Research tools

The order of research tools below is a recommendation, it is not obligatory. The morphological, syntactic and lexical cards are administered at the beginning of the interview so that we could collect relatively spontaneous data before the linguistic awareness of the informant begins to grow as a result of the ``Which is correct?'' questionnaire.

The ordering in the section is advisable to keep to.

The different modules of the guided conversation should be interlaced with the tests - to provide relaxation and distraction. When all the tests have been done, the rest of the tape should be filled with conversation.

The Uher tape recorder must not be stopped during the three perception tests either. This will result in minutes of idle tape but possible problems (e.g. misunderstanding of the instruction) and the resulting commentary will be well documented.

On the other hand, the Uher tape recorder could be stopped while the informant is reading the seven passages to himself.

Cards

There are sixty cards to elicit data on the major questions listed in sections 3.1 and 3.2. The general format is the following: The informant gets a card from the field worker. The card has a sentence with a blank in it. The citation form of the word to fill the blank is given on the card. For example:

Mari ................ egy ingemet tegnap.KIMOS `wash'

`Mary washed-def./indef. a my shirt yesterday'

So the informant receives the above card (without the gloss, of course) and has to say the sentence with the appropriate form of kimos . This means s/he has to choose between the form kimosta (definite conjugation) and the form kimosott (indefinite conjugation).

For the convenience of our field workers (who are not trained linguists) we provide another set of cards, the field worker's cards, which contain the variants the cards are supposed to elicit. Only the variants of primary data are listed. Instructions:

PLEASE READ OUT THE SENTENCE ON THE CARD SO THAT YOU INSERT THE WORD ON THE RIGHT INTO THE SENTENCE ON THE LEFT. FOR EXAMPLE:

Én tegnap nem  ...  eleget.ALSZIK `sleep'

`I yesterday not  ...  enough'

Reading passages

Each passage will be handed over on a separate sheet with the following instruction:

HERE IS A PASSAGE. PLEASE READ IT CAREFULLY IN SILENCE THEN ALOUD NATURALLY, WITHOUT MUCH ADO AS IF YOU WERE READING IT TO A FRIEND WHOSE EYE HAS JUST BEEN OPERATED ON AND HE CAN'T READ.

After the informant has read the passage:

PLEASE READ THE SAME TEXT FAST. SUPPOSE YOU HAVE TO GO TO THE LOO URGENTLY BUT YOU CAN'T UNTIL YOU HAVE FINISHED WITH READING ALL THIS ALOUD.

(If the informant does not read fast enough, the field worker should urge him by waving his hand.)

The following is one of seven reading passages, slightly altered and provided with detailed explanations for the English reader.

Tibor barátom, akinek a kabátján /1/ két lyuk /2/ is van, fölbiztatta /3/ a vele hasonszorü /4/ srácokat, hogy irjanak /5/ hosszu /6/ dolgozatokat /7/ - hadd kinlódjanak /8/ a tanárok a javitással! /9/ Mikor már a sokadik nagyon hosszu /10/ dolgozatot /11/ javitották, /12/ a tanárokban /13/ fölmerült a gyanu, /14/ hogy az ujabban /15/ irt /16/ dolgozatok /17/ nem véletlenül ilyen hosszuak. /18/

(Gloss: My friend Tibor on whose coat there are two holes, he encouraged guys like him to write lengthy school papers so that teachers will have a tough time correcting them. After the umpteenth lengthy paper which they corrected, teachers became suspicious that it is no accident that the papers are so lengthy.)

Notes:

1.

kabát-ján . Palatal assimilation across morpheme boundary, cf. (3)

2.

két lyuk . Palatal assimilation across word boundary, cf. (3)

3.

fölbiztatta . Short or long front high vowels, cf. (8)

4.

hasonszorü . Short or long ü cf. (8)

5.

irjanak . Short or long i cf. (8). Cf. the effect of the typewriter: the word irjanak `they should write' is typed on this sheet with the old keyboard, but the same word occurs in a different reading passage typed with the new keyboard, that is, írjanak .

