Dialect change and language attitudes in Albania

Abstract

This study is concerned with attitudes of Albanian listeners toward the two main dialects spoken in Albania: Gheg and Tosk. The study seeks to establish a connection between attitudes and speech features which have been shown to be changing in Gheg, and other features found to be stable. Ratings of four speech features on visual analog scales (VASs) pertaining to dialect identification, status, and solidarity were collected from 125 Albanian listeners and modeled with Bayesian regressions. The results revealed lower status for variants of features found to be changing in Gheg, contrary to stable variants, suggesting a connection between attitudes and dialect change, and highlighting the relevance of both language-external and internal factors in understanding change. All stimuli were also rated as more friendly than unfriendly, which could be related to sociocultural specificities of Albania. The study finally identifies methodological challenges to do with modeling responses from VASs.