Vedde kan u vedde å råu åu : En studie om dialektförändring i Strömstad

Sammanfattning

This study examines the dialect of Strömstad, a small town on the west coast of Swedennear the Norwegian border. The study aims to survey dialect change in the area ingeneral, as well as to address specific questions concerning the degree to which differentlinguistic levels are resistant to change, the role of social position in relation to dialectchange, and whether the change is moving towards a national or a regional variety. Nineinhabitants from central Strömstad were recorded and analysed with respect to fivelinguistic variables at different linguistic levels. The results show that the traditionaldialect is in rapid decline, although there is still some room for regional features, evenamong younger speakers. Only older speakers and those whose social position stronglyanchors them to Strömstad show signs of the local dialect. The features that appear mostresistant to change are found at the prosodic and the morphological level. The lexical levelalso shows some resistance to change.