Sociolinguistics - Lecture 5

Agentive

language users are agentive — they always have a choice when they use a language (can be at macro -diff lang- or micro -diff features in lang- level)

Variety

different forms of a single language along social or geographic lines (like dialect)

examples: Chilean Spanish vs Peruvian Spanish, AAVE vs European American English

Code

can refer to both languages and varieties within a language (general term), useful for invoking a range of linguistic resources that speakers have access to

Linguistic Repetoire

total linguistic resources that individuals (or small groups) have

• inventory and codes speaker can draw on 

• ‘sum’ of all the skills and knowledge across all the languages or dialects that speakers possess

Speech Community

a group of people with shared social and linguistic behaviours

• ex. shared knowledge of norms and conventions

• doesn’t mean everyone speaks the same way, but good amount of overlap

• can be based on social or linguistic criteria or both

Diglossia

refers to how different codes are stratified in a society based primarily on differential language functions

• differs from language stratification where social status and prestige determine boundaries

• high and low languages assumed to be in complementary distribution (mutually exclusive)

Diglossia - High Language (H)

used for formal, prestigious, public functions

Diglossia - Low Language (L)

used for casual, intimate, private functions

Diglossia - Charles Ferguson

classic diglossia: H and L are genetically related — two possibilities

1. the H language is a formal/antiquated version of the L language

2. the H language is the superstrate/lexifier and the L language is the creole based on it

• functional distribution is compartmentalized

• L language likely learned as an L1

• H language likely learned through schooling and highly codified

• difficult to apply to multilingual societies

Diglossia - Joshua Fishman

any 2+ languages can have a diglossic relationship, even if they’re not genetically related

• particular focus on bilingual/multilingual societies

• still functional compartmentalization — each language assumes a different set of functions

Diglossia - Ralf Fasold

the H and L languages are slightly different versions of the same language

• H language is more standard

• L language is more informal/casual

• diglossic relationship can exist in situations where language codes are stratified socially

• diglossia not just a linguistic condition, but also a social one

• can have diglossia even in monolingual communities

Diglossia - Continuum

the different models allow for different situations where language codes are stratified functionally and socially regardless of the linguistic relationship between them

monolingual repertoire Fasold ← somewhere in between Ferguson → bilingual repertoire Fishman

Diglossia - Critiques

the H and L relationship is an oversimplification and questionable

• can be different degrees of diglossia

• diglossia assumed to be a stable sociolinguistic phenomenon

• H and L labels are not neutral and apolitical

Code-Switching

when speakers switch backwards and forwards between distinct codes in their repertoire, often within the same sentence or utterance — a complex and skillful type of language choice involving the accomplished handling of two or more languages simultaneously structurally, phonologically, and socially

Translanguaging

alternative term for code-switching that some use

• emphasizes the fluidity of language switching and mixing, particularly in ethnically diverse urban situations

• brain treats languages not separately, but part of one cohesive system

• greater focus on communicative aspect rather than linguistic/structural aspect

Intersentential Code-Switching

a shift from one language to another between clauses

Intrasentential Code-Switching

a shift from one language to another in the middle of a clause

Matrix vs Embedded Language

a way of understanding intresentential code-switches

• one language assumes role of matrix language — determines the structure, basic word order, many function words

• other language is the embedded language — contributes isolated content words or phrases

• not static, speakers are agentive, choice between the two switches

Code-Switching - Shana Poplack

the work of Shana Poplack showed that code-switching is not random — it’s systematic and rule-governed 

Equivalence Constraint

code-switching can only occur where the surface syntax of the speaker’s two languages match each other (map onto each other)

Code-Switching - Choice

language users always has choices, especially true in code-switching situations

• code-switching carries social meaning

• serves a pragmatic purpose and strategically deployed in interactions

• the social meanings of code-switches are not fixed but emerge in interaction

Code-Switching - Reasons

• quoting people

• picking out a person to address in a group

• qualifying or hedging

• interjections and exclamation

• reiterating a point

• changing the topic or gaining the floor

• empathetic (dis)agreement

• expansion

• creating dramatic contrasts

Situational Code-Switching

there is a regular association between language and social situation — a real world shift in context, in turn, redefines the situation

ex. change in location, change in environment, change in people present

Metaphorical Code-Switching

used for effect — to convey a change in meaning, tone, or social relationships even if the situation stays the same, often unexpected

ex. adding emphasis in a conversation 

Markedness Model of Code-Switching

model proposed by Meyers-Scofton

• interactions carry expectations of ‘rights and obligations’

• speakers make strategic code-switching choices depending on costs and benefits of each situation

  • unmarked choices: default, expected, usual, frequent

  • marked choices: unexpected, unusual, rare, don’t meet the ‘interactional template’

• points to the social significance of language choices and how users are agentive and proactive

• maybe code-switching not that subconscious 

Code-Switching vs Borrowing

borrowing:

generally phonologically, morphologically, and syntactically integrated into the host language

code-switching:

generally involves alternate use of phonological, morphological, and syntactic systems from each language

Language Choice - Oberwart