This doctoral dissertation delves into the ‘new’ dialect of North Brabant, in particular the urban region of Eindhoven (NL). In this region, dialect loss and leveling lead to convergence to Standard Dutch, but simultaneously to increasing variation. This can be clearly observed in the morphosyntactic feature central to this dissertation: the adnominal masculine gender suffix -e(n). Currently, this suffix is used in ways that violate the traditional dialect grammar, leading to hyperdialectisms. These hyperdialectisms provide an intriguing case for (socio)linguists.
The dissertation takes the concept of the Total Linguistic Fact as its theoretical backbone. It assumes that linguistic variation can only be fully understood by considering not only the linguistic form of the variable in question, but also how it becomes a meaningful communicative resource in the interactional context and how speakers reflect on it. Throughout twelve chapters, these dimensions are tied together by combining quantitative and (especially) qualitative methods, involving production and perception data as well as social media data and metalinguistic statements.
By synthesizing the different case studies, it is argued that the gender suffix acquires social meaning(s) at the expense of its grammatical function. In this process of enregisterment, the gender suffix no longer expresses agreement between the lexical gender of the noun and the adnominal element(s). In contrast, it functions as a stylistic marker to index Brabantishness, which is not only linked to a place, but also to a multilayered persona. As such, the feature can be actively used by speakers to style themselves as locals.
