Lang C&C Flashcards
variety
used to mean both dialect and language in linguistics
recipient language
language being influenced or changed
source language
language the influence is believed to have come from, aka the donor
target language
the language to be examined
superstrate language
source language and group with more social power
substrate language
recipient language group with less social power
adstrate language
both languages and groups have equal social power
recipient language agentivity
a borrowing / maintenance situation, a transfer
source language agentivity
a shift situation, an imposition
loanword
imports meaning and form of the word (ex. el sobbuey for subway)
loanblend
import form and meaning with morphological structure (ex. home plato for home plate)
loanshift
imports meaning only (ex. rascacielos for skyscrapers which glosses as scratches sky)
innovative repurposing
take word and repurposes it to a new meaning (ex. wan-man-ka for one man car )
interference
any type of influnece from one lnaguage to another, from 2nd language acquisition domain, in reference to native speaker, no longer used due to bad connatations
transfer
correct term to describe any type of influence from one language to another
borrowing
taking a feature from another language to use in their L1, can be lexical or structural, a situation of contact
sprachbund
geographic area + linguistic situation in which geographically adjacent languages share linguistic features
areal feature
the linguistic features shared
dual monolingualism
two monolingual groups in one area, aka isomorphic, ex. Swizerland
entire group bilingualism
most of population in one area is bilingual, aka dual bilingualism, ex. India
monolingual plus billingial group
one area with some monolingual people and some bilingual people, ex. Latinos in USA
first generation
Immigrants who have not yet learned the host country’s language fluently.
second generation
Children born in the host country who acquire the host country’s language as their first language.
Stammbaum
A genealogical tree showing language evolution (related to historical linguistics).
Sprachbund
A group of languages in close contact with each other, sharing common features despite not being related genetically.
Bilingualism
Speakers use two or more languages in daily life, with either language being dominant or both used in different contexts.
Language Shift
A community gradually stops using their ancestral language in favor of another language
Language Death
A language becomes extinct when no speakers remain.
Einar Haugen
Known for developing the model of language borrowing, especially lexical borrowing.
William Labov
Key figure in sociolinguistics, contributing to understanding language variation and change.
Beryl McAllister
Contributed to understanding language contact in creoles and pidgin formation.
David Winford
Focused on how bilingual communities interact and language outcomes.
Borrowing
One language incorporates elements of another, e.g., English borrowing words from French.
Language Shift
A community adopts a new language while gradually losing its ancestral language, e.g., many Indigenous communities.
Language Death
The complete extinction of a language when there are no more speakers, e.g., the Tasmanian language.
Typological similarity
How similar the languages are in terms of grammar, phonology, and syntax.
Bilingual proficiency
The fluency of speakers in both languages.
Socioeconomic and political factors
: Prestige of the languages involved, historical power dynamics.
Community Attitudes
Whether speakers view the language shift as beneficial or stigmatized.
Social Power Relations
The dominance of one group over another, which may force language shift.
Dominant vs. Subordinate Groups
A dominant group often influences the language of the subordinate group, leading to borrowing or shift.
Equal Status Bilinguals
Bilinguals with equal competence in both languages may result in less language loss and more code-switching.
High Intensity contact
Involves frequent and direct contact (e.g., bilingual communities), leading to more substantial language change.
Low Intensity
Occurs with less frequent contact, leading to less influence
Cultural contact
The need for new terms to describe novel concepts, objects, or practices.
Prestige
: Borrowing terms from a higher-status language.
High-frequency function words
Prepositions, conjunctions, and pronouns are borrowed frequently.
Cognates
Words that share similar forms in both languages tend to be borrowed more readily.
Prescriptivism
Emphasis on maintaining and enforcing specific norms and standards for language use.
Descriptivism
Focus on describing how language is actually used rather than enforcing prescriptive norms.
Codeswitching
The practice of alternating between two or more languages or dialects within a conversation or discourse. Codeswitching can happen at various levels, such as between sentences or within a single sentence.
Diglossia
A sociolinguistic situation where two languages or varieties are used in a community, each with distinct social functions. Typically, one variety is used for formal, high-prestige domains (e.g., written language, formal speeches), while the other is used for informal, everyday communication (e.g., spoken language, casual conversations).
Intersentential Codeswitching
Switching languages between sentences. This type of codeswitching is often seen when speakers change languages at sentence boundaries rather than within a single sentence.
Intrasentential Codeswitching
Switching languages within a sentence. This can involve switching at any point within a sentence—such as within clauses or phrases—depending on the syntactic rules of both languages involved.
Tag Switching
A type of codeswitching that involves inserting a short, typically uninflected phrase or “tag” from one language into a sentence that is otherwise in another language. For example, saying “It’s really cold today, ¿verdad?” (“isn’t it?” in Spanish).
