Dialectal Variation Research Articles

Explaining the Dynamics and Stability of Dialects: A Representational Approach

Abstract In this article, the focus is on the pivotal role of speakers in shaping language dynamics and dialectal stability, particularly within the context of dialectal variation. It is evident that language is intricately tied to human experience, serving as a tool for navigation, problem-solving, and social interaction. This article posits that understanding the interplay between language dynamics and stability of dialects requires a nuanced consideration of speakers and their practical relationships with the world as well as their linguistic mental representations. People are not passive recipients of language; rather, they actively engage with it in various contexts, adapting to new situations and influencing linguistic change. Through empirical examples from German dialectology, the article illustrates how speakers’ interactions with their environment shape language evolution. Overall, the article aims to provide insight into the role of speakers in driving linguistic change and maintaining linguistic conventions within dialectal contexts. By examining the practical relationships between speakers and their environment, it contributes to the development of a comprehensive framework for understanding the complexities of language variation and evolution considering linguistic representations.

Advancements in Natural Language Understanding- Driven Machine Translation: Focus on English and the Low Resource Dialectal Lusoga

This review explores recent advancements in Natural Language Understanding-driven Machine Translation (NLU-MT) with a focus on English and the low-resource dialectal Lusoga. A Low-resource language, such as Lusoga, faces significant challenges in Machine Translation (MT) due to the scarcity of high-quality parallel corpora, the complex morphology inherent in Bantu languages, and the dialectal variations within Lusoga itself, particularly between Lutenga and Lupakoyo. This paper examines the role of NLU-based MT systems in overcoming these challenges by shifting from word-for-word mapping to meaning-based translations, enabling better handling of these dialectal differences. We highlight the success of leveraging linguistic similarities between Lusoga and related languages, such as Luganda, to improve translation performance through multilingual transfer learning techniques. Key advancements include the use of transformer-based architectures such as Multilingual Bidirectional and Auto-Regressive Transformer (mBART) and Multilingual Text-To-Text Transfer Transformer (mT5), specifically selected for their effectiveness in NLU-driven contexts, which have shown promise in enhancing translation accuracy for African low-resource languages. However, the review also identifies ongoing obstacles, including historical low demand and the lack of well-developed corpora, which hinder scalability. The paper concludes by emphasizing the potential of hybrid approaches that combine community-driven corpus-building initiatives with improved model architectures to drive further progress in low-resource MT. Ultimately, NLU-MT is positioned as a crucial tool not only for bridging communication gaps but also for preserving linguistic diversity and cultural heritage.

Self-Repair in Tigrinya: Trouble Sources, Mechanisms and Solutions

This paper analyzes conversational self-repair, which refers to reconstructing problematic portions of a prior oral discourse by oneself, in Tigrinya. Tigrinya is a Northern Ethio-Eritrean-Semitic language spoken by the inhabitants of the Tigray regional state of Ethiopia and Eritrea. This article relies on recorded oral data from speakers of the Rayya Tigrinya variety, particularly inhabitants of Neksege located to the West of Maichew. A conversational analysis (CA) approach is used to analyze the trouble sources, mechanisms (initiators), and results of self-repair. The article shows that pronunciation problems emanating from dialectal variation or tongue slip, wrong word order including focus misplacement, missing constituents, perceived misunderstandings, and using (totally) wrong constituents are some of the trouble sources that push speakers to repair portions of a prior oral utterance. On top of that, cut-offs, particles, and lexemes (one verbal noun and some predicates) are identified as self-repair initiators. Though cut-offs do not indicate a self-repair, particles and predicates may sometimes indicate a self-repair. Finally, the article posits that expanding, replacing, re-ordering, aborting and restarting, and inserting are some of the solutions set for the repairable segments in the repaired portions of the oral discourse. The author recommends for further investigation repair in the process of language acquisition and learning, and the relationship between self-repair and the demographic features of participants.

