Home Linguistics & Semiotics 15. Fine-grained morphophonological variation in Scottish Gaelic: Evidence from the Linguistic Survey of Scotland
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15. Fine-grained morphophonological variation in Scottish Gaelic: Evidence from the Linguistic Survey of Scotland

  • Anna Bosch and James Scobbie
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Abstract

Descriptive accounts of Scottish Gaelic dialects (e.g. Borgstrøm 1937; Oftedal 1956; Ternes 1973) have noted significant regional variation in the surface description of nasal mutation; this paper brings previously unpublished data from archives of the Linguistic Survey of Scotland to bear on the full range of variation across Gaelic speaking Scotland. We employ these data to map out the actual range of variation in the nasal mutation; using Mapmaker software we focus on three graded parameters: voicing, aspiration, and nasalization. With this research we demonstrate the continuing value of “historical” data for the analysis of endangered and minority languages. As yet, no maps have been published based on this survey data.

Abstract

Descriptive accounts of Scottish Gaelic dialects (e.g. Borgstrøm 1937; Oftedal 1956; Ternes 1973) have noted significant regional variation in the surface description of nasal mutation; this paper brings previously unpublished data from archives of the Linguistic Survey of Scotland to bear on the full range of variation across Gaelic speaking Scotland. We employ these data to map out the actual range of variation in the nasal mutation; using Mapmaker software we focus on three graded parameters: voicing, aspiration, and nasalization. With this research we demonstrate the continuing value of “historical” data for the analysis of endangered and minority languages. As yet, no maps have been published based on this survey data.

Chapters in this book

  1. Prelim pages i
  2. Table of contents v
  3. Introduction
  4. The lure of a distant horizon: Variation in indigenous minority languages 1
  5. Part I. Variation in phonetics and phonology
  6. 1. The phonetic and phonological effects of obsolescence in Northern Paiute 23
  7. 2. Diglossia and monosyllabization in Eastern Cham: A sociolinguistic study 47
  8. 3. Affricates in Lleidatà: A sociophonetic case study 77
  9. 4. Sociolinguistic stratification and new dialect formation in a Canadian aboriginal community: Not so different after all? 109
  10. 5. The changing sound of the Māori language 129
  11. 6. Toward a study of language variation and change in Jonaz Chichimeco 153
  12. 7. A sociolinguistic sketch of vowel shifts in Kaqchikel: ATR-RTR parameters and redundancy markedness of syllabic nuclei in an Eastern Mayan language 173
  13. 8. Phonological features of attrition: The shift from Catalan to Spanish in Alicante 211
  14. 9. Sociophonetic variation in urban Ewe 229
  15. 10. Phonological variation in a Peruvian Quechua speech community 245
  16. 11. A tale of two diphthongs in an indigenous minority language: Yami of Taiwan 259
  17. 12. Phonological markedness, regional identity, and sex in Mayan: The fricativization of intervocalic /l/ 281
  18. 13. The pronunciation of /r/ in Frisian: A comparative study with Dutch and Town Frisian 299
  19. Part II. Variation in syntax, morphology, and morphophonology
  20. 14. Language shift among the Mansi 321
  21. 15. Fine-grained morphophonological variation in Scottish Gaelic: Evidence from the Linguistic Survey of Scotland 347
  22. 16. Animacy in Bislama? Using quantitative methods to evaluate transfer of a substrate feature 369
  23. 17. The challenges of less commonly studied languages: Writing a sociogrammar of Faetar 397
  24. 18. Language variation and change in a North Australian indigenous community 419
  25. 19. Ethnicity, bilingualism and variable clitic marking in Bishnupriya Manipuri 441
  26. 20. Clan as a sociolinguistic variable: Three approaches to Sui clans 463
  27. 21. Language loss in spatial semantics: Dene Sųłiné 485
  28. Index 517
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