Language Varieties

Question 1

• Contains “lect” from Greek dia (across/between) and legein (speak)
• A regional or social variety of a language marked by differences in pronunciation, grammar, and vocabulary.

Answer 1

Dialect

Question 2

• Refers to the variation in language use based on context and circumstances.
• Influenced by social occasion, purpose, audience, and context.
• Characterized by specialized vocabulary, colloquialisms, jargon, and variations in tone and pace.
• Colloquialisms – Informal expressions used commonly differ from slang, created by specific groups and is more informal.

Answer 2

Register

Question 3

Informal expressions used commonly differ from slang, created by specific groups and is more informal.

Answer 3

Colloquialisms

Question 4

• Specialized language used by professional or occupational groups; often unclear to outsiders.
• Defined by American poet David Lehman as a way to present old ideas as new, adding superficial novelty to otherwise straightforward concepts.”

Answer 4

Jargon

Question 5

Types of Lects

Answer 5

1. Regional Dialect
2. Sociolect
3. Ethnolect
4. Idiolect

Question 6

• A variety specific to a geographic area (e.g., Ilocano from the Ilocos region).

Answer 6

Regional Dialect

Question 7

• Also known as a social dialect
• A variety of language (or register) used by a socioeconomic class, profession, age group, or other social groups

Answer 7

Sociolect

Question 8

• Spoken by a specific ethnic group.
• Example: Ebonics, the vernacular spoken by some African-Americans

Answer 8

Ethnolect

Question 9

• The unique language use of each individual.
• For instance, a multilingual person’s idiolect may include various languages and registers

Answer 9

Idiolect

Question 10

Pidgin

Answer 10

• A blend of several languages created by a multicultural population, resulting in a mutually understood language.
• Formed from words of the speakers’ mother tongues and characterized by flexible, simplified grammar.

Question 11

Refers to the language that contributes the majority of the vocabulary.

Answer 11

Lexifier

Question 12

Example of Pidgin

Answer 12

Conyo

Question 13

o A colloquial term with a meaning distinct from its Spanish origin,
not vulgar in nature.
o Refers to speaking Taglish or English with an accent, often
associated with upper-class citizens in Filipino pop culture

Answer 13

Conyo

Question 14

• A language formed by mixing multiple languages, where the new language becomes the native tongue for most speakers.
• Vocabulary is borrowed from various languages, while the grammar often differs significantly from the source languages.
• The grammar and syntax are fully developed, and comparable to any established language.

Answer 14

Creole

Question 15

Creole example

Answer 15

Chavacano/ Chabacano (Philippine Creole Spanish)
o A Spanish-based creole spoken in parts of the Philippines, especially around Zamboanga, with over 600,000 speakers.
o Also spoken in the Zamboanga dialect in Sempornah, Malaysia.

Question 16

• Spoken by people perceived as uneducated.
• Considered nonstandard, though not strictly defined in linguistics.
• Refers to pidgins, creoles, dialects, or vernaculars, but not typically jargon or slang, which are vocabulary-based.
• In colloquial use, especially in France, the term suggests class distinctions, with “patois” referring to sociolects of uneducated rural
  classes, contrasting with the prestige language (like standard French)

Answer 16

Patois

Question 17

Example of Patois

Answer 17

“Hi, how yuh doing?” = “Hi, how are you?”
“Mi awright man” = “I am alright man”