Language and Society Final Flashcards

How did the first settlers get to North America and Central America

the land bridge from Siberia to Alaska

How many natives were in North America when the first Europeans arrived?

2 million

How many languages were spoken by Native Americans prior to Europeans settling in North America

300 languages

In 1500-1800, who were the primary settlers?

English, Spanish, and French

Where did the Spanish mostly settle?

Florida, California, New Mexico, Arizona

Where did the English mostly settle?

East Coast, along the Ohio River Valley

Where did the French mostly settle?

Canada, New Orleans, Mississippi Valley

Why were there attempts to prohibit German being taught in schools as a foreign language?

because of U.S involvement in WW1

Robert Meyer engaged in a legal suit with the state of Nebraska after the state banned any use of languages other than English in public and private schools. After taking it to the supreme court, the court ruled in favor of Meyer. They declared any attempt to forbid the teaching of languages other than English prior to the 8th grade a violation of the 14th Amendment.

What is Meyer vs Nebraska (1923)

a Cherokee leader who established a writing system for Native Ameican languages, leading to higher literacy rates among the cherokee. Also helped in setting up bilingual education programs for cherokee children to learn Cerokee and English

Sequoyah

After passing the Chinese Bookkeeping Act, this required all books in the Philippines to be kept in English, Spanish, or “a local dialect”; used to target Chinese merchants; this was struck down for being unconstitutional

Yu Cong Eng vs Trinidad (1926)

This US Act prohibited the immigration of Chinese labor immigrants into America for 10 years

The Chinese Exclusion Act (1882)

This act made funding available for the study of a wide range of languages that could be used to help improve connections with countries in Europe, Asia, and Africa; was a response to the Cold War and the Launch of Sputnik

National Defence Act of 1958

This act made it possible for wider use of bilingual instruction in the US; passed due to high drop out rates of latinx students in Texas

Bilingual Education Act (BEA) 1968

this act pledged support for the preservation and use of Native American languages, and recongnizes that Native Americans should be free to maintain and pass on their language to rising generations as they wish

Native American Languages Act 1990

founded by Samuel Hayakawa and Dr.John Tanton, they formed this organization to make English the offical language of the US, and to make the US a monolingual country

US English Organization (1980s)

1) make English the offical language of the US and only language of all government and public offices

2) to have state and federal governments discontinue funding and operating all bilingual education programs

3) terminate all government bilingual services (EX: bilingal ballots and voting materials)

The 3 main goals of the US English Organization

What are some examples of Bilingual states in the US?

Hawaii, New Mexico, Alaska, Louisiana

individuals having the ability to navigate and embrace the customs, values, and traditions of two or more cultures (Korean Americans, Mexican Americans, etc)

Bi-culturalism

this revolution led to a large number of immigrants coming to the US who originally did not intend to stay in the US for a long time

Cuban Revolution (1959)

A Native American Language where women’s words are shorter than men’s due to a difference in endings (Grizzly Bear: Men = t’en’na / Women = t’et)

Yana

Language in Brazil where women’s words include extra syllables or sounds not produced by men (House: Men = heto / Women = hetoku)

Karaja

Native American Language in Lousisiana where mens words end with an -s sound and women’s words end eith a -l or a nasalized vowel (We Peel It: Men = molhis  / Women = molhil )

Koasati

Language in South Africa where married women are not suposed to mention the name of her husband, father in law, or his brothers, and they must avoid the use of syllables whcih occur predominately in the names of these male relatives

Zulu

avoidense speech; when married women avoid and substitite the syllables they have to avoid; done in Zulu, Xhosa, Bengali, Mongolian

Hlonipha

Woman who was the first female prime minister of the UK who is known for making her voice significantly lower to to match her male predecessors

Margaret Thatcher

when there are differences between men and women’s speech and certain pattersn are only used by male speakers or by female speakers (Carib, Yana, Zulu, English)

Sex-Exclusive Differences

variation in male and female speech in which the same patterns are used by both men and women, but in different amounts (more common)

Sex-Preferential Patterns

True or False: Women in the middle classes and upper working class tend to speak more like people in the social class above them

true

What are the four reasons for differences between male and female speech from Holmes?

