Geolinguistic Studies Research Articles

Denominations for the lexical item “diabo” in capitals of Brazil: a Geolinguistic study with data from the linguistic Atlas Project Of Brazil

O artigo faz uma análise das denominações para o item lexical diabo no Norte e no Nordeste do Brasil. Para isso, utilizaram-se inquéritos do Projeto Atlas Linguístico do Brasil, realizados com 120 informantes, distribuídos equitativamente por ambos os sexos, em duas faixas etárias e dois níveis de escolaridade, selecionados de acordo com os critérios da Dialetologia Contemporânea. Foram registrados 332 itens lexicais, concretizados através de trinta e uma variantes: anjo mau, anticristo, besta, besta-fera, belzebu, bicho feio, bicho ruim, cão, capeta, capiroto, chifrudo, coisa ruim, cramunhão, criatura, cruz-credo, demo, demônio, desgraça, diabo, encardido, enxofre, inimigo, lúcifer, nefisto, príncipe dos céus, sapirico, satã, satanás, sujo, tinhoso, troço. O estudo serviu para demonstrar a diversidade linguística e cultural do léxico religioso do português falado no Norte e no Nordeste do Brasil, sendo de extrema importância para o conhecimento da multidimensionalidade que a língua portuguesa assume nos diversos espaços físicos e socioculturais.

The specifics of Croatian folk mythology

The article is devoted to the areal distribution of Croatian mythological characters, taking into account the general picture of folk mythology in the space of Southern Slavia. The author regards demonological images specific to the Adriatic, southern and northern parts of Croatia (including the Istrian peninsula), northwestern Croatia (often representing a single whole with the neighboring Slovenian area), Slavonia and Croats living in the environment of a foreign-cultural and foreign-speaking majority (Drava’s Croats in Hungary and Burgenland’s Croats in Austria and Hungary). The need to analyze character types considering the neighboring South Slavic regions (Bosnian, Serbian, Slovenian) is caused by the common system of distribution of cultural dialects and the corresponding terminology of folk culture in the whole South Slavic territory. As far as the geolinguistic study of folk mythology is concerned, and more broadly – cultural dialects, the ethnolinguist’s attention naturally falls on borrowings in the names of demonological characters: Italian, German, Hungarian, etc.

Lietuviška medžiaga Berlyno garso archyve ir lituanistinė A. Bezzenbergerio veikla pirmojo pasaulinio karo belaisvių stovyklose

Lithuanian material in the Sound Archive in Berlin and Adalbert Bezzenberger’s work in Lithuanian studies during the First World War The article discusses the Lithuanian materials in the Sound Archive ( Lautarchiv ) of the Humboldt University of Berlin that are still unknown to the Lithuanian science. These include speech and music audio recordings made in World War I prisoner-of-war camps. The collection of recordings was organized by the Royal Prussian Phonographic Commission ( Königlich Preußische Phonographische Kommission ), and the language data collection was supervised by W. Doegen. The publication focuses on the contribution of the famous expert of the Baltic languages A. Bezzenberger in selecting respondents according to their ability to represent the native dialect. The study of the completed questionnaires and audio recordings reveals that the researcher knew the features of Lithuanian dialects and the methodological principles of dialect data collection and understood the importance of new technologies - sound recording and reproduction - for linguistics. The article also presents the historical and scientific context of the project itself. It emphasizes the value of the surviving sound recordings for the history of documentation and study of Lithuanian dialects. Although the recordings made during World War I are not flawless technically, they can be used for comparative dialectological research and investigation of the development of separate Lithuanian dialects, as well as other geolinguistic studies.

THE CONTINUUM OF TERENGGANU DIALECT ALONG THE EAST COAST MALAYSIA: A GEOLINGUISTIC STUDY

Background and Purpose: One of the eminent Malay dialects on the east coast is the Terengganu dialect which is argued to have some linguistic peculiarities. The prominent characteristics are nasal modification, nasal deletion, fricative modification, liquid deletion and monophthongization. These dialectal features are very much different from the standard Malay.
 
