"The Linguistic Results of Civilizing the Wilderness" to be topic of lecture March 18

Events Calendar Listing:

Thursday, March 18, 4:30 p.m.

MIDDLEBURY, Vt.-Lecture: “The Linguistic Results of Civilizing the Wilderness: The Origins of the Northern Cities Shift in Western New England” by William Labov, professor of linguistics at the University of Pennsylvania and author of “Principles of Linguistic Change,” “Language in the Inner City,” and editor of the “Dialect Atlas of North America”

Labov is widely regarded as the pioneering founder of contemporary sociolinguistics, revolutionizing modern thought about language and its relationship to society. The “Atlas of North American English,” edited by Labov and a team of researchers, will be published later this year. To sample the book, visit http://www.ling.upenn.edu/phonoatlas/.

In his lecture, Labov will present linguistic and social issues generated by the research team’s findings, which are of particular relevance to the speech patterns of the eastern United States and western New England. He will also address cultural and linguistic aspects of the westward migration from New England to form the Inland North dialect area.

Free and open to the public

Robert A. Jones ‘59 House Conference Room, Hillcrest Road off College Street (Route 125)

For more information, contact Llorenç Comajoan of the Middlebury College Spanish Department at 802-443-3156 or lcomajoa@middlebury.edu; Kamakshi Murti of the German Department at 802-443-3417 or kmurti@middlebury.edu; or Mark Southern of the German Department at 802-443-3479 or msouther@middlebury.edu.

The lecture is part of the Middlebury College Language, Mind and Culture Lecture Series, and is sponsored by the C.V. Starr Foundation, as well as the College’s Foreign Language Division and its Rohatyn Center for International Affairs.

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