Tuscan between standard and vernacular: a sociophonetic perspective
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Silvia Calamai
Abstract
In most parts of Tuscany there is a particular configuration of the linguistic repertoire and the traditional opposition between standard language vs. dialects is lacking, being the Florentine dialect at the origin of the Italian language. Code-switching is totally absent from the linguistic production of Tuscan speakers, whose speech is highly mixed up, with occurrences of several dialectal features also in formal contexts. The paper explores the relationship between standard and vernacular in Tuscany and may be considered also as a state-of-the art both on the production and the perception side, offering an update picture of the classical studies written by Luciano Giannelli in the seventies and in the eighties. In the first part, a picture of the most relevant variables occurring at the phonetic level is presented, with a particular attention to the consonantal weakening (the so-called gorgia toscana), the s-affrication, the stressed vowel systems, the raddoppiamento sintattico. Some acoustic data are discussed in order to find out the main loci of variation and the dialectal features showing a diffusion process inside the region, especially among young speakers. In the second part, some perceptual data elicited by means of the verbal-guise technique are presented, in order to evaluate how the Florentine pronunciation is perceived. Although at the supra-regional level the prestige of Florentine pronunciation is declining, it still endures inside the region; on the other hand, other sub-regional pronunciations enjoy some sort of covert prestige which may be partly responsible for the spreading of some local phonetic features.
Abstract
In most parts of Tuscany there is a particular configuration of the linguistic repertoire and the traditional opposition between standard language vs. dialects is lacking, being the Florentine dialect at the origin of the Italian language. Code-switching is totally absent from the linguistic production of Tuscan speakers, whose speech is highly mixed up, with occurrences of several dialectal features also in formal contexts. The paper explores the relationship between standard and vernacular in Tuscany and may be considered also as a state-of-the art both on the production and the perception side, offering an update picture of the classical studies written by Luciano Giannelli in the seventies and in the eighties. In the first part, a picture of the most relevant variables occurring at the phonetic level is presented, with a particular attention to the consonantal weakening (the so-called gorgia toscana), the s-affrication, the stressed vowel systems, the raddoppiamento sintattico. Some acoustic data are discussed in order to find out the main loci of variation and the dialectal features showing a diffusion process inside the region, especially among young speakers. In the second part, some perceptual data elicited by means of the verbal-guise technique are presented, in order to evaluate how the Florentine pronunciation is perceived. Although at the supra-regional level the prestige of Florentine pronunciation is declining, it still endures inside the region; on the other hand, other sub-regional pronunciations enjoy some sort of covert prestige which may be partly responsible for the spreading of some local phonetic features.
Chapters in this book
- Frontmatter I
- Contents V
- Preface VII
- List of Contributors IX
- List of Figures XIII
- List of Tables XV
-
Introduction
- On the development of a new standard norm in Italian 3
-
Part I: Restandardization tendencies
- What is changing in Italian today? Phenomena of restandardization in syntax and morphology: an overview 31
- Changes from below, changes from above: relative constructions in contemporary Italian 61
- Everyone has an accent. Standard Italian and regional pronunciation 89
- Evaluating regional variation in Italian: towards a change in standard language ideology? 118
-
Part II: Regional standards
- How standard regional Italians set in: the case of standard Piedmontese Italian 145
- Italian in Bozen/Bolzano: the formation of a ‘new dialect’ 176
- Tuscan between standard and vernacular: a sociophonetic perspective 213
- Contact between Italian and dialect in Sicily: the case of phrasal verb constructions 242
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Part III: Crossing the borders
- Anglicisms in Italian. Typologies of language contact phenomena with particular reference to word-formation processes 269
- English loans in written Italian: a regional perspective 293
- Italian in Switzerland: the dynamics of pluricentrism 321
-
Epilogue
- The neo-standard of Italy and elsewhere in Europe 365
- Index 375
Chapters in this book
- Frontmatter I
- Contents V
- Preface VII
- List of Contributors IX
- List of Figures XIII
- List of Tables XV
-
Introduction
- On the development of a new standard norm in Italian 3
-
Part I: Restandardization tendencies
- What is changing in Italian today? Phenomena of restandardization in syntax and morphology: an overview 31
- Changes from below, changes from above: relative constructions in contemporary Italian 61
- Everyone has an accent. Standard Italian and regional pronunciation 89
- Evaluating regional variation in Italian: towards a change in standard language ideology? 118
-
Part II: Regional standards
- How standard regional Italians set in: the case of standard Piedmontese Italian 145
- Italian in Bozen/Bolzano: the formation of a ‘new dialect’ 176
- Tuscan between standard and vernacular: a sociophonetic perspective 213
- Contact between Italian and dialect in Sicily: the case of phrasal verb constructions 242
-
Part III: Crossing the borders
- Anglicisms in Italian. Typologies of language contact phenomena with particular reference to word-formation processes 269
- English loans in written Italian: a regional perspective 293
- Italian in Switzerland: the dynamics of pluricentrism 321
-
Epilogue
- The neo-standard of Italy and elsewhere in Europe 365
- Index 375
