Sociolinguistics Flashcards
Sociolinguistics
The study of the variable properties of language
The standard vs non-standard
What is an accent?
It’s just the pronunciation differences between dialects
What is a variable?
It has 2 or more ways of saying the same thing
e.g that piece of furniture that can seat at least 3 people
What is a variant?
These are the different possible ways to describe a variable
e.g sofa, couch, chesterfield
What is Canadian raising?
This is when the diphthongs /aw/ and /aj/ (low mid vowels) start higher.
This only happens before a voiceless stop consonant.
What is an example of time/change?
- The Northern vowel shift (Chicago and Buffalo)
- The (lack of) aspiration of /wh/ words (only found in older generations)
What are the 3 types of isolation?
- Physical
- Linguistic
- Social
Physical Isolation
It’s geographic isolation from everyone
e.g Nfld
Linguistic Isolation
This happens when you’re cut-off from other groups that speak your language
e.g Quebec
Social Isolation
Even if other speakers are near, you don’t interact with them for socio-cultural reasons
e.g AAE speakers in Nfld
What is a social network?
This is the group of speakers that you interact with… you become more linguistically close the more time you spend interacting.
What is code-switching?
It’s the use of 2 (equally strong) languages within the same conversation.
It’s a natural; occurrence within bilingual communities.
What is code abandonment?
This is when you switch languages because you are unable to express a thought in the current language
What are some reasons for code switching?
- Situational
- Act of identity/solidarity
- May not be a conscious action
What are borrowings?
These foreign words that have been integrated into another
e.g C’est tellement cool
What is a nonce?
This is a one-off. It’s the beginning of a borrowing, but not many people use that word or know what is means.
What is the difference between a matrix and embedded language?
The matrix is the main/base language of a bilingual conversation
The embedded language is the secondary one
What is the order/building blocks of creole?
- Jargon
- Simple Pidgin
- Complex Pidgin
- Creole
What are 3 common characteristics of Pidgins?
- Few words, grammatical distinctions or phonology
- There’s a lack on consistency
- Lots of homophony (and polysemy)
What is a Lingua Franca?
This is a 2nd/3rd language that’s used to communicate between two groups. This language is neither groups first language.
2 common characteristics of Creoles
- It’s classified this way when it becomes a first language for a generation
- It has the capacity to expression thought and communication just was well as only other language
Relexification Hypothesis
-Theory that states that all creole languages started as the same photo-pidgin one and then re-vamped it’s vocab when new lexifer languages were introduced.
Bioprogram Hypothesis
-Saying that the similarities can be shown through human’s innate language knowledge (universal grammar) to fill in the gaps the lexifier/substratum language left.
The creole continuum
Basilect > Mesolect > Acrolect
What is hypercorrection?
This happens when a lower-middle class group or downtrodden group has linguistic insecurity, and so they speak using the standard dialect!
