MULTIVARIATE ANALYSIS OF GEOGRAPHY AND AGE IN DIALECT VOCABULARY — COMPREHENSIVE ANALYSIS OF 250 YEARS OF LANGUAGE CHANGE —

Abstract

In this paper, we analyze long-term changes in dialect vocabulary. By analyzing the age difference of 140 years and the regional difference of 27 survey points, we will examine historical change and geographical spread over the 250 years since the compilation of a dialect glossary. First, we present the distribution of eight representative words according to the traditional method of linguistic geography. After that, we present comprehensive maps and graphs of the entire 406 words in order to grasp the general pattern of regional and age differences. Furthermore, multivariate analysis (MCA) is applied and the meanings of the axes produced by it are analyzed for the dimension of person (respondent) and the dimension of word (vocabulary). In the dimension of person, the magnitude of the age difference was confirmed in the data as a whole. Before WWII there was a large regional difference, but now the age difference has become larger. It was possible to demonstrate the double concentric distribution, that is, a regional concentric distribution under the national concentric distribution. In the dimension of word, the process of standardization and the regression of antiquated forms were confirmed. From pre-modern times to the present, most of the words show a process of disappearance, but some dialectal forms continue to ** Tokyo University of Foreign Studies, 3-11-1, Asahicho, Fuchu, Tokyo 183-8534 Japan; Fukushima University, 1, Kanayagawa, Fukushima-city 960-1296 Japan. ©Universitat de Barcelona Fumio INOUE & Yasushi HANZAWA 98 increase even today. The words that match the colloquial and slang in Tokyo are expected to survive. In conclusion, this study will contribute to the expansion and development of dialectometry.