section 4

vitality

demographic, social, and institutional strength of a language and its speakers

diglossia

a situation where two closely related languages are used within a speech community

ethnolinguistic vitality

the measure of strength and liveliness of a language, is usually a good indicator of the likelihood that a language will die out/continue to be used as the living language of the community

three ways to measure ethnolinguistic vitality

measured in terms of status, demographic, and institutional support

status factors influencing language vitality

-high social status of speakers of a language = high vitality of a language
-high historical status of a language (sociohistorical status) = high vitality

institutional factors influencing language vitality

-institutional support: widespread use of language in popular mass media (can be considered formal or informal uses)

demographic factors influencing language vitality

when the distribution of speakers or the overall number of speakers increases the vitality of a language

pepper-potting

housing speaker's of a particular language strategically as to avoid high concentration of speakers in a specific area

High (h) variety (relation to diglossia)

language with high overt prestige and used in more formal contexts for writing

Low (L) variety

vernacular language (informal settings)

what is the relationship between vitality and prestige

if language rates high with vitality, then it probably has a degree of overt prestige associated with it.

what is language status in and out

-language status in= how speakers view language
-language status without = how non-speakers of the language view it

examples of formal use of institutional support for a language

mass media, education, and government

examples of informal use of institutional support for a language

industry, religion, culture

examples of demographic support for the vitality of a language through distribution

-national territory (place where government can enforce use of a language)
-concentration - sufficient concentration of language areas where people can speak to each other in that language

examples of demographic support for vitality of a language through absolute numbers

-absolute birth rate of speakers of the language
-amount of mixed marriages between speakers/nonspeakers
-immigration + emigration (# of speakers being taken out/introduced to an area)

code switching

when speakers use one "code" in one clause/sentence, and then a different "code" in the next

code mixing

when speakers use different "codes" within a single clause

what is the issue with using "code mixing"

using the term code-mixing can sometimes have negative connotations and be considered pejorative

what are two factors code-switching may be based on?

-domain-based (situational/where you are)
-addressee based (who you're talking to)

who coined the terms high variety and low variety?

charles ferguson

how may a speaker decide which languages to use?

-can be based on social norms (high variety and low variety)
-or it can be based on the speaker's needs (communication, privacy, speaker identity, etc.)

passive knowledge

ability to understand, but not speak a language

active knowledge

ability to both understand and actively produce the language

speech levels

replacement in vocabulary with sometimes radically different forms in the different styles associated with different social groups/castes