Dialectology

by Mary and Sarah
 * __History of English Language: Dialectology__**

"Dialects are fascinating and relevant to the general study of language differences." Every language has a variety of different dialects pertaining to the region in which they live in. There is not a better example of the different dialects in English than the United States because people in each region speak differently. Many people tend to confuse dialectology with accents. They do not have the same concept because dialectology is a change in vocabulary depending on the region whereas acccents are the way you proncounce a word. It is possible to have an accent while speaking dialect though. This is common for people who live in or travel country to country (Source 4). Dialectology is an interesting etymology topic because of the definition, history, and how it is related to the United States.

Dialectology is a regional variety of language distinguished by features of vocabulary, grammar, and pronunciation from other regional varieties and constituting together with them a single language (Source 1). It is a sub-field of linguistics that focuses on grammar used in specific regional areas. Dialectologist's data mainly represents the language of groups of people who have lived in a certain area for generations as wells as immigrants (Source 2).

The study of dialect was first discovered by Georg Wenker, a German scientist who sent out questionnaires written in standard German across Northern Germany. The questionnaires were translated into different dialects specific to the regions. Weckler's discovery of differences in the way people speak according to the region they live in sparked the world-wide study of Dialectology. In the early nineteenth century, dialectologists moved away from this traditional study and began to take social factors into account. The Linguistic Atlas of the United States was among the first in dialectology to move toward the study of Sociolinguistics (Source 2).

In America there are many different ways people speak English depending on which region of the country you live in. For instance, in the northern states such as Boston R's are often dropped, but an extra R is added to words that end in a vowel. They pronounce their A's like AH and therefore sound like "Pahk the cah in Hahvahd yahd". Western dialects originated from Spanish, Native Americans, and cowboy jargon such as: boneyard, mustang, corral, roundup, belly up, maverick, bronco and buckaroo. People in the South region drop their R's when they speak. Some words founded in the south include: cooter (turtle), goober (peanut), big mamma (grandmother), and big daddy (grandfather) (Source 5). The United States consists of many regions each having their own dialect but America is not the only country with different dialects. There are many versatile dialects throughout the entire world.

In conclusion, dialectology is different language communities having specific ways of speaking that seperate them from others. Groups who are isolated eventually form a characteristic dialect (Source 6). It is not the same thing as accents or languages. Dialectology has its own definition, history, and is used in America as well as other parts throughout the world. Without dialectology each region would not be as unique as it is today. Dialeckology is interestin'! Fry mah hide! (Redneck Transalation: Dialectology is interesting!) (Source 7).

(Different ways people pronounce words)

SOURCES

1. "Dialect." Merriam Webster. 27 Feb. 2008 http://www.merriamwebster.com/dictionary/dialect. 2. "Dialectology." Wikipedia. 27 Feb. 2008 <[|http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dialectology>.] 3. "Regional Dialects." NWSource. 27 Feb. 2008  4."Accent and Dialect." Daily Writing Tips. 9 Mar. 2008 <[|http://www.dailywritingtips.com/accent-and-dialect/>.] 5. "Dialect Map of American English." 9 Mar. 2008 <[|http://www.geocities.com/yvain.geo/dialects.html>.] 6."Language and Linguistics." National Science Foundation. 9 Mar. 2008 <[|http://www.nsf.gov/news/special_reports/linguistics/dialects.jsp>.] 7. Stoddard, Samuel. "The Dialectizer." 9 Mar. 2008 <[|http://www.rinkworks.com/dialect/>.]