Chapter 2+3

Question 1

variety

Answer 1

a neutral term for a particular way of speaking; this can be any particular kind of language or
dialect which linguists wish to consider as a single entity; it can be as broad as Standard Dutch or as
narrow as a specific way of speaking, such as “baby talk” (infant-directed speech).

Question 2

vernacular

Answer 2

the relaxed, spoken style in which the least conscious attention is being paid to speech; also
used to describe casual or informal speech oriented toward a local community (often refers to nonstandardized
ways of speaking); the language used in everyday ordinary social interactions.

Question 3

Standard language ideology

Answer 3

refers to the belief that there is one variety of a language that is superior to
others and that this is the only correct or legitimate form of the language.
Ideology - ideas, beliefs, and values held by individuals or groups which form the basis for and serve to
legitimate cultural behaviors or political actions

Question 4

Standardization

Answer 4

refers to the process of codifying (organizing and developing rules and norms) a variety
of a language and putting it to wider use—“typically for the spread of literacy, education, government
and administration, and in the expansion of the media” (Mesthrie et al. 21).
This process usually involves the development of grammars, spelling books, and dictionaries, etc.

Question 5

dialect

Answer 5

is any variety of a language shared by a group of speakers. All speakers are speakers of at least
one dialect, and no one dialect is inherently superior to another.
A dialect refers to a variety that’s grammatically, lexically, and phonologically different from other
varieties.

Question 6

Mutual intelligibility

Answer 6

the capability of being understood by both sides.
Languages or dialects are considered mutually intelligible if speakers of the respective languages or
dialects can understand each other when speaking.

Question 7

accent

Answer 7

refers to the way a speaker pronounces things and refers to a variety that is phonetically and/
or phonologically different from other varieties.

Question 8

regional dialect

Answer 8

dialect defined primarily on the basis of region of origin of its
speakers.

Question 9

social dialect (sociolect)

Answer 9

is defined on the basis of a social
grouping, such as social class, ethnicity, or religion as opposed to a dialect defined primarily on
the basis of region.

Question 10

ethnic dialect (ethnolect)

Answer 10

is a variety of a language which is
strongly associated with a particular ethnic group.

Question 11

Dialect geography/dialectology-

Answer 11

the study of dialects

Question 12

isogloss

Answer 12

line on a map indicating a boundary between the use and non-use of a particular
linguistic feature

Question 13

dialect boundary

Answer 13

set of isoglosses that cluster together+serve to set apart dialect areas on map

Question 14

transitional zones

Answer 14

where different linguistic variants coexist or hwere individual speakers use both variants

Question 15

dialect continuum

Answer 15

range of language variants that differ from eachother but are linked by degrees of mutual intelligibility

Question 16

style

Answer 16

level of formality in the way of speaking

Question 17

register

Answer 17

way of speaking associated with particular occupation or activity group varieties associated with particular situations of use (example: babytalk)

Question 18

genre

Answer 18

variety of language that evokes particu;ar speech event or function–> tends to be ritualised and formulaic (example: story telling genre: ‘once upon a time…’

Question 19

stereotype

Answer 19

generalisation about members of a gruop based on idea that all members of group will share certain personality characteristics

Question 20

essentialism

Answer 20

idea that people can be placed into fixed social categories and that all members we assign to a category share certain traits which we see as the essence of this category

Question 21

anti-essentialism

Answer 21

proposes there’s no essential underlying identity to particular social groups and that identity is something that changes according to time, place and context

Question 22

shared norms

Answer 22

common feeling about linguistic behaviour in a particular community; giving the same/very similar social meanings to particular ways of speaking

Question 23

speech community

Answer 23

group of people with shared nroms/common evaluation about language forms.
Members don’t necessarily speak same way, but attribute the same/very similar social meanings to particular ways of speaking

Question 24

community of practice

Answer 24

used to refer to a group of people who engage in ongoing basis in some common activity/endeavor.
although speakers may have different linguistic backgrounds, common linguistic practices emerge through regular interaction.

Question 25

social networks

Answer 25

the social connections that inform how+when people interact with eachother; the formal and informal social relationships that individuals maintain with eachother

another way of defining groups+understanding how individuals relate to+interact with others in society

Question 26

network density

Answer 26

the number of connections in a network

Question 27

high density/dense network

Answer 27

if people you know+interact with also interact with eachother

Question 28

low density network

Answer 28

if people you know+interact with don’t interact with eachother

Question 29

multiplexity

Answer 29

how people are tied together in the network

Question 30

multiplex network

Answer 30

if people in your network tied together through more than one social activity

Question 31

simplex/uniplex network

Answer 31

network in which people are linked to eachother in only one capacity

Question 32

vernacular maintenance

Answer 32

people living in many inner cities+rural areas continue to maintain low-status linguistic features in their speech

Question 33

language change

Answer 33

people, especcially lowe-middle-class speakers adopt linguistic features associated with high social prestige

Question 34

participant observation

Answer 34

technique to become part of a community to be able to study it up closely

Question 35

hegemonic ideologies

Answer 35

ideologies that are dominant due to consensus, including the complicity of people for whom ideologies are not beneficial (think of standard language ideology

Question 36

perceptual dialectology/folk linguistics

Answer 36

study of nonlinguists’ beliefs, attitudes and viewa about languages and about how people speak in different regions

Question 37

matched guise experiments

Answer 37

the same speaker is recorded reading a passage in two or more
language varieties. People listen to these recordings and evaluate the speaker on his or her
intelligence, kindness, physical attractiveness, ambition, leadership, sincerity, sense of humor,
and so on. Because the only factor that varies is the language or dialect used, the responses of
people who evaluate the speaker help shed light on language attitudes and social stereotypes.

Question 38

implicit bias

Answer 38

attitudes or stereotypes that affect our understandng, actions and decisions in an unconsious manner

Question 39

to say if group of speakers constitute a COP must able to identify:

Answer 39

• mutual engagement: the relationships that members
  of the community forge with each other, their
  investment in time and resources
• joint entreprise: the goal that they pursuit together
• shared repertoire: the set of behaviours (llinguistic+non-linguistic) that members of community share

Question 40

often used citeria to define a speech community:

Answer 40

• shared language
• frequency of interaction by group of people
• shared rules of speaking and interpretations of speech performance
• shared attitudes and values regarding language forms+language use
• shared sociocultural understandings and assumptions regarding speech events