Chapter 13
Dialect levelling or shift
Lexical outcomes of Štokavian-Čakavian contact in
Dalmatia
South Čakavian dialects spoken in Dalmatia, the
coastal part of Croatia, are characterised by a high level
of innovation coupled with heavy Romance influence, which
is mostly discernible at the lexical and, less often, at
the syntactic level. Despite their continued presence,
dialect levelling led to the decline in the quantity and
frequency of locally specific Romance elements. In the
paper we examine whether and to what extent four Čakavian
varieties are affected by levelling leading to either the
Regional Dalmatian koine (RD) or a shift in the direction
of the Standard Croatian variety (SC), and whether there
are differences in that respect between the varieties
under research. In order to determine the degree of
advergence toward SC or RD, we examine the reported use
and familiarity with lexical variants of Romance origin by
means of apparent time analysis, followed by a comparative
analysis of the collected data in four originally Čakavian
settings. Our research reveals that differential
resistance to shift and levelling of certain parts of the
lexicon can be observed, that there are preferred models
in the processes of levelling and change, and that the
motives for maintenance and shift found at the lexical
level depend on extralinguistic factors including
geographical, social and linguistic isolation of certain
Čakavian varieties.
Article outline
- 1.Introduction
- 2.Theoretical framework: Factors contributing to dialect
levelling and shift
- 3.Sample and methods
- 4.Analysis
- 4.1The Island of Vis
- 4.2Betina
- 4.3Zadar
- 5.Discussion and conclusions
-
Notes
-
References