The document discusses various topics related to language variation and speech communities, including different dialects of Middle English defined by geography, the concept of a speech community, and sociolinguist William Labov's studies of linguistic variables and their correlation with social class through observational research conducted in department stores in New York City. It also provides examples of different dialects and examines the relationship between social class and linguistic variation.
The document discusses language and ethnicity. It defines ethnicity as being identified with a group descended from common ancestors who share cultural traits like language, religion, and dress. Ethnic varieties of English arise from the languages of immigrant groups and can influence mainstream English over time through the spread of lexical and grammatical features. The document asks questions about ethnic identity and the relationship between ethnicity and language, and provides examples of characteristics and influences on ethnic varieties of English in the US and expressions that have spread to mainstream English from ethnic varieties.
Professor Braj B. Kachru is a leading scholar in the field of world Englishes. He has authored over 25 books and 100 research papers on topics related to the spread and functions of English as a global language. Kachru pioneered the concept of different circles of English - the inner circle, outer circle and expanding circle. He has held many prestigious academic positions and received numerous awards for his contributions. N.S. Prabhu developed task-based language teaching through a project in Bangalore, India, demonstrating that students can learn effectively through non-linguistic problem-solving tasks. Suresh Canagarajah is a professor known for his work on World Englishes, second language writing
Here are the key points about pidgins and creoles:
- Pidgins develop as a means of communication between groups that don't share a common language. They are simplified linguistic systems.
- Creoles develop when pidgins are passed down to children and become their native language. Creoles are more fully developed systems compared to pidgins.
- Pidgins borrow features from the languages in contact, like vocabulary and word order. They simplify phonology and morphology.
- Creolization occurs when a pidgin becomes the native language of a community and takes on richer linguistic properties through natural language acquisition by children.
This document summarizes a final project paper that investigates the relationship between social class and language use. It defines social class and explores the historical relationship between social class and language. It then discusses how social class affects language from a linguistic perspective and provides an example of a field work study conducted with young Costa Ricans to examine linguistic features according to social class.
This document discusses endangered languages and provides examples of languages that are extinct or nearing extinction. It notes that many of the world's smallest languages are disappearing, with estimates that half of the world's approximately 6,000 languages could be extinct within 100 years. Examples are provided of some of the last speakers of languages like Kayardild, Aka-Bo, and various Great Andamanese languages. Factors that endanger languages are discussed, including assimilation, lack of transmission to younger generations, and globalization. Responses to language endangerment include documentation efforts and revitalization programs for languages like Chitimacha and Navajo.
This document discusses sociolinguistic concepts related to language variation, including:
- Varieties include languages, dialects, accents, registers, and styles of a language. Variation occurs at the lexical level through slang and levels of formality.
- Dialects are regional or social varieties of a language characterized by their own phonological, syntactic, and lexical properties. They can also be associated with ethnic groups or socioeconomic classes.
- Registers or styles are varieties of language used in particular social settings defined by levels of formality or social events like baby talk.
- An idiolect is the unique language use of an individual person influenced by various dialects, registers, and languages
1) Language is closely intertwined with ethnic identity and group membership. Members of ethnic groups often learn the linguistic varieties associated with that group.
2) In the United States, differences exist between the English spoken by white and black Americans, and ethnicity can often be identified based on language alone. However, these linguistic differences result from learned behavior within communities rather than innate qualities.
3) The situation in former Yugoslavia demonstrates how ethnic identities and linguistic varieties can change over time and in response to political situations. Serbo-Croatian was once considered a single language but is now considered separate Serbian and Croatian languages.
The document discusses the threat facing endangered languages around the world. It estimates that as many as half of the approximately 6,000 languages currently spoken may become extinct by the end of the 21st century. Several factors are contributing to this decline, including nation-state building processes, universal education, and the spread of dominant languages like English, French, Spanish, and Arabic. While documentation of endangered languages is important, long-term preservation requires communities where the language is spoken and transmitted between generations.
The document discusses language and ethnicity. It defines ethnicity as being identified with a group descended from common ancestors who share cultural traits like language, religion, and dress. Ethnic varieties of English arise from the languages of immigrant groups and can influence mainstream English over time through the spread of lexical and grammatical features. The document asks questions about ethnic identity and the relationship between ethnicity and language, and provides examples of characteristics and influences on ethnic varieties of English in the US and expressions that have spread to mainstream English from ethnic varieties.
Professor Braj B. Kachru is a leading scholar in the field of world Englishes. He has authored over 25 books and 100 research papers on topics related to the spread and functions of English as a global language. Kachru pioneered the concept of different circles of English - the inner circle, outer circle and expanding circle. He has held many prestigious academic positions and received numerous awards for his contributions. N.S. Prabhu developed task-based language teaching through a project in Bangalore, India, demonstrating that students can learn effectively through non-linguistic problem-solving tasks. Suresh Canagarajah is a professor known for his work on World Englishes, second language writing
Here are the key points about pidgins and creoles:
- Pidgins develop as a means of communication between groups that don't share a common language. They are simplified linguistic systems.
- Creoles develop when pidgins are passed down to children and become their native language. Creoles are more fully developed systems compared to pidgins.
- Pidgins borrow features from the languages in contact, like vocabulary and word order. They simplify phonology and morphology.
- Creolization occurs when a pidgin becomes the native language of a community and takes on richer linguistic properties through natural language acquisition by children.
This document summarizes a final project paper that investigates the relationship between social class and language use. It defines social class and explores the historical relationship between social class and language. It then discusses how social class affects language from a linguistic perspective and provides an example of a field work study conducted with young Costa Ricans to examine linguistic features according to social class.
This document discusses endangered languages and provides examples of languages that are extinct or nearing extinction. It notes that many of the world's smallest languages are disappearing, with estimates that half of the world's approximately 6,000 languages could be extinct within 100 years. Examples are provided of some of the last speakers of languages like Kayardild, Aka-Bo, and various Great Andamanese languages. Factors that endanger languages are discussed, including assimilation, lack of transmission to younger generations, and globalization. Responses to language endangerment include documentation efforts and revitalization programs for languages like Chitimacha and Navajo.
This document discusses sociolinguistic concepts related to language variation, including:
- Varieties include languages, dialects, accents, registers, and styles of a language. Variation occurs at the lexical level through slang and levels of formality.
- Dialects are regional or social varieties of a language characterized by their own phonological, syntactic, and lexical properties. They can also be associated with ethnic groups or socioeconomic classes.
- Registers or styles are varieties of language used in particular social settings defined by levels of formality or social events like baby talk.
