Language Variety: Specific language or specific form of language used by a particular

community: French, Italian, etc…or Appalachian English, African-American English, Southern

English

Language (s)
•Is a system of arbitrary signals:- voice sounds- gestures- written symbolswhich communicate
thoughts or feelings
• Human spoken – written languages:- system of symbols (lexemes) and thegrammar (rules)- can
be manipulated

Learning language – normal – human childhood- use patterns of sound and gesture –
communication- thousands of languages – share certain propertiesHuman and computer
programs – constructed other languages:- Constructed languages:Esperanto, Ido, Interlingua,
Klingon, programming languages and various mathematical formalisms
Ido:
Me ne havas libro
means, “I do not have a book”
Esperanto:
Mirinda Amo
means Wonderful Love
Klingon: a constructed language used in ‘Star Trek’ spoken by Klingon
- not necessarily restricted to the properties shared by human languages

Standard Language
•a particular variety of a language that has been given legal or quasi-legal status
•the most correct dialect of a language
•Generally which is written, has undergone some degree of regularization, and recognized as a
prestigious variety by a community

Language Variation
Factors that influence:
(a)Dialect
(b)Style
(c)register

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Dialects
•A variety of a language used by people from a particular geographic area
•Number of speakers and area itself can be of arbitrary size
•Dialect in larger area can contain plenty of sub-dialects

 A complete system of verbal communication – own vocabulary and grammar

 •Concept of dialects – distinguished from:(a) sociolects : a variety of a language spoken
by a certain social class(b) standard languages : are standardised for public performance

Regional Dialect-Travel from one region to another –encounter noticeable changes

– language:
-Pronunciation, choice of words and syntax
-Distinctive varieties – regional dialects
-Not a distinct language but rather a variety of a language spoken in a particular area of a country

Social Dialects
-The variety of social group or social class -the differences in speech
-Can be used to refer to
(a) ethnic
(b) occupation
(c) status
(d) caste
(e) education, income, racial etc

For example:
Ethnic variation – the identification of a dialect associated with a specific ethnic group such as
“Black dialect” in cities such as New York, Detriot and Buffalo.
In India, social caste – Brahmins and non-Brahmin caste – influence – variety of language –
social differences

Style
Below are two excerpts of two good friends, Ahmad andJim, conversations at two different
occasions.
(a)Having tea at the café
Ahmad: Jim, what’s all this?
Jim: Sorry! I will explain everything to you later.
(b) In court, where Ahmad is a lawyer and Jim, the judge
Ahmad: Your honour, I would like to request for an extension.
Jim: Extension, denied

In both situations, Ahmad – making a request.

However, the form of request changes –according to the context.
In situation (a) – Both – having tea in a café, and the form is casual
In situation (b) – Both – are in – court and the form – formal, despite having established
relationship

Variables that influence style:

(a)Addressee
(b)Social class
(c)Context and social roles
(d)Ethnics groups

( a ) A d d r e s s e e
Familiar person –
( i ) M o r e c a s u a l
(ii)Relaxed style is used
(iii)More vernacular forms (non-standard)

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