Trudgill's Dialect matters is compiled on the basis of the weekly column he wrote on language and dialect for the Eastern Daily Press, the best-selling regional morning newspaper in England. Tackling a wide array of topics about language, Trudgill leads his readers to explore and examine language as a ‘mysterious and fascinating and enjoyable phenomenon’ (xiii); he also invites the readers to question and challenge the prescriptive, purist view against the use of ‘nonstandard’, local language variations. As a dialect speaker, Trudgill argues for the legitimacy of local languages by drawing on rich examples from the Norfolk dialect; therefore, local language variations should not be laughed at, discriminated against, or deemed less valuable, or as sub-standard.
Tracing back the history of some fun features in the pronunciation and spelling of the English language and Norfolk dialect (chapter 1), Trudgill illustrates that language is indeed enjoyable when we know more about it.
In chapter 2, Trudgill identifies three forms of prescriptivism regarding English grammar, namely nonstandard grammatical forms (e.g. I done it), grammatical forms inconsistent with Latin (e.g. It's me rather than It is I), and new usages such as hopefully as a sentence adverbial. Prescriptivists deem all three forms incorrect, but Trudgill argues that such a prescriptive view is not justified and should not be used to ‘correct’ how ordinary people use language in everyday life.
In chapters 3, 4, and 5, Trudgill challenges prescriptivism with a focus on language change (chapters 3 and 4) and linguistic diversity (chapter 5). Rather than viewing language change as disturbing and linguistic diversity as barriers to communication, Trudgill argues that the former is a fascinating ‘built-in characteristic’ of human language and the latter promotes progress in human society.
In chapters 6, 7, and 8, Trudgill continues to challenge prescriptivism by delineating how local language varieties can work differently from the standard variety at different levels. Whether the differences are grammatical (chapter 6), lexical (chapter 7), or phonological (chapter 8), they are all legitimate and should be respected. The danger of lacking such respect, as Trudgill reminds us, is casual linguicism—unthinkingly stereotyping or discriminating against people based on their accent, dialect, or language (chapter 9). In chapter 10, Trudgill reiterates his nonprescriptive, descriptive view on language by focusing on how grammatical processes (e.g. reanalysis, analogy) and categories (e.g. gender, number) differ across language varieties.
After providing more examples of the rich history and culture embedded in dialect words (chapter 11), place names (chapter 12), and local accents (chapter 13), Trudgill wraps up the book (chapter 14) by attending to the conflict over the spelling and pronunciation of place names as a result of human migration. His solution to the conflict—staying with how these names are spelled and pronounced by the locals—echoes his anti-prescriptive standpoint and his advocacy of local languages.
Overall, Dialect matters is a fun read. Trudgill has done an excellent job communicating research findings in sociolinguistics to the public in an accessible way. The ‘Linguistic notes’ section added into the book also provides scholars and students of linguistics with additional information and resources for further exploration.
