Language death and morphological decay: The case of Haysville East Franconian

Daniel C Nutzel, Purdue University

Abstract

Most studies of dying languages reveal that a moribund language undergoes structural decay before becoming extinct. In particular, such a language usually exhibits massive reduction in its morphological system as speakers cease to transmit the language fully to their children; later generations become less and less proficient in the language, and in the final stages of death, the language loses its power of expression. However, the East Franconian dialect spoken in Haysville, Indiana, deviates from this pattern. Although in the final stages of language death, Haysville East Franconian remains extremely similar to its base dialect in morphology and syntax. The present study investigates the morphological and syntactic systems of Haysville East Franconian and the East Franconian varieties spoken in the Bayreuth-Pegnitz area of Upper Franconia from which the Haysville settlers emigrated. The results of this investigation reveal that the verbal system of Haysville East Franconian has been especially resistant to change over the past 150 years: e.g., verbal paradigms, often subjected to severe reduction in language death, show few signs of leveling. The nominal system of Haysville East Franconian, too, though not as basilectal as the verbal system, exhibits virtually no decay. The present study examines the reasons for this conservative nature of the Haysville dialect and discusses the implications of its findings for future studies of dying languages.

Degree

Ph.D.

Advisors

Hinderschiedt, Purdue University.

Subject Area

Linguistics

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