6.

hosszu . Short or long high front vowel and typewriter effect.

7.

dolgozatokat . Elision of l , cf. (5)

8.

kinlódjanak . Short or long i and the typewriter effect, plus see 1. above.

9.

javitással . Same as in 8.

10.

hosszu . See 6. above.

11.

dolgozatot . See 7. above.

12.

javitották . See 5. above.

13.

tanárokban . -ban `in' or -ba `into'. Cf. (9)

14.

gyanu . See 6. above.

15.

ujabban . See 6. above.

16.

irt . See 5. above.

17.

dolgozatok . See 7. above.

18.

hosszuak . See 6. above.

Minimal pairs

The 20 minimal pairs will be handed over on 20 cards to the informant with the following instructions:

NOW I WILL GIVE YOU A FEW CARDS SHOWING TWO WORDS EACH. PLEASE READ THEM ALOUD.

1. ember - emberben

2. bontsd fel - bonts fel

3. KISZ-szoba - kis szoba

4. adja - hagyja

5. elmegyünk - felmegyünk

6. hat szoros - hatszoros

7. lehet - lehetett

8. erdoben - erdobe

9. ránts le - rántsd le

10. rácsszeru - Rácz-szeru

11. atyja - adja

12. megtanultam - megtanultuk

13. beteges - betegesen

14. lombtalanít - lomtalanít

15. látják - látták

16. följössz - följösztök

17. kertbe - kertben

18. nem kap semmit - nem kapsz semmit

19. ezerszer - ezeregyszer

20. írt - irt

Same or different?

Instructions

The same or different test is administered by means of a Walkman cassette player and headphones. The instructions are the following:

YOU WILL HEAR PAIRS OF WORDS. PLEASE DECIDE IF THE WORDS IN A PAIR MEAN THE SAME OR NOT. EXAMPLES:

alma `APPLE' AND körte 'PEAR'

IF YOU ANSWERED K FOR `DIFFERENT`, YOUR ANSWER IS CORRECT.

There are four more examples to sensitize informants to different meanings, same meanings, and same meanings with variant pronunciations.

The recording on the Walkman player is loud enough for the field worker to hear through the earphone. This arrangement enables the field worker to monitor by eye and ear whether the informant has lost track, in other words, whether s/he was not filling in the answer to, say, item 5 when hearing item 6.

Answers to questions 5 and 9 should be paid particular attention to! The dialects where the ë/e distinction is operative can be diagnosed by the following answers:

5. hëgyës (pointed) vs. hëgyes (mountainous)

9. értem (for me) vs. értëm (I understand)

If either one or both answers are K (different), the field worker should ask the informant after the test ``What is the difference between hëgyës and hëgyes ?'' as well as ``What is the difference between értem and értëm ?''.

Contents of the test tape

1.

gyanu - gyanú `suspicion', variants

2.

kinn - kint `outside' , morphological variants

3.

fel - föl `up', attention check (see below)

4.

sor - sör `line - beer', attention check

5.

hëgyës - hëgyes `pointed - mountainous'

6.

írjanak - irjanak `write', variants

7.

meglássa - meglátja

standard gloss: `he should see - he sees'

nonstandard gloss: `he sees - he sees'

8.

jelenkezik - jelentkezik `identifies himself', variants

9.

értem - értëm `for me - I understand' in two-e dialects

10.

hat - hát `six - back', attention check

11.

házban - házba `in vs. into house'

12.

igér - ígér `he promises', variants

13.

csinálnák - csinálnék

standard gloss: `they would do - I would do'

nonstandard gloss: `I would do - I would do'

14.

hosszú - hosszu `lengthy', variants

15.

ossza - osztja

standard gloss: `he should distribute - he distributes'

nonstandard gloss: `he distributes - he distributes'

16.

kertbe - kertben `into - in garden'

17.

kínt - kint `agony+acc. - outside'

18.

fönn - fenn `upstairs', attention check

19.

elbirál - elbírál `he evaluates', variants

20.

engemet - engem `me', morphological variants, attention check

21.

kiírt - kiirt `wrote out - exterminates'

22.

fésü - fésu `comb', vowel length variants

N.B. Attention checks (e.g. items 3, 4, and 18 above) are used to monitor the informant's attention level. These word pairs are linguistically uninteresting. If an informant scores wrong on these items, analysts know that the answers of this particular informant should not be considered.