 Methodology: This research involved a fieldwork at 52 village points with the participation of 500 informants. They were interviewed and requested to fill in the questionnaires. 
 
 Findings: The findings prove that the Terengganu dialectal features are widely used and progressed to southward. Hence the distribution overtly formed a continuum of Terengganu dialect. Non-linguistic factors such as history, socioeconomics and topography also play essential roles in regulating the distribution of this dialect. Historically, Terengganu was regarded as the centre of civilization with the discovery of the inscription stone as early as 1303AD. Its sea served as the silk road for the Chinese merchants. In addition, Terengganu people were expert in making vessels and they are skillful sailors as well. Furthermore, the flatlands along the coast amplifies the movement and dissemination of this dialect.
 
 Contributions: A geolinguistic study presented in this article provides some novel insights into how the Terengganu dialect dispersed, and the dialect continuum was formed using GIS technology. 
 
 Keywords: Dialect continuum, east-coast, geolinguistics, Terengganu dialect, topography.
 
 Cite as: Jalaluddin, N. H., Wan Halim, W. A. A., & Saari, K. A. (2021). The continuum of Terengganu dialect along the east coast Malaysia: A geolinguistic study. Journal of Nusantara Studies, 6(1), 176-198. http://dx.doi.org/10.24200/jonus.vol6iss1pp176-198

A geolinguistic study of directional prefixes in the Qiangic language area

Author(s): Shirai, Satoko | Abstract: This study examines directional prefixes in Qiangic languages from a geolinguistic perspective. Among Qiangic languages, the northern languages tend to have more directional prefixes. This fact suggests the areal development of directional prefixes. The present paper discusses the following four groups of directional prefixes: (i) “upward”; (ii) “downward”; (iii) “inward,” “upriver,” “eastward,” and related movements; and (iv) “outward,” “downriver,” “westward,” and related movements. First, I show the geographical distribution of the forms of prefixes for each directional category. Then, I examine the relative time depth of each form using a geolinguistic method and make hypotheses on the historical development of directional prefixes. This study reached the following conclusion: In Qiangic, the basic directional prefixes among these four groups are “upward,” “downward,” “inward,” and “outward.” The other categories involved in (iii) and (iv) were developed later, since the “upriver” and “downriver” prefixes show variety of forms among local areas, whereas the “eastward” and “westward” prefixes are found in limited areas. The following are the oldest types of initial of each directional prefix: dental plosive for the “upriver” prefixes; dental nasal for the “downward” prefixes; voiceless velar plosive for the “inward” prefixes; and voiced velar plosive for the “outward” prefixes.

Geolinguistic studies in Brazil in five phases: From the Viscount of Pedra Branca to the atlases of traditional communities’ speech

Considering the expansion of Dialectology in Brazil, which, in the 19th century, presented the first clues with the Viscount of Pedra Branca’s publication about the Brazilian Portuguese language compared to the European Portuguese spoken in Portugal, this paper presents the stages of development of the studies carried out since then and lists not only the periods that preceded Brazilian Geolinguistics, but the research that culminated with the publication of States Linguistic Atlases, the publication of the Linguistic Atlas of Brazil in 2014, idealized fifty years before, and the presentation of other documents already completed or designed, thus contemplating the entire Brazil length and completing the fourth phase of Geolinguistic studies. Twelve atlases were published in this phase, whose pioneering role was for Bahia speech, in 1963, and advanced in the work related to Minas Gerais (1977), Paraíba (1977). 1984), Sergipe (1987 and 2002), Paraná (1994), The Southern Region (2002), Pará (2004), Ceará (2009), Goiás (2015), Pernambuco (2016) and Amapá (2017). However, in recent years, researches of linguistic varieties in traditional communities, such as Indigenous, Fishermen and Quilombolas, as are named the descendants and remaining of communities formed by enslaved fugitives, has drawn the attention of researchers and the elaboration of linguistic atlases involving these culturally differentiated people speeches already signals the fifth phase of Geolinguistic studies in the country. Thus, it is intended to present a description of the works, their methodological constitution and a brief overview of the products of these works, which cataloged, at the time of their conclusion, presented specific linguistic marks of the speech of each state and informants’ profiles that allowed the verification of sociocultural interferences.