The Challenges in Learning ICAO Radiotelephony: Students' Perspective

This study investigates challenges faced by Batch 13 Air Traffic Control (ATC) students at Politeknik Penerbangan Surabaya in mastering standardized ICAO Radiotelephony skills. Through qualitative methods like interviews, observations, and document analysis, the research uncovers various hurdles, from linguistic complexities to practical issues. Students struggle with English proficiency, accent variations, and applying phraseologies in real-world scenarios. The study highlights the importance of continuous practice and peer collaboration in overcoming these obstacles, emphasizing interactive pedagogy's role in fostering professional skills. By building on existing research, the thesis offers insights for aviation education enhancement, advocating tailored approaches to accommodate diverse learning needs. It calls for an inclusive learning environment to facilitate effective mastery of ICAO Radiotelephony skills.

Digital Evolution: Exploring the Impact of Social Media on Local Dialects and Lexicon; An Examination of Central Kurdish Language

This study suggests a digital linguistic approach to multi-mediated communication (MMC), drawing on a case study of language variation on social media. In the early 21st century, social media (SM) has significantly impacted various aspects of human life, including language, as articulated within the theoretical framework of digital linguistics and language variation. This study explores the influence of SM on Kurdish local dialects in Iraqi Kurdistan, with a focus on vocabulary evolution and the ongoing challenge of dialect standardization. Given the high unemployment rates in Iraq, which have led to increased SM engagement, this research examines how these platforms affect dialect usage across diverse demographic groups. Utilizing a mixed-methods approach, the study integrates qualitative content analysis and quantitative surveys to assess SM's role in shaping linguistic practices. Findings reveal thatolder generations are more likely to maintain traditional dialects, while younger users increasingly adopt standardized Kurdish forms. The study highlights SM's dual impact: promoting linguistic convergence while posing risks to dialectal diversity. It emphasizes the need for a balanced approach that supports regional dialects alongside the benefits of standardization, advocating for strategic initiatives to preserve linguistic heritage while adapting to digital influences.

Advancing AI-Driven Linguistic Analysis: Developing and Annotating Comprehensive Arabic Dialect Corpora for Gulf Countries and Saudi Arabia

This study harnesses the linguistic diversity of Arabic dialects to create two expansive corpora from X (formerly Twitter). The Gulf Arabic Corpus (GAC-6) includes around 1.7 million tweets from six Gulf countries—Saudi Arabia, UAE, Qatar, Oman, Kuwait, and Bahrain—capturing a wide range of linguistic variations. The Saudi Dialect Corpus (SDC-5) comprises 790,000 tweets, offering in-depth insights into five major regional dialects of Saudi Arabia: Hijazi, Najdi, Southern, Northern, and Eastern, reflecting the complex linguistic landscape of the region. Both corpora are thoroughly annotated with dialect-specific seed words and geolocation data, achieving high levels of accuracy, as indicated by Cohen’s Kappa scores of 0.78 for GAC-6 and 0.90 for SDC-5. The annotation process leverages AI-driven techniques, including machine learning algorithms for automated dialect recognition and feature extraction, to enhance the granularity and precision of the data. These resources significantly contribute to the field of Arabic dialectology and facilitate the development of AI algorithms for linguistic data analysis, enhancing AI system design and efficiency. The data provided by this research are crucial for advancing AI methodologies, supporting diverse applications in the realm of next-generation AI technologies.

