A prototype-theoretic model of Southern French
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Elissa Pustka
Abstract
The features of regional accents are not equally distributed in any speech community: the ideal NORM-speaker produces all of the diatopically marked variants in all situations whereas less traditional speakers are more likely to produce other variants or realize the diatopic variants less frequently. This is reflected in the way that native speakers picture the accent in their mind: they spontaneously imagine the speech of the NORM when they think of a variety; the other versions are also assigned to it, but are considered as less typical. On the basis of a small corpus of Southern French drawn from the project Phonologie du Français Contemporain (PFC), the chapter shows that this phenomenon can adequately be described with the aid of prototype theory.
Abstract
The features of regional accents are not equally distributed in any speech community: the ideal NORM-speaker produces all of the diatopically marked variants in all situations whereas less traditional speakers are more likely to produce other variants or realize the diatopic variants less frequently. This is reflected in the way that native speakers picture the accent in their mind: they spontaneously imagine the speech of the NORM when they think of a variety; the other versions are also assigned to it, but are considered as less typical. On the basis of a small corpus of Southern French drawn from the project Phonologie du Français Contemporain (PFC), the chapter shows that this phenomenon can adequately be described with the aid of prototype theory.
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Introduction vii
-
Section I. Phonological variation and leveling
- Introduction 3
- Perception and production in French dialect leveling 9
- The sociolinguistic relevance of regional categories 25
- Prosodic style-shifting as audience design 43
- The immigrant factor in phonological leveling 63
- A prototype-theoretic model of Southern French 77
- The law of position revisited 95
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Section II. Stylistic and syntactic variation
- Introduction 115
- Variation in first and second language French 121
- French preadolescents’ perceptions of stylistic variation 141
- Sociolinguistic variation in African French 159
- Register variation in the non-standard use of non-finite forms 177
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Section III. Lexical variation and semantic change
- Introduction 195
- Discourse markers and regional variation in French 201
- Sociolinguistic factors and the pragmaticalization of bon in contemporary spoken French 215
- From ‘luck’ to ‘wealth’ 231
- Index 253
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Introduction vii
-
Section I. Phonological variation and leveling
- Introduction 3
- Perception and production in French dialect leveling 9
- The sociolinguistic relevance of regional categories 25
- Prosodic style-shifting as audience design 43
- The immigrant factor in phonological leveling 63
- A prototype-theoretic model of Southern French 77
- The law of position revisited 95
-
Section II. Stylistic and syntactic variation
- Introduction 115
- Variation in first and second language French 121
- French preadolescents’ perceptions of stylistic variation 141
- Sociolinguistic variation in African French 159
- Register variation in the non-standard use of non-finite forms 177
-
Section III. Lexical variation and semantic change
- Introduction 195
- Discourse markers and regional variation in French 201
- Sociolinguistic factors and the pragmaticalization of bon in contemporary spoken French 215
- From ‘luck’ to ‘wealth’ 231
- Index 253
