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Non-conforming dialect and its (social) meanings: younger and older speakers’ reactions to hyperdialectisms in Brabantish
Doreleijers,Kristel Swanenberg,Jos
Doreleijers,Kristel
Swanenberg,Jos
Abstract
This paper discusses the social meaning of variation in adnominal gender marking in the Dutch dialect of North Brabant. Previous studies reveal that the masculine gender suffix gains social meaning at the expense of grammatical function. However, it remains unclear what kinds of meanings the suffix can have, and how it becomes part of a Brabantish speech style. Therefore, we present statements from ten focus group interviews featuring 50 younger and older speakers. In these sessions, participants were asked to reflect on hyperdialectal usages of the gender suffix. We argue that the indexicalization of the suffix does not yield one fixed social meaning but rather a range of potential meanings, i.e. indexical field, that can be called upon by individual speakers depending on the context. However, the ranges of potential meanings clearly differ between both age groups, unraveling the different norms associated with the suffix.
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Publisher Copyright: © The Author(s), 2024.
Date
2024-09-24
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Keywords
focus group interviews, hyperdialectism, indexical field, metalinguistic awareness, non-conforming dialect, social meaning of variation
Citation
Doreleijers, K & Swanenberg, J 2024, 'Non-conforming dialect and its (social) meanings : younger and older speakers’ reactions to hyperdialectisms in Brabantish', Nordic Journal of Linguistics, vol. 47, no. 3, pp. 271-302. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0332586524000088