Zachariassen2023b
| Zachariassen2023b | |
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| BibType | THESIS |
| Key | Zachariassen2023b |
| Author(s) | Ditte Zachariassen |
| Title | Sån det der - nogle prosodiske, syntaktiske og leksikale træk i en urban dialekt i Aarhus |
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| Tag(s) | EMCA, Danish, dialects, prosody, syntax, lexicon |
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| Year | 2023 |
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| URL | Link |
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| Institution | Aarhus University |
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| Type | phdthesis |
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Abstract
“Like that” – some prosodic, syntactic, and lexical features of a Danish urban dialect in Aarhus This dissertation presents interactional linguistic functions of a number of prosodic, syntactic and lexical features in a Danish urban dialect. The dissertation stands on the shoulders of four decades of research in emerging linguistic varieties in urban environ- ments with high linguistic diversity in major northern European cities. However, unlike recent years’ Danish studies in the field, the dissertation takes a dialect-centered approach to the linguistic variation. It contributes to the field of research with microanalyses of interactive functions of specific linguistic features. Drawing on methods from Conversation Analysis and Interactional Linguistics, grammatical analyses of prosody and syntax are used as the basis for interactional analyses of functions of the individual features. A total of six features are described: a prosodic feature which I call ‘Strong Finals’, a syntactic feature which I call ‘V3’ and four lexemes with interjectional functions: ‘ikkå’, ‘eow’, ‘lak’, ‘yani’ and an interjectional use of the personal pronoun ‘dig’ (Eng. ‘you’). The prosodic feature Strong Finals is defined by three acoustic criteria: vowel lengthening, non-falling intonation, and increased volume on syllables which occur in sentence or clause-final positions, which in Standard Danish would be unstressed Five interactional functions for Strong Finals are described: In listings, Strong Finals can support the projection that an element is part of a longer list or it can support specification of the order of events; in conditional sentences, Strong Finals can support the projection of a particularly important argument and/or function as an invitation for other participants to contribute; before reported speech, Strong Finals can support the projection of the reported speech or the climax of a story; in questions, Strong Finals can support the recruitment to more than affirmation. The five functions all have to do with the projection ‘more to come’, and in the dissertation the common function name ‘projection device’ is suggested. The syntactic feature V3 is defined as sentences where the verb occupies the topological third position of the sentence, which deviates from the V2 structure in Standard Danish. V3 is found in sentences initiated by tense adverbials, by the cohesion marker ‘så’ (Eng. ‘then’ or ‘so’), by discourse adverbs (e.g. ‘actually'), by location adverbials, by the sentence object or in conditional sentences. Functionally, three interactional environments are described: In sentences initiated by time adverbs or ‘så’, V3 can support the organization of a story’s sequence of events; in conditional sentences and in discourse adverb-initiated sentences, V3 can support a claim of epistemic authority; and in location 6 adverbial- or object-initiated sentences, V3 can support the introduction or reframing of a referent in a story. The three functions are often found in storytelling. Five lexemes, ‘ikkå’, ‘eow’, ‘lak’, ‘yani’ and ‘dig’ are described as interjections. They can all be found in the extra-sentential position and neither can occupy the central grammatical roles as subject, object, verb, adjectival or sentence adverbial. For each lexeme, one to three interactional functions are described: ‘ikkå’ can either support the request for an extension from the recipient, support a speaker in keeping the floor, or support a claim of epistemic authority; ‘eow’ can support the pin-pointing of a possible solution to a problem; ‘lak’ can support a blame for the lack of application of knowledge; ‘yani’ can support the expression of asymmetric knowledge relationships; and ‘dig’ can support negotiations for the right to participate. The above prosodic, syntactic and lexical features have been selected for description because they all deviate from the grammar of Standard Danish talk-in-interaction. The dissertation argues that they are part of a linguistic variety which can be described as a dialect. The features are used in Western and Southern Aarhus in residential areas characterized by linguistic diversity, but they do not exhibit interlanguage-like qualities. We know this for the following reasons: first, they are used by speakers with Danish as their first language and, second, they take the same forms across speakers and time. The dissertation’s analyses are based on recordings of natural interaction in everyday activities collected during a multi-site fieldwork study in youth clubs, high schools, and homework clubs in 2012 and 2017-18. Additionally, data from other researchers’ collections in 2002 and 2006 are included. The data are compiled in a corpus available to other researchers. The corpus consists of audio and video recordings, partial transcriptions, and annotation of a number of linguistic features that deviate from standard Danish grammar. None of the dialectal features perform semantic or pragmatic functions on their own, they are always found together with other linguistic features that contribute to the same function. The fact that the features are always complementary, in my view, strengthens the argument that the urban dialect is not a special language or a slang form that must be translated for outsiders, as it is otherwise often presented in media coverage of the research on urban dialects.
Notes