Community and space in Italian sociolinguistics. The experience of the <i>Linguistic Atlas of Sicily</i> (<i>Atlante Linguistico della Sicilia</i> – ALS)

Our paper focuses on the notions of ‘space’ and ‘community’ within the most recent developments of Italian sociolinguistics. This research area has roots in the tradition of Italian geolinguistic studies and has been enhanced by other research traditions. In fact, Italian sociolinguistics has reused the relationship between ‘community’ and ‘space’ investigated in the early 20th century by Benvenuto Terracini’s (1886--1968) seminal studies on ‘minimal linguistic point’ (‘punto linguistico minimo’) and on ‘community of speakers’. Since the Seventies and, with more weight, in the last decades, some important contributions coming from scholars such as Alberto Sobrero, Tullio Telmon and Giovanni Ruffino returned to Terracini’s issues, intertwining them with the approaches of variationist sociolinguistics. More recently models viewing community and space as contextualized discourse practices have been elaborated. In the most productive way, the Linguistic Atlas of Sicily (Atlante Linguistico della Sicilia, ALS) project uses the notions of ‘community’ and ‘space’ as they have been developed in the Italian geo- and sociolinguistic tradition. For more than twenty years, ALS has been exploring the Sicilian speaker’s language use, carrying out an innovative project. In this paper both theoretical assumptions and achievements of the ALS project will be discussed.

"Y. EBATA:A Geolinguistic Study on the Greeting Expressions and Behavior in Japan"へのコメント

"Y. EBATA:A Geolinguistic Study on the Greeting Expressions and Behavior in Japan"へのコメント

A Geolinguistic Study on the Greeting Expressions and Behavior in Japan

本研究は,多様な地方差が見られる日本のあいさつ表現とあいさつ行動を地理言語学的に研究したものである.あいさつの調査票は日常のあいさつ表現について11分野,88項目で構成されている.実地調査は1994年から2000年にかけて,日本の全県で行い,併せて,通信調査を1997年から2000年にかけて,全国約500余地点で実施した.本稿には,二種のサンプル地図がある.一つは,「朝起きた時に家族にどんなあいさつをするか」であり,他の一つは「朝家族を玄関で見送る時のあいさつ行動はどのようであるか」である.研究の結果,次のことが明らかになった.1)朝起きた時家族に「オハヨーゴザイマス」とあいさつをするのは都市の家族であり,これは地方では聞かれない.都市においてこの表現が頻用されるのは,個室に分割された居住環境に基づく.地方の古い家では,障子や唐紙によって各部屋を仕切っただけの居住環境であり,朝起きた時に他人行儀なあいさつ表現を行わない.しかし,1960年以降の高度経済成長に伴い,この傾向は変化しつつある.ただし,2)「朝家族を見送る時のあいさつ行動」の地図が明示するように,都市には「イッテラッシャイ=イッテキマス」という行為(建て前)が見える.地方では「無言」(本音)があり,対立は厳然としている.あいさつ表現の言語地図を解釈するためには,社会生活の変化に対応した人間生活の変化とその意識を考慮しながら行う,ダイナミックな見方や感性が必要である.