- An idiolect is the unique language use of an individual person influenced by various dialects, registers, and languages
1) Language is closely intertwined with ethnic identity and group membership. Members of ethnic groups often learn the linguistic varieties associated with that group.
2) In the United States, differences exist between the English spoken by white and black Americans, and ethnicity can often be identified based on language alone. However, these linguistic differences result from learned behavior within communities rather than innate qualities.
3) The situation in former Yugoslavia demonstrates how ethnic identities and linguistic varieties can change over time and in response to political situations. Serbo-Croatian was once considered a single language but is now considered separate Serbian and Croatian languages.
The document discusses the threat facing endangered languages around the world. It estimates that as many as half of the approximately 6,000 languages currently spoken may become extinct by the end of the 21st century. Several factors are contributing to this decline, including nation-state building processes, universal education, and the spread of dominant languages like English, French, Spanish, and Arabic. While documentation of endangered languages is important, long-term preservation requires communities where the language is spoken and transmitted between generations.
Children begin acquiring sociolinguistic competence at a young age. Studies have found that preschool-aged children between 3-5 years old already demonstrate sensitivity to social factors like formality of context and social class in their variable linguistic productions, similar to adults. They also show mastery of phonological constraints on variation found in the adult grammar of their community. However, children's acquisition of stylistic variation continues to develop into middle childhood.
My slides about Language Variation and Change with respect to speaker Ethnicity, given for the lectures on Sociolinguistics at the University of Oxford in Fall 2009.
1. Ethnicity refers to identification with a social group based on common cultural traits like language, religion, and ancestry rather than biological factors.
2. While race is often linked to biology, ethnicity is more closely associated with cultural expression and identity. However, both are social constructs used to categorize populations.
3. Language can be an important part of ethnic identity and differentiation, as seen in examples like the divergence between African American Vernacular English and White English dialects in the US due to social and geographic separation of ethnic groups.
This document discusses language, culture and identity. It defines culture and lists some cultural parameters like individualism, power distance, uncertainty avoidance, gender roles, time orientation and tightness. It discusses stereotypes and how language shapes thought and frames our conceptual universe. It also discusses communities of practice, identity and language learning, linguistic relativity, acculturation, culture shock, social distance, attitudes, ideology, language policy, English as a lingua franca, linguistic imperialism and teaching intercultural competence.
This document discusses language variation and the relationship between language and society. It introduces key concepts such as speech communities, sociolinguistics, social dialects, linguistic variables, and registers. Social factors like class, education, occupation, and context can influence the way people speak. The document also discusses concepts like convergence, divergence, prestige, jargon, slang, vernacular languages, and provides examples of linguistic features in African American Vernacular English.
This document discusses various linguistic concepts related to regional variation and dialects, including:
1) Regional dialects arise from variations in language associated with different places, and are an easy way to observe language variety.
2) Over time and distance, dialects can diverge and become unintelligible to one another, as seen with the evolution of Latin into the distinct languages of French, Spanish, and Italian.
3) Dialect atlases aim to map the geographical boundaries of linguistic features using lines called isoglosses, showing where different pronunciations, words, or syntactic features are used on either side.
4) Bundles of intersecting isoglosses often delineate clear dialect boundaries between regions.
1) Languages around the world are becoming extinct at an alarming rate, with some estimates suggesting that half of the over 6,000 existing languages may be at risk of extinction.
2) There are several factors that contribute to language extinction, including a lack of new native speakers, the dominance of other languages, and the absorption of weaker languages by stronger ones through language attrition.
3) Efforts are being made to document endangered languages and revitalize them through programs involving linguists, but many argue that with each language that goes extinct, a piece of cultural history is lost forever.
Linguistic inequality can take three forms: subjective inequality regarding beliefs and prejudices about languages, strictly linguistic inequality concerning differences in linguistic knowledge and skills, and communicative inequality involving differences in ability to communicate effectively. Subjective inequality involves prejudices and stereotypes associated with particular ways of speaking. Linguistic features may be linked to stereotypes about characteristics like intelligence. Prestige of languages or dialects is also influenced by subjective views. Linguists study these issues to better understand social attitudes and their effects.
The document discusses ethnicity, multilingualism, and code-switching. It defines ethnicity as identifying with a group through shared heritage, language, culture, and ancestry. Multilingualism refers to an individual's ability to speak multiple languages. Code-switching occurs when bilingual speakers blend two languages in conversation, such as switching between sentences or inserting words from one language into a sentence in another language. Examples of code-switching in English-Indonesian and Hong Kong Cantonese-English are provided.
This document discusses endangered languages. It defines an endangered language as one at risk of no longer being spoken as its speakers die out or shift to other languages. Languages become endangered for various reasons, such as a lack of transmission between generations, small speaker populations, war, negative attitudes, and pressure to adopt dominant languages. The document classifies languages based on their degree of endangerment from vulnerable to extinct. Losing a language can negatively impact communities by weakening cultural traditions and identity. UNESCO works to safeguard endangered languages through supporting education in local languages, collecting language data, and promoting multilingualism.
Hieber - Language Endangerment: A HistoryDaniel Hieber
The document summarizes the declining state of the Tofa language based on a quote from Marta Kongarayeva, a Tofa speaker born in 1930. Kongarayeva states that people have come too late to learn the Tofa language, implying that it is no longer widely spoken. She adds that nowadays the Tofa people are "numbered," suggesting the language community has dramatically decreased in size and the survival of the language is at risk.
New microsoft office power point presentationBushra Trisha
The document discusses the process of language standardization. It involves selecting a particular dialect or variety and further developing it to be used as the standard language. This variety then undergoes codification through the creation of dictionaries, grammars and other reference materials to define norms and rules. It is then elaborated to be used in various official domains and functions to help it spread and be accepted by the speech community. Successful standardization leads to a high degree of uniformity and inhibits linguistic change, while also serving unifying and prestige functions for the language and its community.
Regional dialects vary in pronunciation, word choices, and syntax depending on the region. Dialect geography maps the distribution of linguistic features and isoglosses show dialect boundaries between adjacent areas. While accent refers to pronunciation, dialect encompasses pronunciation, vocabulary, and grammar. Received Pronunciation is considered the "best" English accent. Social dialects originate among social groups and are related to social class, religion, and ethnicity. Language also varies based on formality, occupational registers, and beliefs about which varieties are better.
African American Vernacular English is a systematic, rule-governed dialect spoken by millions of Americans. It has roots in West African languages and developed further during the eras of slavery and segregation. While seen as non-standard by some, it transmits important cultural aspects of identity and history.
