Redefining Regional French
Koinéization and Dialect Levelling in Northern France

David Hornsby

Cover of Redefining Regional French

Studies In Linguistics 3

Legenda

24 May 2006  •  160pp

ISBN: 978-1-904350-50-7 (hardback)  •  RRP £80, $110, €95

ContemporaryFrenchLinguistics

New regional varieties of French are currently emerging. The orthodox view considers them no more than an ephemeral dialect residue of little theoretical interest. Hornsby challenges that view by following the life cycle of an obsolescent urban Picard variety, spoken in a mining town in the Pas-de-Calais, and unravelling the complex reasons why some local variants survive and others perish. Applying a sociolinguistic model developed by Peter Trudgill, Hornsby shows how the processes of levelling and simplification have given rise to a new, stable variety or koiné. This is compared with other new urban varieties in Sweden and the UK, where different economic, social and demographic conditions have produced very different linguistic outcomes. Will the emergence of Regional French in the north herald the start of a new diversification of French in Europe?

David Hornsby is Lecturer in French at the University of Kent. He publishes on language variation and on the history of French, and was a research consultant for the BBC's Voices project (2005) into contemporary British accent and dialect variation.

Reviews:

  • ‘A worthy contribution to the field of sociolinguistic enquiry, and a welcome reminder of the importance in recording social history of dialect studies such as this.’ — Ken George, French Studies 62.4, 2008, 518-19
  • ‘This stimulating book is written with commendable clarity and succinctness, making the more general sections in particular both extremely useful and highly accessible to undergraduate students. Legenda, the publishers, are also to be commended for their usual attractive presentation.’ — Tim Pooley, Zeitschrift für französische Sprache und Literatur 119.1, 2009, 82-83

Bibliography entry:

Hornsby, David, Redefining Regional French: Koinéization and Dialect Levelling in Northern France, Studies In Linguistics, 3 (Cambridge: Legenda, 2006)

First footnote reference: 35 David Hornsby, Redefining Regional French: Koinéization and Dialect Levelling in Northern France, Studies In Linguistics, 3 (Cambridge: Legenda, 2006), p. 21.

Subsequent footnote reference: 37 Hornsby, p. 47.

(To see how these citations were worked out, follow this link.)

Bibliography entry:

Hornsby, David. 2006. Redefining Regional French: Koinéization and Dialect Levelling in Northern France, Studies In Linguistics, 3 (Cambridge: Legenda)

Example citation: ‘A quotation occurring on page 21 of this work’ (Hornsby 2006: 21).

Example footnote reference: 35 Hornsby 2006: 21.

(To see how these citations were worked out, follow this link.)

This Legenda title was first published by Modern Humanities Research Association and Maney Publishing but rights to it are now held by Modern Humanities Research Association and Routledge.

Routledge distributes this title on behalf on Legenda. You can search for it at their site by following this link.

Permanent link to this title:

www.mhra.org.uk/publications/Redefining-Regional-French
www.mhra.org.uk/publications/sil-3