Tracce d’uso del pronome dimostrativo espletivo nelle varietà d’italiano vernacolare fiorentino e pistoiese

This research into the expletive demonstrative pronouns consists of a comparison between the varieties of Italian language in Florence and Pistoia and the dialect of Salerno. The linguistic analysis points out the use of this pronouns like extra-phrasal elements with explicative semantic function. They are used only during the conversations, but not in the monologues. unlike the expletive pronouns in the non-pro-drop languages like English, French and Northern Italian dialects, in which these pronouns are expressed in both situations. The form quello, I have observed in the varieties of Italian Language of Florence and Pistoia, as well as chello/chillo I have observed in the dialectal variety of Salerno, correspond to the expressions il fatto è che.../sta di fatto che… In italian language spoken in Florence and Pistoia the expletive demonstrative pronoun quello is exclusively used in the initial position of the main clauses, otherwise in the dialect of Salerno it can occur also in the causal, temporal and completive clauses, in which the expletive demonstrative pronouns occupy the subject (or topic) position between the complementizer and the verb and they are used with explicative semantic function and their use is optional and limited to the conversation.

Dynamic acoustic vowel distances within and across dialects.

Vowels vary in their acoustic similarity across regional dialects of American English, such that some vowels are more similar to one another in some dialects than others. Acoustic vowel distance measures typically evaluate vowel similarity at a discrete time point, resulting in distance estimates that may not fully capture vowel similarity in formant trajectory dynamics. In the current study, language and accent distance measures, which evaluate acoustic distances between talkers over time, were applied to the evaluation of vowel category similarity within talkers. These vowel category distances were then compared across dialects, and their utility in capturing predicted patterns of regional dialect variation in American English was examined. Dynamic time warping of mel-frequency cepstral coefficients was used to assess acoustic distance across the frequency spectrum and captured predicted Southern American English vowel similarity. Root-mean-square distance and generalized additive mixed models were used to assess acoustic distance for selected formant trajectories and captured predicted Southern, New England, and Northern American English vowel similarity. Generalized additive mixed models captured the most predicted variation, but, unlike the other measures, do not return a single acoustic distance value. All three measures are potentially useful for understanding variation in vowel category similarity across dialects.

The effect of board chairs’ hometown identity on labor cost stickiness

In this study, we examine the impact of board chairs' hometown identity on labor cost stickiness in state-owned enterprises (SOEs). Using data from China, our findings demonstrate that local board chairs can effectively mitigate labor cost stickiness by leveraging their communication advantages. Mechanism analyses reveal that local board chairs primarily achieve this through salary reductions rather than layoffs. We validate two plausible channels, cultural alignment and social trust, through a series of heterogeneity tests. Our results indicate that the influence of board chairs' hometown identity is more pronounced in SOEs located in provinces with smaller dialect diversity, less population mobility, and lower social trust levels, as well as those led by board chairs without overseas experience, serving longer terms, and far from retirement. Overall, this study contributes to existing literature by providing empirical evidence on how board chairs’ hometown identity facilitates the alleviation of labor cost stickiness in SOEs.

Study of Differences in Arabic Lahjah: Dialectal Variations in Various Arab Countries

<p>Arab countries have a wide varity of dialects, which are varieties of Arabic that arise from the different ways of speaking of Arab Communities in Different regions that have different places of residence and socio-cultural needs. Arabic dialects have unique characteristics in each country, affecting daily communication and the culture of the local community. This research aims to identify Arabic dialect variations (<em>Lahjah Arabiyah</em>) descriptively. This research is ad descriptive qualitative based on literature study. Researchers collected data related to the variety of Arabic dialects through documentation, namely by reviewing texts from various printed books and scientific journal articles.</p>

How Balanced Is Multilingualism in Scholarly Journals? A Global Analysis Using the Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ) Database

The concept of balanced multilingualism aims to establish “instruments for documenting and measuring the use of language for all the different purposes in research, thereby providing the basis for the monitoring of further globalization of research in a more responsible direction” (Sivertsen, 2018, p. 2). However, an analysis of the Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ), the largest database of fully open access journals produced in 130 countries, does not show balanced multilingualism in the global landscape. The DOAJ promotes linguistic diversity by indexing journals in 80 languages, including dialectal variations, indigenous languages, and languages spoken by less than 50,000 speakers (eg, Aragonese). In this article, we present the main trends related to the languages in which journals publish their full-text contributions to respond to this unbalanced landscape. We conducted a descriptive analysis of the 17,564 journals listed in the DOAJ (July 2023). Our findings show that 65% (11,331) of the journals listed publish only in one language, and 35% (6,234) publish in two, three, and up to 16 languages. Our research also shows that 50% of the multilingual journals are based in Asia, Southern and Eastern Europe, and Latin America.

