Ethnicity

Question 1

Pidgins

Answer 1

Pidgins are made when 2 groups need a language to communicate in, it is a lingua franca. Lexis from one language and syntax, grammar and phonology from many others. It is no one’s first language.

Question 2

Creoles

Answer 2

A pidgin that has become the first language for some people.

Question 3

Jamaican Creole

Answer 3

The enslaved population of Jamaica needed a language to communicate in so mixed English with various African languages to make Jamaican Creole which became the first language for most Jamaicans.

Question 4

Characteristics of Pidgins and Creoles

Answer 4

Limited lexis as the sounds present need to be present in all source languages.
Reduplication (Repetition e.g., sipsip)
No gendered pronouns
Don’t mark plural nouns

Question 5

Decreolisation

Answer 5

Jamaican Creole became more like Standard English over time because Standard English was still the prestige variety in Jamaica.

Question 6

Creole Continuum

Answer 6

Many Jamaicans knew Standard English and Jamaican Creole and would alternate between how Standard their speech was based on environment. More Standard at work and less Standard with friends.

Question 7

BBE (Black British English)

Answer 7

In the 1940s, many Jamaicans moved to the UK and their Jamaican Creole decreolised further when living in the UK, forming BBE.

Question 8

Features of BBE

Answer 8

Universal tag question ‘innit’
Plural nouns unmarked
Think = Tink - /θ/ = /t/
The = De - /ð/ = /d/

Question 9

Crossing

Answer 9

White working class neighbours of BBE speakers crossed into BBE because it had covert prestige. “Cool, tough and good to use” - Prof Ben Rampton.

Question 10

MUE (Multicultural Urban English)

Answer 10

Variety with many influences including BBE, draws from a pool of characteristics from many different cultures.

Question 11

Features of MUE

Answer 11

Universal tag question ‘innit’
Pronoun ‘Man’
Lexis - ‘endz’, ‘bare’, ‘ting’
/a:sk/ pronounced /a:ks/ - Metathesis

Question 12

Code Mixing

Answer 12

Occasionally inserting words from one language into another

Question 13

Code Switching

Answer 13

Switching between languages for a longer period of time

Question 14

Domain Theory

Answer 14

Speakers switch between codes based on social context. For example, a British Punjabi Muslim using English at school, Arabic at Mosque and Punjabi at home.