a means of describing each stage of life and existence experienced by the characters. Metonymy, on the other hand, suggests a relationship between the object and a portion of it as well as deeper connections between the object and the whole. In other words, the expression of one aspect of an idea is used to represent the whole, requiring cognitive input into the idea in order to understand the idea being presented. For a more concrete example, when the same pear tree described in chapter two emerges slightly later in the book, it is given a metonymical reference: “The vision of Logan Killicks was desecrating the pear tree, but Janie didn’t know how to tell Nanny that” (Hurston 14). The pear tree is Janie and what happens to the pear tree happens to Janie. The active audience knows this because of the earlier reference, but must also understand that desecration of the tree would take a much different form from what Logan Killicks might be doing to the ‘tree’ that is Janie. The connection is both material and metaphysical, the same and different, existing on several planes at once.

This type of metonym referenced in the above example is typically referred to as a nonconventional metonym because it bases its understanding upon knowledge of the context in which it is used. In the example above, this relationship depends upon the reader’s knowledge and full understanding of the use of the pear tree as a metaphor for the young girl’s life introduced in chapter two (Deignan, 2005). The complexity of the metonym is introduced in the concept that one must also be aware of the various elements that are important characteristics of the tree at this particular time in its development and how that relates back to the girl. At the same time, the poetry of the metonym sings to the spirit and captures a deep sense of the essence of being in a way that simple symbolism doesn’t seem to do. The puzzle of its paradoxes strike to the core of the human soul as it is considered how the comparison is the same and different and the various forms these differences might take even as the body seems to feel the blows of axes at the support columns within. The metonyms to be examined in the remainder of this discussion are more conventional than this example in that they use specific words to stand for the group of individuals or elements that are involved. This makes them easier to use for the purposes of this discussion..

The porch is a metonymical device in that it is used frequently to refer not just to the physical location of the porch, but also to refer to all the individuals who gather upon the porch who, collectively, represent the entire community and the power they represent together. Thus, the porch becomes a metonym for the entire black community. This concept is first given shape in the opening scene of the novel:

The people all saw her come because it was sundown … It was the time for sitting on porches beside the road. It was the time to hear things and talk. These sitters had been tongueless, earless, eyeless conveniences all day long. Mules and other brutes had occupied their skins. But now, the sun and the bossman were gone, so the skins felt powerful and human … They passed nations through their mouths. They sat in judgment” (Hurston 1).

In this excerpt, it is shown how ‘the people’, a term used even within the Declaration of the United States as a metonym for the entire race of man living within a specified region – i.e. the community, could be found on the porches, passing “nations through their mouths” as a metonym for the myths and values that make up the building blocks of community. With the porch taking on this metonymic identity, it now becomes easy for Hurston to refer to the interactions or relationship of Janie to her community through her access to the porch. To participate in the community, Jody “wanders out to the porch of the general store whenever he wants to enjoy the perpetual storytelling which takes place there … As Janie tells a friend years later, Jody ‘classed me off.’ He does so by silencing her” (Caplan, 2000). The concept that she is unable to communicate on the porch connects with the concept that she is simply unable to communicate, she is silent. The concept that her marriage to Teacake might have a happier outcome than that found in either of her first two marriages is hinted at in the fact that she met him on the porch as a full-fledged, independent member of the community who can enter or leave the porch as she sees fit and under her own inclination. Teacake, unlike Jody, cannot silence her even should that be his inclination.

The above excerpt also introduces the concept of the mule, which is the metonymic identification of all those individuals forced to work at menial tasks or constrained in their actions in some other way. Although this is most strongly related to the position of the black woman, it is also frequently used to refer to black men as well. “Mules and other brutes had occupied their skins. But now, the sun and the bossman were gone, so the skins felt powerful and human” (Hurston 1). In this statement, Hurston presents the concept in terms of a literal replacement of some entity other than the individual within the skin during the working day, only to be taken back by their proper owners at night when they had the freedom to be themselves. Whenever the mule is mentioned, Hurston is referring to this concept of a bestial or mindless existence, completely under the control of another: “De nigger woman is de mule uh de world so fur as Ah can see. Ah been prayin’ fuh it tuh be different wid you” (Hurston 14). While Janie’s grandmother seems to want change in the world, she nevertheless sticks to traditions when she forces Janie to marry Logan Killicks.

Janie herself is quickly equated to the status of the mule, thus becoming a full-fledged member of the black community, as she becomes a blushing bride. The entire marriage sequence is placed in terms of a bargaining much like that undertaken in the trading of a mule. That this is a prevalent element of the culture is found as the life Janie lives with Jody becomes similarly constrained, referred to in terms of Janie’s behaving as his mule despite the fact that she is not engaged in hard labor in the fields. Ironically, when she does begin working at tasks that might equate her physically with the tasks for which a mule might be employed, Janie is seen in her most independent context. “To all appearances as Janie works beside her husband in the fields, she would seem to be the ‘mule of the world’ that her grandmother decried. The difference is that Janie works in the fields not because she has to, but because she and Tea Cake prefer to be together as much as possible” (Shields, 1997). With this distinction, the play with the word ‘mule’ becomes more evident just as the meaning that has been attached to it becomes deeper, questioning just where the mulish identity originates. This emerges again as a subtle stab at her fellow black people by the author as she asks whether the concept of the mule is fully a matter of the impressions of the white man imposing it upon the black or if the concept of the black man contributes to their adoption of a cultural attitude they learned from their forebears, who truly had no choice?

While ‘Tea Cake’ is used as a name to describe the man that Janie eventually falls in love with, the name itself is a descriptive replacing the man’s given name and continues to refer to all those attributes that the tea cake represents. “This tiny wafer tastes like fond memories and sweet dreams, and as such is a watermark on the page of Southern literature … Zora’s seductive name for Jamie’s lover is layered in cultural meaning” (Hood 78-79). Using the sweet treat as a name imbues this character with the metonymical concepts of affluent hospitality, general good will and the ultimate product of the hard labor of the south. Sugar was produced by a long process that typically entailed the labor of the black man. “It was produced by the sweat of those living close to the earth. The process for making syrup from sugar cane demanded planting, harvesting, hauling, cooking, squeezing, condensing and saving the sugar cane’s essence” (Hood 79). Therefore, the metynomy of this character illustrates that life with Tea Cake could not be completely blissful, but was marked with occasional troubles and strong disagreements and depends upon the audience’s understanding of the various connections this character’s name has with sweetness, culture and toil.