Students who speak AAVE often face a dilemma, as their community speaks one version of English but schools expect standard English. This can cause students to feel they must change their identity to succeed academically. Educators also face tensions in how to respect both dialects. The document outlines linguistic features of AAVE and implications for how students learn to read and write standard English.
This document summarizes key concepts from chapters in a sociolinguistics textbook. It discusses what sociolinguists study, including how social factors influence language varieties. It also covers multilingual speech communities and concepts like diglossia, code-switching and language shift. Language maintenance and revival are discussed, along with linguistic varieties in multilingual nations. National languages and language planning are also summarized.
Hieber - Language Endangerment & NationalismDaniel Hieber
This document summarizes the history of language endangerment and extinction. It discusses how the number of languages has decreased over time due to factors like the agricultural revolution, rise of large empires and nation-states, and policies promoting dominant languages. The document also outlines typical stages of language shift and loss within communities. Finally, it reviews historical and current responses to language endangerment, including documentation efforts by missionaries, anthropologists, and modern revitalization programs.
This document discusses language and identity through examining indexicality and markedness. It provides context on Amhara Muslims in Ethiopia who face an identity crisis due to the strong association of their Amharic language with Christianity. It also examines the Speak Mandarin Campaign in Singapore, noting how Mandarin has risen to an unmarked position among Chinese Singaporeans, implying other Chinese varieties are somehow "less Chinese". The document discusses how identity involves both discovering and inventing similarities between social groups, and how markedness establishes a power hierarchy among social categories.
1) Cultural identity is complex and defined by relationships with other individuals and groups. Understanding other cultures helps people better understand their own identity.
2) Valuing cultural diversity and allowing cultural expression are important for countering racism. Denying cultural expression limits the sharing of unique perspectives.
3) After living in multiple cultures, people broaden their perceptions and begin to feel part of a multicultural identity rather than only their original culture. Returning to their original culture can make them feel like outsiders.
This document discusses various linguistic concepts related to sociolinguistics. It begins by explaining that language serves a social function in helping establish relationships and convey information about speakers. It then discusses the differences between language and dialect, as well as dialect and accent. Several key concepts are defined, including speech communities, communicative competence, linguistic variables, and constraints on linguistic variation. Methods of sociolinguistic data collection and analysis are outlined. Studies examining linguistic variation related to social factors are summarized. The concepts of style shifting, accommodation theory, dialect contact and levelling are also covered.
The document discusses several topics related to language and culture, including:
1. It provides examples of how language is tied to cultural identity and can be a source of isolation when suppressed, as described by an elder from the Dena'ina Indians.
2. It examines reasons why place names (toponyms) may change, such as after decolonization or political revolution, or to memorialize people or events.
3. It poses questions about deducing the original name of a place in North America based on its naming history by indigenous groups and later Spanish and English speakers, without using the internet.
This document discusses language variation and the different varieties of language. It defines key terms like dialect, idiolect, and varieties. A dialect is a language variety spoken by a speech community that is distinguished by systematic features. An idiolect refers to the speech variety of an individual speaker. Varieties refer to forms of language associated with social factors like region, social class, situation, and individual. Dialects and varieties differ based on factors like geography, occupation, age, education, gender, and ethnicity. While some dialects have more prestige than others due to historical and social factors, all languages consist of dialects and everyone speaks at least one dialect.
Children begin acquiring sociolinguistic competence at a young age. Studies have found that preschool-aged children between 3-5 years old already demonstrate sensitivity to social factors like formality of context and social class in their variable linguistic productions, similar to adults. They also show mastery of phonological constraints on variation found in the adult grammar of their community. However, children's acquisition of stylistic variation continues to develop into middle childhood.
My slides about Language Variation and Change with respect to speaker Ethnicity, given for the lectures on Sociolinguistics at the University of Oxford in Fall 2009.
1. Ethnicity refers to identification with a social group based on common cultural traits like language, religion, and ancestry rather than biological factors.
2. While race is often linked to biology, ethnicity is more closely associated with cultural expression and identity. However, both are social constructs used to categorize populations.
3. Language can be an important part of ethnic identity and differentiation, as seen in examples like the divergence between African American Vernacular English and White English dialects in the US due to social and geographic separation of ethnic groups.
This document discusses language, culture and identity. It defines culture and lists some cultural parameters like individualism, power distance, uncertainty avoidance, gender roles, time orientation and tightness. It discusses stereotypes and how language shapes thought and frames our conceptual universe. It also discusses communities of practice, identity and language learning, linguistic relativity, acculturation, culture shock, social distance, attitudes, ideology, language policy, English as a lingua franca, linguistic imperialism and teaching intercultural competence.
This document discusses language variation and the relationship between language and society. It introduces key concepts such as speech communities, sociolinguistics, social dialects, linguistic variables, and registers. Social factors like class, education, occupation, and context can influence the way people speak. The document also discusses concepts like convergence, divergence, prestige, jargon, slang, vernacular languages, and provides examples of linguistic features in African American Vernacular English.
This document discusses various linguistic concepts related to regional variation and dialects, including:
1) Regional dialects arise from variations in language associated with different places, and are an easy way to observe language variety.
2) Over time and distance, dialects can diverge and become unintelligible to one another, as seen with the evolution of Latin into the distinct languages of French, Spanish, and Italian.
3) Dialect atlases aim to map the geographical boundaries of linguistic features using lines called isoglosses, showing where different pronunciations, words, or syntactic features are used on either side.
4) Bundles of intersecting isoglosses often delineate clear dialect boundaries between regions.
1) Languages around the world are becoming extinct at an alarming rate, with some estimates suggesting that half of the over 6,000 existing languages may be at risk of extinction.
2) There are several factors that contribute to language extinction, including a lack of new native speakers, the dominance of other languages, and the absorption of weaker languages by stronger ones through language attrition.
3) Efforts are being made to document endangered languages and revitalize them through programs involving linguists, but many argue that with each language that goes extinct, a piece of cultural history is lost forever.
Linguistic inequality can take three forms: subjective inequality regarding beliefs and prejudices about languages, strictly linguistic inequality concerning differences in linguistic knowledge and skills, and communicative inequality involving differences in ability to communicate effectively. Subjective inequality involves prejudices and stereotypes associated with particular ways of speaking. Linguistic features may be linked to stereotypes about characteristics like intelligence. Prestige of languages or dialects is also influenced by subjective views. Linguists study these issues to better understand social attitudes and their effects.