Discourse markers of rejection in three varieties of Spanish

In the study of discourse markers in Spanish, a field with great vitality in the last few decades, it is common to overlook the expressions used to accept or reject a proposal, suggestion or petition, often included within the broader functions of agreement and disagreement. These answers, used in an informal oral interactive context, exhibit a rich dialectal variety. Due to the fleeting nature of their contexts of use, they are difficult to formally register for further study, especially when looking at them from a panhispanic perspective. For this reason, an anonymous survey was designed in order to ask native speakers about their familiarity with a series of discourse markers used to answer “no” to a proposal. The questionnaire was disseminated in the countries of Spain, Mexico and Colombia, specifically around the capital areas. Participants (N=223) evaluated from 1 (I do not know this expression) to 5 (I use this expression frequently) a series of possible responses, and they were offered the option to provide some other answers not included in the original list. Results show that, while some discourse markers are used to a certain degree in the three varieties, others are prototypical from one of these dialects. The opportunity to offer new expressions was very productive, especially in the case of participants from Colombia and Mexico. While this study focuses on three particular regions, it opens the door to a comparative analysis of discourse markers of negation throughout the Spanish speaking world.

Tu sijè magnète. Hesse ha ite: some morphosyntactic characteristics of the verb in Ortonese compared with Italian

Introduction: The verb is one of the most complex grammatical categories, especially when the language in question is not official. This is the case with Ortonese, an Adriatic variant of Abruzzese spoken in Ortona (CH). The aim of this article is to provide a preliminary detailed analysis of the verb in Ortonese, starting with a morphosyntactic description compared to Italian. Methodology: The analysis begins by dividing Ortonese verbs into four main conjugations. Several relevant linguistic phenomena are examined, such as the transitivization of intransitive verbs, the presence of the prepositional accusative in verbs like "sendì" (to hear), which is absent in Italian, and the transformation of transitive and intransitive verbs into reflexive forms. Additionally, differences between "esse" (to be) and "sctè" (to stay), and between "avè" (to have) and "tenè" (to hold) are analyzed. Results: The core of the research is the analysis of all the tenses of the indicative mood in modern Ortonese. Simple tenses, such as the present and future, as well as compound tenses, like the future perfect, the present perfect, and the past perfect, are examined. The study also includes some irregular verbs and pays particular attention to the complexity of auxiliary selection, which in Ortonese, unlike Italian, depends not on the type of verb but on the subject's person. Discussion: The Ortonese verbal system exhibits a number of unique characteristics compared to standard Italian, particularly in terms of auxiliary selection and the formation of reflexive verbs. Some phenomena, such as the prepositional accusative and the distinction between "esse" and "sctè", reflect a structural complexity that warrants further investigation and highlights the linguistic richness of Abruzzese dialects. Conclusions: This study represents a first step towards a deeper understanding of the Ortonese verbal system. The morphosyntactic analysis compared to Italian reveals linguistic peculiarities that distinguish Ortonese as a dialectal variety of great interest to linguistics.

Reviewing approaches employed in Arabic chatbots

<p>The field of chatbots has witnessed a remarkable evolution in recent years, marked by a transition from simplistic rule-based structures to sophisticated systems employing advanced natural language processing (NLP) techniques. While most languages benefit from NLP support, the majority of chatbot research and development has been conducted in English, leaving a notable scarcity of comparable works in Arabic. This scarcity is attributed to the myriad challenges posed by the linguistically intricate nature of Arabic, encompassing orthographic variations and diverse dialects. This study systematically reviews articles that represent implementations of Arabic chatbots, revealing a discernible shift from rule-based frameworks to the predominant adoption of machine learning (ML) and deep learning (DL) methods. The results highlight the dynamic trajectory of chatbot technology, with a notable emphasis on the pivotal role of DL, as evidenced by a significant peak in 2023. Looking forward, the study anticipates a more sophisticated future for chatbot development, driven by ongoing advancements in artificial intelligence (AI) and NLP, offering valuable insights into the current state of Arabic chatbot research and laying the foundation for continued exploration in this evolving and dynamic field.</p>