This element of his character, and the primary ingredient inherent in his name, is brought out in the various ways in which Tea Cake was not a perfect man. It is considered particularly dreadful that he steals Janie’s money a week after they are married and gambles it, then spends most of his winnings on a party she isn’t even invited to attend. As they work in the cane fields by day, Janie fights with Tea Cake over his improper behavior with Nunkie, but they make up in each others’ arms in full understanding: “The next morning Janie asked like a woman, ‘You still love ole Nunkie?’ ‘Naw, never did, and you know it too. Ah didn’t want her.’ ‘Yeah, you did.’ She didn’t say this because she believed it. She wanted to hear his denial. She had to crow over the fallen Nunkie” (Hurston 138). Demonstrating his own understanding, Tea Cake complies. As the tea cake is a treat typically served to company and therefore indicating a social visit, it is also significant that it is while she is with Tea Cake that Janie finally finds acceptance within the community. Her house becomes one of the primary gathering places in the community despite the fact that she lives down on the muck, but she returns to near isolation following Tea Cake’s death.

By referring to Janie’s true love as Tea Cake, Hurston provides her story with metonymic meaning that moves beyond the text of the story. She pulls in ideas that relate to both her black audience as well as her white audience using concepts and ideas that both can relate to and in such context as to illuminate those aspects of the idea that might not be immediately obvious. At the same time, other metonymic concepts, such as the idea of the term ‘porch’ rather than community and ‘mule’ rather than mindless work begin to explore the meanings of Hurston’s story to similar depth. The porch becomes a physical space in which Janie is allowed or disallowed to act, inclined or disinclined to participate and on which it is illustrated how her current status in the general society should be understood. The mule indicates the hard work of the people, but also the mind-set in which they undertake their work, whether they feel they are working on their own volition, to their own specifications or whether they feel they are constrained within unseen trappings set by others. Who those others might be is also called into question through the use of this term, indicating that it may be the black man himself enforcing such controls.

Langston Hughes takes the concept of speech from the allusion to ‘common speech’ one step further and preserves the vernacular of the people themselves in his poem “Mother to Son.” In this poem, Hughes also employs the concept of the metonym to depict a mother as she explains to her son that her own path through life “ain’t been no crystal stair” (2). The path has been scattered with numerous hazards that one would immediately recognize as dangerous within this context, including “splinters, / And boards torn up, / And places with no carpet on the floor” (4-6). Even the concept of the crystal stair itself has the potential for being sharp, frightening and dangerous. These references force one to think of sharp pains, sudden instability and lean times and all of the hardships that accompany such conditions. Yet still the older woman continued to climb, “And reachin’ landin’s, / And turnin’ corners, / And sometimes goin’ in the dark” (10-12). It isn’t until roughly the last quarter of the poem that it becomes clear that this is a mother trying to encourage her son to continue to struggle for something better: “So, boy, don’t you turn back. Don’t you set down on the steps, / ‘Cause you finds it’s kinder hard” (14-16). Although she knows the climb he’s making is not easy, she is telling him that she is able to understand because she has had to follow a difficult path as well. As she illustrates to him the various hardships she’s had to endure as she climbed the stairway of life, she is also letting him know that at the least, he is starting from a higher point than the place where she started. “For I’se still goin’, honey, / I’se still climbin’, / And life for me ain’t been no crystal stair” (18-20). In making her final assertion, the crystal metonym is capable of conveying again its paradoxical nature – both sharp and piercing and beautiful and comforting all at the same time.

Through the use of these metonymic meanings, both Hughes and Hurston are able to convey the great depth of human understanding that was a natural part of their culture and heritage through the preservation of the rich language of their people. Hurston demonstrates through example how the black diction of the South is far from the ignorant, uninformed and nearly bestial bleating of a lesser spirit. By using the natural dialect of her people, Hurston is able to capture the ways in which they imbued their language with all of the depth and nuance language has to offer. Langston Hughes demonstrates how these types of deep and multi-meaningful connections can be made within the very short context of a poem. That this brilliance has only recently come to the attention of the modern world is, perhaps, a crime. Yet, had Hurston and Hughes opted not to retain the dialect of their characters, this element of their society may have escaped the modern world’s notice, forever burying the spirit and depth of their culture beneath the stilted and limited language of the white European conventions.

Works Cited

Deignan, Alice. “A Corpus Linguistic Perspective on the Relationship between Metonymy and Metaphor.” Style. Vol. 39, I. 1, (2005).

Heard, Matthew. “Dancing is dancing no matter who is doing it: Zora Neale Hurston, Literacy and Contemporary Writing Pedagogy.” College Literature. (2007).

Hood, Judy. “Born with a Skillet in her Hands.” Southern Quarterly. Vol. 44, I. 2, (2007).

Hughes, Langston. The Collected Poems of Langston Hughes. Vintage Classics, 1995.

Hurston, Zora Neale. Their Eyes Were Watching God. New York: Harper Perennial Modern Classics, (1937, 2006).

Kaplan, Deborah. “Zora Neale Hurston.” Critical Survey of Long Fiction. (2^nd Ed.). Salem Press, 2000.

Minnick, Lisa Cohen. Dialect and Dichotomy: Literary Representations of African American Speech. Tuscaloosa: University of Alabama Press, 2004.

Shields, Agnes A. “Their Eyes Were Watching God: An Analysis.” Masterplots II: Juvenile and Young Adult Literature Series. Supplement. Salem Press, 1997.

Wolfram, Walt. “Dialect in Danger.” American Language Review. Vol. 4, N. 6, (2000).