Nonce (1-word) Switching
A form of codeswitching where a single word from another language is inserted into a sentence in the host language. This is a one-off switch, typically for a word or concept not available in the speaker’s main language.
Free Morpheme Constraint
A rule in codeswitching that suggests switches should occur only at points where both languages have free morphemes (those that can stand alone as words). According to this constraint, speakers avoid switching in the middle of bound morphemes (morphemes that cannot stand alone as words).
Equivalence Constraint
A principle that governs codeswitching, stating that switches are only acceptable if they do not disrupt the syntactic structure of the sentence in either language. Essentially, the languages involved must be compatible at the point of the switch.
Situation of Shift
A situation in which a speech community gradually abandons its original language in favor of another language. This can occur due to sociopolitical, economic, or cultural factors and often leads to the gradual loss of fluency in the original language.
L1 Influence on SLA (Second Language Acquisition)
The influence of a learner’s first language (L1) on their acquisition of a second language (L2). This influence can result in errors or patterns of speech that reflect the structure or rules of the L1, such as syntactic, phonological, or lexical transfer.
L2 Influence on SLA
The influence of the second language (L2) on the learner’s first language (L1) or other languages they are acquiring. This can occur when speakers use elements of the L2 in their L1 or in other second languages they are learning, especially in bilingual or multilingual environments.
Contrastive Analysis Hypothesis (Lado, 1957)
The theory that predicts second language learners will have difficulty with structures in the target language that are different from their first language. Conversely, similarities between the two languages will lead to ease in learning.
Problem: The hypothesis oversimplifies language learning, as it fails to account for factors like universal linguistic tendencies and cognitive processes that affect second language acquisition.
Error Analysis (Pit Corder, 1967)
A theory that focuses on the errors made by second language learners and views them as evidence of the learner’s internal process of language development.
Problem: Error analysis focuses mostly on mistakes without considering why learners make them (e.g., due to cognitive strategies or developmental stages).
Interlanguage Hypothesis (Larry Selinker, 1972)
The idea that second language learners go through a transitional stage between their native language and their target language, called interlanguage. This stage contains features of both the first and second languages and may represent an evolving linguistic system.
Fossilization
The process by which certain errors or non-native language features become permanent in a second language learner’s speech, even after extensive learning and exposure to the target language.
U-shaped Learning
A phenomenon observed in second language acquisition where learners initially show correct usage of a language structure, then make errors, and later recover and show more stable correct usage. This can happen as learners move from a simple understanding to more complex structures and back again.
Overgeneralization
A common error in second language acquisition where learners apply a rule from their first language (or another learned language) to the target language, resulting in incorrect usage. For example, overapplying the plural rule in English (“goed” instead of “went”).
Simplification
A strategy used by second language learners in which they reduce the complexity of their language by avoiding difficult structures or patterns they have not mastered, often resulting in incomplete or grammatically simplified speech.
Uniqueness Principle
A cognitive principle in second language acquisition that states that learners tend to map specific meanings to unique forms. For example, learners may assign different meanings to the same word form depending on context or language exposure.
Principle of Continuity
This principle suggests that language learners’ developmental stages are influenced by universal cognitive mechanisms, and that structures learners encounter early in their second language acquisition may stay with them throughout the learning process.
Principle of Canonical Word Order
The tendency of learners to apply the most common word order found in their native language (such as Subject-Verb-Object) when constructing sentences in a second language, especially when they are unsure of the target language’s syntax.
The NP Accessibility Hierarchy
A theoretical hierarchy that suggests that certain noun phrases (NPs) are easier to access than others for syntactic processes. In language acquisition and shift, this hierarchy explains why certain syntactic structures are more difficult to learn or maintain than others.
Media Lengua (Ecuador, Spanish & Quechua)
A mixed language spoken in Ecuador that combines Spanish and Quechua. Media Lengua is an example of a bilingual mixed language (BLML), with a largely Spanish-based vocabulary and Quechua syntax.
Michif (Red River/Winnipeg area, French & Cree)
A mixed language spoken by the Métis people in Canada, combining French vocabulary and Cree syntax. It is another example of a bilingual mixed language (BLML).
Medny Aleut (Copper Island, Russian & Aleut)
These terms and concepts play key roles in the study of language contact, second language acquisition, and sociolinguistics. Let me know if you need further elaboration on any of these points!
Individual Bilingualism
The ability of one person to use two or more languages.
Societal Bilingualism
The use of two or more languages by a community or society.
Isomorphic/Dual Monolingualism
Different language groups live side by side without mixing (e.g., Switzerland, Belgium).
Entire Group/Dual Bilingualism
The whole population speaks two or more languages (e.g., India).
Monolingual Group + Bilingual Group
One group is monolingual, while another is bilingual (e.g., Latinos in the U.S.,
definitions of contact
strict, loose, sociological
