Informant Sketches

Abstract

The informant sketches which follow are all based on the same general outline: after a short biographical sketch (1), the most characteristic traits of the informant’s speech are noted (2). Finally, a passage transcribed directly from the interview tape is given as an example of the informant’s speech (3). Although parts 1 and 3 are based on relatively objective infoimation from the interview, the statements made in part 2 are of necessity more subjective and impressionistic in nature. Each informant’s dialect is evaluated in relation to the literary standard, to the basic local dialect of his birthplace, and to the amount of E interference. Authoritative grammars of the SC standard language are used as a base in the first case; in the second, published descriptions of local dialects, in so far as such exist, are utilized as a reference point. In the third case, E interference, only the speech of other informants within this sample could be used as a basis for comparison. Probable correlations between the informant’s personal history and his speech are also pointed out when this seems pertinent.