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Language Variation - European Perspectives VII: Selected papers from the Ninth International Conference on Language Variation in Europe (ICLaVE 9), Malaga, June 2017
Edited by Juan-Andrés Villena-Ponsoda, Francisco Díaz Montesinos, Antonio Manuel Ávila-Muñoz and Matilde Vida-Castro
[Studies in Language Variation 22] 2019
► pp. 145–158

Chapter 9
Tracking change in social meaning

The indexicality of “damped” /i/ in rural Sweden

| Institute for Language and Folklore, Sweden
| University of Turku
| Institute for Language and Folklore, Sweden

In this study, we focus on the different connotations of [ɨ] (a variant of the phoneme /i/) in Sweden in order to discuss the possible processes behind the changes in social meaning for a linguistic form. We investigate two rural areas (Skärhamn and Edsbyn), where the feature has been part of the traditional dialect, indexing place. In order to investigate how the social meaning of this variant has changed over time we have approached the phenomenon from different angles. Apart from investigating the change in use between the mid–20th century and present time, we have analysed informants’ production, attitudes and specifically perception of [ɨ] today. In Skärhamn [ɨ] still indexes place. In Edsbyn, the social meaning of this variant is more complex.

Keywords: indexicality, dialect change, Implicit Association Test, production, perception, interviews, rural areas, Sweden, Swedish dialects
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.The locations – Skärhamn and Edsbyn
  • 3.The “damped” /i/
  • 4.Data and methods
    • 4.1Data from the project Dialect levelling in West Sweden and the project Dialect change in rural Sweden
    • 4.2New data from Edsbyn and Skärhamn
      • 4.2.1Production test
      • 4.2.2IATs
      • 4.2.3Attitude interviews
  • 5.Results
    • 5.1The use of short and long “damped” /i/ in Edsbyn and Skärhamn
    • 5.2Results of the production test
    • 5.3Results of the IATs
    • 5.4Results from the attitude interviews
  • 6.Summary and discussion
  • Notes
  • References
Published online: 12 December 2019
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/silv.22.09nil
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Nilsson, Jenny, Lena Wenner, Therese Leinonen & Eva Thorselius
2021. New and old social meanings in urban and rural Sweden. In Urban Matters [Studies in Language Variation, 27], ► pp. 179 ff. DOI logo

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