The document discusses ethnicity, multilingualism, and code-switching. It defines ethnicity as identifying with a group through shared heritage, language, culture, and ancestry. Multilingualism refers to an individual's ability to speak multiple languages. Code-switching occurs when bilingual speakers blend two languages in conversation, such as switching between sentences or inserting words from one language into a sentence in another language. Examples of code-switching in English-Indonesian and Hong Kong Cantonese-English are provided.
This document discusses endangered languages. It defines an endangered language as one at risk of no longer being spoken as its speakers die out or shift to other languages. Languages become endangered for various reasons, such as a lack of transmission between generations, small speaker populations, war, negative attitudes, and pressure to adopt dominant languages. The document classifies languages based on their degree of endangerment from vulnerable to extinct. Losing a language can negatively impact communities by weakening cultural traditions and identity. UNESCO works to safeguard endangered languages through supporting education in local languages, collecting language data, and promoting multilingualism.
Hieber - Language Endangerment: A HistoryDaniel Hieber
The document summarizes the declining state of the Tofa language based on a quote from Marta Kongarayeva, a Tofa speaker born in 1930. Kongarayeva states that people have come too late to learn the Tofa language, implying that it is no longer widely spoken. She adds that nowadays the Tofa people are "numbered," suggesting the language community has dramatically decreased in size and the survival of the language is at risk.
New microsoft office power point presentationBushra Trisha
The document discusses the process of language standardization. It involves selecting a particular dialect or variety and further developing it to be used as the standard language. This variety then undergoes codification through the creation of dictionaries, grammars and other reference materials to define norms and rules. It is then elaborated to be used in various official domains and functions to help it spread and be accepted by the speech community. Successful standardization leads to a high degree of uniformity and inhibits linguistic change, while also serving unifying and prestige functions for the language and its community.
Regional dialects vary in pronunciation, word choices, and syntax depending on the region. Dialect geography maps the distribution of linguistic features and isoglosses show dialect boundaries between adjacent areas. While accent refers to pronunciation, dialect encompasses pronunciation, vocabulary, and grammar. Received Pronunciation is considered the "best" English accent. Social dialects originate among social groups and are related to social class, religion, and ethnicity. Language also varies based on formality, occupational registers, and beliefs about which varieties are better.
African American Vernacular English is a systematic, rule-governed dialect spoken by millions of Americans. It has roots in West African languages and developed further during the eras of slavery and segregation. While seen as non-standard by some, it transmits important cultural aspects of identity and history.
Students who speak AAVE often face a dilemma, as their community speaks one version of English but schools expect standard English. This can cause students to feel they must change their identity to succeed academically. Educators also face tensions in how to respect both dialects. The document outlines linguistic features of AAVE and implications for how students learn to read and write standard English.
This document summarizes key concepts from chapters in a sociolinguistics textbook. It discusses what sociolinguists study, including how social factors influence language varieties. It also covers multilingual speech communities and concepts like diglossia, code-switching and language shift. Language maintenance and revival are discussed, along with linguistic varieties in multilingual nations. National languages and language planning are also summarized.
Hieber - Language Endangerment & NationalismDaniel Hieber
This document summarizes the history of language endangerment and extinction. It discusses how the number of languages has decreased over time due to factors like the agricultural revolution, rise of large empires and nation-states, and policies promoting dominant languages. The document also outlines typical stages of language shift and loss within communities. Finally, it reviews historical and current responses to language endangerment, including documentation efforts by missionaries, anthropologists, and modern revitalization programs.
This document discusses language and identity through examining indexicality and markedness. It provides context on Amhara Muslims in Ethiopia who face an identity crisis due to the strong association of their Amharic language with Christianity. It also examines the Speak Mandarin Campaign in Singapore, noting how Mandarin has risen to an unmarked position among Chinese Singaporeans, implying other Chinese varieties are somehow "less Chinese". The document discusses how identity involves both discovering and inventing similarities between social groups, and how markedness establishes a power hierarchy among social categories.
1) Cultural identity is complex and defined by relationships with other individuals and groups. Understanding other cultures helps people better understand their own identity.
2) Valuing cultural diversity and allowing cultural expression are important for countering racism. Denying cultural expression limits the sharing of unique perspectives.
3) After living in multiple cultures, people broaden their perceptions and begin to feel part of a multicultural identity rather than only their original culture. Returning to their original culture can make them feel like outsiders.
This document discusses various linguistic concepts related to sociolinguistics. It begins by explaining that language serves a social function in helping establish relationships and convey information about speakers. It then discusses the differences between language and dialect, as well as dialect and accent. Several key concepts are defined, including speech communities, communicative competence, linguistic variables, and constraints on linguistic variation. Methods of sociolinguistic data collection and analysis are outlined. Studies examining linguistic variation related to social factors are summarized. The concepts of style shifting, accommodation theory, dialect contact and levelling are also covered.
The document discusses several topics related to language and culture, including:
1. It provides examples of how language is tied to cultural identity and can be a source of isolation when suppressed, as described by an elder from the Dena'ina Indians.
2. It examines reasons why place names (toponyms) may change, such as after decolonization or political revolution, or to memorialize people or events.
3. It poses questions about deducing the original name of a place in North America based on its naming history by indigenous groups and later Spanish and English speakers, without using the internet.
This document discusses language variation and the different varieties of language. It defines key terms like dialect, idiolect, and varieties. A dialect is a language variety spoken by a speech community that is distinguished by systematic features. An idiolect refers to the speech variety of an individual speaker. Varieties refer to forms of language associated with social factors like region, social class, situation, and individual. Dialects and varieties differ based on factors like geography, occupation, age, education, gender, and ethnicity. While some dialects have more prestige than others due to historical and social factors, all languages consist of dialects and everyone speaks at least one dialect.
The document discusses accents and dialects in English. It defines an accent as a pattern of pronunciation used by speakers belonging to a particular region, social group, sex, age group or level of education. A dialect refers to variations in vocabulary, grammar and pronunciation characteristic of a particular group. The document explores how factors like geography, socioeconomic class, sex, ethnicity and age can influence accents and dialects. It also discusses Received Pronunciation (RP) as the standard accent of English in England.
This document discusses the complex relationship between language and dialect. It begins by defining key terms like language, dialect, accent, and register. It then examines different ways languages and dialects have been categorized, such as by mutual intelligibility, prestige, size, and through the family tree model of tracing linguistic descent. However, the document notes there is no clear distinction between language and dialect, as variations exist on a continuum. Factors like politics, history and social perceptions further complicate defining and delimiting languages versus dialects.