Problem statement

According to European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages (2009) and the report on its application in Cyprus, the Committee of Experts officially states that “Roma in Cyprus referred to their language as Kurbetcha” (p 5).

However, the Committee of Experts has proved to be unable to get any information concerning the use of Gurbetcha, the report states that they failed to find reliable information on whether Romani speak Gurbetcha or some other language that is far from Turkish Cypriot dialect or Greek Cypriot dialect and they stated the necessity of further information in the next report (Council of Europe 2009 p 5).

The current absence of available information on “Gurbetcha” and its possible variations arouses the necessity to investigate this sphere thoroughly. It is necessary to state that the people call themselves Gurbet and, consequently, their language is called “Gurbetcha”, however, the majority speaks Turkish Cypriot dialect (Phillips 2001, p 254).

Varnava et al. (2009) also mention the research by Williams who states that “an advanced stage of assimilation to the Turkish Cypriot dialect with an almost complete loss of Gurbetcha in the younger generations of Roma” occurred there (p 331). However, Constantinou (2007) states that” Gurbetcha” is now spoken by some Gypsies (p 264): the vast majority of grown-ups and some children continue speaking this dialect and understand the meaning of the words told in Gurbetcha.

The aim of this project is to identify the roots of the dialect Gurbetcha and compare it to the other Cypriot dialects and varieties and Cypriot Turkish dialects in particular. One of the most important purposes of the project under consideration is the clarification the “Gurbetcha” dialect as a Turkish Cypriot dialect with a number of Romani loan adaptations that are used by contact phenomenon or as a Romani dialect that is characterized by a number of Turkish loan adaptations.

The influence of Romani loanwords is evident for many Turkish Cypriot dialects, and Gurbetcha is considered one of those that undergo some changes. After the above-mentioned purposes are achieved, the time to evaluate the similarities and differences of the dialect from syntax, morphological, phonological, or semantic point of view comes.

Working hypothesis

The working hypothesis for the present research sounds like this: though Gypsies speak Turkish Cypriot Dialect, they also admit that their mother language is Gurbetcha. This is why it is possible to define Gurbetcha as Turkish Cypriot Dialect that is characterized by a number of Romani loan adaptations and has been formed as the result of the language mixing process. And this study is one of the first attempts to analyze the language as a significant variety of Cypriot Roma.

Background of the problem

Solid research pertaining to Romani has been conducted by British researchers Matras and Bakker. Matras (2009) presents his Romani Project that offers exhaustive information on the history of the Romani language, classification of Romani dialects, historical data from the sphere of linguistics, and the structure of Romani.

Matras (2005) has studied the status of Romani in Europe and offers his considerations as per the future of Romani, stressing the idea of “linguistic pluralism in the use of Romani” (Matras 2004, p 1). A guide to Romani linguistics composed by Bakker and Matras (2003) suggests that there has appeared and intensified great interest of the scholars in the language of Roma.

The scholars, who have presented their accounts of the linguistic research pertaining to Romani, emphasize their use of geographical and historical analysis as the main methods of investigation mainly in relation to dialect classification composition (Matras 2002; Trimikliniotis and Demetriou 2009).

As for the previous research and the results achieved, it may be stated that the results are focused basically on “language pluralism in the use of Romani” that “fits the specific situation of a trans-national minority with dispersed, regional centers of cultural and public life” (Matras 2004, p 1).

The essence of the present research is conditioned by several factors. First, it is the complete absence of linguistic research on Gurbetcha and Turkish Cypriot Dialect spoken by Cypriot Gypsies. Second, it is the threatening situation of Gurbecha’s dying out, since their number of Gypsies living in Cyprus is low (Kenrick and Taylor 1986).

If no research is conducted while there are accessible Gurbetcha-speakers, the opportunity to study the dialect can be lost in several years forever shifting the necessity to study its morphological, grammar, and other peculiarities. Besides, along with historical necessity to document the linguistic processes of Cypriot Gypsies’ dialect, there may be certain importance of the findings for the studied of other dialects of Gypsies living in other countries.

Research design

At the beginning of the research, it is necessary to find out the peculiarities of the chosen community and the manner of speaking preferred. The evaluation of these people’s origins and the origins of their language is a good way to start with.

The theme under consideration requires qualitative research that has several peculiarities to be mentioned. First, the idea to use questionnaires was chosen. However, taking into consideration the fact that the chosen community cannot actually read and write, another idea was chosen: interviews.

This technique is regarded as “a combination of observation under highly structured conditions and paper-and-pencil data recording” will be used (Perry 2005, p 119). The choice of the interview as the main investigative technique also has a number of powerful grounds like the possibility to change the conditions of the process and make an interviewer be able to comprehend the essence of questions (Perry 2005; Thomas 2003).

As for ethical considerations and human subject protection, the interview will be composed of cultural and linguistic peculiarities of the population of the research (Wengraf 2001, p. 65). The community under discussion is eager to save their anonymity with respect to their traditions, interests, and beliefs.

As for the data, that is needed for the research; this will be the written results of my observations. With the help of thorough and constant observations, it is possible to find out a lot of information on the community’s lifestyle, interests, beliefs, and traditions. In addition to the recordings of interviews and their transcripts that will enable us to identify and analyze morphological, syntactical, phonological peculiarities of the analyzed dialects.

Expected results

The data gathered using interviews will be analyzed from a purely linguistic perspective. First, the analysis of the dialect identified and the language chosen will be made to define whether words and their structure are closer to a Romani dialect or these words have several features for a Turkish dialect. Such analysis should help to define the peculiarities of the dialect and clear up what the Gurbetcha peculiarities are.

The processes of language mixing and loan adaptation will be studied based on the morphological, syntactical, phonological, and lexical analysis.

The results achieved by the researcher aim at showing the status of Roman Turkish Cypriot “Gurbetcha” and the evaluation of the linguistic on both sociological and structural continuum that takes place between Roman and Cypriot Turkish.

