18 Language and regional variation

Yesterday, I toll my dad, “Buy chocolate kine now, bumbye somebody going egg our house you
know, cuz you so chang.” He sed, “Sucking kine mo’ bettah cuz lass mo’ long. Da kids going
appreciate cuz …” And befo’ he could start his “Back in my days story” I jus sed, “Yeah, yeah,
yeah, I undahstand,” cuz I nevah like hea da story again ah about how he nevah have candy wen
he wuz small and how wuz one TREAT fo’ eat da orange peel wit sugar on top. Da orange PEEL
you know. Not da actual orange, but da orange PEEL. Strong emphasis on PEEL cuz dey wuz
POOR. Tonouchi (2001)

Throughout this book, we have been talking about languages such as English, Spanish or
Swahili as if there was a single variety of each in everyday use. That is, we have largely
ignored the fact that every language has a lot of variation, especially in the way it is spoken. If
we just look at English, we find widespread variation in the way it is spoken in different
countries such as Australia, Britain and the USA. We can also find a range of varieties in
different parts of those countries, with Lee Tonouchi’s account of “Trick-O-Treat” in Hawai’i
as just one example. In this chapter, we investigate aspects of language variation based on
where that language is used, as a way of doing linguistic geography. First, we should identify
the particular variety that we have normally assumed when we referred to a language as
English, Spanish or Swahili.
240 The Study of Language

The standard language

When we talked about the words and structures of a language in earlier chapters, we
were concentrating on the features of only one variety, usually called the standard
language. This is actually an idealized variety, because it has no specific region. It is
the variety associated with administrative, commercial and educational centers,
regardless of region. If we think of Standard English, it is the version we believe is
found in printed English in newspapers and books, is widely used in the mass media
and is taught in most schools. It is the variety we normally try to teach to those who
want to learn English as a second or foreign language. It is clearly associated with
education and broadcasting in public contexts and is more easily described in terms of
the written language (i.e. vocabulary, spelling, grammar) than the spoken language.
If we are thinking of that general variety used in public broadcasting in the United
States, we can refer more specifically to Standard American English or, in Britain, to
Standard British English. In other parts of the world, we can talk about other recog-
nized varieties such as Standard Australian English, Standard Canadian English or
Standard Indian English.

Accent and dialect

Whether we think we speak a standard variety of English or not, we all speak with an
accent. It is a myth that some speakers have accents while others do not. We might feel
that some speakers have very distinct or easily recognized types of accent while others
may have more subtle or less noticeable accents, but every language-user speaks with
an accent. Technically, the term “accent” is restricted to the description of aspects of
pronunciation that identify where an individual speaker is from, regionally or socially.
It is different from the term dialect, which is used to describe features of grammar and
vocabulary as well as aspects of pronunciation.
We recognize that the sentence You don’t know what you’re talking about will
generally “look” the same whether spoken with an American accent or a Scottish
accent. Both speakers will be using forms associated with Standard English, but have
different pronunciations. However, this next sentence – Ye dinnae ken whit yer
haverin’ aboot – has the same meaning as the first, but has been written out in an
approximation of what a person who speaks one dialect of Scottish English might say.
There are differences in pronunciation (e.g. whit, aboot), but there are also examples of
different vocabulary (e.g. ken, haverin’) and a different grammatical form (dinnae).
While differences in vocabulary are often easily recognized, dialect variations in
the meaning of grammatical constructions are less frequently documented. In the
 Language and regional variation 241

following example (from Trudgill, 1983) two British English speaking visitors (B and
C) and a local Irish English speaker (A) are involved in a conversation in Donegal,
Ireland.

A: How long are youse here?

B: Till after Easter.
(Speaker A looks puzzled.)
C: We came on Sunday.
A: Ah. Youse’re here a while then.

