This paper includes a detailed discussion on the intelligibility of the speakers of four regional dialects of the Indo-Aryan language of Assamese. Prior research on Assamese dialects mostly being confined to examining structural variation lends this study relevance and urgency. The dialects of Standard Assamese, Central Assamese, Kamrupi, and Goalparia, covering three varieties each, were considered for the study. Using a functional intelligibility testing approach, the rate of overall intelligibility as well as of inter- and intra-dialectal mutual intelligibility of the dialects were determined. 24 speakers (1 male and 1 female from each variety) were asked to record ‘texts’— words, sentences, and connected speech in their native varieties of Assamese. 11 listeners from each variety (132 in total) were then tested on their comprehension of texts from non-native varieties. Thereafter, their rates of comprehension were used to determine the rates of mutual intelligibility between speakers of the different dialects and varieties of Assamese. This paper establishes that the rates of mutual intelligibility are unequal and asymmetric among the dialects— the native speakers of the Standard and Central Assamese dialects were more intelligible to the speakers of Kamrupi and Goalparia than vice-versa. Finally, the paper finds that the rate of intelligibility is the lowest for words in isolation and reinforces the important role of context in intelligibility.

This paper describes a new methodology for testing intelligibility across closely related languages and dialects in a traditional oral society in Vanuatu. There are many reasons why it could be useful to establish how well speakers of related varieties can understand one another: such knowledge is relevant to language planning and policy making, and it can shed light on the dynamics of language contact. However, conventional approaches to intelligibility testing, such as ‘recorded text testing’ (Hickerton et al. 1952; Pierce 1952; Voegelin & Harris 1951), are time consuming to score, and difficult to implement consistently. In Europe, fast and efficient intelligibility testing has been successfully carried out across closely related varieties (cf. Vanhove 2014; Gooskens forthcoming; Schüppert & Gooskens 2011a, 2011b, inter alia). However, these methods assume that test subjects are literate and computer-savvy. The methodology discussed in the present paper adapts European methods to conventional ‘fieldwork’ conditions. In Vanuatu we piloted a picture task and a translation task. Although some words had to be removed from the final analysis, the experiment was successful overall and we anticipate that this method can be fruitfully applied in other oral language communities. ; National Foreign Language Resource Center

This descriptive-analytic writing reports the effects of some extra-linguistics factors like age and education on mutual intelligibility between two Kurdish (central and southern) dialects in two varieties of these dialects called Badrei from Ilam province and Mahabadi from West Azarbayjan. We present our conclusions based on the research data gathered by Karimi-doostan and Mirmokri (1398). However, we investigate the effects of mentioned variables on intelligibility. To this purpose, we concentrated on the responses to the questionnaire presented in the previous research by adopting a different approach. We discuss the role of social variables determining the level of mutual intelligibility in questioned varieties. The findings of the previous study had showed that the intelligibility between Badrei and Mahabadi speakers was asymmetric and Mahabadi speakers’ performance was better in function tests. The findings had also showed that language attitudes had no effect on intelligibility of studied varieties and lack of language contact between them, and presence of phonological and lexical distances were recognized as the most important factors in that research. In the present paper, by dealing with the same data in more details, the findings suggested that social factors such as age and the level of education also influence intelligibility. Accordingly, it was found that the speakers with higher level of education obtained higher scores in function tests consisted word transla

This book provides a detailed overview of research on mutual intelligibility between closely related languages. The book is organized around three sections which explore different facets of mutual intelligibility research. This book provides a detailed overview of research on mutual intelligibility between closely related languages. The book is organized around three sections which explore different facets of mutual intelligibility research. The first section outlines how to measure levels of intelligibility and its linguistic and extra-linguistic determinants. The second part grapples with questions and issues which arise once the measuring tools are established. A final section reflects on the practical and theoretical value of studying mutual intelligibility, including issues related to language planning and policy, such as cultural, communicative, educational, and economical matters.