Figure 6.1 shows the answer sheet which the informants were asked to fill in.

  

Figure 6.1: Answer sheet for the `Same or different?' test

Word lists

The words will be presented to the informant on 11 cards. The instruction is as follows:

I WILL GIVE YOU A FEW CARDS. EACH HAS FIVE OR SIX WORDS. PLEASE READ THEM OUT!

(See Figure 6.2.)

  

Figure 6.2: Word list cards

Which is correct?

Instruction to field workers: Instructions

Re word pair 9 (értëm 'I understand' and értem 'for me'):

An informant who genuinely distinguishes between e and ë may well circle both numbers on the answer sheet despite the instruction to mark a single answer for each item. If this is the case, the informant must be asked why s/he marked both numbers. Any spontaneous response or commentary must be recorded with the Uher, but the field worker should avoid discussing right or wrong ways of doing the tests! If the informant is inquisitive, the field worker should try to pass on by saying ``We will come back to this at the end''. If they do return to the point, the resultant conversation should be recorded with the Uher!

Transcript of the tape recording Transcript

The following instruction was recorded on the tape:

YOU WILL HEAR TWO DIFFERENT PRONUNCIATIONS OF CERTAIN WORDS. THE QUESTION IS WHICH PRONUNCIATION IS CORRECT? IF THE FIRST VERSION IS CORRECT, CIRCLE NUMBER ONE. IF THE SECOND VERSION IS CORRECT, MARK NUMBER TWO. HERE IS AN EXAMPLE: SZUPERMARKET - SUPERMARKET . IF YOU CIRCLED NUMBER ONE, YOU WERE RIGHT: THE CORRECT PRONUNCIATION IS SZUPERMARKET . CAN WE START?

Figure 6.3 contains the annotated list of test items in this module.

  

Figure 6.3: Test items in the ``Which is correct?'' module

How do you say it?

In order to establish the linguistic insecurity index of the informants, two sub-tests are used: the first asks for the correct form (cf. ``Which is correct?'' test), while the other investigates the forms used by the informant. The discrepancies show the linguistic insecurity of the informant.

Before the test is delivered the field worker must get the informant to spontaneously produce the word körút `boulevard'. A suggested tactic may be the following:

IF SOMEBODY FROM A PROVINCIAL TOWN ASKED YOU IF THE WESTERN RAILWAY STATION IS ALONG N´EPK¨OZT´ARSAS´AG STREET, WHAT YOULD YOU TELL THEM?

Expected reply:

``Nem, a körúton van. '' `No, it is along the boulevard'.

The field worker should note down on the answer sheet whether the informant uttered the word with a long or short ö by circling X if the vowel was long and Y if it was short. Then he should note whether the informant does the trial test correctly. If the informant does not seem to have understood the task correctly, then another example should be given, such as the following:

WHAT IS IT THAT CAUSES AN IRRITATING BITE IN SUMMER? (font size=-1>EMPHSZúNYOG `MOSQUITO') OK. NOW I AM GOING TO SAY THIS WORD IN TWO WAYS. IF YOU USUALLY SAY IT THE WAY I SAID IT FIRST, THEN CIRCLE NUMBER ONE. IF THE WAY YOU SAY IT IS HOW I SAID IT THE SECOND TIME, CIRCLE NUMBER TWO.

