File 10.0-10.4: Language variation (F) Flashcards
Internal variation
within a single language, there are different ways of expressing the same meaning
Language variation
The term language variety is used by linguists as a cover term to refer to any form of language characterized by systematic features
Idiolect
Every native speaker speaks his own idiolect, which differs systematically from the idiolects of other native speakers.
The language variety of an individual speaker
Sociolinguistics
The study of the relationship between these language varieties and social structure as well as the interrelationships among different language varieties
Dialect
a particular form of a language that is peculiar to a specific region or social group.
Accent
the manner in which people speak and the way words are pronounced in different parts of the world
Speech community
A group of people speaking the same dialect
Extralinguistic factors
factors not based in linguistic structure, such as region, socioeconomic status, age, gender, and ethnicity
Communicative isolation
coherent speech community relatively isolated from speakers outside of that community
Mutual intelligibility
If speakers of one language variety can understand speakers of another language variety, and vice versa, we say that these varieties are mutually intelligible and therefore they are dialects of the same language
Dialect continuum
This is a situation where, in a large number of geographically contiguous dialects, each dialect is closely related to the next, but the dialects at either end of the continuum (scale) are mutually unintelligible.
Jargon
also called technical language, is a language variety that differs only in lexical items
Slang
has to do more with stylistic choices in vocabulary than with systematic lexical differences between varietie
2 types:
- common slang
- in-group slang
Common slang
The nearly neutral everyday language that most people consider just a little too informal for letters of application and the like is known as common slang. This includes words like fridge for refrigerator or TV for television
In-group slang
a type of slang that is associated with a particular group at a particular time
Standard dialect
used by political leaders, the media, and speakers from higher socioeconomic classes. It is also generally the variety taught in schools and to non-native speakers in language classes. Every language has at least one standard dialect, which serves as the primary means of communication across dialects.
Nonstandard dialect
All other dialects
Prestige
Socially speaking, the standard dialect is the dialect of prestige and power.
Prescriptive standard
the standard by which people often make judgments of “right” and “wrong”
Hypercorrection
an attempt to be overly “correct” resulting in the production of language different from the standard (“between Harlan and I” instead of “between Harlan and me”)
Bidialectal
being capable of speaking two dialects
Overt prestige
Positive value assigned to language forms based on the value of the form in larger society
Covert prestige
In this case, the desire to “belong” to or associate oneself with a particular group often becomes the overriding factor.
Non-rhotic
A language variety in which sequences of vowel-/r/-consonant or vowel-/r/-word boundary are not permitted to occur.
Rhotic
A language variety in which sequences of vowel-/r/-consonant or vowel-/r/-word boundary are permitted to occur.
Regional dialect
Variety of language defined by region or geography.
Social dialect
Variety of a language defined by social factors such as age, religion, ethnicity, or socioeconomic status
Regional variation
Same as regional dialect: Variety of language defined by region or geography.
dialectologists
A person who studies Regional Dialects and Regional Variation
Isogloss
A line drawn on a dialect map marking the boundary of an area where a particular linguistic feature is found.
Bundle of isoglosses
A set of isoglosses surrounding the same geographic region or distinguishing the same group of speakers, marking a particular language variety.
Northern Cities Shift
The systematic rotation of the vowel space found in speakers in the northern region of the United States.
double modal
The use of two modals in a single verb phrase, as in might could or might should
A-prefixing
The process of attaching the prefix a- to the beginning of certain verbs in English, as in a-running.
Multiple negation
The process of using more than one marker of negation
/l/-vocalization
The process of pronouncing syllable-final /l/ as a vowel or a glide.
Near merger
When two sounds have become so phonetically close to one other that observers claim they are merged and even their speakers have trouble perceiving the distinction.
Near-homophones
Words that are sometimes pronounced the same, but sometimes are pronounced differently; often the result of a near merger.
Communities of practice
an aggregate of people who come together around mutual engagement in an endeavor
Copula absence
The absence of inflected present-tense forms of the verb to be in sentences for which Standard American English would use an inflected form.
Habitual
The use of an uninflected form of the verb to be to indicate that a state or activity is habitual.
Emblematic language
A particular language variety used to refer symbolically to a particular cultural heritage or identity.
Topicalization
A syntactic process by which (in English) a syntactic constituent occurs at the beginning of a sentence in order to highlight the topic under discussion.
