Where Have All the Articles Gone? The Use of Zero Articles in Marmora and Lake, Ontario

Abstract

In May 2019, the authors conducted sociolinguistic interviews with 39 White residents of Marmora and Lake, Ontario, a place founded predominately by British settlers, with a mixed farming/mining economy up until the late twentieth century. The data are rich in well-known dialect features, including preterit come, zero relative pronouns, and, most strikingly, zero articles. Praat analyses confirm that these zero articles are not simply due to phonetic reduction, and analysis of the zero variants exposes several trends. Among the oldest members of the population, the incidence of zero articles is relatively frequent, especially among men, a typical pattern for dialect obsolescence. In addition to phonetic conditioning, consistent with definite article reduction at earlier times, the data also show a strong effect of information status, consistent with patterns for the zero definite article in York, England. Older individuals use zero articles across more contexts compared to younger ones, suggesting systemic adjustments in an evolving grammatical system. The authors argue that the use of the zero articles in Marmora reflects an earlier stage in the history of both the definite and indefinite articles in English. They also consider cultural changes and psychological impacts from personal commentaries to highlight the importance of social context. This research demonstrates that rural Ontario offers key insight into the earlier stages and current state of dialects in North America.