Reference List

Bakker, P. & Matras, Y. 2003, Bibliography of Modern Romani Linguistics: Including a Guide to Romani Linguistics. John Benjamins Publishing Company, Philadelphia, PA.

Constantinou, C. M. 2007, ‘Aporias of Identity: Bicommunalism, Hybridity and the ‘Cyprus Problem’’, Cooperation and Conflict, no. 42, pp. 247-270.

Council of Europe: Committee of Ministers 2009 European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. Application of the Charter in Cyprus. Web.

Kenrick, D., & Taylor, G. 1986, ‘Gypsies in Cyprus’. Web.

Matras, Y. 2002 Romani: A Linguistic Introduction, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.

Matras, Y. 2009, Romani Project, Manchester, England. Web.

Matras, Y. 2005, ‘The classification of Romani dialects: A geographical-historical perspective’, in General and Applied Romani Linguistics, eds. B Schrammel & Halwachs, DW, Lincom Europa, Munich. pp. 7-26.

Matras, Y. 2005, ‘The status of Romani in Europe’, Report. Council of Europe’s Language Policy Division. Web.

Matras, Y. 2004, The future of Romani: Toward a policy of linguistic pluralism. Web.

Perry, F. L. 2005, Research in Applied Linguistics: Becoming A Discerning Consumer, Routledge, London.

Phillips, D. J. 2001, Peoples on the Move: Introducing the Nomads of the World. William Carey Library, Carlisle.

Thomas, R. M. 2003, Blending Qualitative & Quantitative Research Methods in Thesis and Dissertations. Corwin Press, London.

Trimikliniotis, N., & Demetriou, C. 2009, ‘The Cypriot Roma and the Failure of Education: Anti-Discrimination and Multiculturalism as a Post-accession Challenge’ in The Minorities of Cyprus: Development Patterns and the Identity of the Internal-Exclusion, eds N Coureas & C Demetriou, Cambridge Scholars Publishing, Cambridge.

Varnava, A., Coureas, N., & Elia, M. 2009, The Minorities of Cyprus: Development Patterns and the Identity of the Internal-Exclusion. Cambridge Scholars, Cambridge.

Wengraf, T. 2001, Qualitative Research Interviewing: Biographic Narrative and Semi Structured Methods. SAGE, London.

Introduction

Baby language is quite hard to understand, as babies often speak words that may sound related to what adults speak, but different in pronunciation. Therefore, it is important to listen to babies carefully to grasp what they intend to say. In my study of baby dialect, I chose to observe Fahad, a three-year-old Arabic baby from Saudi Arabia. He lives with his mother, a stay at home wife aged 30 years, and his father, a 35-year-old teacher who teaches sign language to the deaf. Baby Fahad also has two younger sisters aged two years and seven months old. Fahad is a very active boy, which enables him to grasp a lot in terms of speech, and do so quickly. The analysis of this paper discusses Fahad’s grasp of Arabic dialect due to the influence of the Arabic language speakers around him. The paper also analyzes the conditions favoring his fast learning and the challenges he may encounter.

Development of the dialect

The baby’s parents both speak Arabic as their first language, which leaves him with only one language to learn. Hence, he has to pick up Arabic dialect. The boy continues to learn the Arabic language from his mother, who is always home with him. Fahad also picks up some words from the father when the dad returns from work. However, he cannot learn much adult Arabic from the younger sisters because they are still too young to have proper knowledge of the language. The result is that the Fahad’s dialect is affected by his younger sisters’ simple and toddler vocabulary, which slows down his learning of the Arabic language. Therefore, the environment favors his learning because his mother is always around to teach him. The baby also learns by imitation and picks up words from conversations between his parents. Since his father is a sign language teacher, he might not be much of an oral communicator, which affects the three-year-old’s acquisition of vocabulary.

Data

Analysis

7. K=T

8. SR=A

11. SH=S 12. LA=WA 13. KH=H

Assimilation

12. WA=LA

Shortening of words

2. LEVES=Z (TELEVESYON TO TEZYON)

5. KATSHAB TO SHBB

Omissions

4. KA from KAKAW

6. L from LAMBH

9. I from IPAD

14. TH from THALAJA

Conclusion

I came up with the conclusion that Fahad picked up the Arabic dialect as most of his words relate closely to the Arabic adult speech. Fahad’s surroundings and relations influenced his choice of dialect. The mother, father and the environment around him are Arabic, and their environment is dominated by Arab locals. Hence, Fahad’s dialect is heavily affected by the Arabic language. The baby’s mother played a big role in his choice of dialect as she is always in the house. The baby tries to say whatever the mother says as he feels she is always right. Therefore, it is important that the mother speaks proper Arabic for Fahad to pick up the right words. According to Fahad, his mother is always right. Therefore, what she speaks must always be right. The case shows that babies learn by imitation.

I observed that this baby could not pronounce some syllables like “sh” and “sr” correctly. He also showed difficulty in pronouncing “l” in some instances. There are syllables that seemed easier for the baby to pronounce. Therefore, he replaced the hard ones with the easy ones. An example is his replacement of “k” with “t”. The baby does not struggle to pronounce the hard words because he would rather use what is easier for him to pronounce. Other words were quite long for the baby to pronounce. Therefore, Fahad used short-form of the words. An example is the shortening of televesyon to tezyon. The baby also completely omits some syllables or letters from words. Examples include his omission of “l” in lambh, “ka” in kakaw and katshab. “th” in thalaja and “i” in iPad.

The main challenge in Fahad’s learning of the adult vocabulary is the presence of his younger siblings. Fahad tends to use baby talk with them as because he loves to play with them. However, this prevents him from improving his dialect quickly because they are also in the process of learning. The boy’s younger sisters are not in a position to correct him or improve his dialect because they use baby talk. Since the younger siblings are always around him, it is hard for him to improve his dialect at the required pace. The boy may end up using baby talk longer than expected.

