Lecture 5: Sociolinguistics: Language and Regional Variations

What is sociolinguistics?

• Sociolinguistics is the descriptive study of the ef_________ of any and all aspects of society, including cultural norms, expectations, and context, on h____ language is u______ , and the effects of language use on s______.

effect, how, used, society

The standard language

• The standard language: the v_______ associated with administrative, commercial, or educational centers, regardless of r_______. 

• The standard language: i_______ variety, no specific region. 

• Standard English: found in printed English in newspapers and books, widely used in the mass media, and taught in most schools. There are several recognized varieties of Standard English.

• Recognized varieties of Standard English: Standard American English, Standard British English, Standard Australian English, Standard Canadian English, Standard Indian English.

variety, region, ideal

Accent and dialect

• The term 'accent' describes aspects of ______________ that identify _______ an individual speaker is ______, regionally or socially. 

• _______ : features of grammar and vocabulary, as well as aspects of pronunciation.

  • Standard: “You don’t know what you’re talking about”

  • Scottish: Ye dinnae ken whit yer haverin’ aboot

Example of Scottish dialect
Scots Words	English Meanings
'boon	above
'bout	about
'daurknin'	darkening/twilight
'ee lang	live long
amna	am not
aman	among

• Linguistic point of view: ____ of the varieties of a language IS inherently "better" than any other. They are simply different. 

• Social point of view: some varieties are _______ __________. The variety that develops as the standard language has usually been one socially prestigious dialect, originally associated with a center of economic and political power (e.g. London, Paris). 

• ________ ________: different varieties of a language spoken in different regions

pronunciation, where, from, Dialect, none, more prestigious, Regional dialects

Bilingualism

• Definition: the ability to speak two languages (But how and why people become bilingual can be very different.)

  • Example: Canada (an officially bilingual country, with both French and English as official languages) 

• ______________ ____________ due to political dominance: a member of a minority group grows up in one linguistic community, mainly speaking one language, but learns another language in order to take part in the larger dominant linguistic community.

  • Eg: one linguistic community (e.g. Welsh in Britain or Spanish in the United States) ⇒ have to learn another language to join in the larger group (e.g. English)

• Individual bilingualism in a familial setting: two parents speak different languages. However, even in this type of bilingualism, one language tends to become the dominant one, with the other in a subordinate role.

• __________: a special situation which involves a "low" and a "high" variety. The "low" variety is acquired locally and used for everyday matters, while the "high" variety is learned in school and used for important matters.

  • Example: in the past in Europe:

    • Latin ⇒ high variety

    • early versions of Modern English, French, Spanish ⇒ low variety

Individual bilingualism, Diglossia

• _________ /ˈpɪdʒ.ɪn/ (tiếng bồi): a variety of a language that developed for some p_______ p_______, such as trading, among groups of people who had a lot of contact, but did not know each other's languages. As such, it would have _____ native speakers. Eg:

• Tay Boi, or Vietnamese pidgin French, spoken by non-French-educated Vietnamese working in French households during the colonial era.

Tay Boi	Standard French	Literal English
Moi faim	J'ai faim	Me hunger
Moi tasse	Ma tasse	Me cup
Lui la frapper	Il la frappe	Him to hit her

• English pidgin: English is the __________ language, which means the main source of words in the pidgin. In English pidgins, words come mainly from English, while grammar is not English grammar. Eg:

  • tu buk (two books) 

  • di gyal place (the girl's place)

• There are several English pidgins still used today.

  • Characterized by an absence of any complex grammatical morphology and limited vocabulary. Example: tu buk

  • Functional morphemes often replace inflectional morphemes. Example: your book buk bilong yu.

Pidgin, practical purposes, no, lexifier

Creoles

• Creoles: descendants from pidgins. 

• When a pidgin develops beyond its role as a trade or contact language and becomes the f________ l__________ of a social community, it is described as a ______. 

  • Example: Tok Pisin in Papua New Guinea 

• Unlike pidgins, creoles have l______ numbers of native speakers and are n_____ r_________ in their uses.

• cr______________: development from a pidgin to a creole. 

• De_______________: retreat from the use of the creole by those who have greater contact with a standard variety of the language (Creole → closer to standard language)

  • Eg: English Creole speakers shift toward Standard English

first language, creole, large, not restricted, Creolization, Decreolization