LANGUAGE ATTITUDE

Question 1

Language attitude

Answer 1

• Study of what people think of different linguistic varieties
• We prefer one language or dialect over another one, steoreotypes, behaviours
• “BP sounds more sophisticated than GA”

Question 2

Semantic derogation

Answer 2

• change in meaning to acquire negative connotations (often societal attitudes)
• Gender disparity: words describing women frequently gain negative or sexualised overtones
  Example: slut vs male stud)
• Historical shifts: gender-neutral or male-associated words became derogatory when applied to women
  Example: harlot
• Social context: derogatory terms reflect broader social biases.
• Gender disparity: words describing women frequently gain negative or sexualised overtones (e.g slut vs male stud)

Question 3

Linguistic relativity/relativism

Answer 3

• Benjamin Lee Whorf
• Anthropology
  strong form: language determines the way people thing
  weak form: language influences the way people think
  Example: Russians are faster to distinguish shades of blur compared to English people, because Russians has two distinct terms of for blue, and English has one = language shape how we perceive and categorise the world

Question 4

Peceptual dialectology

Answer 4

• subjective beliefs about dialects and linguistic varieties (perception rather than objective linguistic distinctions)
• Sociolinguistic monitor: listeners evaluate speech by filtering it through social and linguistic expectations (helping to explain biases in dialect perception) > Labov

Question 5

Social identity theory (SIT)

Answer 5

• How you see yourself or a group on regard of your/their language and identity, shift in salience depending on social context

Question 6

Person identity (SIT)

Answer 6

• Unique, idiosyncratic traits guiding individual behaviour

Question 7

Group identity (SIT)

Answer 7

• emphasises uniformity with a group, often accentuating contrasts with other groups

Question 8

Salience

Answer 8

• Refers to identity that is activated and relevant in a given interaction

Question 9

Attunement

Answer 9

• speakers adapt based on context, dynamic, relationship

Question 10

Speech/Communicative accommodation

Answer 10

• relationship between individuals or groups

Question 11

Convergence

Answer 11

• language/behaviour adapted to the other

Question 12

Divergence

Answer 12

• language and behaviour becomes more removed from the other (creating/highlighting differences)
• social distance: create boundary
  Example: Prague, losing English about unfair prising to avoid conflict
• identity assertion: affirm national/cultural identity
  Example: Canadians emphasise unique accents to avoid being mistaken for American
• strategic advantages: personal benefit (amplifying an accent to gain sympathy or better service in foreign environments)