SOCIOLINGUISTICS MIDTERM – SUMMARY 1ST PARCIAL

-Sociolinguistics: is the study of language and society with language at the starting point.

-Dialects are mutually intelligible but languages are not. A dialect is a subordinate variety
of a language.

-A language has more power than any of its dialects.

-Koiné is ‘a form of speech shared by people of different vernaculars. A koiné is a common

language, but not necessarily a standard one.

-Linguistic variation is not only geographic, it is social as well

-Isogloss: a boundary that separates the use of one linguistic form from another linguistic
form.

-Slang: words or phrases, informal language typically used by younger speakers to

reinforce group membership.

-Variety of language: a set of linguistic items with similar distribution.

-Linguistic Situation in Yugoslavia: The linguistic situation in Yugoslavia was complex due
to the country's diverse ethnic and linguistic makeup. Yugoslavia was a multiethnic and
multilingual state, consisting of various ethnic groups speaking different languages. The
main languages spoken in Yugoslavia were Serbo-Croatian (most widely spoken language
and the lingua franca but this has some dialects that reflects the diverse cultural identities
within Yugoslavia) (which includes Serbian, Croatian, Bosnian, and Montenegrin),
Slovenian, Macedonian, and Albanian.

-Linguistic Situation in China (Mandarin-Cantonese): Mandarin, also known as Putonghua

or Standard Chinese, is the official language of China and is spoken by the majority of the
population. It is based on the Beijing dialect and is used as the standard language of
education, media, government, and business across the country. Mandarin is taught in
schools throughout China and is the primary means of communication in most urban
areas. Cantonese, on the other hand, is primarily spoken in the southern province of
Guangdong, including the cities of Guangzhou (Canton) and Hong Kong. It is also the
primary language of communication in Hong Kong and Macau, where it is used in
government, media, and daily life.

-Linguistic Situation in the border between Netherlands and Germany: On the Dutch side
of the border, Dutch is the official language and the primary language spoken by the
majority of the population. Dutch is a West Germanic language, closely related to German
but with significant differences in pronunciation, vocabulary, and grammar. On the German
side of the border, German is the official language and the predominant language spoken.
However, due to the proximity to the Netherlands and historical interactions between the
two countries, there are also areas where Low German dialects are spoken. Low German, is
a group of West Germanic dialects that are closely related to Dutch and share some
similarities in vocabulary and grammar.

-Linguistic Situation of Southern English: One of the most distinctive features of Southern
English is its pronunciation, which differs from Standard American English in several ways.
Some key characteristics of Southern speech include: Vowel Pronunciation: Southern
English often features distinctive vowel sounds, such as the "a" in "cat" pronounced as "ay.
Rhoticity: Many Southern accents are rhotic, meaning that the "r" sound is pronounced at
the end of words. Monophthongization: Some Southern accents exhibit
monophthongization, where diphthongs (two vowel sounds pronounced together) are
simplified into single vowel sounds. For example, the diphthong in "ride" may be
pronounced as a single vowel sound closer to "ah." Consonant Features: Southern English
may also include unique consonant features, such as the dropping of final consonants in
words (e.g., "huntin'" instead of "hunting") and the use of "y'all" as a second-person plural
pronoun.

-Linguistic Situation in Paraguay: Officially Paraguay has two languages; Spanish and
Guarani. Spanish is the language of education, government, business and law. In contrast
Guarani is consider to be spoken in more informal situations, among friends, family etc.
Despite the majority of Paraguayans being bilingual (70%) they are not bilingual educated.
Having said that we could say Paraguay is an example of diglossia. Besides Spanish and
Guarani, there are approximately another 19 languages of indigenous origin that are
spoken by indigenous Paraguayans, the minority language are Portuguese (2%) and
German (0.7%).

-Linguistic Situation of Vernacular Koine Greek: During the Byzantine and post-Byzantine
periods, Greek was not only spoken in its classical form but also underwent significant
changes, leading to the emergence of a simplified, spoken form known as Vernacular
Koine Greek. This language was used for everyday communication among people from
different social backgrounds, including merchants, artisans, soldiers, and peasants. It was
characterized by a simpler grammar, a reduced vocabulary, and a greater reliance on
spoken rather than written forms.

