Ch. 2 Key Words

Dialect

Variant of a language spoken by a group of people sharing the same time (historical) or space (geographical or social)

Idiolect

Language variety unique to a single speaker (vocab, pronunciations, styles of speaking)

Regional Dialects

Variety of language that is spoken in a particular place (think geography)

Social Dialects

Variety of English that is spoken by people of a specific social group (grammatical features that distinguish them are more stigmatized)

Ebonics

Evovled dialect of Planation Creole (also called Black English Vernacular (BEV) or African-American Vernacular English (AAVE))

3 Varieties of American English

Northern, Midland, and Southern (boundaries based on pronunciation, vocab, grammar)

Sociolinguistic Stratification

Division along social class lines that can be identified by regular patterns of linguistic variation

Nonstandard English

Informal version of English - Encompasses varieties of English that aren’t SAE

Broadcast Standard English; Network Standard

Artificially created dialect of radio and television (may be what most consider standard spoken American English)

Standard Written English (Standard Edited English)

Variety that is uniform throughout the country (taught in schools & encoded in writers’ handbooks)

Style Shifting

A speaker tries to produce speech closer to standard English

Hypercorrection

Speakers “go one better;” modifying when you really don’t need too

Linguistic Insecurity

Feelings of anxiety, self-consciousness, or lack of confidence in the mind of a speaker surrounding their use of language

User-related varieties

Varieties that reflect something about the identity of the speaker

Use-related varieties

Varieties that reflect something about the occasions or purposes for the use of language

Style

Writing based on our assessment of the relative formality or informality of the situation

Casual Speech

Characterized by conversations that treats the listener as an insider who shares much knowledge with the speaker

Ellipsis

Parts of sentences omitted

Consultative Style

Characterized by speakers providing all the information needed to understand what is happening (no assumptions) and the listener plays an active role

Formal Style

Characterized by the use in public occasions, speakers addressing a group, careful pronunciation and intonation

Formal Writing

Writing that will be read by people unknown to the author

Interlanguage

Phase where adult learning of a second language exhibits features of both the new language and the native language

Developmental Errors

Errors that are a universal stage in the development of language proficiency

Transfer Errors

Errors that are transferred from the native language to the new

Linguistic Competence

Proficiency of the grammar

Communicative Competence

Ability to use the language in a variety of circumstances

Textual Competence

Knowledge about units of language larger than single sentences in speech or in writing (stories, conversations, lectures, poems, etc.)

Pragmatic Competence

Knowledge of the use of language in social settings

Global English (Globish)

Version of English developed among people who communicate in writing in English before they have had time to actually learn it as a second language