Reinforcement of low-resource language translation with neural machine translation and backtranslation synergies

<p><span lang="EN-US">This research investigates challenges and advancements in neural machine translation (NMT), specifically targeting English-to-Kannada translation. Emphasizing the scarcity of data and linguistic complexity in low-resource languages (LRL), particularly Kannada, the study underscores the need for specialized techniques. Starting with exploration of Kannada's historical and cultural significance, the paper highlights critical importance of linguistic comprehension. The primary objective is to develop robust NMT models for precise and contextually relevant translations in low-resource scenarios. The novelty of this research lies in its innovative approach to Kannada NMT challenges, incorporating comprehensive examination of historical and cultural context to establish strong linguistic foundation. Motivated by the urgency to address translation needs in LRL, the paper proposes novel strategies, advocating notably for backtranslation to generate synthetic parallel corpora. Rigorous testing, including bilingual evaluation understudy (BLEU) score assessments, evaluates effectiveness of these proposed approaches. Beyond assessing backtranslation, the study explores challenges faced by Kannada NMT in handling dialectical and spelling variations. The research reports substantial 83-percentage-point average increase in BLEU scores, contingent on aligning unique Kannada terms with the same domain as existing occurrences. This study contributes significantly to Kannada natural language processing by offering novel insights into NMT intricacies and providing practical solutions for enhancing translation accuracy in low-resource settings.</span></p>

Categorization of second language accents by bilingual and multilingual listeners.

This study examines how listeners categorize second language (L2) accents and how their linguistic background affects this categorization. Ninety-eight adult bilingual and multilingual Greek listeners categorized accents in a familiar (British English)-unfamiliar (Australian English) L2 accent condition. Data were collected through an online survey and analysed using binomial mixed-effects models and signal detection analysis. The results demonstrated that both bilinguals and multilinguals exhibited low performance in the task, potentially due to their decreased familiarity with the Australian English accent and the fact that the two accents are phonetically similar. However, despite both groups' low performance, multilinguals outperformed bilinguals in accent categorization accuracy. This advantage could be attributed to a combination of cognitive and social dynamics. Results expand upon prior research, indicating that exposure to accent variation enhances listeners' abilities to categorize non-native accents. The study provides important theoretical implications for the perception of accents and practical insights into foreign language learning and multilingual communication.

The Phonological Coordination Relationship of Hancheng Dialect in Shaanxi Province

Hancheng, located in the northeast corner of Guanzhong Plain, Shaanxi Province, is an ancient civilized city with a long history and splendid culture. Under the background of the vigorous promotion of Mandarin, many dialects are gradually declining in use, and the Hancheng dialect is the same. Hancheng dialect belongs to Fenhe Piece of Central Plains Mandarin, which has both similarities and differences with Beijing dialect. Hancheng dialect has dentate labial initials [pf pfh f v], while Beijing dialect does not. There are [ʅᴇ] vowels in Hancheng dialect, as well as nasalized vowels such as [ã, ẽ], which are not found in Beijing dialect. Based on this, the author made a field investigation and objective description of the pronunciation, vocabulary and grammar of Hancheng dialect in order to preserve it. Dialects and Mandarin are both bridges for people to communicate, each playing a unique role. As linguists, we bear the mission to meticulously document certain dialects, turning them into precious cultural heritage to be passed down to future generations. This paper describes the relationship between consonant and vowel in Hancheng dialect, and uses a number of table expressions to concretize it. This can not only provide materials for the study of Shaanxi dialect, but also contribute to the study of folk culture, and contribute to the protection of the diversity of dialects, but also promote the sustainable development of language resources.

