LANGUAGE VARIATIONS (2)

TODAYS QUOTATION
When we do something that engage us, we will
spend a lot of time on it
Make the students engage to the material
so that they will be able to spend a lot of time
concern on it. (Peter Mickan)

Sum1 askd me if i missd u. i didnt answer.. i juzt

closed my eyes nd walkd away. then i whisperd
"so much
(http://www.poems-and-quotes.com/slang/submitted_quotes.html)

Variation: Natural Phenomenon

Language is a form of social behavior and
communities tend to split up into groups. Each
displaying differences of behavior. Language
manifests differences of behavior. Language is the
variety of speakers. Speakers vary in their
vocabulary and skills to use it. Linguistic
variables have both social and style variation,
some only social, but none style variation only.

Dialect. No universally accepted criteria for distinguishing

language from dialects, although a number of paradigms
exist, which render sometimes contradictory results.
The exact distinction is a subjective one, dependent on the
users frame of reference.
Language varieties are often called dialects rather than
languages, because:
1. solely they are not, or not recognized as literary
languages
2. the speakers of the given language do not have a state of
their own
3. they are not used in the press or literature, or very
little, because their language lacks prestige. The
example?

Whats the difference between accent and dialect?

An accent is the way that particular person or group of people
sound. It is the way somebody pronounces words, the musicality of
their speech.
A dialect describes both a persons accent and grammatical
features of the way that person talk.
Accent refers to the sounds that are present in a persons language.
Pronunciation is basically synonym of accent. Therefore, if you
pronounce differently from someone, you have different accent.
Dialect is something greater. A dialect is a version of a language
that is special to a particular region or group. Dialects of the same
language are different from each other, but still understandable to
speakers of another dialect f that language. For example, AE and
BE are two dialect of English. They have some differences, such as
pronunciation, vocabulary, and grammar, but they are still
understandable to each other.

Dialectal Variation
"Adialectisvariationin grammar andvocabularyin
addition to sound variations. For example, if one person
utters the sentence 'John is a farmer' and another says
the same thing except pronounces the word farmer as
'fahmuh,' then the difference is one ofaccent. But if one
person says something like 'You should not do that' and
another says 'Ya hadn't oughta do that,' then this is a
dialect difference because the variation is greater. The
extent of dialect differences is a continuum. Some
dialects are extremely different and others less so.
(Donald G. Ellis,From Language to Communication. Routledge, 1999)

Idiolect is the language or speech pattern of one

individual at a particular period of life. (
www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/idiolect)
It manifested by patterns of word selection and
grammar, or words, or phrases, idioms, or
pronunciations that are unique to that
individual. Every individual has an idiolect.

Sociolect is the variety of language

characteristic of a social background or status. A
dialect which evolves from regional speech may
also have sociolectical implications. E.g. BEV or
AAVE (Black English Vernacular/ African
American English Vernacular) and diglossia (a
situation where two varieties of a language exist
side by side javanese, high low, standard
non standard)

Register means variations in speech style based

on formality. The language that we use in
conference will have different level of formality
than the one we use in daily conversation.

Jargon: terms that are specific to a certain

group that are often very technical in nature and
not easily understood by non-member. E.g.
medical jargon, photography jargon, legal jargon,
computer jargon, etc.

Pidgin: in areas of trade and industrialization

often many people who dont speak the same
language are brought together to
communicate, they develop a shared linguistic
system known a pidgin, which is combination of
features of all language in contact.
Being a new communicative system, pidgins are
often very simplified or reduced.

Creole. As speakers of pidgin have children,

those children learn the pidgin as a native
language. It is at this stage that pidgin becomes
creole.
Creole tends to be more fully developed linguistic
system than pidgin: Because of the innate
capacity to develop language, the children then
turn the pidgin into a full-pledged new language,
known as creole (Language Files, 499).

Slang: The use of informal words or expressions

that are not considered standard in the speakers
language.
Often used by people in a group that are familiar
with it like teenagers
Slang makes speech more emotionally expressive
and shorter.
It is usually taboo when speaking to people of
higher social status.

What about code-switching and code-mixing?

Choose one of many sociolinguistics terms

explain it give the examples!