1. Code switching refers to switching between two or more languages or language varieties within a conversation. It can occur between speaker turns or within a single turn.
2. Diglossia describes a stable language situation where two varieties of the same language are used differently, such as a high (H) variety for formal contexts and a low (L) variety for informal contexts.
3. Examples of diglossia include Arabic (H variety for formal contexts vs. colloquial Arabic as L variety), and Swiss German (H variety) vs. local dialects (L varieties). Code switching is a conversational strategy while digloss
Analyze variation within a language;
Look at differences between speech and writing, at variation in pronunciation between different social classes;
Briefly discuss the linguistic study of social networks;
Outline differences between men’s and women’s speech,
Briefly mention multilingual communities;
Provide suggestions for teachers on how to incorporate sociolinguistic investigations into classroom instruction.
Cross-cultural communication in international business requires proficiency in multiple languages and an understanding of linguistic and non-verbal differences between cultures. Effective communication is challenging as language influences culture and vice versa. Business organizations need to communicate across cultures with employees, customers, suppliers and governments. Linguistic styles, social contexts, and non-verbal cues like gestures, personal space norms, and facial expressions can all vary significantly between cultures and cause misunderstandings if not properly understood.
Full summary an_introduction_to_sociolinguisticsLutfan Adli
This document provides an overview of Chapter One from Janet Holmes' book "An Introduction to Sociolinguistics". It discusses key topics that sociolinguists study such as how social factors influence language varieties and how sociolinguists define terms like variety. Sociolinguists are interested in explaining why people speak differently in different social contexts and how social factors like social distance, status, age and gender impact language varieties and convey social meanings.
Language Contact Delil and Workineh.pptxDELILKASIM1
Language contact occurs when speakers of different languages interact and their languages influence each other. It can result in language shift, where one language replaces another, or even language death when a language is no longer passed to new generations. Factors like linguistic hierarchies, language attitudes, and the prestige assigned to different languages can impact outcomes of language contact. Phenomena associated with language contact include code-mixing, code-switching, pidgins, language spread, decline, revival, and shift.
There are three main points made in the document:
1. Variation in language reflects social identity, as ways of speaking are associated with social groups and attitudes. People's language use can indicate their socioeconomic class, ethnicity, gender, age, and other social factors.
2. Every person has their own idiolect made up of the languages and dialects they command, and they code-switch between styles depending on the social situation or context.
3. Dialects are not inferior versions of a language but natural linguistic variations, and studying dialects can provide insights into how languages diverge regionally without any variety being inherently better than others.
This document discusses language variation and varieties. It defines key terms such as language, dialect, and varieties. Some main points:
- No two speakers speak exactly the same way and an individual's speech varies across situations.
- Language varieties refer to different forms of language influenced by social factors like region, social class, individual, and situation.
- A dialect is a language variety spoken by a community that has distinguishing phonological, lexical, and grammatical features.
- Varieties refer to sets of linguistic items associated with external social factors like a geographical area and social group.
- Dialects are influenced by various social factors and everyone speaks at least one dialect. Standard dialects have more prestige than others due
This document discusses key concepts related to language and linguistics. It defines language and discusses its core properties, such as being a systematic means of communication using symbols. It also explores linguistic knowledge and competence versus performance. Additionally, it examines the relationship between language and thought, universal properties of human language, differences between descriptive and prescriptive grammar, dialects, and what should and should not be considered a language.
This document provides an overview of linguistic variation and key concepts related to dialects and registers. It discusses the differences between language and dialect, and notes that all speakers use some dialect. Dialects can be divided into regional dialects, which vary based on geography, and social dialects, which are influenced by factors like occupation, age, education, and gender. The document also examines concepts like standard vs. non-standard dialects, speech communities, linguistic styles and registers, which refer to context-specific variations in language use. Key terms discussed include idiolect, isogloss, diglossia, and the prestige often afforded to standard dialects over non-standard varieties.
This document provides an introduction to linguistics. It discusses several key topics:
- What is known when someone knows a language, including knowledge of a language's sound system, words, sentences, and creativity.
- The difference between competence (linguistic knowledge) and performance (language use).
- What grammar is and the difference between descriptive and prescriptive grammars.
- Dialects, standards, and differences between dialects.
- Language universals and the development of grammar in children.
This document discusses key concepts in sociolinguistics and cross-cultural communication including diglossia, pidgin and creole languages, slang, language death, language endangerment, and maintaining minority languages. Diglossia refers to the coexistence of two varieties of the same language where one is the prestigious dialect and the other is common. Pidgins and creoles develop when languages come into contact, with creoles becoming fully developed languages. Language death occurs when a language is replaced and its speakers assimilate, while language maintenance aims to preserve minority languages.
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Eng 420 lecture5n6
1. Chapters 5 and 6 –
Speech Communities and Language Variation
abgdezhqi
klmnxopr
stufcyw
Top left: Greek
Bottom left: Cherokee
Middle: Arabic
Top right: Russian
2. What is language?
A system of symbols with standard
meanings.
Allows humans to communicate and is
the main vehicle of transmission of
culture.
Language provides context for symbolic
understanding.
3. Other Communication
Human:
Direct
• Body language (kinesics), tone of voice, personal space
(proxemics), gesture
Indirect
• Writing, mathematics, music, painting, signs
Nonhuman:
Sounds, odors, body movements
Call systems, ethologists
ASL – American Sign Language
5. Speech Community
“some kind of social group whose
speech characteristics are of interest
and can be described in a coherent
manner” Wardhaugh 116
“fuzzy” Wardhaugh 116
Groups? What does that mean? How do we
avoid stereotyping?
Ethnicity, class, geography, etc
6. “Our search must be for criteria
other than, or at least in addition
to, linguistic criteria if we are to
gain a useful understanding of
‘speech community.’(Wardhaugh
118)
7. “…a search for the various
characteristics which make
individuals feel that they are
members of the same
community” (Wardhaugh 118)
8. “r” dropping in NY, though
commonly done, is considered
“low” pahk de cah
“r” dropping in South England is
considered “posh” ‘fahthah’
9. “h” dropping considered low in
South England but normal in
most American dialects
Eliza Doolittle vs “it’s erbal
Herb”
10. A speech community is defined as much by
what it is not as what it is. The group must
manifest regular relationships between
language use and social structure, and there
must be norms (Wardhaugh 120)
12. Language and Culture not always connected
Ngoni of Africa
No longer speak their own language but have
adopted language of the people they
conquered in Malawi.
