Cover not available
Article published In:
Linguistics in the Netherlands 2023
Edited by Sterre Leufkens and Marco Bril
[Linguistics in the Netherlands 40] 2023
► pp. 39–54

Hyperdialectisms revisited

| Tilburg University | Meertens Institute
| Tilburg University | Meertens Institute

Ongoing processes of dialect leveling and loss have given rise to the widespread use of the concept of hyperdialectism in sociolinguistic research. Hyperdialectisms are considered to be a reaction to dialect loss: a typical dialect feature that is distinctive from the standard language or a neighboring dialect is overgeneralized. However, there is pitfall in using the concept as an umbrella term for all deviating dialect forms. In this paper, we aim to provide a revisited view of hyperdialectisms based on written dialect sources. In doing so, we use hyperdialectal adnominal gender marking in southern Dutch Brabantish dialects as a case study. We show that unexpected forms were already present in early twentieth-century dialect use, despite dialect grammar descriptions from the second half of the century often being used as a point of reference for ‘correct’ grammar. Furthermore, we argue that the concept of hyperdialectism requires careful layering in sociolinguistic analysis.

Keywords: hyperdialectism, dialect change, North Brabant, adnominal gender marking, sociolinguistics
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.The gender suffix in the North Brabantish dialects
  • 3.Characterizing hyperdialectisms
    • 3.1Hyperdialectisms in early twentieth-century written dialect
    • 3.2Unraveling the difficulties of hyperdialectism as an analytical tool
  • 4.Towards a revisited view of hyperdialectism
  • Acknowledgements
  • Notes
  • References
Available under the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) 4.0 license.

For any use beyond this license, please contact the publisher at [email protected].

