| Popis: |
The Black Country lies in the Midlands of England; its eastern border is formed by the city of Birmingham. The name Black Country is of obscure origin, but generally acknowledged to have semantic links with the heavy· industry in the area, which arose with the birth of the Industrial Revolution. The major issue faced by all those who wish to research the area, and by implication, the language varieties within it, is that the Black Country exists only in abstract terms. It has no geographical boundaries, nor any founded historically on political or administrative divisions. The study first examines the origins of this uncertainty, and from this delimits an area in which fieldwork is subsequently conducted. The purpose ofthe study is twofold. The first half presents for the first time a thorough and accurate description of the linguistic structure of Black Country ___._.. EJ].glish. It also uses the_JlmJJIal~@gl!~ge-data_collected-to~-shed-some-lighLon _ patterns of linguistic change and the extralinguistic variables which mayor may not operate on these changes. Such patterns are examined also in the light of qualitative reports from informants themselves. In the second half of the study I examine the phenomenon of polarisation towards or away from a Black Country identity, both in regional and linguistic terms. Data used to do so were gathered using specific questions dealing with questions of regional and linguistic affiliation, and conversations of up to 60 minutes with informants are used to expand on these written answers. The study then links linguistic usage of one phonological and two morphological variables with informants' descriptions of their own identity. Identity is multifaceted, and the qualitative data gathered are used to unravel feelings of identity which are in turn connected with the continuum of local to standard which is available to speakers, and the linguistic possibilities available to them. |