“However, they use that language in ways
they have carried over from Ngoni, ways they
maintain because they consider them to be
essential to their continued identity as a
people” (Wardhaugh 120)
13. Groups in North America with
culture but not language?
Which ones
Are these “speech communities?”
Magdalene College, Cambridge!
14. Hypercorrection
• Lower Middle Class speakers sometimes
use prestige features at a greater rate than
Upper Middle Class speakers.
• And LMC speakers use stigmatized
features at a lower rate than the UMC.
• Because the LMC wish to achieve the next
higher level of status, they attempt to talk
like members of the next higher class, but
they go too far.
15. Gender and Language Variation
• Trudgill also studied the effect of gender
on variation in word-final –ing in words like
running (runnin') and swimming
(swimmin').
• He found that women tend to use more
standard language features than men.
• And men tend to use more vernacular
forms in their speech.
We’ll try to return to this in the section of the
text on language and gender
16. Discussion Questions p. 122 Take
30 minutes in groups
1. Try to label yourself according to what kind(s) of English you
speak. Explain why you choose the specific terms you use and
any connotations these terms have for you, e.g. Lancastrian,
Bakersfeldian, Texan English, Californian, American
3. In what respects do the following pairs of people belong to
the same speech community or to different ones: Presidents Bill
Clinton and GWBush; Madonna and Guy Ritchie; Hugh Grant
and Carey Grant; Sean Connery and Ewan McGregor
4. Describe the linguistic uses of some bilinguals with whom you are familiar.
When do they use each of the languages? If you are bilingual yourself, in what
ways do you identify with people who show the same range of linguistic
abilities? A different range?
5. Answer question 5, time permitting.
17. Intersecting Communities
A great deal of bilingualism in the
modern world
Most speech communities are fairly fluid
What should the ‘target’ language and
dialect be?
Individuals shift identities and speech
and languages freely
18. Communities of Practice
“an aggregate of people who come together
around mutual engagements in some
common endeavor. Ways of doing things,
ways of talking, beliefs, values, power
relations – in short, practices – emerge in the
course of their joint activity around that
endeavor” Ekert and McConnell-Ginet in
Wardhaugh 125
Examples? Gangs, reading groups, etc…
20. What is Social Class?
• Social class involves grouping people together and according
them status within society according to the groups they
belong to.
What is Social Class?
• A number of modern thinkers have tried to
define what makes a particular “social
class.”
– Is it accent?
–…neighborhood?
–…occupation?
–…income?
–…wealth?
21. Determinants of Social Class
• Personal performance
– Education
– Occupation
– Income
– Awards and achievements
• Wealth
– Amount
– Source
• Social orientation
– Interactions
– Class consciousness
– Value orientation
22. The United States of America
is a classless and egalitarian
society!!
Do you agree or disagree?
23. Class Structure in the U.S.
• Two upper classes
– Upper upper : Old money
– Lower upper : New money
• Three middle classes
– Upper middle : Professional
– Middle class : White collar and entrepreneurs
– Working class : Blue collar
• Two lower classes
– Upper lower : Unskilled laborers
– Lower lower : Socially and economically
disadvantaged
24. Americans
Tend to think they are middle class or
upper class or upper middle class
Tend to think that they will be upper
class someday
25. Indexes of Social Class
• How you look
• How you dress
• How you talk
• What you like to do
• Where you live
• What your house looks like
• What you eat
a lot of food, good tasting food, good looking food
26. Variables of Social Class
• Power
– The degree to which a person can control other people
• Wealth
– Objects or symbols owned by people which have value
attached to them
• Prestige
– The degree of respect, favorable regard, or
importance accorded to a person by members of
society
27. Networks and Repetoires
Various network relationships on p. 127.
These diagrams show that a person can
be part of various speech communities,
some that intersect and some that do
not. Certain individuals may be in one
or more groups but not others.
28. Social Class and Speech
Style
• Peter Trudgill studied variation in word-final ing
in words like running (runnin') and swimming
(swimmin') in Norwich, England.
• Four speech styles
– Reading aloud of word lists
– Reading aloud of text
– Formal speech
– Casual speech
• Trudgill found that variation across speech styles
parallels variation across social class.
What method is used in our accent
presentations? Should we include class?
29. Now it is time for a ten minute
break. When you return, we will
do 10 to 15 accent presentations
32. Regional Variation
Traditional study of dialect
Important part of Historical Linguistics
Family trees and phonemic “splits”
between languages and dialects
attributed to time, space, etc…
Latin v /w/ to /v/ in later period
IE. *ptr to Latin pater to French pere
To Germanic fader to English father
33. Dialect in Old English
They no doubt existed, but we don’t
see them in the manuscripts very much
because scribes wrote the literary
standard for of Old English
Hwaet we gardena in geardagum
theodkinginga thrim gefrunon
34. Dialects in Middle English
At least five
Kentish
Southern
Northern
East-Midland
West-Midland
35. Kentish
Kentish was originally spoken over the whole southeastern part
of England, including London and Essex, but during the Middle
English period its area was steadily diminished by the
encroachment of the East Midland dialect, especially after
London became an East Midland-speaking city (see below); in
late Middle English the Kentish dialect was confined to Kent and
Sussex. In the Early Modern period, after the London dialect
had begun to replace the dialects of neighboring areas, Kentish
died out, leaving no descendants. Kentish is interesting to
linguists because on the one hand its sound system shows
distinctive innovations (already in the Old English period), but
on the other its syntax and verb inflection are extremely
conservative; as late as 1340, Kentish syntax is still virtually
identical with Old English syntax.
36. Southern
The Southern dialect of Middle English was spoken in the area
west of Sussex and south and southwest of the Thames. It was
the direct descendant of the West Saxon dialect of Old English,
which was the colloquial basis for the Anglo-Saxon court dialect
of Old English. Southern Middle English is a conservative dialect
(though not as conservative as Kentish), which shows little
influence from other languages — most importantly, no
Scandinavian influence (see below). Descendants of Southern
Middle English still survive in the working-class country dialects
of the extreme southwest of England.
37. Northern
By contrast with these southernmost dialects, Northern Middle English
evolved rapidly: the inflectional systems of its nouns and verbs were
already sharply reduced by 1300, and its syntax is also innovative (and
thus more like that of Modern English). These developments were
probably the result of Scandinavian influence. In the aftermath of the
great Scandinavian invasions of the 860's and 870's, large numbers of
Scandinavian families settled in northern and northeastern England.
