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2017•Unpublished venueRequires access

Dialect in Society

Walt Wolfram

Open publisher page 21 citations

Abstract

For as long as observations about language have been recorded, the symbolic function of dialect in society has been recognized. Over three thousand years ago, the sh versus s pronunciation of shibboleth in the Hebrew word for “ear of corn” was used to detect impostors from true allies among the fleeing Ephraimites who attempted to disguise themselves as Gileadites. As indicated in the Biblical account, the social consequences of the dialect difference were quite severe:

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What this paper is about

For as long as observations about language have been recorded, the symbolic function of dialect in society has been recognized. Over three thousand years ago, the sh versus s pronunciation of shibboleth in the Hebrew word for “ear of corn” was used to detect impostors from true allies among the fleeing Ephraimites who attempted to disguise themselves as Gileadites. As indicated in the Biblical account, the social consequences of the dialect difference were quite severe:

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OpenAlex reports 21 citations for this work. Citation counts describe recorded attention and do not establish research quality.

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Available abstract

For as long as observations about language have been recorded, the symbolic function of dialect in society has been recognized. Over three thousand years ago, the sh versus s pronunciation of shibboleth in the Hebrew word for “ear of corn” was used to detect impostors from true allies among the fleeing Ephraimites who attempted to disguise themselves as Gileadites. As indicated in the Biblical account, the social consequences of the dialect difference were quite severe:

Key concepts: Pronunciation, Linguistics, Hebrew, History, Function (biology), Word (group theory), Philosophy, Biology

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