NZSL311 Key Terms Wk8

Language contact

Language contact occurs in societies or places/contexts where more than one language is commonly spoken.

Contact language

Linguistic outcome of language contact. A form (variety) of language that is influenced by contact with another language - incorporating some of its lexical and grammatical features – eg., signing in syntax that is influenced by spoken/ written language

Code

A language

Repertoire

Range of language resources that an individual has command of – which might draw on more than one language

Variety

A distinctive style or form of expression within a language – often associated with particular settings or groups of speakers. Linguists commonly use language variety (or simply variety) as a cover term for any of the overlapping subcategories of a language, including dialect, register, jargon, and idiolect.

Pidgin

A simplified form of speech formed out of one or more existing languages in contact and used as a lingua franca by people who have no other language in common. It does not have elaborate grammar and not usually a mother tongue. Mostly described in contexts of trading and planation societies.

Signed system

A system of signing that is designed to mirror spoken language grammar and lexicon. Vocabulary is usually a mix of natural (deaf community) signs and artificially devised or modified signs (eg initialising signs to reflect corresponding English words)

Diglossia

A situation in which two distinct varieties of a language are spoken within the same speech community. Usually one is considered ‘higher prestige’ than the other.  Bilingual diglossia is a type of diglossia in which one language variety is used for writing and another for speech.

Code mixing

Mixing words or phrases of two languages, usually within a sentence or utterance (intra-sentential mixing)

Code switching

Switching between two languages- usually between sentences or utterances (inter-sentential mixing)

Code blending

Articulating features of two language at once- unique to signed/ spoken language modalities (e.g. speaking or mouthing while signing) 

Bimodal bilingual

Deaf people who use/know two languages that are produced in different modalities: visual-gestural and auditory-oral (not necessarily to the same degree in both)

Lexical borrowing or loan

A word is regularly borrowed from one language into another. Eg, ‘latte’ or ‘pyjamas’ in English; (ASL) FINE/ SORRY in NZSL. A loan may be partially or full integrated into the phonology of the ‘borrowing’ language (eg, Anglicized pronunciation of ‘croissant’). Phonological modification is often less evident in sign languages.

Unimodal language contact

Contact between two (or more) languages produced in the same modality – eg., Mexican and American Sign Languages