Chapter 2+3 Flashcards
variety
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).
vernacular
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.
Standard language ideology
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
Standardization
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.
dialect
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.
Mutual intelligibility
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.
accent
refers to the way a speaker pronounces things and refers to a variety that is phonetically and/
or phonologically different from other varieties.
regional dialect
dialect defined primarily on the basis of region of origin of its
speakers.
social dialect (sociolect)
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.
ethnic dialect (ethnolect)
is a variety of a language which is
strongly associated with a particular ethnic group.
Dialect geography/dialectology-
the study of dialects
isogloss
line on a map indicating a boundary between the use and non-use of a particular
linguistic feature
dialect boundary
set of isoglosses that cluster together+serve to set apart dialect areas on map
transitional zones
where different linguistic variants coexist or hwere individual speakers use both variants
dialect continuum
range of language variants that differ from eachother but are linked by degrees of mutual intelligibility
style
level of formality in the way of speaking
register
way of speaking associated with particular occupation or activity group varieties associated with particular situations of use (example: babytalk)
genre
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…’
stereotype
generalisation about members of a gruop based on idea that all members of group will share certain personality characteristics
essentialism
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
anti-essentialism
proposes there’s no essential underlying identity to particular social groups and that identity is something that changes according to time, place and context
shared norms
common feeling about linguistic behaviour in a particular community; giving the same/very similar social meanings to particular ways of speaking
speech community
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
community of practice
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.
social networks
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
network density
the number of connections in a network
high density/dense network
if people you know+interact with also interact with eachother
low density network
if people you know+interact with don’t interact with eachother
multiplexity
how people are tied together in the network
multiplex network
if people in your network tied together through more than one social activity
simplex/uniplex network
network in which people are linked to eachother in only one capacity
vernacular maintenance
people living in many inner cities+rural areas continue to maintain low-status linguistic features in their speech
language change
people, especcially lowe-middle-class speakers adopt linguistic features associated with high social prestige
participant observation
technique to become part of a community to be able to study it up closely
hegemonic ideologies
ideologies that are dominant due to consensus, including the complicity of people for whom ideologies are not beneficial (think of standard language ideology
perceptual dialectology/folk linguistics
study of nonlinguists’ beliefs, attitudes and viewa about languages and about how people speak in different regions
matched guise experiments
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.
implicit bias
attitudes or stereotypes that affect our understandng, actions and decisions in an unconsious manner
to say if group of speakers constitute a COP must able to identify:
- 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
often used citeria to define a speech community:
- 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