-Linguistic Situation in South Africa: South Africa is home to a multitude of languages,

with 11 officially recognized languages in the Constitution, reflecting the country's
commitment to linguistic diversity and cultural heritage. These languages can be broadly
categorized into several groups: Indigenous African Languages, The majority of South
Africans speak indigenous African languages, which are further divided into four main
language families (Nguni languages, Sotho-Tswana languages, Venda, Tsonga), Afrikaans
(Developed from Dutch and influenced by indigenous African languages, Afrikaans is one
of South Africa's official languages and it is also widely used as a second language by
various ethnic groups), English (Is widely spoken across South Africa and serves as a lingua
franca for communication across different language groups. It is one of the country's
official languages and is used in government, education, business, and media), South
African Sign Language (SASL) is recognized as an official language and is used by the Deaf
community across the country.

-Linguistic Situation in Haiti: Is characterized by a unique blend of languages, primarily

Haitian Creole and French, with Haitian Creole serving as the most widely spoken language
in the country. Haitian Creole, is a creole language that developed in Haiti during the
colonial period. It emerged as a fusion of West African languages and French. Haitian
Creole is the mother tongue of the majority of Haitians and serves as the primary means
of communication in everyday life, informal settings, and most interactions within Haitian
society. It is also used extensively in literature, music, and media. French is the second
official language of Haiti and is used in government, education, business, and the media. It
has historically been associated with the elite and educated classes, and proficiency in
French has been seen as a marker of social status and educational attainment. While many
Haitians have some degree of proficiency in French, particularly in urban areas and among
the educated elite, it is not as widely spoken or understood as Haitian Creole.

-Linguistic situation in India (Hindi-Urdu): Hindi and Urdu are the same language, but one
in which certain differences are becoming more and more magnified for political and
religious reasons. Hindi is written left to right, whereas Urdu is written right to left.
Whereas Hindi draws on Sanskrit for its borrowings, Urdu draws on Arabic and Persian
sources.
-Seven Roger Bells’s Criteria: According to Bell, these criteria may be used to distinguish
certain languages from others. They also make it possible to speak of some languages as
being more ‘developed’ in certain ways than others.

--Standardization: refers to the process by which a language has been

codified in some way, involves the development of such things as grammars, spelling
books, and dictionaries, and possibly a literature. Ex: The translation of the Bible in English
& German.

--Vitality: refers to the existence of a living community of speakers. Can be used to

distinguish languages that are 'alive' from those that are 'dead'.

--Historicity: refers to the fact that a particular group of people finds a sense of identity
through using a particular language: it belongs to them.

--Autonomy: is about feelings. A language must be felt by its speakers to be different from
other languages. It is a very subjective criterion.

--Reduction: refers to the fact that a particular variety may be regarded as a sub-variety
rather than as an independent entity.

--Mixture: refers to feelings speakers have about the “purity” of the variety
they speak. Appears to be more important to speakers of some languages than of others.

--De facto norms: refers to the feeling that many speakers have that there
are both 'good' speakers and 'poor' speakers, and that the good
speakers represent the norms of proper usage.

-Different concepts of Lingua Franca, including examples: A language which is used

habitually by people whose mother tongues are different in order to facilitate
communication between them. Ex: Trade Language (Swahili in East Africa), Contact
Language (Greek Koine in the Ancient World), International language (English throughout
much of our contemporary world), Auxiliary language (Esperanto or Basic English).

-Examples of prominent lingua francas from the past: Greek koiné and Vulgar Latin were
in widespread use as lingua francas in the Mediterranean world and much of Europe. Sabir
was a lingua franca of the Mediterranean. In other parts of the world Arabic, Mandarin,
Hindi, and Swahili have served, or do serve, as lingua francas.

-What are some examples of native lingua francas? Chinook Jargon and Plains Sign
Language.