It seems that the construction How long are youse here?, in speaker A’s dialect, is used
with a meaning close to the structure “How long have you been here?” referring to past
time. Speaker B, however, answers as if the question was referring to future time (“How
long are you going to be here?”). When speaker C answers with a past time response
(We came on Sunday), speaker A acknowledges it and repeats his use of a present tense
(Youse’re here) to refer to past time. Note that the dialect form youse (= “you” plural)
seems to be understood by the visitors though it is unlikely to be part of their own dialect.

Dialectology

Despite occasional difficulties, there is a general impression of mutual intelligibility

among many speakers of different dialects of English. This is one of the criteria used in
the study of dialects, or dialectology, to distinguish between two different dialects of
the same language (whose speakers can usually understand each other) and two
different languages (whose speakers can’t usually understand each other). This is
not the only, or the most reliable, way of identifying dialects, but it is helpful in
establishing the fact that each different dialect, like each language, is equally worthy
of analysis. It is important to recognize, from a linguistic point of view, that none of the
varieties of a language is inherently “better” than any other. They are simply different.
From a social point of view, however, some varieties do become more prestigious. In
fact, the variety that develops as the standard language has usually been one socially
prestigious dialect, originally associated with a center of economic and political power
(e.g. London for British English and Paris for French). Yet, there always continue to be
other varieties of a language spoken in different regions.

Regional dialects

The existence of different regional dialects is widely recognized and often the source of
some humor for those living in different regions. In the United States, people from the
242 The Study of Language

Brooklyn area of New York may joke about a Southerner’s definition of sex by telling
you that sex is fo’ less than tin, in their best imitation of someone from the Southern
states. In return, Southerners can wonder aloud about what a tree guy is in Brooklyn,
since they have heard Brooklyn speakers refer to doze tree guys. Some regional dialects
clearly have stereotyped pronunciations associated with them.
Going beyond stereotypes, those involved in the serious investigation of regional
dialects have devoted a lot of survey research to the identification of consistent features
of speech found in one geographical area compared to another. These dialect surveys
often involve painstaking attention to detail and tend to operate with very specific criteria
in identifying acceptable informants. After all, it is important to know if the person whose
speech you are recording really is a typical representative of the region’s dialect.
Consequently, the informants in the major dialect surveys of the twentieth century
tended to be NORMS or “non-mobile, older, rural, male speakers.” Such speakers were
selected because it was believed that they were less likely to have influences from
outside the region in their speech. One unfortunate consequence of using such criteria
is that the resulting dialect description tends to be more accurate of a period well before
the time of investigation. Nevertheless, the detailed information obtained has provided
the basis for a number of Linguistic Atlases of whole countries (e.g. England) and
regions (e.g. the Upper Midwest area of the United States).

Isoglosses and dialect boundaries

We can look at some examples of regional variation found in a survey that resulted in
the Linguistic Atlas of the Upper Midwest of the United States. One of the aims of a
survey of this type is to find a number of significant differences in the speech of those
living in different areas and to be able to chart where the boundaries are, in dialect
terms, between those areas. If it is found, for example, that the vast majority of
informants in one area say they carry things home from the store in a paper bag
while the majority in another area say they use a paper sack, then it is usually possible
to draw a line across a map separating the two areas, as shown on the accompanying
illustration. This line is called an isogloss and represents a boundary between the areas
with regard to that one particular linguistic item.
If a very similar distribution is found for another two items, such as a preference for
pail to the north and bucket to the south, then another isogloss, probably overlapping
the first, can be drawn on the map. When a number of isoglosses come together in this
way, a more solid line, indicating a dialect boundary, can be drawn.
In the accompanying illustration, a small circle indicates where paper bag was
used and a plus sign shows where paper sack was used. The broken line between
Language and regional variation 243

North Dakota Minnesota Paper bag

+ Paper sack

+
+
+ +
South Dakota +
+ + +
+ + +
+ + + + + +
+ + + + + +
+ +
+ + +
+ + + +
+ + + +
+ + + + + Isogloss
+
+
Iowa +
Nebraska

Figure 18.1

the two areas represents an isogloss that roughly coincides with lines separating
several other linguistic features. Using this dialect boundary information, we find
that in the Upper Midwest of the USA there is a Northern dialect area that includes
Minnesota, North Dakota, most of South Dakota and Northern Iowa. The rest of
Iowa and Nebraska show characteristics of the Midland dialect. Some of the
noticeable pronunciation and vocabulary differences are illustrated here.