When the descendants of King Alfred the Great of Wessex reconquered
those areas (in the first half of the 10th century), the Scandinavian
settlers, who spoke Old Norse, were obliged to learn Old English. But in
some areas their settlements had so completely displaced the
preexisting English settlements that they cannot have had sufficient
contact with native speakers of Old English to learn the language well.
38. More on Northern
They learned it badly, carrying over into their English various
features of Norse (such as the pronoun they and the noun law
), and also producing a simplified syntax that was neither good
English nor good Norse. Those developments can be clearly
seen in a few late Old English documents from the region, such
as the glosses on the Lindisfarne Gospels (ca. 950) and the
Aldbrough sundial (late 11th century). None of this would have
mattered for the development of English as a whole if the
speakers of this "Norsified English" had been powerless
peasants; but they were not. Most were freeholding farmers,
and in many northern districts they constituted the local power
structure. Thus their bad English became the local prestige
norm, survived, and eventually began to spread (much later —
see below).
39. East-Midland and West-Midland
The East-Midland and West-Midland dialects of Middle English
are intermediate between the Northern and Southern/Kentish
extremes. In the West Midlands there is a gradation of dialect
peculiarities from Northern to Southern as one moves from
Lancashire to Cheshire and then down the Severn valley. This
dialect has left modern descendants in the working- class
country dialects of the area. The East-Midland dialect is much
more interesting. The northern parts of its dialect area were
also an area of heavy Scandinavian settlement, so that northern
East-Midland Middle English shows the same kinds of rapid
development as its Northern neighbor. But the subdialect
boundaries within East-Midland were far from static: the more
northerly variety spread steadily southward, extending the
influence of Scandinavianized English long after the
Scandinavian population had been totally assimilated.
40. More on East and West Midland
In the 13th century this part of England, especially Norfolk and
Suffolk, began to outstrip the rest of the country in prosperity
and population because of the excellence of its agriculture, and
— crucially — increasing numbers of well-to-do speakers of
East-Midland began to move to London, bringing their dialect
with them. By the second half of the 14th century the dialect of
London and the area immediately to the northeast, which had
once been Kentish, was thoroughly East-Midland, and a rather
Scandinavianized East Midland at that. Since the London dialect
steadily gained in prestige from that time on and began to
develop into a literary standard, the northern, Scandinavianized
variety of East-Midland became the basis of standard Modern
English. For that reason, East-Midland is by far the most
important dialect of Middle English for the subsequent
development of the language.
41. Dialect Atlases
“Try to show the geographical
boundaries of the distribution of a
particular linguistic feature by drawing a
line on a map” (Wardhaugh 134)
Such a line is called an isogloss
On one side of the line people say one
thing, on the other they say a different
thing.
42.
43. Isogloss
The isogloss is the boundary line
between groups who say something
differently
When there are a number of different
things said on one side of the boundary
from what is said on the other side, we
can say that the boundary marks a
dialect boundary
48. Relic areas and transition areas
(Back to modern examples)
Simply terms referring to sub areas where
shifts do not occur. As if the Antelope Valley
continued to refer to any bubbly soft drink as
‘coke’ while the rest of LA county shifted to
calling it ‘soda’. AV would be a relic area,
and perhaps Beverly Hills, a status area
where the shift might originate or Watts a low
status area where the shift might originate
would be focal areas and LA county would
be the transition area
50. American Dialect page
(note area for San Francisco
dialect)
http://www.geocities.com/Broadway/
1906/dialects.html
51. Linguistic Atlas of the US and Canada
“The selection of informants tends not to be very well
controlled” Wardhaugh 137
Broken down into simplified categories like high,
middle, and low class – no education, some
education, superior education – old, middle aged,
young
Most studies tend to prefer older people
One survey of British dialects instructed researchers
to choose informants who were over sixty, at least
second generation, and had good teeth
52. Dialects remember two kinds
Geographical dialects. We’ve just done.
Social dialects. We discussed social
dialect and class in the first part of this
powerpoint.
53. William Labov
Sociolinguist who we mentioned in the
first part of this presentation
Interested in class and did most of his
studies in New York City.
54. Linguistic Variable
A linguistic item which has identified variants.
Fishin / fishing/ fishen
Car / cah With / wit / wif
Latin / la?in thirty / thirdy
Coffee / cowfee
“It was a macao Tom not a parrot!”
He’s happy / he be happy / he happy
Climbed / clomb
Look for a present for my mom / look for my mom
a present
55. Labov also uses indicator,
marker, stereotype
Indicator: a linguistic variable without social
importance. Cot/caught. merry/marry/Mary
Marker: a linguistic variable with social
significance. Car/cah, schedule/shedule,
Magdalene college/ Maudlin college, Down
Below/LA, Los Angeles/Los Angeles, The
City/Frisco?
Stereotype: a popular and therefore concious
characterization of speech of a group. Boid
for NY, Chap for Brit, Howdy partner, dude for
Ca
56. William Labov’s
Department Store Study
• Saks Fifth Avenue
– At 50th Street and 5th Avenue, near the center
of the high fashion shopping district
• Macy's
– Herald Square. 34th Street and Sixth Avenue,
near the garment district
• S. Klein
– Union Square. 14th Street and Broadway, not
far from the Lower East Side
57. Discussion Questions on p. 143
1. What is a shibboleth?
3. What linguistic variables might be
usefully investigated in our part of the
world? What kind of variations have you
noticed?
4. Examples where people hypercorrect
and get things wrong? English avacado?
5. What’s wrong with double negatives?
58. Hypercorrection
It is I. We want to sound high class
sometimes, so we say and write things that
are stilted and/or purple.
The upper class often don’t care what fork
they use and use slang with relish. Middle
class people sometimes reveal themselves as
middle class by being too proper in dress,
behaviour, and language.
59. Labov and class
In one study (Wardhaugh 147) Labov
used education, occupation, and income
to set up ten social classes.
What class are you? How can we tell?
House size? In AV there wasn’t much
variation, now there is. Do people with
really big houses act and speak
differently?
60. Idiolects and Sociolects
Idiolect (idios Greek “self” lect
“speech” as in lecture): speech
characteristics and linguistic behaviour
of individuals
Sociolect: speech characteristics of
members of social groups
61. Idiolects
How can we tell if someone is speaking
in a unique way because of individual
difference rather than dialect?
Clint Eastwood? Truman Capote? Johny
Depp as Willy Wonka? Carol Channing?
Fran Drescher? George Bush?
