WLC 215 : Test 3

What determines dialect vs. language for linguists?

If mutual intelligible, then it is the same language (2 people can understand each other– but their language varieties differ structurally and/or lexically – they speak two dialects of the same language)

What are some examples of how extralinguistic factors (i.e. non-language-dependent ones) that affects the difference between language and dialect?

Different country, different writing system, mutually intelligible

Why are Norwegian and Danish are "separate languages" but Moroccan and Iraqi Arabic "dialects of the same language?"

Moroccan and Iraqi are dialects of the same language even when different countries because they have the same writing system, while Norwegian and Danish do not.

What is an example of 2 separate languages?

Yiddish and German are same country, different writing system, mutually intelligible, and considered languages

What is an example of language varieties that are dialects?

Australian and American English

What makes something a standard dialect? Who are its native speakers?

Upper class, social prestige, higher education, and power (Rich white people speak Standard American English. Prejudice)

What term do linguists use to describe the language variety viewed by speakers as neutral and formal?

Acrolect (ex: SAE)

What term do linguists use to describe non-standard dialects that are often considered inferior or incorrect by speakers?

Basilectal

What are some different types of justification for prescriptivism?

Focus on grammar and writing, therefore failing to recognize that dialects are simply differences. Prescriptivists often or always ignore the provenance of standard varieties and think language varieties doesn’t make sense.

In what way are standard dialects superior and/or non-standard dialects inferior?

Standard dialects are often preferred by society and taught in schools (educational settings, example of prejudice)

What basis in theoretical linguistics is there for prescriptivism?

Limited because linguists focus on descriptivism (how language is used by speakers). Can focus on prescriptivism for writing essays

How do English dialects differ phonetically/phonologically?

“Caught vs. cot" (South and parts of Midwest distinguishes a difference between the pronunciation, while the New England states and the West does not and overtime people do not). Many forms of English lack the interdentals /θ,ð/, replacing them with /t, d/. Or the pronunciation of “crayons”

How do English dialects differ morphologically?

Southern American English may allow multiple auxiliaries (ex: “might could”) or no auxiliary (ex: “You crazy”)

How do English dialects differ lexically?

Rotary vs. roundabout vs. traffic circle (“roundabout” used in midwest, while traffic circle is more used in northeast). Or how the word for bathroom/restroom changed over time (crapper —> commode —> toilet —> facilities/restroom/bathroom). Or “drinking fountain” more used in West, while “Water fountain” is more used in the East.

What is the term used to describe the lines between regions that create dialect distinctions?

Isogloss (can say “crossed the hoagie/sub” isogloss for north vs. south jersey)

What is the term used to describe language variation that exist geographically but also socially and situation-to-situation?

Dialect continuum. As you travel north to south in Germany, dialects shift gradually so close by regional neighbors can understand each other, but speakers from the extreme ends cannot.

Why is AAVE not interior to SAE?

No language needs justification. If it has native speakers who can use it to express themselves, it is its own dialect. It satisfies the needs of their speakers. No language is better or worse than another language.

Describe the habitual “be” that gives AAVE tense that English lacks.

Use “be” when what you are describing is permanent/usual (ex: She be late every day) vs. use “is” or nothing when you are describing something temporary (ex: “She is late today” or “she late today”)

Describe a phonological feature of Southern English and AAVE.

Southern English and AAVE have monophthongs, where other dialects have diphthongs (ex: “By”: [baɪ, ba] or “Now”: [naʊ, na:])

What is a pidgin and how is it used? Characterize it culturally and lexically (i.e. where do lexical items come from?)

Not natural languages, no one’s native language, vocabulary and grammar come from natural languages. Original pidgin consisted of English words with Chinese phonotactics. Limited vocabulary, limited grammar (computer language). Limited by setting (still “business”)

What are some contact pidgins (trade languages)?

West African Pidgin English that developed into Krio and Melanesian Pidgin English that developed into Tok Pisin

Describe Forced Labor Pidgins

Workers communicated via pidgin based on colonial language. Even when not prohibited, native languages of little use. Pidgins existed before chattel slavery.

What are some aspects of Pidgins?

Cluster simplifications, smaller phoneme inventories, reduced affixing (prefixing/suffixing) systems, lack of syntactic articles, compounding (semantic aspect, ex: “dog baby”="“puppy”)

Where do creoles come from? For the purposes of testing, we can accept the pidgin origin.

Children born into a community whose means of communication is a pidgin. The recentness of creoles is due to the unnatural human movements caused by slavery and other legacies of colonialism. The children often also acquire the language(s) of their parents, but they adopt the creole as their primary language, use it with their peers (innate grammatical knowledge- children attempting to acquire a real language).

What do some researchers conclude about linguistics and language in general from the similarity of unrelated creoles?

Some linguists argue that these languages are created by children from innate grammatical knowledge. If creoles come from pidgins, they would have some of the same attributes of phonology, morphology, syntax, and semantics that do pidgins.

What is societal multilingualism?

Communities of speakers sharing two or more languages (ex: Many trilinguals in India and Kenya that have a local national language, regional language, and English)

What are causes of multilingualism?

Politics (colonization, refugees), economics (immigration, industrialization), education, culture (national identity), religion (identity)

How does multilingualism relate to diglossia and code switching?

People may switch between languages for different social contexts, express solidarity, exclude certain listeners, signal a change of tone (ex: immigrant parents giving instructions to children)

What factors motivate the “language choices” people make?

Identity,