(This is the Format I require you to follow for all Writing Projects)
SARS/LING 319/519
Topics in Dravidian Linguistics
H. Schiffman, Instructor


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SARS/LING 319/519
Topics in Dravidian Linguistics
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Introduction . It is widely known that the French language differs rather significantly in its written and spoken forms, with the spoken language, especially that of Paris, of Montreal, and the French spoken overseas, especially in Creole situations, being even further divergent from the literary norm. In many of these dialects, as we know from the example of French negation involving particles like pas, which has essentially come to function as the main marker of negation in modern spoken French, as the particle le is usually deleted, there are many instances of grammaticalization that do not receive attention when the standard language is studied. This paper will examine some features of grammaticalization in these non-standard spoken dialects, especially that of Strasbourg, a large city in eastern France where the original language was a Germanic dialect. I am particularly interested in how influences from German and/or Germanic dialects (l'Alsacien) have affected certain syntactic and grammatical forms in (non-standard) Strasbourg French. The goal of this paper is to examine those features and contrast them with similar grammaticalization phenomena in other French dialects.

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Review of the Literature This phenomenon has been noted and researched by, in particular, Joliet 1947, Vassberg 1993, Picard 1993, Denis and Veltman 1989, and Vermes and Boutet 1987. I have found that this latter study overlooks and/or de-emphasizes certain elements that I wish to focus on, however. For notions of French stereotyping and social dialectology, I rely on the work of Vermes 1987. your text here; your text here; your text here; your text here; your text here; your text here; your text here; your text here; ; your text here; your text here; your text here; your text here;

My Study My study of this issue focuses in particular in differences between men's and women's use of certain grammatical forms. My data are drawn from movies and television shows aired in French-speaking countries between 1947 and 1987, especially the soap opera series, Tous mes Enfants originating in Strasbourg during the 1980's. Your text here; your text here; your text here; your text here; your text here; ; your text here; your text here; your text here; your text here; your text here; your text here; your text here; (This is the longest part of the paper and goes on for pages).your text here; Pages and pages of connected text.. . ; your text here; your text here; your text here; your text here; ; your text here; your text here; your text here; your text here; your text here; your text here; your text here; your text here; your text here; your text here; your text here; your text here; your text here; during which you make claims, test them, show evidence for them, and provide warrants for the evidence...

Conclusion In conclusion, I find that the assumptions made by my principle sources are borne out in my own study in a general sort of way, but that the gender issues raised by Lippi-Green and others needed to be researched further, in particular, as it affects French notions of language and dialect. In a survey, administered to 10 French speakers of various ages, as described above, seems to suggest that gender differences in grammaticalization, as with language change in general, often finds women in the forefront as innovators of change. Class-based differences also exist, butyour text here; your text here; ; your text here; your text here; your text here; your text here; your text here; your text here; your text here; your text here; your text here; your text here; your text here; your text here; your text here;

It is clear that this is a fertile field for study, and that much more could be done in this area than I have been able to accomplish in this short project. Nevertheless, my conclusions are, I believe, warranted.

References Cited

1
Booth, Wayne C., Gregory C. Colomb, and Joseph M. Williams. 1995. The Craft of Research Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

2
Denis, M. N. and Veltman, Calvin. 1989. Le déclin du dialecte alsacien. Strasbourg: Association des publications près les Universités de Strasbourg.

3
Gardner-Chloros, Penelope. 1985. ``Language selection and switching among Strasbourg shoppers." International Journal of the Sociology of Language, 54:117-135.

4
Hartweg, Frédéric. 1987. ``Le dialecte Alsacien: domaines d'utilisation." In Zeitschrift für Dialektologie und Linguistik. Volume 32. P.H. Nelde (ed.), Sprachkontakt und Sprachkonflikt. Pp. 75-82. Wiesbaden: Fr. STeiner Verlag. Routledge.

5
Lévy, Paul. 1929. Histoire linguistique d'Alsace et de Lorraine. Paris: Société d'Édition Les Belles Lettres.

6
Lippi-Green, Rosina. 1997. English with an Accent . New York and London:

7
Picard, Olivier. 1993. ``Maternelles bilingues: la charte est signée." Dernières Nouvelles d'Alsace, No. 6, January 8, 1993.

8
Joliet, Marie-Chantal. 1947. Les luttes linguistiques en Alsace jusqu'en 1945. Strasbourg: Culture Alsacienne.

9
Philipps, Eugène. 1978. L'Alsace face à son destin: la crise d'identité. Strasbourg: Société d'Edition de la Basse-Alsace.

10
Philipps, Eugène. 1982. Le défi Alsacien. Strasbourg: Société d'Edition de la Basse-Alsace.

11
Vassberg, Liliane M. 1993. Alsatian Acts of Identity: Language Use and Language Attitudes in Alsace. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters Ltd.

12
Vermes, Genevieve et Josiane Boutet (eds.) 1987. France, pays multilingue. Vols. I and II. Paris: L'Harmattan.

13
Movie Database: http://us.imdb.com/search. (but note the following source for websites, etc.!)

Summary of Survey Results:

  1. Subject A: a white female aged 22, native speaker of French, from the region of Marseilles.

  2. Subject B: a white male aged 40, native speaker of French, from Paris.

  3. Subject C: an Afro-Carribean French citizen, female, aged 31, from Martinique.

  4. Subject D: A French woman of Jewish descent, aged 25, from Lyon.

  5. Subject E: An Alsatian man, native speaker of both French and Alsatian, from Strasbourg, aged 27.

  6. Subject F: A male aged 24, of Algerian descent, born in France.

  7. Subject G: A woman aged 34, born in France, of Corsican descent.

  8. ETc.

  9. ETc.

For suggestions about how to cite things from webpages, look here


haroldfs@ccat.sas.upenn.edu, last modified 6/25/00