(“taught”) (“roof”) (“creek”) (“greasy”)

Northern: [ɔ] [ʊ] [ɪ] [s]
Midland: [ɑ] [u] [i] [z]

Northern: paper bag pail kerosene slippery get sick

Midland: paper sack bucket coal oil slick take sick

So, if an American English (male) speaker pronounces the word greasy as [ɡrizi] and
asks for a bucket to carry water, then he is not likely to have grown up and spent most
of his life in Minnesota. While making this general claim, we shouldn’t forget that,
although the characteristic forms listed here were found in the speech of a large
percentage of those interviewed in the dialect survey, they won’t necessarily be used
by all speakers currently living in the region.
244 The Study of Language

The dialect continuum

Another note of caution is required with regard to dialect boundaries. The drawing of
isoglosses and dialect boundaries is quite useful in establishing a broad view of
regional dialects, but it tends to obscure the fact that, at most dialect boundary areas,
one dialect or language variety merges into another. Keeping this in mind, we can view
regional variation as existing along a dialect continuum rather than as having sharp
breaks from one region to the next.
A very similar type of continuum can occur with related languages existing on either
side of a political border. As you travel from Holland into Germany, you will find
concentrations of Dutch speakers giving way to areas near the border where “Dutch”
may sound more like “Deutsch” because the Dutch dialects and the German dialects
are less clearly differentiated. Then, as you travel into Germany, greater concentra-
tions of distinctly German speakers occur.
Speakers who move back and forth across this border area, using different varieties
with some ease, may be described as bidialectal (i.e. “speaking two dialects”). Most of
us grow up with some form of bidialectalism, speaking one dialect “in the street”
among family and friends, and having to learn another dialect “in school.” However, in
some places, there are different languages used in the street and in school. When we
talk about people knowing two distinct languages, we describe them as bilingual.

Bilingualism and diglossia

In many countries, regional variation is not simply a matter of two (or more) dialects of a
single language, but can involve two (or more) quite distinct and different languages.
Canada, for example, is an officially bilingual country, with both French and English as
official languages. This recognition of the linguistic rights of the country’s French speak-
ers, largely in Quebec, did not come about without a lot of political upheaval. For most of
its history, Canada was essentially an English-speaking country, with a French-speaking
minority group. In such a situation, bilingualism at the level of the individual tends to be
a feature of the minority group. In this form of bilingualism, a member of a minority
group grows up in one linguistic community, mainly speaking one language (e.g. Welsh
in Britain or Spanish in the United States), but learns another language (e.g. English) in
order to take part in the larger dominant linguistic community.
Indeed, many members of linguistic minorities can live out their entire lives without
ever seeing their native language appear in the public domain. Sometimes political
activism can change that. It was only after English notices and signs were frequ-
ently defaced, or replaced by scribbled Welsh-language versions, that bilingual
Language and regional variation 245

Figure 18.2

(English–Welsh) signs came into widespread use in Wales. Many henoed never
expected to see their first language on public signs in Wales, as illustrated in the
accompanying photograph, though they may wonder why everyone is being warned
about them.
Individual bilingualism, however, doesn’t have to be the result of political domi-
nance by a group using a different language. It can simply be the result of having two
parents who speak different languages. If a child simultaneously acquires the French
spoken by her mother and the English spoken by her father, then the distinction
between the two languages may not even be noticed by the child. There will simply
246 The Study of Language

be two ways of talking according to the person being talked to. However, even in this
type of bilingualism, one language tends eventually to become the dominant one, with
the other in a subordinate role.
A rather special situation involving two distinct varieties of a language, called
diglossia, exists in some countries. In diglossia, there is a “low” variety, acquired
locally and used for everyday affairs, and a “high” or special variety, learned in school
and used for important matters. A type of diglossia exists in Arabic-speaking countries
where the high variety (Classical Arabic) is used in formal lectures, serious political
events and especially in religious discussions. The low variety is the local version of
the language, such as Egyptian Arabic or Lebanese Arabic. Through a long period in
European history, a diglossic situation existed with Latin as the high variety and one of
the local languages of Europe (early versions of Modern Italian, French and Spanish) as
the low variety or “vernacular” (see Chapter 19).

