Variation and Change in the Grammar of Welsh English

  • Heli Paulasto
Chapter
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Abstract

This chapter focuses on recent changes in the morphosyntax of Welsh English, a set of regional dialects of English with distinctive Welsh contact influence. I present fresh research on three contact-induced features—focus fronting, extended uses of the preposition with, and invariant question tags is it?/isn’t it?—across corpora from different parts of Wales and speakers of varying ages. The roles of language shift, language acquisition, community, and prestige intertwine in the observed patterns of variation in intricate ways, showing that while the most distinctive Welsh-induced characteristics are being levelled, the investigated features are also drawing on vernacular English English for support. Young Welsh English speakers, particularly in South Wales, are updating their dialect while maintaining its regionality.

Keywords

Language Policy Language Shift Semantic Extension Present Chapter Welsh Language 
These keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.
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Copyright information

© The Author(s) 2016

Authors and Affiliations

  • Heli Paulasto
    • 1
  1. 1.University of Eastern FinlandJoensuuFinland

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