-PIDGIN: a pidgin does not have native speakers, it is not one's first language but it is a
CONTACT language. Is the product of a multilingual situation in which those who wish to
communicate must find or improvise a simple language system that will enable them to do
so.

-PIDGINIZATION: refers to the process by which a pidgin language develops. Occurs in

situations of prolonged contact between speakers of different languages. The process of
pidginization probably requires a situation that involves at least three languages, one of
which is clearly dominant over the others.

-How do people normally view pidgins? This can vary depending on cultural, linguistic,
and social perspectives. Some common ways people might view pidgins are as simplified
languages, as languages of inferiority, as Languages of Creativity and Adaptation, among
others.
-CREOLE: a pidgin that has become the first language of a new generation of speakers.
Creoles arise when pidgins become mother tongues. It is a normal language in almost
every sense.

-CREOLIZATION: refers to the process by which a creole language develops from a pidgin.
Typically emerges in situations where a pidgin becomes the native language of a
community, as a result of prolonged contact between speakers of different languages.

-Why does the textbook say that pidginization and creolization are almost diametrically
opposed to each other in certain important ways? This is because pidginization generally
involves some kind of 'simplification' of a language (reduction in morphology and syntax,
tolerance of considerable phonological variation, reduction in the number of functions for
which the pidgin is used and extensive borrowing of words from local mother tongues)
and on the other hand creolization involves expansion of the morphology and syntax,
regularization of the phonology, deliberate increase in the number of functions in which
language is used and development of a rational and stable system for increasing
vocabulary.

-A particularly interesting lingua franca is Plains Sign Language used by aboriginal

peoples in North America. Try to find out in what ways Plains Sign Language must be
distinguished from American Sign Language, i.e., the communication system that many
deaf people use: they might be distinguished by historical and cultural origins, geographic
distribution, linguistic structure (vocabulary and grammar) and community of users.

-TOK PISIN: is an English-based CREOLE spoken by people in Papua New Guinea as a 1st
language and by 4 million as a 2nd language primarily in the northern part of Papua New
Guinea.

-Where is the most widely spoken Pidgin from? The most widely spoken Pidgin is from
Nigeria. Nigeria is estimated to have between three and five million people who primarily
use Pidgin in day-to-day interaction, and it is said that it is a second language to a much
higher number of up to 75 million people in Nigeria alone – about half of the population.

-Code: they can be used to refer to any kind of system that two or more people employ for
communication. Ex: when someone devises a private code to protect certain secrets.

-Diglossia: is a relatively stable language situation in which, in addition to the primary

dialects of the language there is a very divergent, highly codified superposed variety.

-A diglossic situation exists in a society when it has two distinct codes which show clear
functional separation; that is, one code is employed in one set of circumstances and the
other in an entirely different set.

-H and L varieties: The H variety is the prestigious, powerful variety; the L variety lacks
prestige and power.

-The L variety: refers to the language form used in informal or everyday contexts. It is
typically characterized by its use in casual conversation, family interactions, and informal
writing. Has simplified grammar, a more limited vocabulary, and may include
colloquialisms, slang, or dialectal features.

-The H variety: refers to the language form used in formal or prestigious contexts. It is
associated with education, literature, government, law, religion, and other formal settings.
Often has a more complex grammar, a richer vocabulary, and is subject to formal writing
conventions.
-Sermons, lectures, speeches, news, political speeches = Do these belong to the H variety
or the L one? These belongs to the H variety

-Family, friends, low-prestige occupations, folk literature, popular radio programs,

popular newspapers. What about these? These bellogs to the L variety.

Choosing a code-Unit 4: High or Low variety? Fill in the gaps with "high" or "low"
1. The H variety is taught

2. The L variety is acquired/learned.

3. Most children get the L variety

4. The H variety is learned in formal settings

5. The L variety shows a tendency to borrow words from the H variety

6. The L variety appears to be more basic regarding pronunciation

7. The H variety is associated with an elite, whereas the L variety is associated with
everyone else.

8. The H variety reinforces social distinctions

9. Foreigners find it easier to understand the L variety