3. Defining the Enclave Dialect Community. What are the traits that characterize an isolated speech community? (Linguists have not previously defined

3. Defining the Enclave Dialect Community

What are the traits that characterize an isolated speech community?

(Linguists have not previously defined traits)


• Geography

• Economy

• Historical continuity

• Social relations

• Group Identity

• Social construction of enclave status


• Geography– Barriers to movement are significant, but

sometimes they have no effect, so this is not a sufficient feature


• Economy– Potential for economic autonomy can

contribute to isolation


• Historical continuity– Isolation must persist for at least 2

generations– “Continuous family residency is often a

fundamental defining trait of community membership in enclave situations.”

– Low in-migration & steady out-migration yield stable population


• Social relations– Social subordination of enclave in relation to

“mainstream” regional and national groups– Enclave communities often viewed as

“backward”


• Group Identity– Strong, positive sense of group identity and

“place”– Distinction between “insiders” and “outsiders”– Sometimes even when contact increases, a

community remains attitudinally and linguistically closed


• Social construction of enclave status– Requires a constellation of linguistic

structures -- very few of the dialect structures in a given enclave community are unique -- it is the combination of structures that sets them apart

– “enclave communities develop & reconstruct their linguistic identities over time, both in terms of local identity & in terms of identities that extend beyond their immediate community”

Discussion point:

• “one of the most dramatic changes that has taken place in the speech of Hyde Co AfAms is the shift toward the adoption of widespread AAVE norms, despite the enduring geographic dislocation of the community”

Language change in enclave communities

• Most scholars rely on:– Founder principle: distinctive traits

predetermined by varieties spoken by the population that first brought the language to the region

– Relic assumption: dialects will be conservative with respect to language change and will remain intact

Language change in enclave communities

• Most scholars rely on:– Founder principle– Relic assumption

• However, sometimes we don’t have reliable information on the founder dialect, and we cannot assume that relic forms will remain static

Other problems with models of language change/stability:

• Some changes in enclave dialects involve parallel independent developments/drift due to the operation of general processes of analogy & a universal tendency to move towards unmarked forms.

• Enclave dialect communities are not uniformly & invariably conservative, but can be innovative and change rapidly.

Other problems with models of language change/stability:

• Innovation can spread contra-hierarchically, from rural areas to urban centers.

• A peripheral dialect can be both conservative and innovative in language change.

Sociolinguistic Principles in Configuration of Isolated Dialects

• Principle of Dialect Exclusion -- enclave is sheltered from diffusion taking place in dominant population group -- this may give rise to selective retention and/or independent language change leading to dialect divergence.


• Principle of Selectivity in Change -- isolated dialects may selectively retain and develop dialect structures and may be conservative or undergo accelerated change.


• Principle of Regionalization -- retention of founder effects and independent innovation may lead to divergence from other enclaves and regional communities, leading to regional demarcation.


• Principle of Social marginalization -- marginalized, subordinate sociolinguistic status for enclave speakers, linguistic structures are socially disfavored.


• Principle of Vernacular Congruity -- natural linguistic processes may lead to parallel dialectal configurations in disparate isolated dialect communities, uniting enclaves with each other.


• Principle of Intracommunity Variation - Individuals may vary from their community.


• Principle of Localized Identity -- speakers embrace dialectal distinctiveness as an emblem of local identity, dialect is perpetuated, focused, intensified, or may be perpetuated beyond the insular state of an isolated variety.

Documents

3. Defining the Enclave Dialect Community. What are the traits that characterize an isolated speech community? (Linguists have not previously defined