Published online: 3 November 2023
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/avt.00078.dor
References
Androutsopoulos, Jannis
2010 “Localising the global on the participatory web.” Handbook of Language and Globalization ed. by Nikolas Coupland, 203–231. Oxford: Blackwell. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Auer, Peter, Frans Hinskens & Paul Kerswill
2005 Dialect Change. Convergence and Divergence in European Languages. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Bloemhoff, Henk & Nanne Streekstra
2013 Basisboek historische taalkunde. Groningen: Uitgeverij kleine Uil.Google Scholar
Blommaert, Jan
2013 “Writing as a sociolinguistic object.” Journal of Sociolinguistics 17(4): 440–459. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Britain, David
2009 “One foot in the grave? Dialect death, dialect contact, and dialect birth in England.” International Journal of the Sociology of Language 196/1971: 121–155. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
de Bont, Antonius Petrus
1962 Dialect van Kempenland; meer in het bijzonder D’Oerse taol. Deel I: Klank- en vormleer en enige syntaktische bijzonderheden. Assen: Van Gorcum.Google Scholar
De Schutter, Georges
2013 “The dialects of Brabant: Grammatical properties.” Language and Space, Vol. 3: Dutch ed. by Frans Hinskens & Johan Taeldeman, 297–318. Berlin: De Gruyter Mouton. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
De Tier, Veronique, Ton van de Wijngaard & Anne-Sophie Ghyselen
2017 Taalvariatie en sociale media. Leiden: Stichting Nederlandse Dialecten.Google Scholar
Dietz, Feike, Marjo van Koppen, Cora van de Poppe, Marijn Schraagen & Joanna Wall
2022 “Cross-disciplinary approaches to linguistic variation in Early Modern West Germanic.” Journal of Historical Syntax 6(13–18): 1–22. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Doreleijers, Kristel
2022 “Bepaalt de NORM wel de norm?” Het dialectendoeboek: De schatkamer van 90 jaar Meertens Instituut ed. by Marc van Oostendorp & Simone Wolff, 58–61. Gorredijk: Sterck en De Vreese.Google Scholar
Forthcoming. “Enregistering grammatical gender. Indexing Brabantishness through languagecultural practices in digital tiles.” Signs and Society. DOI logo
Doreleijers, Kristel, Marjo van Koppen & Jos Swanenberg
2020 “De dynamiek van geslachtsmarkering in de Noord-Brabantse dialecten.” Taal & Tongval 72(1): 69–116. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Doreleijers, Kristel, Joske Piepers, Ad Backus & Jos Swanenberg
2021 “Language Variation in Dialect-standard Contact Situations: Two Cases from Brabantish and Limburgish Dialects in the Netherlands.” Cognitive Sociolinguistics Revisited ed. by Gitte Kristiansen, Karlien Franco, Stefano De Pascale, Laura Rosseel & Weiwei Zhang, 175–185. Berlin/Boston: Walter de Gruyter. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Hinskens, Frans
2014 “Despite or because of intensive contact? Internal, external and extralinguistic aspects of divergence in modern dialects and ethnolects of Dutch.” Stability and Divergence in Language Contact: Factors and Mechanisms ed. by Kurt Braunmüller, Steffen Höder & Karoline Kühl, 109–40. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Hoppenbrouwers, Cor
1983 “Het genus in een Brabants regiolect.” Tabu 131: 1–25.Google Scholar
1990 Het regiolect: van dialect tot Algemeen Nederlands. Muiderberg: Coutinho.Google Scholar
1996 De taal van Kempenland: van ààwbätte tot zwiemele. Eindhoven: Kempen Uitgevers.Google Scholar
Lenz, Alexandra
2004 “Hyperforms and Variety Barriers”. Language variation in Europe ed. by Britt-Louise Gunnarsson, 281–293. Uppsala: Uppsala University.Google Scholar
Lillis, Theresa
2013 Sociolinguistics of writing. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Røyneland, Unn
2009 “Dialects in Norway: catching up with the rest of Europe?” International Journal of the Sociology of Language 196/1971: 7–30. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Stroop, Jan
1989 “Woordgeslacht (‘genus’).” De Vierschaer 71: 4–15.Google Scholar
Swanenberg, Jos
2014 Het nieuwste Brabants. Taalgebruik van jonge en nieuwe Brabanders.” Het Nieuwste Brabant ed. by Wim van de Donk, 425–444. Eindhoven: Uitgeverij Lecturis.Google Scholar
2017 Brabants dialect op Facebook en Twitter. Taalvariatie en sociale media ed. by Veronique De Tier, Ton van de Wijngaard & Anne-Sophie Ghyselen, 25–32. Stichting Nederlandse Dialecten.Google Scholar
2020 “Does dialect loss give more or less variation? On dialect leveling and language creativity.” Proceedings of Methods XVI. Papers from the Sixteenth International Conference on Methods in Dialectology ed. by Yoshiyuki Asahi, 65–74. Bern: Peter Lang.Google Scholar
Swanenberg, Jos & Roeland van Hout
2013 “Recent developments in the mid southern dialects.” Language and Space. An International Handbook of Linguistic Variation. Volume 3: Dutch ed. by Frans Hinskens & Johan Taeldeman, 319–335. Berlin: De Gruyter Mouton. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Taeldeman, Johan
1980 Inflectional aspects of adjectives in the dialects of Dutch-speaking Belgium. Studies in Dutch Phonology ed. by Wim Zonneveld, Frans van Coetsem & Orrin W. Robinson, 223–246. The Hague: Martinus Nijhoff. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Trudgill, Peter
1988 “On the role of dialect contact and interdialect in linguistic change.” Historical Dialectology: Regional and Social 11: 547–563. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Vandekerckhove, Reinhild
2013 “Southwestern Dutch dialects today.” Language and Space. An International Handbook of Linguistic Variation. Volume 3: Dutch ed. by Frans Hinskens & Johan Taeldeman, 194–211. Berlin: De Gruyter Mouton. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
van der Horst, Joop
2008 Geschiedenis van de Nederlandse Syntaxis 2. Leuven: Leuven University Press.Google Scholar
van Spijk, Yoïn & Jos Swanenberg
2018 “Dialect en standaardtaal in contact: de vele vormen van het dialect in de Langstraat.” Taal & Tongval 70(1): 115–140. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Visser, Puck, Jacomine Nortier & Jos Swanenberg
2015 “Dialect als stereotypering. Regionale identiteit in Noord-Brabant verbeeld en verwoord op Facebook.” Artikelen van de 8e Anéla Conferentie, ed. by Marianne Boogaard, Beppie van de Bogaerde, Sylvia Bacchini, Maja Curcic, Nivja de Jong, Emmanuelle le Pichon & Laurent Rasier, 111–125. Utrecht: Uitgeverij Eburon.Google Scholar
Weijnen, Antonius Angelus
1971 Schets van de geschiedenis van de Nederlandse Syntaxis. Assen: Koninklijke Drukkerij Van Gorcum & Comp.Google Scholar