Language planning

Perhaps because bilingualism in contemporary Europe and North America tends to be

found mostly among minority groups, many countries are often assumed to be mono-
lingual. For many of those residents who are only capable of speaking one language
(English), the United States would indeed seem to be a monolingual country. For
others, it clearly is not, because they live in large communities where English is not
the first language of the home. As one example, the majority of the population in San
Antonio, Texas, will be more likely to listen to radio broadcasts in Spanish than in
English. This simple fact has quite large repercussions in terms of the organization of
local representative government and the educational system. Should elementary
school teaching take place in Spanish or English?
Consider a similar question in the context of Guatemala, a country in Central
America, where there are twenty-six Mayan languages spoken, as well as Spanish. If,
in this situation, Spanish is selected as the language of education, are all those Mayan
speakers put at an early educational disadvantage within the society? Questions of this
type require answers on the basis of some type of language planning. Government,
legal and educational organizations in many countries have to plan which variety or
varieties of the languages spoken in the country are to be used for official business. In
Israel, despite the fact that it was not the most widely used language among the
population, Hebrew was chosen as the official government language. In India, the
choice was Hindi, yet in many non-Hindi-speaking regions, there were riots against
this decision. There were “National Language Wars” in the Philippines before different
groups could agree on the name of the national language (Filipino).
 Language and regional variation 247

The process of language planning may be seen in a better light when the full series of
stages is implemented over a number of years. The adoption of Swahili as the national
language of Tanzania in East Africa may serve as a good example. There still exist a large
number of other languages, as well as the colonial vestiges of English, but the educational,
legal and government systems have gradually introduced Swahili as the official language.
The process of “selection” (choosing an official language) is followed by “codification,” in
which basic grammars, dictionaries and written models are used to establish the standard
variety. The process of “elaboration” follows, with the standard variety being developed
for use in all aspects of social life and the appearance of a body of literary work written in
the standard. The process of “implementation” is largely a matter of government attempts
to encourage use of the standard, and “acceptance” is the final stage when a substantial
majority of the population have come to use the standard and to think of it as the national
language, playing a part in not only social, but also national identity.

Pidgins and creoles

In some areas, the standard chosen may be a variety that originally had no native
speakers in the country. For example, in Papua New Guinea, a lot of official business is
conducted in Tok Pisin. This language is now used by over a million people, but it
began many years earlier as a kind of “contact” language called a pidgin. A pidgin is a
variety of a language that developed for some practical purpose, such as trading,
among groups of people who had a lot of contact, but who did not know each other’s
languages. As such, it would have no native speakers. The origin of the term “pidgin”
is thought to be from a Chinese version of the English word “business.”
A pidgin is described as an “English pidgin” if English is the lexifier language, that is,
the main source of words in the pidgin. It doesn’t mean that those words will have the
same pronunciation or meaning as in the source. For example, the word gras has its
origins in the English word “grass,” but in Tok Pisin it also came to be used for “hair.” It
is part of mausgras (“moustache”) and gras bilong fes (“beard”).
There are several English pidgins still used today. They are characterized by an
absence of any complex grammatical morphology and a somewhat limited vocabu-
lary. Inflectional suffixes such as -s (plural) and -’s (possessive) on nouns in
Standard English are rare in pidgins, while structures like tu buk (“two books”)
and di gyal place (“the girl’s place”) are common. Functional morphemes often take
the place of inflectional morphemes found in the source language. For example,
instead of changing the form of you to your, as in the English phrase your book,
English-based pidgins use a form like bilong, and change the word order to produce
phrases like buk bilong yu.