Language and Identity

What defines a speech community?

-low barriers to communication

-high frequency of communication

language restructuring

-changes to a language structure caused by contact

borrowing

-taking words from other languages

Calquing

-creating an expression by directly translating a word or phrase

language as emblematic

-language is a marker of cultural identity

-when you speak it immediately indicates your: social class, ethnic group, age, regional origin

Changing linguistic behavior

-situational

-lifestyle

situational changes in linguistic behavior

-Linguistic behavior can change depending on where you are

• formal vs informal

-how adults speak to each other vs children

-political maneuvering

Lifestyle changes in linguistic behavior

-linguistic behavior changes as people get older

-learning the speech forms of a different community

-ex) youth culture being discouraged to speak Sheng in Kenya and shift toward the standard form

Standard variety

-institutional, codified variety that is taught in formal institutions

-associated with high education, prestige, and status

Vernacular variety

-unstandardized

-acquired for everyday use

-informal speech community

languages of respect and other special varieties

-social hierarchy

-respect and honorifics

-Hlonipha

-royal language

-secret and play languages

Social hierarchy and language: Burundi

-nobles cannot raise their voice

-peasants had to appear slow

-girls had to remain quiet and repeat information later

Burundi Hierarchy ranking

-imana = the high god

-mwami = the king

-baganwa = princes

-abafonsi = nobles

-batutsi = herders - “hamitic”

-batwa = low born pariahs

Greetings reflecting social hierarchy: Wolof, Swahili

-when affines meet, the one showing respect:

• kneels partially

• holds left hand to right arm

• shakes the hand of the other while doing a polite salutation

Hlonipha

-zulu and xhosha community

-practice of showing respect

-In the strictest form, a woman could not pronounce her husband's name or the names of certain male relatives.

-Hlonipha involves nonverbal behaviors as well, including bodily modesty and prostration.

Related avoidance practices can occur during initiation rites, among diviners, and in other situations involving respect or taboo.

How clicks entered southern bantu languages

-Hlonipha required women to use alternative consonants to avoid the syllables in their husbands’ or male family members’ names

-Khoisan languages provided click substitutes

Isidwaba

-zulu

-leather kilt worn by tribal married women to show their inferior status

3 forms of name avoidance

-name taboo: avoiding the name itself

-word taboo: avoiding the name and words with the same root

-Phonological word avoidance: Avoiding the name, its root, and other words containing the same syllables or sound sequences.

strategies for avoiding prohibited words

-Consonant substitution: Replacing one consonant with another.

-Consonant deletion: Removing a consonant.

-Synonymy: Using a word with a similar meaning.

-Derivation: Creating a substitute from another related word.

-Neologisms: Inventing entirely new words.

-Borrowing: Using words from languages such as English or Afrikaans.

-Archaisms: Reviving older or historically related forms.

-Circumlocution: Describing something instead of naming it directly.

Royal language: musanda and venda

-everyday people must know venda and musanda

-venda = low variety

-musanda = royal variety

-musanda used only by the royal court; switch to venda when outsiders are present

-borrowing from musanda into venda but not venda into musanda

-can use different forms for the same meaning

• Nutsha = chiefs nails

• Nala = nails of all others

Honorifics

-Some languages use specialized words or grammatical forms to demonstrate respect

-plural markers can be used to show respect

-Bantu Mossi culture

• plural form to address a single person

• “Fo” for lower status

-Bantu “Ba” is also an honorific marker in some languagaes

Secret and Play languages

-function

• hide meaning from outsiders

• group identity and solidarity

• marking age group participation

-method:

• changing syllable structure — syllable reversal

• altering other grammatical structures

• changing pronunciation or morphology

Kisi Secret variety

-used by young men in Liberia

-features: syllable reversal and complex transformations

Imana

the high god

mwami

the king

baganwa

princes

abafonsi

nobles

batutsi

herders - “hamites”

bahutu

farmer/peasant class

batwa

lower born pariahs

name taboo

avoiding the name itself

word taboo

avoiding the name and words with the same root

phonological word avoidance

avoiding the name, root, and other similar syllables