Function, Solidarity, Power, Statys

Non-standard form of a language; rough speech (NY accent); associated with male speakers

Covert Prestige

standard form, outright speech; associated with female speakers

Overt Prestige

Using language for social purposes; to establish, maintain, and strengthen relationships with other; associated with females

Affective Speech

using speech to exchange new pieces of information; associated with males

Referential Spech

True or False: Trudgill hypothesizes that women use more prestigious forms than men due to the power difference which gives a social advantage over women

True

What stores did William Labov conduct with New York Department store experiements?

Saks, Macys, S.Klein

What did William Labov do in order to get different pronunciations of /r/ in different contexts?

1) Asked where the 4th floor is to sale clerks

2) asked the question a second time

What were the pattersn William Labov noticed in the New York department store experiment?

sale clerks who worked in high-end stores pronounced their r’s more; sale clerks who worked at Macys added the r a second time

When people are unaware of certain different ways of speaking and change to a covertly prestigous form is a ________

subconscious change

The vowel change in Martha’s Vineyard mostly occured among _______

middle-age people

True or False: The age pattern on Martha’s Vineyard is the same for both up island and down island

False

What is the reason the vowel change occured much more in up island compared to down island?

Because of the type of jobs

When did the vowel change in Martha’s Vineyard start?

when the tourist industry began to flourish

Why did the people on Martha’s Vineyard change their vowels to the ones used by fishermen?

to separate themselves from the tourists

In mixed-gender conversations, who is more likely to create an interruption in the conversation, the man or female?

the man

Definition of Holmes’ Function?

What is the purpose of each conversational act?

Definition of Holmes’ Solidarity?

How well do the people talking relate to each other?

Definition of Holmes’ Power?

Who is in charge of the conversation?

Definition of Holmes’ Status?

How does speech indicate social status?

In heterosexul couples with an asymmetrical balance of power, ______________________

The male partner dominates the conversation more

“you know?” “you think so?” “don’t you think?” “Isn’t that right?” are examples of what? and who uses them the most?

tag questions; women

“really” “so” “very” are examples of what? Who uses them?

Boosters; women

True or False? Young Cajuns in the late 20th century have resumed the use of their heritiage L1, French?

True

What words did Labov observe the sound change in Martha’s Vineyard?

White and house

How many back-vowels are in a New York accent?

3

How many back-vowels are in a Boston accent?

1

Covert prestige is assocated with dialects and accents? True or False?

True

True or False? Females tend to over-report their use of standard forms while males under-report?

True

True or False? According to Lakoff, women use more tag questions because they are more concerned with other people’s feelings?

True

What are some languages that use grammaticalized gender forms?

French, Spanish, Italian

Is there more variation in American English vowels or consonants?

Vowels

What changes more, sounds or spelling?

Sounds

Where they grew up, race, social class, gender, sobriety, are all factors that impact _______

the way someone talks

What is Phonetics?

the pronunciation of a word

What is a Lexical?

a word you choose to use?

What is a Semantic?

The meaning of a word

True or False? Double-negative phases in Standard English date back to Shakespearean times and even earlier?

True

What are Athabascan, Algonquian. Siouan, and Yuman?

Major language families of the New World

The descendants of the earliest immigrants to the present-day US live primarity where?

South America

In the film Speaking in Tongues, new research reveals that becoming bilingual does what?

expands our brain capacity

What is the ideal time to become bilingual?

before the age 13

By 2025, what proportion of children entering Kindergarden in the US will not yet be speakers of English, according to current predictions?

one-third

[oi], [ej], [ai], are examples of what?

dipthongs

which accent in thr 1960s began raising [ae] to the front of the mouth rather than keeping it central, taking the place of [ie];

Northern city accent

which accent shifts their [ai] to [a] before any voiced consonant?

Standard Southern Vowel shift

which accents shifts their [ai] to [a] before ANY consonant?

Texas South and Inland South

which accent shifts their [ai] to [a] only before r,l,m and n consonants?

Midlands accent

What is this IPA symbol: θ

voiceless th-

What is this IPA symbol: ð

voiced th-

Sounds involving a narrow or complete closure of the lips (B,P,M)

Bilabial

Sounds involving the upper teeth and bottom lip (F, V)

Labiodental

sounds in which the tongue is in between the teeth (ð,θ)

Interdental

sounds involving the tip of the toungue and alveolar ridge (t, z, ɹ)

alveodental

Sounds that are farther back, in front of the hard palate (the word yellow)

Palatal

Sounds involving the soft palate and back of the tongue (k, g, ŋ)

Velar

sounds involving the two vocal folds in the larynx

Glotal