Ardennes regiolect: Functioning and vitality evaluation

DOI:10.30842/alp23065737172169183

Retinskaya T. I. Ardennskiy regiolekt: osobennosti funktsionirovaniya i otsenka vitalnosti. Acta Linguistica Petropolitana. 2021. 17(2): 169–183.

The article addresses the peculiarities of the functioning of the Ardennes regiolect and its potential for self-preservation. The study builds on data from numerous lexicographic publications and linguistic atlases, as well as on field findings. Apart from assessing the sociolinguistic status of this regional variant of French, the article scales the vitality of regionalisms based on four criteria: 1) the use of a lexical unit by successive generations; 2) the use of a regionalism on the area of two or more communities; 3) appurtenance of a given lexeme exclusively to the regional stock; 4) availability of regiolect-receptive realia. The time-tested method of our field work, carried out in 2016–2020 in twelve communes of the Ardennes Department of the Grand Est Region (France), allows systematizing extra- and intralinguistic factors that contribute to the viability of the language substrate under study. Field records including an indication of high, medium or low vitality of ardennisms are reflected in the regiolectographic card index.

Interactive web maps for the areas canvassed, accessible to mobile gadgets, will be developed based on our findings including inventories of the universal and specific features of the Ardennes regiolect, systematized for data on our consultants by age, profession, social status, and place of residence to be used for a representative selection of locally restricted lexical units. This format of interaction with the regiolect speakers will allow the publication of comments and valuable information on the use of regionalisms recorded in the web atlas, uploading audio files, developing a system of labels that broadcast data not only about the vital power of the inventoried regionalisms, but also about the revitalization of elements of a specific lexical continuum.

Special attention is paid to the description of various forms of interaction with regiolectophones, focused on the preservation of the regional idiom as “intangible cultural heritage”.

Keywords

Ardennes regiolect, regiolectophone, field experiment, scaling the vitality of regionalisms, web mapping of regional lexemes

About the author

Retinskaya T. I.

I. S. Turgenev Orel State University (Orel, Russia)

tatret@mail.ru

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Keywords

Ardennes regiolect, regiolectophone, field experiment, scaling the vitality of regionalisms, web mapping of regional lexemes