62. Data Collection
How to we properly design and deliver
and analyze our studies
Observer’s paradox, how can we adjust
for our own biases
Can any sociolinguistic study be
completely objective and clean?
Questionnaires
64. Casual and careful speech
We should try to distinguish whether
the speech involved is casual or careful
What is the speech of the Please call
Stella speakers? Does it vary from
speaker to speaker?
65. Please call Stella
Are there any words that are clear
linguistic variables in the paragraph?
What is the different between the
accent of a native speaker and the
accent of a learner?
66. Random Sample or Judgment Sample
Random: usually better way to do it. It
is more objective, but more difficult to
do.
Judgment sample: an investigator
chooses subjects according to a set of
criteria: age, gender, social class,
education, etc… These are the kind of
samples that sociolinguists usually take
67. Dependent and independent variables
The linguistic variable in these studies is the
dependent variable – the difference that we
are interested in.
Other variables may be incidental or
unrelated to the correlation being studied.
Statisticians consider most of these
sociolinguistic studies to lack sufficient rigour.
68. Sociolinguistics and scientific studies
Sociolinguists need to collect reliable
data, but how can they?
Since we can not even give satisfactory
definitions of sociolingustics, or
language, or society, or dialect, or
creole, how can we do scientific studies
in this field?
69. Epistemic relativism vs Logical Positivism
Relativism: sociolinguistic studies are not
useful because all linguistic norms are
relative. Jibberish or the sound of gas
escaping from a tube is as important and
interesting as human speech
Logical positivism: since we can not be sure
about any of these claims, we should not
make any claims. We need scientific proof.
Theoretical linguistics is about universals. It is
rigorous and highly structured.
74. Nonhuman Communication - Koko
1970s, first gorilla
taught ASL
IQ of 85 at 4 years
old
Koko learning ASL
Koko on AOL
75. Nonhuman Communication –
Nim Chimpsky
1980s taught ASL
Wouldn’t initiate
conversation
Never signed to
other chimps
Nim Chimpsky and
his namesake, the
famed linguist Noam
Chomsky
76. Nonhuman Communication - Kanzi
1980s, communicates
with lexigrams
Vocabulary of 90
symbols
Could understand
English
Command of syntax
78. Animal v. Human Communication
Four differences:
Productivity (infinite expressions)
Displacement (past, present, future)
Arbitrariness (no link between word and sound)
Combining sounds (phonemes)
• Dime versus dine or lock versus rock in English
• English has 45 phonemes; Italian 27; Hawaiian 13
• Nonhuman animals cannot combine sounds (1:1
correspondence of sounds)
80. Sociolinguistics
Like descriptive linguistics in a way, in that
sociolinguists are concerned with the
ethnography of speaking—cultural and
subcultural patterns of speech variation in
different social contexts.
Examples:
Pronunciation and dialects
Honorifics and social status
Gender differences
Multilingualism
82. Structure of Language
Phonology (sounds)
Morphology (words)
Syntax (sentence structure)
Semantics (meaning)
Pragmatics or grammar (rules)
83. Structure of Language - Phonology
The study of sounds of a language.
No human language uses all the sounds humans
can make.
IPA – International Phonetic Alphabet
Phonemes and phones
/l/ and /r/ = phonemes (English has 40)
/p/ and /ph/ = phones
Ghoti = fish (tough, women, position)
Other sounds
Tones, nasals, clicks (Genesis in the !Kung language)
84. Structure of Language - Morphology
Morphemes are the smallest units of
language.
Words (dog, cat) = free morphemes
Prefixes (un-, sub-)
Syllables (-s, -ly )
Declining and conjugating
Verbs are conjugated (am, are, is)
Nouns are declined in some languages
• Latin, Greek, German, Russian, etc.
• Word form changes based on position in sentence.
= bound morphemes
85. Structure of Language - Syntax
Rules for how to put together sentences and
phrases.
Six possible arrangements, based on Subject, Verb,
Object
English is SVO = The girl will hit the boy.
Forming questions: English = V1SV2O?
86. Structure of Language - Syntax
Example of syntax
Lewis Carroll’s Jabberwocky:
‘Twas brillig, and the slithy toves
Did gyre and gimble in the wabe.
All mimsy were the borogoves,
And the mome raths outgrabe.
Verb Noun Adjective
87. Structure of Language - Semantics
The meaning of symbols, words, phrases,
and sentences of a language.
Ethnosemantics and kinship terms
Aunt/uncle versus non-gendered cousin
88. Evolution of Language
Old Theories:
“bowwow” and “ding-dong”
Locke, B.F. Skinner, Descartes
New Theories:
Noam Chomsky
• Universal and generative grammar
• Principles and parameters
Creoles, pidgins, and Ebonics
Sapir-Whorf
89. Historical Linguistics
Focuses on how language changes over time
and how languages relate to one another.
Anthropologists are interested in cultural
features that correlate with language families.
Reconstruction of languages:
Proto-Indo-European
Sino-Tibetan
Linguistic divergence
Gradual or by force
90. Historical Linguistics – Old English
Compare Old, Middle, and Modern
English
Beowulf (Old English):
Hwæt! We Gardena in geardagum,
þeodcyninga, þrym gefrunon,
hu ða æþelingas ellen fremedon.
Oft Scyld Scefing sceaþena þreatum,
monegum mægþum, meodosetla ofteah,
egsode eorlas.
Lo, praise of the prowess of people-
kings of spear-armed Danes, in days
long sped, we have heard, and what
honor the athelings won! Oft Scyld
the Scefing tore the mead-bench
from squadroned foes, from many a
tribe awing the earls.
91. Historical Linguistics –
Middle English
The Canterbury Tales (Middle English):
This worthy lymytour, this noble Frere,
He made alwey a maner louryng chiere
Upon the Somonour, but for honestee
No vileyns word as yet to hym spak he.
This worthy limiter, this noble friar,
He turned always a lowering face, and dire,
Upon the summoner, but for courtesy
No rude and insolent word as yet spoke he.
92. Descriptive Linguistics
Also called structural linguistics
Tries to discover the rules of phonology,
morphology, and syntax of another
language, especially those with no
written dictionary or grammar.
Seeks to discover language rules that
are not written down but are
discoverable in actual speech.
93. Fun Stuff
Language as art
Calligraphy
Illumination
Left to Right:
Chinese
Greek
Arabic
English
94. Fun Stuff
Internet and English
… as a tool of mass communication
… as a way to propagate non-standard English
… as a dialect, or a linguistic event?
Romeo & Juliet - IM style