W11: Culture, Gender, Pidgins & Creoles Flashcards
What does psycholinguistics consider language to be?
A method of communicating meaning - looking at the abstract system, its design and structure as well as how it is learned
What is sociolinguistics?
Language as a method for establishing and maintaining social relationships
Sociolinguistics seek…
Seeks socially relevant explanations for regular patterns of variation in language use
The speech style chosen depends on both…
Person and situation
What is standard english?
Variety of english used in print
Where may standard english be used?
Schools, ‘educated people’, news broadcasts
Does everyone use standard english?
No
How are accents distinguished?
Through pronunciation alone
Where does pronunciation vary?
Between both within and between countries
Do all countries have variations in regional accents?
No - there is more variation in some countries than others. In Australia we are known for having little regional variation. It is more so in the US and the UK
What is regional dialect?
Differences in vocab and grammar
Explain the variety in Australian English
Many Australians can move between varieties according to the situation
Cultivated: consonants clear, vowel pronunciations not different from English received pronunciation
General: most widely used - somewhere between extremes
Broad: vowels are broad, consonants are sometimes unclear and prone to assimilation and elision
What is the observer’s paradox when it comes to observing speech?
People often change when they know they’re being examined
What ethical issues may arise when trying to fix the observer’s paradox?
You can’t just not let them know they are being observed - it raises ethical concerns
What is the clandestine recording method of speech enquiry?
Pros, cons?
Where you are in a social situation or on a phone call and you slyly record the persons speech
Does allow you to see naturalistic speech but it is uncontrolled data as you can’t get them to say certain things and there is poor quality of recordings because you are trying to record without being obvious
GRAVE ETHICAL CONCERNS
What is covert but non-intrusive recording methods of speech enquiry?
Pros, cons?
Done by recording in person or on the phone, but you ask innocuous questions to get well-controlled data of naturalistic speech - minimal ethical concerns with the Q’s not being harmful
However again have poor quality recordings.
What is the sociolinguistic interview method of speech enquiry?
pros, cons?
Interviewer will try to elicit samples of various types of speech
However may be hard for the people to relax and speak normally
You do get structured data and clear recordings - no ethical concerns
But takes time and is expensive
What does it mean to converge and diverge accent?
Converge: make yourself stand out less, so you dont appear different
Diverge: show that you are different
What kind of choices are made in linguistic situations?
- Vocab
- Pronunciation
- Grammar
- Entire language (local vs. national language)
What are linguistic choices influenced by?
Participants (who is speaking and to who)
Topic of conversation
Social context
Function of conversation (why are we talking?teaching, conversing, entertaining)
Does it matter how we speak?
Yes - imagine trying to land a high stakes job, book a fancy hotel room or impress a potential partner
The prestige variety is often rewarded and the non-standard variety is stigmatised
Are there any sex differences in language?
Yes - sociolinguistic studies have found that in many cultures women and men speak differently
What are the two categories of sex-based differences in language? what do they mean?
Complete: whole different language and grammar
Subtle: differences in some vocab or expressions
Explain Dyirbal taboo
Spoken in north east queensland (only about 30 people)
Speaker is forbidden to speak with, approach or look straight at mother-in-law, child-in-law, fathers sisters child or mothers brothers child
If in hearing range of these ‘taboo’ relatives, they would need to use a separate form of dyirbal
Same phonemes, same grammar, but entirely different lexicon - all words are different!
Are there any sex differences in english-speaking communities? if there is, explain them
No major differences - but some distinctions may occur
Women tend to use more standard pronunciation and grammar, use more pleasant adjectives (adorable, sweer) and non-primary colour names (mauve, crimson). Women also use more patterns of surprise/politeness, rising inotation and tag questions (aren’t they? isn’t he?)
Much of the research on language sex differences are considered ‘classic’ due to being from 1960’s-70’s. What might this mean today?
These differences may be decreasing - research may need updating
May be more relevant in older generations but not newer
What do women express in their use of language more than men?
Women use language more frequently than men, using more words
Express social warmth (eg. terms of endearment)
in digital messages: women communicate expressiveness or friendliness with emojis, xx’s and affection whereas men are more likely to show aggression in digital messages
What does cooperation differences mean for research?
Women are more cooperative than men and may accommodate their speech in interviews for the interviewer (typically seen as being well-educated) - converge speech to be more similar to that of the interviewer
Men may react with even greater vernacular language which may explain why research indicates more standard forms of language from women than from men
Is language sexist? give examples
No language in itself is not sexist - it reflects sexism in society
Male terms are unmarked - prince, actor, hero (assumed to include women)
female forms marked (bound morphemes) - princess, actress, heroin - however we are dropping these more and more
Why are pidgins formed?
There is a need to find a common system of communication between speakers of different languages
E.g. slave plantations, trade
Speakers of the 2 inferior languages need to speak to each other and those of the dominant language
- done by simplifying the dominant language
What is a pidgin?
It is a language with no native speakers - a contact language (speak when in contact with another group)
Those wishing to communicate in a multilingual station need to improvise a simple code
What is a creole?
A pidgin that has become the first language of a new generation of speakers
After growing up hearing pidgin language, over a few generations it becomes their first language
Speaking a creole language is often associated with…
A sense of inferiority - ‘its not a real langugae’
Statistics say 6-17 million people speak a creole but hard to know for certain because of the stigma surrounding it
What are the language components of a pidgin language like?
Phonology: variation tolerated
Morphology: simplified
Word order: unstable, often follows speakers native language
function words: not used consistently
Whereas creole language components are like a regular language
Is it hard to tell when…
A language is a creole or pidgin
Takes generations of change
What if a pidgin doesnt turn into a creole?
It will phase out
Pidgins and creoles are mainly spoken in:
Developing countries where there is history of slaving, migrations, colonists
As well as places near the equatorial belt where it is warmer and people travel to
Places with direct and easy access to the water
Pidgins and creoles are uncommon in:
More extreme northern and southern regions
The interiors of continents (harder to travel to so no languages bought there and it is not warm enough for plantations etc)
How are pidgin/creole languages potential evidence towards innate language abilities?
Children who do not know any other language take impoverished pidgin language and turn it into a grammatical one - because of innate language abilities?
Some researchers have said innate ‘bioprogram’ compels children to develop a full language