    

Figure 6.4: Test items in the ``How do YOU say it?'' section Figure 6.5: The list of elicited lexical items

Questions

The test words elicited in the minimal pairs section, word list section, reading passages and investigated in the listening tests are finally used in this part of the interview, which is like all traditional dialect questionnaires, i.e. questions are asked of the informant to elicit one particular word form. Figure 6.5 shows the list of lexical items elicited in this section.

Fill in the right word

Instruction: FILL THE BLANK WITH THE APPROPRIATE WORD IN EACH OF THE FOLLOWING SENTENCES.

Sok mindenre emlékszem,  ...  gyerekkoromban történt.AMI/AMELY `which'

`Many things I remember  ...  in my childhood happened.

This card elicits data for relative ami vs. amely cf. 3) . In this section data are obtained for the following variables:

ragassza - ragasztja, cf. -suk/-sük

ami - amely

the question particle -e cf. 1)

nyitja - nyissa cf. -suk/-sük

akassza - akasztja cf. -suk/-sük

The reporter's test

This test (cf. Ball 1986) is used to elicit words from informants without their concentration on linguistic form. The field worker asks the informant to act as a reporter doing a running commentary of what the field worker acts out. Here field workers have to elicit the following words:

felgyújtja or felgyújcsa (cf. -suk/-sük ),

felgyújtja or feloltja (cf. turn on vs. extinguish up),

kinyitja or kinyissa (cf. -suk/-sük )

felakasztja or felakassza (cf. -suk/-sük )

szobában or szobába (cf. -ban 'in' vs.  -ba 'into')

táskába or táskában (cf. -ban 'in' vs. -ba 'into', hypercorrection)

What does demográfia mean?

Field worker to informant: ``Do you know the word demográfia? ''Field worker records yes or no answer in log book then hands over the following card:

What does demográfia mean?

1.

A policy which should result in increasing numbers of births.

2.

The study of the changes in numbers of births, deaths, marriages and diseases in a community over a period of time.

3.

Both meaning 1. and meaning 2. are correct, this word has two meanings.

Conversation modules

There are three kinds of modules:

1.

those which are obligatory to do,

2.

those which must be introduced verbatim (e.g. 'danger of death' question),

3.

and the rest.

1. and 2. may overlap.

As regards guided conversations in the interview, field workers are encouraged to do a few personal data oriented modules at the beginning (e.g. your birthplace, your work, your mother tongue). Then, after all the test-like parts of the interview, field workers need to conduct conversations for at least thirty minutes.

Listed below are some conversational modules:

The mandatory ones: The mandatory ones

1.

Personal data

2.

Parents' and spouse's personal data

3.

Occupation

4.

Danger of death à la Labov

5.

A question on the Gipsy problem

6.

Questions related to language e.g. ``Where is the best Hungarian spoken?'', ``Which part of society speaks the best Hungarian?'', ``Is a dialect speaker hindered by his/her speech in upward social mobility?'' etc.

Optional verbatim modules: Optional verbatim modules

1.

Question on abortion:

2.

A Gipsy question:

``DO YOU KNOW WHAT THE ABBREVIATION CMÖ MEANS? (If the answer is ``no'': Cigánymentes öVEZET `Gipsy-free area'.) THIS ABBREVIATION IS OFTEN SPRAYED ON BRIDGES OR WALLS OF HOUSES IN BUDAPEST, E.G.ON HIGHWAY 3 THERE IS A LARGE GRAFFITI. WHAT DO YOU THINK OF THIS?''

Neither verbatim nor mandatory modules: Neither verbatim nor mandatory modules

1.

WHAT ABOUT NUCLEAR POWER STATIONS?

2.

WHAT ABOUT THE HUNGARIAN REFUGEES FROM ROMANIA?

3.

DO GIRLS FIGHT AROUND HERE?

4.

THERE ARE NO BROTHELS IN HUNGARY BUT THERE IS PROSTITUTION IN THE STREETS AS WELL AS IN HOTELS. IS THIS A GOOD THING? WHY?