ON QUANTITATIVE GEOLINGUISTICS: AN ILLUSTRATION FROM GALICIAN DIALECTOLOGY

The essential objective of dialectology, and especially geolinguistics, is the study of spatial linguistic variation, special relevance being given to the presentation of results through cartographic representations. The methods of geolinguistic data analysis focused for a long period on the description and evaluation of phenomena conventionally regarded as particularly relevant, either in isolated or in group cases, and the latter only when the discovery of the existence of limits between varieties was straightforward. The application of quantitative methods to geolinguistic studies began at the start of the 1970s and experienced a spectacular impulse over the last two decades. The development of new computer-based tools and the recognition that dialectal variation could not be reduced to simple characterizations encouraged researchers to employ new research methods, with which it was possible to understand in greater detail the patterns which function in geolinguistic variation. This present study seeks to provide an overview of the principal analytical techniques and representation of geolinguistic information developed during in recent years. Moreover, it intends to demonstrate, on the basis of some examples of application, the interest of these new methodologies and their usefulness for a better understanding of the spatial variety of languages.

ON THE USE OF THE ARTICLE WITH PEOPLE�S PROPER NAMES IN GALICIAN

This paper examines the use of the definite article with proper names designating people in Galician. In Galician there is an area where the definite article can be used with proper names and another where this does not occur (Alvarez & Xove 2002: 380; Sousa 1994). Thus some speakers produce utterances such as A Luisa veu onte (DEF.ART - Luisa came yesterday ) whereas other people say Luisa veu onte ( Luisa came yesterday ). The paper looks at this question while seeking to contribute to the study of Galician dialect var iation, still inadequately described, through comparison with what occurs in other (particularly Romance) languages. It commences with a review of the functions of the definite article and the semantic characteristics of personal names (Gary - Prieur 1994 ; V an Langendonck 2007), and looks at the extent of the phenomenon and its social status in other languages, especially in Romance. The next section describes the dialectal distribution of the use of the article with proper names in Galician based on two twen tieth - century geolinguistic studies, Atlas Linguistico de la Peninsula Iberica (ALPI) and Atlas Linguistico Galego (ALGa), in order to establish where the phenomenon occurs. In this connection, following an assessment of the usefulness of studies in lingui stic geography for studying syntactic variation, it will be concluded that one must be very cautious data, on account of certain metho do logical problems that we perceive in this atlas. As our main conclusion, we will argue that the mot ivation for the use of the article with proper names in Galician is a process of the article's functional expansion, also obs erved in other languages (Lyons 1999). In an attempt to demonstrate this hypothesis, the phenomenon is compared to the use of the a rticle with another set of nouns, kinship terms, which share some semantic features with propers names.

Baltic and Finnic linguistic relations reflected in geolinguistic studies of the Baltic languages

The article provides insight into the reflection of Baltic and Finnic language contacts in geolinguistic studies of the Baltic languages. These contacts have a rather long history, and are particularly intense between the Latvian language and Finnic languages (especially Livonian and Estonian). In Lithuanian, Finnic borrowings have mostly appeared through Latvian, and fall into the dialectal Lithuanian vocabulary. The analysed material makes it possible to distinguish several areas of Finnic influences in Latvian sub-dialects. They are as follows: 1) the territory of the Livonian dialect which originated from Latvian-Livonian contact; 2) the sub-dialects along the Estonian border; 3) the sub-dialects around Gulbene and Alūksne; 4) the territory of the krieviņi (descendants of people who spoke Votic) in the Zemgale region; and 5) the sub-dialects in the Latgale region around Ludza. Geolinguistic research on language contacts may be helpful in solving certain problems of ethnic history.Kokkuvõte. Anna Stafecka: Balti ja läänemeresoome keelesuhete kajastus balti keelte geolingvistilistes uurimustes. Artikkel esitab ülevaate balti ja läänemeresoome keelesuhete kajastamisest balti keelte geolingvistilistes uurimustes. Neil kontaktidel on küllaltki pikk ajalugu ja need on eriti tugevad läti ja läänemeresoome keelte (eriti liivi ja eesti keele) vahel. Leedu keelde on läänemeresoome laenud saadud peamiselt läti keele vahendusel ja need kuuluvad leedu murdesõnavarasse. Analüüsitud materjal võimaldab eristada Läti murrakutes mitut läänemeresoome mõjupiirkonda: 1) läti-liivi kontaktide mõjul kujunenud liivipärase murde ala; 2) Eesti piiri äärsed murrakud; 3) Gulbene ja Alūksne ümbruse murrakud; 4) kreevinite (vadja keele kõnelejate järglaste) ala Zemgales ja 5) Ludza ümbruse murrakud Latgales. Keelekontaktide geolingvistiline uurimine võib kaasa aidata etnilise ajaloo küsimuste lahendamisele.Märksõnad: dialektoloogia, geolingvistika, balti-läänemeresoome keelekontaktid, murdeatlased