Another reason Fahad uses baby talk a lot is that his parents are not strict. The parents neither pay close attention to correct his mistakes nor do they try to teach him how to pronounce some words. The mother and father leave it up to him to pick words from their conversations. Sometimes they speak to him in his childish dialect while playing with him. I would recommend that the parents take him to school because Fahad has attained an age where he can start attending a daycare or kindergarten. He can improve his vocabulary and speech because the teachers correct the mistakes, making it easier for him to learn. There are also kids of similar age, making the surrounding free of baby talk. The lessons at the daycare will make it faster for Fahad to learn the Arabic language properly and do away with baby talk. Therefore, the daycare will greatly improve his dialect.

I would also recommend that Fahad’s parents get stricter in correcting his speech. Whenever he makes a mistake in his pronunciation, his parents should put more effort to teach him the correct pronunciation. The parents should make him repeat the words that trouble him often until he can pronounce it clearly because repetition is also a way of learning. The parents should also refrain from using baby language while playing with him and his siblings. Fahad’s dialect is bound to improve if all the recommended measures are implemented.

Apart from Standard English, which is considered to incorporate the major rules of the language, there exist many dialogues based on social class differentiation and geographical area in which speakers live. The dialogue I would like to describe is Cockney English. It is spread in London, Great Britain, and is considered to be spoken by people belonging to a low social status. Cockney English has a number of peculiarities. The first one is the omission of sound [h] when there is a letter ‘h’ at the beginning of the word: ‘house’ is pronounced [‘aus], ‘horse’ sounds like [‘o:s]. The next prominent feature of Cockney is the replacement of vowel [æ] by [a].

The following example shows two Cockney elements in a row: the word ‘hand’ is pronounced not [‘ænd] but [‘and]. Another peculiarity is using sound [a] instead of [Ə] (also known as ‘schwa’): users of Cockney pronounce ‘doctor’ as [‘dokta] and ‘actor’ as [‘akta]. Next, in final position, sound ‘l’ is pronounced like ‘w’: the word ‘bell’ sounds like [‘bew] in Cockney. Another feature is the omission of glottal [t]: ‘bottle’ is pronounced as [‘bo-l].

The next feature is the replacement of interdental sound [ð] with [v] and sound [θ] with [f]: ‘gather’ is pronounced as [‘gava], ‘thick’ sounds like [fik]. Also, when it comes to vowels, the general rule is that these sounds come from around the sides of the mouth: [au] is pronounced as [a:] (‘cow’ – [‘ka:]), [o:] turns into [ou] (‘walk’ – [‘wouk]). What concerns grammar, Cockney English speakers say ‘me’ instead of ‘my,’ use double negations, and do not conform to the rules of agreement of the subject and predicate (‘I weren’t there yesterday’; ‘You is my friend’).

Finally, Cockney English has a special “vocabulary” in the form of slang. For instance, “apples and pears” stands for “stairs.” Here is a link to the examples of Cockney English dialect: Learn the Cockney English with Jason Statham.

This dialect relates to our class because it describes the differences in language use and also demonstrates social divergences between people. At our class, we studied the basics of linguistics, and this dialect is a perfect illustration of various linguistic phenomenon. In my examples, I showed the phonetic and grammatical peculiarities of Cockney English. The dialect is rich in such peculiarities, which makes it a great model to discuss.

During the sessions, we talked about how societal conditions in which people live can impact their language. Cockney is the dialect that appeared due to social disparity. It originated in poor regions of London, and its deviations from Standard English developed due to the insufficient level of education of people. There is a large number of various dialects of English all over the world. However, Cockney is probably the most fascinating in terms of the number of peculiar features. There are dialects that have a few original features but still can be understood by people who do not normally speak them. Understanding Cockney without prior knowledge is rather difficult.

Abstract

Dialects and their varieties have recently become the point of a renewed discussion among scholars and researchers. Any language has its varieties and the formation of these varieties is predetermined by a number of factors. What is even more important, language varieties (or dialects) differ between themselves; this makes this topic even more attractive when it comes to carrying out of the research.

In light of the renewed interest to the language dialects, it is necessary to research dialect origin and creation in more detail. Of special interest are the sources, which influence the formation of dialect. This research paper addresses all these issues. First of all, it draws attention to how the interest to dialect formation has changed over the past several years and what the currents studies on this topic focus on.

Secondly, the paper presents the information on where dialect comes from focusing mainly on geography and political influences. In addition, the ways of dialect’s creation are identified. This is followed by the discussion of the sources of dialect among which social, physical, and cultural sources are named as the most important because they influence dialect formation most strongly.

Introduction

Division of our modern society into numerous social groups leads the unavoidable development of language differences. Every language has certain differences with regard to location, cultural preferences, or even traditions. People introduce new manners of words’ pronunciation, use different accents, and introduce some new words to underline their individualities.

Such a widespread development of language differences and variations introduces a new linguistic term, dialect, that is aimed at defining the reasons of why language becomes different within various social groups and what causes its spread over the world.

The peculiar feature of dialect is that it may be used in two different ways like any variation of language that is inherent to one social group and like a variety of a standard language, considering numerous social and cultural factors.

Dialect has its roots in both time and space, and this is why it is always connected to certain geographical, cultural, and social points. Historical background proves that the term dialect had no distinctions with the term language till the Renaissance period, when dialect as a term was detached from language and named as its variation.

The history of dialect is unique indeed and has close connection to numerous social, geographical, and cultural concepts; the relation to these factors makes dialect a considerably local term, a language variation with its own peculiarities of vocabulary, differences in pronunciation, and uniqueness of phrases.

The Origin of Dialect

Changing the Value of Dialect. The scholars have been trying to define the origin of dialect over the centuries. How come that there emerge different varieties of one and the same language? Where do these varieties come from? Since the number of dialects in the world is incalculable, it is reasonable to seek answers to these questions. The number of standard languages is immense and, so far, it is impossible to understand why, in addition to these languages, the development of dialects takes place.

