Chapter 2 - Language, dialects and varieties Flashcards
List Bell’s 7 criteria used to distinguish b/w languages
1) standardization
2) Vitality
3) histrocity
4) Autonomy
5 Reduction
6) mixture
7) De facto norms
what is standardization/codification? what are some historical events that have caused codification
process by which a language is codified, meaning to be “set in stone”
- purpose is to To reduce/eliminate variation
- it is a result of puristic efforts
Hisotrical events include:
-holy books
-printing press (Gutenberg) - moveable type
- Martin Luther’s tranlation of the bible to German
-Whycliff’s grammar books
what are the steps of standardization?
FORMAL
- Codification: dictionaries, grammar books
- Elaboration: make sure it’s used in schoolds and media ect.
FUNCTIONAL
- Selecting a norm - identify/select a vernacular
- Accepting a norm
- Idealizing the norm - convince speakers that this norm gives you power
what is an example of stndardization
Finland (rapid standardization from russia and sweden)
What is vitality (2nd criteria)? example?
Does it have living speakers?
ex. Celtic Ls - languages can be revived (like hebrew) bot not resurrected in original form
What is Histrocity (3rd criteria)? example?
How the language gives people an identity
ex. German
What is Autonomy (4th criteria)? example?
People’s loyalty towards the language - the extent to which they feel their language is ‘different’ from others
ex. African american vernacular english (ebonics) feel that they speak something separate from english
What is reduction (5th criteria)? example?
When the L has a variety that can be called a sub-variety - results from lack of power/prestige
ex. the cockney sub variety
What is mixture (6th criteria)? example?
the purity of their variety
ex. German and French don’t want english words sneaking into their L - they want to keep it “pure”
What are de facto norms (7th criteria)? example?
A feeling among speakers that there are norms about the use of that language
ex. “proper usage” of the gender of objects in french
- de facto norms preserve the elite
what happens when a variety is selected as a norm? what is the key to selecting a norm?
- that variety gains powers while all other varieties lose power
- The elite variety is typically chosen
Key= solidarity
What are the 6 functions of standardization?
1) makes language teachable
2) language takes on ideological dimensions
3) Unites some speakers while separating others
4) Reflects and symbolizes identities
5) Gives more prestige to some speakers
6) Goal for those with different norms
What is rapid standardization? Example?
- deliberate standardization due to political reasons
ex. Finland used to be part of sweden and Russia. The it became independent and needed to unite speakers, so they created a standardized version of finish
difference b/w written and spoken varieties of the standard english
Written -heavily codified -similar grammar and vocab for all varieties Spoken - local variety - Convergence of varieties in the UK
what are some popular yet incorrect opinions of standard Languages?
- codification = a fixed end point
- only ‘dead’ languages are standardized
- standard = proper
- variation = bad
Who was Robert Lowth? Why was his work important?
Bishop at the church of England, professor of poetry at oxford
- his prescriptive grammar (which was legislated into English grammar) was very important in the standardization of English
are languages equal?
languages are equal linguistically but not socially
how can the standard language lead to reconstruction of historical facts?
real example?
A group of people speak a standard variety X1 - group splits into 3, X1a, X1b, and X1c. THen X1a discovers oil, gains power and people falsely claim that X1a was the original and b/c are historical variants.
example.
ex. 2 scottish english is said to be a historical variant of london english because it had the most power at the time of standardization
The level of formality we choose is governed by what?
- social circumstances
- Type of occasion
- Task involved
- emotional involvement
what is a register? example?
A set of linguistic items associated with discrete occupational groups
- facilitate speedy communication
- Register shows what you are doing
ex. “code blue” between doctors
What are the 2 types of dialects?
Regional - Marks residents of a particular geographical areas from other regions
Social - A variety associated with a particular social group
What are the 2 types of linguistics?
Historical (diachronic): tries to describe how a language has changed over time
Synchronic: When we look at a language at one moment in time
Define a standard language plus example.
- codified by grammars/ dictionaries
- used in areas of literature, courts, education, administration and commerce
- more prestigious/ powerful
- goal for those with different norms
- regarded as ‘proper usage’ of the language
- the variety taught as a foreign language
- spoken by educated people, used in news broadcasts
example: Standard English – based on a dialect developed after the Norman conquest