A Brazilian Contribution for Automated Linguistic Cartography

In Brazil, geolinguistic studies have achieved many advances since 1963, the year in which Nelson Rossi published the first Brazilian linguistic atlas, <i>Atlas Prévio dos Falares Baianos</i>. The fruitful development of Brazilian geolinguistics has required investments in technological advances in order to streamline and to optimize the work of researchers in the task of preparing the atlas, either in audiovisual tools for data collection or the creation of databases to organize the linguistic material collected. Thus, our aim is to present to the scientific community a new computational tool adaptable to the diverse researchers’ needs. Through a simple and intuitive interface, the tool proposed allows the elaboration of various linguistic maps and reports so that the linguists perform their work independently of the intervention of professionals with training in information technology and other areas.

How system-internal linguistic factors indicate language change and diffusion. A geolinguistic analysis of Berber data

This article discusses how language change and diffusion in Tarifit (Rif-Berber, North Morocco) can be explained by system-internal factors. The examined cases examined concern several innovation processes triggered by the vocalisation phe-nomenon of the liquids /r/ and /ṛ/ and involving both phonological and morpho-logical features and structures. The analyses presented analyses confirm that innovation can also be formally motivated, which refutes Croft's (2000: 38) claim that only functional factors can induce language change. Moreover, they show how functional properties may determine the success of the diffusion of variants. As such, they offer evidence against the claim that only social factors are accountable for variant selection (Milroy 1992: 201‒202; Croft 2000: 38, 54). The considered data considered in this contribution come from the Atlas Linguistique des varietes berberes du Rif (Lafkioui 2007), a geolinguistic study of the Berber varieties of North Morocco.

Pour la démarche géolinguistique de la standardisation des variétés amazighes du Rif

This article presents a proposition to standardise the Amazigh (Berber) varieties of the Rif (Northern Morocco) on the basis of my geolinguistic study Atlas linguistique des variétés berbères du Rif which provides the data necessary to construct a representative linguistic koinè for the Rif region through computational dialectometry analyses. Dialectometry is a quantitative method to calculate distances between linguistic varieties and to group the latter following different parameters. Key Words: Tarifit (Amazigh language of the Rif; North Morocco), Geolinguistics, Dialectology, Computational- Dialectometry, Language Planning

Pour la démarche géolinguistique de la standardisation des variétiés amazighes du Rif

This article presents a proposition to standardise the Amazigh (Berber) varieties of the Rif(Northern Morocco) on the basis of my geolinguistic study Atlas linguistique des variétés berbères du Rif which provides the data necessary to construct a representative linguistic koinè for the Rif region through computational dialectometry analyses. Dialectometry is a quantitative method to calculate distances between linguistic varieties and to group the latter following different parameters.

A Geolinguistic Study on the History of Acceptance of the Christian Vocabulary in the Northwestern Area of the Kyushu District of Japan

Article A Geolinguistic Study on the History of Acceptance of the Christian Vocabulary in the Northwestern Area of the Kyushu District of Japan was published on January 1, 2005 in the journal Dialectologia et Geolinguistica (volume 2005, issue 13).

A dialectologia no Brasil: perspectivas

This paper presents an overview of the dialectological studies in Brazil and the current perspectives of that field of linguistic investigation. The article also discusses the development of Brazilian geolinguistic studies. It is given information of the five already published linguistic atlases and the other six still in course. Finally the paper presents the Atlas Linguistico do Brasil project, describing its methodology and giving an account of the present stage of the research.