Table Of ContentContact
‘Robert McColl Millar has emerged as a highly original and innovative C
thinker. Drawing on predominant theories in the field, his latest work offers
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a fresh and thought-provoking account of varieties in interaction, and his
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illustrative showcases make this an ideal reading for anybody interested in
the sociolinguistic evolution of English.’ T
Daniel Schreier, University of Zurich A THE INTERACTION OF CLOSELY RELATED
C LINGUISTIC VARIETIES AND THE HISTORY OF ENGLISH
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While much has been written on dialect formation through contact between Robert McColl Millar
dialects of the same language, the question of what happens when closely
related but linguistically discrete varieties come into contact with each other
has largely been neglected.
Here Robert McColl Millar sets out to redress this imbalance, giving the
reader the opportunity to analyse and consider a variety of different contact
scenarios where the language varieties involved are close relatives and to
explore the question: are the results of contacts of this type different in nature
from those where linguistically distant (or entirely different) varieties come
into contact?
Bringing together the diverse theoretical positions associated with the
production of new dialects as well as those associated with contact between
closely related but discrete language varieties, the book invites the reader to R
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evaluate different scholarly views using analysis from a range of different
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case studies, largely derived from the history and diversity of English. It then e
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goes on to demonstrate the similarities in process and end result between t
contact involving discrete but closely related languages and between dialects M
of the same language, and in doing so offers a new and insightful approach c
C
to issues of language contact.
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Robert McColl Millar is Professor in Linguistics and Scottish Language at the
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University of Aberdeen l
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Cover image: St Magnus Cathedral, Kirkwall © Claude Huot/Shutterstock.com
Cover design: www.hayesdesign.co.uk
ISBN 978-1-4744-0908-7
edinburghuniversitypress.com
Contact
Contact
The Interaction of Closely Related Linguistic
Varieties and the History of English
Robert McColl Millar
Edinburgh University Press is one of the leading university presses in the UK.
We publish academic books and journals in our selected subject areas across the
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© Robert McColl Millar, 2016
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The right of Robert McColl Millar to be identified as the author of this work has been
asserted in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, and the
Copyright and Related Rights Regulations 2003 (SI No. 2498).
Contents
Acknowledgements vi
Glossary vii
1 Some introductory thoughts 1
2 New dialect formation and near-dialect contact 16
3 New dialect formation and time depth 57
4 Linguistic contact and near-relative relationships 106
5 English in the ‘transition period’: the sources of contact-
induced change 124
6 Conclusions 171
Notes 178
References 190
Index 206
Acknowledgements
The topics discussed in this book have concerned me since my late
teens; over the last thirty years it has been my privilege discussing
them in a range of fora, formal and informal, around the world. In
recent years, many of these ideas have become focused when teaching
advanced undergraduate and postgraduate courses; the input from my
students has been invaluable.
Towards the end of the writing of Contact, I received very useful
advice from Edgar Schneider and Anke de Looper which made my life
a little easier. My dear colleagues here at Aberdeen worked a little bit
more in the Spring of 2014 so that I could get relief from teaching. I am
grateful to both groups and hope to return the favour one day.
Finally, a mention for my family. Sandra and Mairi are a source of
endless fascination and rest for me. They both contribute immeasurably
to my work and get very little in recompense. This book is dedicated
to them.
vi
Glossary
analytic Languages generally mark function through the position
of phrases within a clause. Thus speakers of English primarily know
which phrase in the clause represents the subject, direct object and so
on, because of that phrase’s position in the clause. The ‘opposite’ of an
analytic language is a synthetic one. It should be noted that these are
not absolute states: there is a continuum between an absolutely analytic
language and an absolutely synthetic one. Tok Pisin is more analytic
than is English, for instance.
case, grammatical A case system expresses functional relationships
within the clause, normally marked through the use of inflectional
morphology. Languages with a ‘rich’ case system often have a more
flexible element order system than do those which have little or no case
marking. Marking case through morphology is a powerful representa-
tion of synthetic tendencies.
convergence While most linguistic change is divergent, convergence,
the coming together over time of previously discrete language varieties,
is not uncommon. Historically, Modern Dutch may be descended not
from one ancestor, but rather three, which have coalesced.
creole Most scholars believe that creoles are the descendants of pidgins.
Creoles share many of their features with their pidgin ancestors, but
are the native languages of some speakers. Their formation represents
a radical breach from the lexifier language: essentially, creoles are
independent languages, capable of the same nuances of expression as
any ‘natural’ language. Because many creoles are spoken in colonial
or post-colonial environments, a post-creole continuum often develops.
In these circumstances, different forms of language develop; some of
these are closer to the original creole, some to the lexifier language.
It should be noted that stages along the continuum do not represent
vii
viii contact
absolute states: native speakers regularly move along it, depending on
social context.
creoloid It has been suggested that some language varieties – creoloids
– have been formed by processes similar to, but not the same as, those
which produce creoles. With creoles, it is believed that a radical breach
with the lexifier language has taken place; this produces a separate
language. No such breach is present with creoloids, which generally
remain mutually intelligible with varieties of the lexifier languages for a
considerable period after the change in state. They nevertheless exhibit
many of the simplifying tendencies exhibited by creoles. Afrikaans is,
perhaps, the most widely spoken creoloid.
divergence This happens when two or more language varieties become
increasingly discrete from each other over time. Divergence is probably
the mainstream form of language change. Thus Modern English and
Modern High German share a common ancestor; for a while, the two
varieties were dialects of the same language. Now little or no mutual
comprehension is possible.
drift As proposed by Sapir, drift is the tendency by which a language
(or, by extension, languages) develops across its linguistic system in
essentially the same way, in essentially the same direction.
gender, grammatical Many languages employ a system something like
a very large form of noun class, termed grammatical gender. In some
languages grammatical gender appears to have some relationship with
natural sex. This relationship is rarely straightforward; many other gen-
der-bearing languages exhibit no such connection. Gender relationships
can be realised through functional morphology and the use of definers.
lexifier language This is the prestigious standardised language of a
(normally colonial or post-colonial) territory where a pidgin or creole
(or both) is used. Its lexis is normally the central source of vocabulary
for an incipient pidgin; it is also highly influential on the development
of later creoles.
near-relative variety Most language varieties are related genetically
(that is, by descent) to other language varieties. Naturally, most related
varieties which are considered part of the same language – dialects –
closely resemble each other. This means that mutual intelligibility
is generally straightforward. Even when greater linguistic distance is
glossary ix
involved, mutual comprehension is still possible, albeit with a little
effort. On the other hand, languages are normally portrayed as being
discrete entities, even in connection with their closer relatives. Of
course, this is often the case: native speakers of Norwegian cannot
understand German without learning that language, even though the
two languages share many lexical, phonological and structural features.
But occasionally, language varieties are considered discrete entities
but nevertheless are sufficiently closely related to each other that some
mutual recognition of similarity and at least some intelligibility are pos-
sible. What are the results of near-relative linguistic contact? How do
these compare with other types of contact?
pidgin A pidgin is a radically simplified-use language created in situ-
ations where speakers of at least three languages have no language in
common. Pidgins do not have native speakers; their nativised descend-
ants are, according to most analyses, creoles.
synthetic Languages express function through form, such as through
their use of grammatical case. Thus, in Polish, while there are main-
stream element order patterns, most functional information is carried
by inflections. It should be noted that there is a continuum between an
absolutely analytic language and an absolutely synthetic one. Finnish is
more synthetic than is Polish, for instance.
