The Project of Researching Dialect Formation [FORDIAL]

The project "Formacion de Dialectos" ([FORDIAL] Dialect Formation), aimed at researching dialect formation in contact situations of rural immigrants settling in urban environments, is related, & preliminary results of data analysis are reported. A theoretical discussion of the processes of leveling & koineization & the variables & factors affecting linguistic integration into the new speaking community & producing dialect shift is presented. Rural immigrants to the Spanish urban centers of Granada & Malaga & nonmigrant rural residents as controls (N = 216) are characterized vis-a-vis their stratification across age, sex, education, social class, residence length, contact with the native community, & other demographic, social, & economic traits. Permanent immigrants to the city are differentiated from "commuters," ie, Ss with temporary residence switching between the city & village. Loyalty to the community of origin, length of residence in the city, & the degree of assimilation in the new speaking community are considered as pertinent & illustrated with phonetic adaptations of Malaga Ss. 3 Tables, 3 Figures, 4 Charts, 3 Appendixes, 73 References. Adapted from the source document