English in the World Flashcards
Lingua Franca
common language used by different groups whose native languages are different
Global Language
language spoken across different countries who use it as their first language, teach it as their foreign language of choice in schools, etc.
Mutual Intelligibility
people being able to understand one another despite having different first languages.
Language Contact
changes that happen when speakers of different languages interact with one another, leading to a transfer of linguistic features.
Variety
form of language in a country (standard/non-standard form) ex. Singapore Standard English (SSE)
Standard English
form of English used in formal and public contexts in an English-speaking country
Non-Standard English
features of language that does not conform of the standard language.
Dialect
a regional or social variety of a language; dealing with the choice of words and structures.
Accent
the speech-sounds associated with a particular area.
Colloquial
forms of language found in casual/informal everyday speech
Vernacular
the dialect spoken by the ordinary local people of a region
Cultural Appropriation
process in which members in the dominant culture adopts elements of a minority culture.
Linguistic Imperialism
imposition of a dominant language to follow on people with a different language. ex: France colonizing Haiti to force the French language among their population.
Borrowing
process during language contact by which a word from one language is used in another language.
Loanword
The word that is borrowed.
Language Shift
when the individual process of language attrition begins to involve large numbers of native speakers.
Language Attrition
when speakers of a native language begin to learn English and slowly lose their original language as English begins to dominate more of their everyday lives.
Loss of Indigenous Culture
speakers of a language consume books, films, productions of other popular language(s) and spend less time and money on productions from their own culture.
Language of Death
takes place when the last native speaker of that language dies (extinction)
Pidgin
a made-up language with vocabulary from one language and grammatical structures from the other. no native speakers, only for communication purposes
Creole
when a pidgin lasts long enough to develop some native speakers.
Superstrate Language
the higher-prestige language that usually provides the vocabulary for the creole (lexifier language)
Substrate Language
the lower-prestige language that usually provides the syntax portion of the language.
Three Circles Theory
Braj Kachru’s model to illustrate the global spread of English; three circles inside which the different speakers can be classified.
Outer Circle
where English is the secondary language for many and has current status as an official language. (Ghana, Bangladesh, etc)
Inner Circle
where English is the first language for many. this circle illustrates a spread from the UK to countries where native English speakers settled down in large numbers (US, Canada, etc)
Expanding Circle
where English is a foreign language (Germany, Japan, etc)
Code-switching
using language register that is lower on the triangle in a more formal situation.
intimate>casual>consultative>formal>frozen
Overt Prestige
the prestige acquired in a community by using the standard or formal language variety associated with power, status, and solidarity.
Covert Prestige
prestige acquired in a community by using non-standard language variety, regarding to be of high linguistic prestige by members of a community.
African-American Vernacular English
Codification
designing a writing system which classifies language as an official status.
Descriptivism
belief that usage is what matters in language; we should observe how language is used.
Prescriptivism
belief that language is subject to rules and should not change.
Exnonormative Stabilization
colonizers enforcing the way they want the language to be spoken.
Endonormative Stabilization
language takes on the ‘norms’ of the local area or country. no enforcement from external parties.