For a long time the word “dialect” has been associated with low social status because people who use dialects for inter-communication, as a rule, belong to a separate community and, in most of the instances, this community is poorly developed (Filppula, 2005). At present, however, dialects have attracted special attention on the part of the researchers for the reason that now they are considered as peculiarities of a definite language which a separate society uses for communication.

In the modern society dialects are not disrespected; instead, they are studied: “Typology, cognitive linguistics, discourse analysis and pragmatics have provided fresh perspectives on old problems and opened up completely new lines of research such as cognitive dialectology, folk linguistics, and perceptional dialectology” (Filppula, 2005, p. vii). All these studies allow learning much about dialect and its origins in particular.

Geographical Origins. There is much evidence that namely geography is responsible for the formation and distribution of dialects, which emerge as a simple variation of a language but then gradually turn into a separate system used for encoding and decoding of certain information.

As mentioned by Wolfram, Carolyn, & Christian (1999), there exist different reasons for the languages developing certain varieties, but in most of the cases this occurs due to one definite factor: “When groups are physically or socially separated in some way, language differences can be expected.

As a language changes … differences show up between dialects as groups of people follow different paths of language change” (p. 6). Thus, for instance, people occupying a definite territory develop a variety of a separate language, especially if their communication with other groups is limited. This variety of language differs in grammar, pronunciation and, what is the most important, vocabulary.

Since people living on separate territories are involved in definite trades and, therefore, have different names for specific objects. The names for the objects emerge on the basis of what is known about them; this being the reason, these names may differ from group to group. This, however, is only one of the factors that influence the development of dialects with respect to geography.

It is also important to mention that peculiarities of the landscape and the territory that people occupy also have an effect on the development of a definite dialect. It was sometimes the case that people were forced to leave a country and settle on a separate territory; however, there were cases when “natural barriers such as mountains and rivers have … cut people off from each other, creating a natural basis for differences to emerge and be maintained” (Wolfram et al., 1999, p. 6).

In this way, though geographically being the citizens of one and the same country, people had to develop their own language for communication due to their being separated from the ingenuous informants. With respect to this, rivers, mountains, or other natural barriers also had a significant role in shaping a particular dialect.

To be more exact, the names of these barriers had considerable influence on the development of words and word-combinations within a definite dialect. At this, the basics of the original language from which dialect evolved also mattered because “dialect speakers acquire their language by adopting the speech features of those around them, not by failing in their attempts to adopt standard language features” (Wolfram & Schilling-Estes, 2006, p. 8).

This testifies to the fact that dialect cannot develop from nothing because, in this case, it will be a separate language, not a variety of it. Therefore, dialects can also emerge because of the natural barriers, which once again proves that dialect mainly comes from geography.

Political Origins. Political origin of dialect is closely related to the geographical one, though certain differences still exist. Here, it is necessary to distinguish between “dialect” and “language” because quite often these terms are used as synonyms. Language is a standard system used for communication, while dialect is only a variety of such a system.

Unlike language, dialect is non-standard; it does not have a written form and dialect speakers do not belong to a separate state. All that they can be united by is common territory that, in a number of cases, is a part of some state. This is what the political influence on dialect formation consists in. Politics distinguishes between language and dialect on the basis of the speakers’ belonging to a separate state and deserving a right to be called a separate people. With regards to this, a group of dialect speakers can enjoy only regional autonomy.

Thus, there emerges a distinction not only between language and between dialect, but a controversy between political and linguistic status of dialect. In this way, the origin of dialect is predetermined by certain political factors, which influence its formation, status, and development.

The Creation of Dialect

Dialect, though it is only a variety of language, is also created in accordance with definite principles. In general, “dialect is created whenever anyone speaks in a language not his own. Although such speech is often referred to as a foreign accent, it is one more form of dialectal expression” (Blunt, 1994, p. 1).

Since this form is used by a group of people for a long period of time, it usually develops certain set of features, standards, rules, and norms. Of course, these standards and rules are informal, but, due to the fact that they are used by a great number of people of a separate community, they are considered as acceptable:

Different communities may have slightly different norms, and this informal set of norms is the one that really counts in terms of social acceptance. It is important, for this reason, to carefully distinguish between those norms that make up the formal standard and the informal, yet highly influential, norms of social acceptability that govern most everyday, interactional evaluation of standardness. (Adger, Wolfram, & Christian, 2005, p. 15)

Taking this fact into account, the scholars distinguish between minimum and arbitrary standards when it comes to the discussion of dialect. As far as the minimum standards are concerned, they are “specifications that must be met for acceptability” (Luria, Seymour, & Smoke, 2005, p. 194).

Though the word “standard” seems to be inapplicable to dialect, it is still necessary to consider it. The question whether dialect is able to meet any standards is disputable; however, if there are features that allow distinguishing one dialect among the others, this means that this particular dialect was created according to the features peculiar for it only.

Despite this, the concept “minimum standard” can be applied only to standard language. Just like any other minimum standards (for instance, the safety ones), a variety of language has to go through a number of assessment stages before it is regarded as good enough or at least suitable (Adger et al., 2005).

From this, it derives that, if this variety does not pass all those stages, it will not be recognized as valid and, thus, it will not be referred to as standard language. In this case, the variety will be required to meet the arbitrary standards conformity with which will allow it to be called a dialect. The nature of arbitrary standards is simple; if a vast majority of people uses dialect with specific norms, than the dialect corresponds to the arbitrary standards. A real-life example makes this idea more understandable:

For example, the United States uses Fahrenheit degrees to measure temperatures. Most of the rest of the world measures temperatures in degrees Celsius. One could argue that the Fahrenheit system is the inferior system. However that may be, Fahrenheit degrees … serve as an agreed upon arbitrary standard that everyone in the United States understands and uses. It is not so important that the best system of temperature measurement be used as it is that everyone agrees on the same arbitrary standard. (Luria et al., 2005, p. 194)

This is how the American society adopted the norms for measuring temperature. Similarly, the dialects are created if a definite number of people agree on the dialect norms. If these norms correspond to the arbitrary standards and none of the community members contests them, then dialect passes as acceptable. Just as in case with Fahrenheit degrees, dialect cannot be good or bad, as well as it cannot be compared with the standard language accepted in a definite society. What matters is that people agree on the norms of this dialect.

