“Harold Orton often told us that it was the eleventh hour, that dialect was rapidly disappearing, and that this [the Survey of English Dialects] was a last-minute exercise to scoop out the last remaining vestige of dialect before it died out under the pressure of modern movement and communication”.
(Stanley Ellis, In: Rawling, p.1)
As Stanley Ellis, one of Harold Orton's colleagues in the Survey of English Dialects, points out in this quote, English linguists became aware in the 1950s that it was high time for a long-term dialect survey in their home country. Orton, the initiator of the Survey of English Dialects, knew that the modern means of communication, the increasing urbanisation and the decreasing number of those informants who were still untouched by modernisation, would soon make it impossible to collect authentic data of English dialects. So they started work as soon as possible. Later, a number of English dialect atlases were brought out on the basis of the SED; among them the lexicon-based Word Geography of England by Harold Orton and Nathalia Wright.
When the German linguist Georg Wenker carried out his first dialect surveys in Germany in the 1890s, the problem of modernisation was not as significant as it was 60 years later. Wenker's motivation rather was to find clear dialect boundaries in Germany and later in the entire German speaking area. With his far-reaching survey, the Deutscher Sprachatlas, Wenker laid the foundation of German dialectology, causing many linguists to adopt his example in the following years. One of these linguists was Walther Mitzka who published the first lexical dialect atlas for the German speaking area, namely the Deutscher Wortatlas.
The aim of the following essay will be to compare the WGE and the DWA. The comparison will be carried out, firstly, with regard to the methodology of the surveys which provided the data for the atlases, and, secondly, with regard to the actual publications, i.e. the WGE and the DWA themselves. In order to make the comparison comprehensible for the reader I have added some material from the atlases to the appendix. Furthermore, a table which lists the differences between the DWA and the WGE in short form, is added.
Finally, the appendix includes a newspaper article which describes the data collection of the SED in York.
Table of Contents
1. INTRODUCTION
2. AN INTRODUCTION TO THE SURVEY OF ENGLISH DIALECTS (SED) AND THE DEUTSCHER SPRACHATLAS (DSA)
3. THE METHODOLOGY OF THE SURVEY OF ENGLISH DIALECTS (SED) AND THE DEUTSCHER WORTATLAS (DWA)
3.1 THE METHOD OF DATA COLLECTION
3.2. THE SAMPLING
3.3. THE QUESTIONNAIRES
3.4. THE ACTUAL DATA COLLECTION
4. THE PUBLICATION OF THE FINDINGS
4.1. HOW ARE THE ATLASES ORGANIZED?
4.2. WHICH FORMAT OF PRESENTATION WAS CHOSEN?
4.3. WHICH ITEMS WERE MAPPED?
4.4. HOW ARE THE LOCALITIES PRESENTED?
4.5. HOW ARE THE COLLECTED ITEMS PRESENTED?
5. CONCLUDING REMARKS – ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES OF THE WORD GEOGRAPHY OF ENGLAND AND THE DEUTSCHER WORTATLAS
Objectives and Topics
This work aims to provide a comparative analysis of two significant linguistic resources: the "Word Geography of England" (WGE) and the "Deutscher Wortatlas" (DWA). The central objective is to evaluate differences in survey methodology and the resulting presentation of lexical findings in these two dialect atlases.
- Methodological approaches to dialect data collection (direct vs. indirect surveys).
- Sampling techniques for informants and localities in England and Germany.
- The design, structure, and implementation of linguistic questionnaires.
- Comparative analysis of map organization and data visualization techniques.
Excerpt from the Book
3.1 The Method Of Data Collection
With regard to the method of data collection, two different types can be distinguished. First, the direct method which was used for the SED. It implies a face-to-face interview with the informant. As Francis points out, the advantage of this method is that it “permits much closer control of the selection of localities and of informants, as well as of the actual interview” (Francis 1983: 69). The fieldworker has control of the situation and can, if necessary, intervene in the interview. However, this can also be regarded as a disadvantage of the direct method, since the interviewer can have quite a strong influence on what the informant says. Yet the direct method shows off another virtue, namely the possibility of making tape-recordings of the informants’ dialects on-the-spot.
The second method which can be used for the data collection is the indirect one, as used for the DWA. This method implies delivery of the questionnaires by post, either directly to the informant or to an intermediary who then gives the questionnaire to an appropriate informant (Francis 1983: 79). The indirect method is primarily used for collecting lexical material (Francis 1983: 99) as in the case of the DWA.
Summary of Chapters
1. INTRODUCTION: This chapter outlines the historical context of dialectology in England and Germany, establishing the rationale for comparing the two atlases.
2. AN INTRODUCTION TO THE SURVEY OF ENGLISH DIALECTS (SED) AND THE DEUTSCHER SPRACHATLAS (DSA): It provides background on the origins, initiators, and goals of both large-scale surveys.
3. THE METHODOLOGY OF THE SURVEY OF ENGLISH DIALECTS (SED) AND THE DEUTSCHER WORTATLAS (DWA): This chapter performs a detailed comparison of data collection methods, sampling criteria, questionnaire design, and fieldwork execution.
4. THE PUBLICATION OF THE FINDINGS: This section evaluates how the collected dialectal data is organized, mapped, and presented in the final published atlases.
5. CONCLUDING REMARKS – ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES OF THE WORD GEOGRAPHY OF ENGLAND AND THE DEUTSCHER WORTATLAS: A synthesis of the findings, weighing the benefits of comprehensiveness against the practical challenges of clarity and manageability in dialect atlases.
Keywords
Dialectology, Survey of English Dialects, Deutscher Wortatlas, Linguistic Atlas, Data Collection, Methodology, Lexicon, Isoglosses, Informant Sampling, Cartography, Comparative Linguistics, Direct Method, Indirect Method, Phonetic Transcription, Dialect Mapping
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the fundamental focus of this paper?
The paper focuses on comparing two major dialect atlases—the English "Word Geography of England" and the German "Deutscher Wortatlas"—to highlight their distinct approaches to capturing and displaying dialectal data.
What are the primary thematic fields covered?
The work examines historical linguistic survey projects, methodological differences in dialect research, and the evolution of mapping techniques in dialectology.
What is the central research question?
The central question is how the differing methodologies (direct vs. indirect surveys) and publication goals of the SED and DWA impact the final presentation and usability of the linguistic findings.
Which scientific methods are employed?
The author employs a comparative literary analysis of existing dialectological documentation and communicates with contemporary experts to clarify historical discrepancies in survey records.
What is covered in the main body of the work?
The main body systematically contrasts the sampling strategies, the design of questionnaires, the duration and execution of data collection, and the cartographic methods used for presenting lexical findings.
Which keywords best characterize the study?
Key terms include Dialectology, Comparative Linguistics, Survey of English Dialects, Deutscher Wortatlas, methodology, and cartographic representation.
How does the "direct method" used in the SED compare to the "indirect method" of the DWA?
The direct method involves face-to-face interviews allowing for phonetic control and incidental observations, whereas the indirect method relies on postal questionnaires, providing a much larger sample size but lacking direct contact with the informants.
Why does the author consider both sample sizes problematic?
The author argues that while the SED offers too small a data basis for complete empirical certainty, the massive sample size of the DWA creates significant organizational, financial, and readability challenges.
- Quote paper
- Alena Friedrich (Author), 2001, Word Geography of England and Deutscher Wortatlas - A Comparison, Munich, GRIN Verlag, https://www.grin.com/document/14483
