This study deals with morphosyntactic variation in Paraná Dutch, an endangered heritage variety of Dutch spoken in the southern Brazilian state of Paraná. Its original objectives were (i) to...Show moreThis study deals with morphosyntactic variation in Paraná Dutch, an endangered heritage variety of Dutch spoken in the southern Brazilian state of Paraná. Its original objectives were (i) to describe divergences from Dutch as spoken in the Netherlands (NLD) as well as retained dialectal features (ii) to compare these variations to findings of other studies on Dutch as a heritage language (HL), and (iii) to relate the findings to extralinguistic features. Due to the situation of intergenerational language loss encountered during the fieldwork conducted for this study, it was deemed important to add a fourth objective, namely to assess the vitality of the heritage variety. No previous linguistic research on language variation in Dutch as a HL in Paraná exists, and this study will therefore extend our knowledge of morphosyntactic divergences and dialectal retentions in the Dutch heritage varieties. More than 22 hours of naturalistic speech data of 82 Dutch heritage speakers (HSs) in three communities – Arapoti, Carambeí and Castrolanda – was gathered between November 2018 and January 2019, and coded for morphosyntactic divergence from NLD or dialectal variation. The sample consisted of speakers of different ages (16-91), generations (first till fourth) and with varying levels of exposure to and usage of Dutch. Two models for language vitality assessment (UNESCO, EGIDS) were used to describe the endangerment of Paraná Dutch. According to the models, the heritage variety is definitively endangered (UNESCO), and threatened or shifting (EGIDS). Morphosyntactic divergences from NLD found in the speech of the participants include the overgeneralization of SVO word order, omission of determiners, variation in grammatical gender assignment, variation in nominal plural markers, pronoun drop, and variation in present verb inflection. Morphosyntactic divergences from the standard language that can be attributed to Dutch dialects or regional languages include the merger of the verbs kennen ‘to know’ and kunnen ‘can’, use of heb ‘to have’ for the 3SG.PRES, and the use of periphrastic doen ‘to do’. Of the morphosyntactic divergences found in the data, the six mentioned previously were used by a sizeable part of the sample (at least ten participants). Many of these divergences have also been attested in Dutch heritage varieties in Anglophone countries, Indonesia and in other parts of Brazil. The divergences from NLD are either due to interference from the majority language Portuguese, due to internal development in the HL, or due to a combination of the former two (multiple causation). Participants whose speech contained morphosyntactic divergences from NLD tend to be of the second generation or later and have a lower usage of and exposure to Dutch than the average of the sample. Although most of the dialectal features present in the speech of the first-generation participants have not been attested in the speech of later generations, some have been retained or even spread throughout the community. The three morphosyntactic features that originate from Dutch dialects or regional languages mentioned above have been retained and transmitted to speakers of the second generation or later.Show less
While in many Chinese languages possessive pronouns do not exist, in Kejia they do, and this thesis delves into them. First, it looks at their distribution and variation throughout the Kejia...Show moreWhile in many Chinese languages possessive pronouns do not exist, in Kejia they do, and this thesis delves into them. First, it looks at their distribution and variation throughout the Kejia dialects and their possible origin. This enables research into the function of Kejia possessive pronouns and their usage in possessive constructions, which forms the latter part of the thesis. While earlier research on the topic focused on separate Kejia dialects, in this thesis, all the available data from scholarly literature have been collected, compared, and enhanced with a small informant consultation. The thesis finds that: Kejia possessive pronouns are found in all dialects looked at; they feature some variation but most seem to be constructed out of the personal pronouns with /-a/ as coda vowel; of the three origin theories compared, the one that proposes contraction of the personal pronoun and the /a-/ common before kinship terms is the most plausible; in some dialects, the usage is limited to kinship terms, while in other dialects the usage has broadened to all semantic categories of possession, and throughout the Kejia dialects much variation exists in this respect; in some dialects, the subdivision of possessive constructions does not follow the traditional subdivision in semantic categories.Show less
This thesis studies the current differences in lexical choice in male and female speech in Dutch in order to find out which Dutch language features are indicative of the gender of a speaker and...Show moreThis thesis studies the current differences in lexical choice in male and female speech in Dutch in order to find out which Dutch language features are indicative of the gender of a speaker and which Dutch language features laypersons associate with a certain gender. While the field of language variation due to gender has increased in popularity, there is still little research available about the differences between male and female speech in languages other than English. This thesis was written in order to add to this currently underrepresented subject within the field of language variation due to gender. Furthermore, this thesis also focuses on the subject of lexicality, which is a subject that is often overlooked in favour of other parts of language variation, such as the variation in the use of certain language acts, the variation in voice and the frequency of interruptions. Social indexicality and previous studies about the differences between male and female speech are discussed in this thesis, before the methodology is explained. The data used in this thesis consist of fifty transcribed conversations from Dutch television programmes such as Van de Kaart, and these data were scrutinized for the presence of various gendered language features, such as the use of negation or locatives. Furthermore, twenty-five participants were asked to read three transcriptions and to indicate what they thought the gender of the speaker was. While the data showed that all analysed language features are used by both men and women, there is often a difference in the frequency of use, which means the feature is either feminine or masculine. For example, the use of negation is more frequent in female speech, while men use more quantities. Laypersons, on the other hand, determined the gender of speakers both through contextual clues and the lexical choices made by the speakers.Show less
This study focuses on the variation in pronunciation of 18 Dutch loanwords. These loanwords know variation in a vowel or consonant, or in their stress pattern. With the help of a questionnaire and...Show moreThis study focuses on the variation in pronunciation of 18 Dutch loanwords. These loanwords know variation in a vowel or consonant, or in their stress pattern. With the help of a questionnaire and wordlist, the varying pronunciation forms of these Dutch loanwords were analysed. By studying the origin of these loanwords, it became evident whether the donor language influenced the pronunciation. It became clear that French is the most influential donor language with regards to the pronunciation. Correlations with sex, age, region, educational level, and dialect proficiency were also studied to find any patterns. The social variables sex and educational level influenced the choices speakers made for a certain pronunciation form the most.Show less