Grammar, vocabulary, pronunciation, and the like features are built according to the same standards. As it was already mentioned, dialect is not written, which is why there cannot be any disputes regarding grammatical or any other characteristics of the language, which a particular community speaks.

This being the reason, grammar of any dialect is, as a rule, simplified. It is remarkable, however, that dialect develops a definite system of inflections, verb forms, formation of plural number, etc. This, of course, depends on whether the primary language is analytical or synthetic.

In most of dialects, the basics of the language are preserved, though they undergo simplification with some of the inflections or auxiliary verbs being omitted. Pronunciation in dialect is also oriented towards simplification; any dialect can be characterized by assimilation, amalgamation, reduction, and the like processes which are completely unacceptable in standard languages. The same goes for vocabulary.

While a standard language does not allow the usage of certain words or refers them to the colloquial ones, dialect does not classify the words into acceptable and unacceptable. Besides, the vocabulary is built on the basis of the community’s peculiarities, such as territory, occupations, education, geographical position, and the like factors.

Thus, dialect is created only if its characteristics correspond to certain norms and standards. Unlike standard language which has to correspond to minimum standards, dialect has to be in conformity only with the arbitrary ones, which serve as a basis for dialect’s grammar, vocabulary, and pronunciation formation.

Sources of Dialect

Dialect takes a very important place in linguistic and becomes crucial for communication between people of the same nationality. In order to present correct and reliable communication, it is necessary to understand the sources of dialects and the factors, which influence dialect appearance. Because of the constant dilemma that is inherent to the nature and development of dialect, it turns out to be very hard to define one concrete source of dialect.

There are many different reasons of language diversity, and sources of dialect may vary considerably. Numerous sociolinguistic and dialectological studies prove that “physical, cultural, and social facts are responsible for the variation in U. S. English” (Wolfram, Adger, & Christian, 1999, p.6). Each of the above-mentioned sources may be divided into certain sub-factors and has some special influence on dialect development and spreading.

Social Sources of Dialect. In spite of the fact that the sources of dialect are usually connected to physical or to be more exact to geographical factors, the role of social and cultural sources is significant as well. The diversity of social status is one of the first points that are reflected in dialect.

As a rule, dialects, which are created on the ground of social inequality, are called sociolects. Social status is a significant source of dialect across time and space: the representatives of upper classes always wanted to distance themselves far away from the representatives of lower classes, and the creation of language variety may serve as a kind of “flight of the elite” (Wolfram and Schilling-Estes, 2006, p.36).

For example, the historical development of the obligatory speaking norms underlines the privileges of standard English and admit that this variety of language has to be spoken by “a privileged segment of society that includes its political leaders, its opinion-makers, and its literati” (Landers, 2001, 116). Unfortunately, the social source of dialect creates some challenges and misunderstandings in the society.

Sweetland and Cheney (2001) admit that dialects are labeled as words by means of dictionaries; and poor people do not actually have a chance to present their own language in a written form, this is why many dialects, based on social inequality, may exist in oral forms only and are still unknown to a the whole world.

Cultural Uniqueness of Dialects. Cultural background becomes another significant source of dialect and its development over the world. Numerous cultural factors create such conditions, which have an impact on people’s manner of speaking and sharing information.

Any nation is usually proud of own cultural heritage and its racial variety that leads to the creation of different groups, this is why it is so crucial for any nation to preserve its own dialect that is considered to be an integral part of its heritage. If cultural changes take place, linguistic system is powerful enough and can easily adapt all current challenges in order to introduce a new dialect, prove its rights to existence, and explain why this very dialect has to be used and developed (Holmes, 2008).

Cultural differences usually affect the processes of communication between different people. If a person with particular cultural background tries to explain something to a person with different cultural background, numerous misunderstanding may appear immediately, and each of these representatives should be regarded as right.

The same situation happen with dialect spreading: one culture has its own rules and preferences and use a particular language to express emotions, share information, and enlarge knowledge. People, who may speak the same language but have other cultural preferences, may not understand the each other because of the varieties of language, in other words, because of the existed dialect.

Cultural and social factors are significant sources of dialect, however, some linguists cannot agree that these two factors may be regarded as the primary sources of dialect. After a thorough investigation of sounds, Blunt (1994) came to the conclusion that the primary source of any dialect is sound and utterance. Much depends on the way of how a sentence, a word, and a sound are pronounced.

Dialects are different by their nature, and people promote their development, taking into consideration their own abilities, awareness, and interests. Even the speed of speech may be an influential factor for dialect’s creation. Similarities to the already known accents, attention to geographical location, and peculiarity of social status – each of these issues may be added to the nature of sound pronounced and become a considerable source of dialect.

Sound as a Primary Source of Dialect. One more significant source of dialect may be any kind of contact to other languages. The historical overviews show that the existence of colonies took a significant place in the United States development. The varieties of colonies, where people spoke Spanish, Italian, and French, had a considerable influence into dialects of the United States.

People tried to find out the ways to communicate and use some common knowledge to comprehend each other, and such contact of Standard English with other languages led to the appearance of dialects and their fast and valid spreading over the whole Unites States of America. These regional distinctions should be also considered as important sources of dialect in any country, and in the United States as the country, raised from colonies and varieties of languages.

Conclusion

The role of dialect in our modern world becomes more and more important because of numerous reasons. First of all, people of different countries and nations try to preserve their heritage and share it with other representatives of various cultures.

The idea to save the existed dialect bothers many people, and in order to achieve success, it is crucially important to comprehend the sources of dialect, the reasons of dialect creation, and the peculiarities of dialect spreading, to investigate the places, where dialect came from, and to evaluate why dislocation of dialect still takes place.

Geographical factors like territorial division, cultural preferences like customs and traditions, and social issues like status inequality, or the desire to own higher positions – all this becomes important for dialect usage and for the reasons of language variety’s existence.