Diversity of dialects of the novel characters according to the descriptive stylistics, the novel (Alye di ye pre) as an example

Methods of style directions are considered as backgrounds for certain reasons and mechanisms of the methods followed, to interpret linguistic or literary discourses and to identify certain methodological characteristics according to certain scientific methods to avoid inferential decisions and interpretations, according to linguistic levels, As a result of contemporary linguistic research done through the use of linguistic sciences in order to identify aesthetic aspects of literary works and writings. Descriptive stylistics is considered an important direction for interpretation of any innovative discourse, because the nature of methodological research, some linguistic directions are important for interpretation of any text it takes hold of itself. Because the concept of expression among linguists is connected the material form of speech, such as speech versus content, which becomes a linguistic meaning for that speech, or the sounds spoken and written on the surface of expression with surface of content, because language is speech. Either they are just some voices and each nation speaks through them, or they are voices that express their actions. This research is entitled (Diversity of dialects of the novel characters according to the descriptive stylistics, the novel (Alye di ye pre) as an example), is an attempt to explain the language expression of characters according to the theory of descriptive stylistics. Expression methodology is a good basis for interpreting text according to the mechanisms it works with in order to convey the right direction for understanding the message of each text.

Perceptual Benefits of Linguistic Diversity and Language Background: Evidence from Auditory Free Classification of English Dialect Accents and Asian-Accented English

Non-linguistic factors leave a distinct thumbprint on our speech production that is perceptible to listeners. A steadily growing line of research demonstrates that listeners can perceive a contrast between native and non-native (L2) speakers based on accents and further classify these speakers according to dialectal variation, even when they are not native speakers of a language. Most of these studies have focused on dialectal variation within US English speakers, a combination of US and International English dialects, or L2 speakers representing a wide range of languages. Most have also featured listeners who are monolingual native speakers of the target language coming from a homogenous background, or a contrast between these and a targeted set of L2 speakers. We therefore lack knowledge of how exposure to, or familiarity with, diverse accents and languages, or specific native language competence of the native language of L2 speakers, can guide listeners’ accent perception and categorization. In this research, we employed a free classification task, presenting listeners with speech samples of native speakers with accents representing multiple English dialects, and L2 speakers of nine Asian languages across three geographic regions speaking Asian-accented English. There were six groups of listeners: monolingual US English listeners in a diverse linguistic context, monolingual US English listeners in a homogeneous linguistic context, native speakers of a non-Asian language and English (bilinguals), and native speakers of each of the three target Asian language groups who are L2 speakers of English. The results reveal that nearly all listeners are sensitive to accents capturing native/L2 contrasts and dialectal variation in English. While regular exposure to a diversity of accents results in increased classification accuracy, classification of Asian L2-accented English speakers is best performed when there is alignment of similar language family and geographic area, as demonstrated by South Asian listeners.

Influence of dialect diversity on level of urban innovation—Empirical evidence based on 276 cities in China

Diversity is influential and integral in innovation and economic growth. Despite the extensive research on the relationship between diversity and innovation, little attention has been paid to dialect diversity. The paper fills the research gap by investigating the impact and mechanism of dialect diversity on urban innovation in China. Also, this paper confirms the potential role of language as a non-institutional factor in urban innovation. Based on data from 276 prefecture-level cities in China, we find that dialect diversity impedes urban innovation. Moreover, in mechanism, it is not the communication barriers, but rather the identity from dialectal diversity that reduces regional trust to constrain urban innovation. Finally, we find that the negative impact of dialect diversity on urban innovation is continuous and more pronounced in eastern and southern cities. The conclusions not only enrich the theoretical research on innovation but also provide insights on how to promote language diversity governance and urban innovation for China and other countries.