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Article published In:
Diachronica
Vol. 36:1 (2019) ► pp.37–65

/h/ insertion as a ‘camouflage archaism’?

Dialect contact, colonial lag and the feature pool in South Atlantic English

| University of Zurich

This article documents the historical development and synchronic variation of so-called “/h/ insertion” (/h/ before vowel-initial words such as apple, under, etc.). It argues that the maintenance of /h/ insertion in post-colonial English varieties around the world provides an ideal opportunity for research on language change under dialect contact scenarios involving British donors and other dialects. After an assessment of regional distribution patterns in current World Englishes, I present some first findings from a large-scale quantitative analysis of Tristan da Cunha English, where /h/ insertion, firmly attested yet nearing obsolescence in British English, has survived into the 21st century. The quantitative analysis provides important insights into donor attribution and competition-selection processes that accompany dialect contact and koinéization, with special reference to theoretical concepts such as colonial lag, feature pool formation and founder effects. A holistic application of the concept of colonial lag to post-colonial English varieties needs to be refined and critically assessed. I argue that entire linguistic systems (in the form of koinés) are not conservative as such but that arrested language (and dialect) change operates on a feature-specific level instead.

Keywords: /h/ insertion, colonial lag, language change in English, dialect contact, camouflage archaisms, koinéization, Tristan da Cunha English
Article outline
  • 1.Arrested dialect development and colonial lag
  • 2./h/ insertion in English: The British Isles
  • 3.Reconstructing /h/ insertion: Beyond Britain
  • 4.Variation in /h/ insertion: Present-day evidence from Tristan da Cunha
    • 4.1Social and sociolinguistic history of Tristan da Cunha
    • 4.2Studying /h/ insertion in Tristan da Cunha English: Methodology
    • 4.3Findings
  • 5.Discussion and conclusion(s)
  • Acknowledgements
  • References
Published online: 5 April 2019
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/dia.17030.sch
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