In general, it is impossible to say that dialect comes from one particular place. Dialect itself takes a long trip, and has connection to history, geography, and culture. And the ability to combine so many different influential factors is considered to be the major feature that distinguishes dialect from language and identifies dialect as a unique concept with its own sources, vocabulary, and pronunciation.

Annotated Bibliography

Wolfram, W., & Schilling-Estes, N. (2006). American English: Dialects and Variation. Malden, MA: BlackWell Publishing.

The author of this book presents clear information about language variations of English and takes into consideration such important points like ethnic differences and regional diversities. This source provides its reader with a chance to get a clear understanding of the difference between language and dialect and to find out why such term like dialect creates certain challenged to people while defining it as a linguistic concept. Attention to popular points of view makes this book interesting and reliable, because offered examples taken from every day life and communications help to evaluate information easily and comprehend facts quickly.

Adger, C. T., Wolfram, W., & Christian, D. (2007). Dialects in Schools and Communities. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

This new edition of cooperation of such great authors and linguists like Adger and Wolfram allows to study the process, which are usually inherent to dialects and their spreading in English. The description of popular ideas as for language variations and the reasons of their appearance, the analysis of impact of dialect differences, and the introduction of sources of dialect helps to study the topic of dialect to its full extent. The influence and responsibility of cultural and social factors in regards to dialect is perfectly described by means of theoretical material and illustrative examples.

Landers, C. E. (2001). Literary Translation: A Practical Guide. Tonawanda, NY: Multilingual Matters Ltd.

The dilemma of dialects creates numerous challenges for people, who are eager to communicate, translate information, or enlarge own level of knowledge by means of sources of different cultures. Landers (2001) admits that “dialect is a challenge unique to literary translation” (p. 116) and gives clear grounds for his statement. This books helps to comprehend that essence of dialect is influential not only to the sphere of communication but also to the sphere of translation, and this is why it becomes more important to evaluate the origins of dialect.

Sweetland, J. H., & Cheney, F. N. (2001). Fundamental Reference Sources. ALA Editions.

The attention of these authors is paid to the peculiarities of references and the material that is available in electronic formats. They share their knowledge of how to find out electronic media and how to achieve success while using various dictionaries. The authors also touch upon the concept of dialects, because their uniqueness leads to considerable changes of dictionaries. As dialect is “essentially local” (Sweetland & Cheney, 2001), the creation of dialect dictionaries has to be careful and particular. The work if these authors prove that the theme of dialect has to be evaluated properly, because the role of these language variations remains to be important.

Wolfram, W., Adger, C. T., & Christian, D. (1999). Dialects in School and Communities. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

The book of these authors is directed to the evaluation of dialect differences of English that is used in the United States of America. It is necessary to admit that physical, cultural, and social factors become crucial for dialects: conditions under which people live requires changes from time to time, and language has to adopt these challenges and consider new conditions in the forms of dialects and other language variations. People always want to differ from each other, and the creation of dialects within one concrete society is the attempt number one that allows achieving the goal and become different.

Luria, H., Seymour, D. M., & Smoke, T. (2006). Language and Linguistics in Context: Readings and Applications for Teachers. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

This source is aimed at describing the ways of dialect’s creation and spreading over the world. With the help real life examples, the author introduces the concept of dialect and underlines the most important stages of its development in the United States and worldwide. The distinct features of Standard English and its dialects have to be considered as well, because they help to comprehend how language varies or should vary and to analyze the reasons of why language and dialect cannot be regarded as similar concepts.

Blunt, J. (1994). Stage Dialects. Woodstock, Illinois: The Dramatic Publishing Company.

The author of this book starts his investigations from presentation of a clear and comprehensive explanation of dialect regarding it as “a distinctive form of pronunciation, language structure, and vocabulary which is identified with a geographical area or a social class” (Blunt, 1994, p. 1). This definition introduces not only the essence of the term dialect but also specifies its sources and peculiarities. Simple structure of book, attention to current changes of society, and specification of dialect sources – all this makes the book of this writer a captivating source full of necessary and reliable for this research information.

Holmes, J. (2008). An Introduction to Sociolinguistics. Harlow: Pearson Education Limited.

The author concentrates on significant research concerning dialects and factors, which may influence its development. Gender and age points, cultural background, and social inequality becomes important thins to pay attention to, because each of them is able to create challenges for language varieties and people understanding of why these varieties take place.

Filppula, M. (2005). Dialects across Borders: Selected Papers form the 11^th International Conference on Methods in Dialectology. Philadelphia: John Benjamins Publishing Company.

This source introduces another important side of dialect: dialect values are considerable indeed, and numerous studies have to be conducted because this sphere is hard to investigate completely, and the development of new conditions creates new challenges for evaluation. It is not enough to divide dialect sources according to its geographical location or ethnical identification, and research on dialects has to be carried out constantly to take into account current preferences.

Reference List

Adger, C. T., Wolfram, W., & Christian, D. (2007). Dialects in Schools and Communities. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

Blunt, J. (1994). Stage Dialects. Woodstock, Illinois: The Dramatic Publishing Company.

Filppula, M. (2005). Dialects across Borders: Selected Papers form the 11^th International Conference on Methods in Dialectology. Philadelphia: John Benjamins Publishing Company.

Holmes, J. (2008). An Introduction to Sociolinguistics. Harlow: Pearson Education Limited.

Landers, C. E. (2001). Literary Translation: A Practical Guide. Tonawanda, NY: Multilingual Matters Ltd.

Luria, H., Seymour, D. M., & Smoke, T. (2006). Language and Linguistics in Context: Readings and Applications for Teachers. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

Sweetland, J. H., & Cheney, F. N. (2001). Fundamental Reference Sources. ALA Editions.

Wolfram, W., & Schilling-Estes, N. (2006). American English: Dialects and Variation. Malden, MA: BlackWell Publishing.

Wolfram, W., Adger, C. T., & Christian, D. (1999). Dialects in School and Communities. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.