Language Varieties

By Mariela Arroyo S.

chapter 20: Language Varieties

The main aim of this chapter is to give to know the different varieties of languages.

Every language have more than one variety. In the English there are different types of variations such us :

Linguistic variation Geographical variation and Social variation

in language use.

It considers grammatically correct.

It is understanded for everyone.

One of the variety of language.

It is used in formal location: newspaper, books, mass media and schools.

Standard Language It is a variety of the language.

Every groups of people from different places ,region, culture , status has an accent.

Dialect refers to differences in grammar, vocabulary, and pronunciation too.

Accent

It involves differences in

pronunciation.

/'wɔ:tər / - /'wɔ:tə(r)/

Dialect

It’s a variation of language that involves features of grammar, vocabulary, as well as aspect of pronunciation.

Example:

Jamaican English

i.e. : American and British English they have different accents. This means that they have differences in their suprasegmental features, rhythm, intonation and pronunciation.

What does accent involve?

It is the relative prominence of a particular syllable of a word by greater

intensity or by variation or modulation of pitch or tone. Vocal prominence

or emphasis given to a particular syllable, word, or phrase.

A characteristic pronunciation, especially:

•One determined by the regional or social background of the speaker.

•One determined by the phonetic habits of the speaker's native

language carried over to his or her use of another language.

•A distinctive feature or quality, such as a feature that accentuates,

contrasts with, or complements a decorative style

Mutually Intelligibility

A mutually intelligible language is one which can be easily understood by the speaker of another mother tongue.

This usually occurs in genetically related languages which share similar features such as grammar, vocabulary and pronunciation which means the second language can be understood without the requisite study normally required in the acquisition of a language other than one’s own.

There are many languages with are mutually intelligibleExamples :

Spanish Portuguese

Afrikaans Dutch Low German

English Lowland Scots Danish

A better variaty of a languge has to do with the pretigious that the sociaty gives to a language depending on the recognicion of it according to the political and cultural connections. Whis is most used by the media and means of communication .

IsoglossIsogloss

An isogloss separates different linguistic features.

It’s a geographical boundary of a certain linguistic item. An isogloss can separate areas

Example

An area can use different vocabulary, pronunciation but there is the same country.

Dialect Boundary

When a number of Isoglosses come together, a more solid line we can draw a dialect boundary.

Example:

Paper bag v/s Paper sack

It’s used in the rest of Iowa, Nebraska

It’s used in the upper midwest of U.S.A

Dialect Continuum

A dialect continuum can occur with related language existing on the other side of a political border.

A dialect continuum refers to the influence that has some regions with others, near of it.

If you travel from Holland into Germany you will find Dutch Speakers but if you travel into Germany, German speakers occurs.

It means at most dialect boundary areas, one variaty merges into another.

Holland Germany

Variety merges into another (Dutch speaker)

Bilingual country Monolingual country It’s a country which has two official languages.

Individual bilingualism doesn’t have to be the result of political dominance by a group using a different language.

Example :

UNITED STATES, CANADA, PUERTO RICO.

It’s a country which has only one official language.

A monolingual country is a mistaken view, it ignores the existence of large community and English is an excellent example of this.

CHILE

Language Planning

The process of selection of a official language

Goverment, legal and educational

bodies in manycountries

have to plan which varieties

of language will be

spoken in the country.

takes place as a

national,

playing a part in

not only

social, but also

national, identity.

Guatemala U.S.A (San Antonio,Texas)

The majority listen to radio broadcast in Spanish than English

In addition to Spanish there are 26 Mayan languages.

Process of language planning

Codification Elaboration Implementation Acceptance

(which basic grammar,

dictionary, written models are used to establish a

Standard variety)

(follows, with the standard

variety being developed for use in

all aspect of social life and the Appearance of a body

of literary work

is largely a mater

of government Attempts

to encourage use of the Standard

is the final stage (the population have come to

use the Standard and to

think of it as a national language)

Process of selection (choosing an official language)

Pidgin

It’s a variety of a language, which developed for some practical purpose. It’s a trade language.

It is usually a mixture of two or more languages, has a rudimentary grammar and vocabulary, is used for communication between groups speaking different languages, and is not spoken as a first or native language

English Pidgin are characterized by an absence of any complex grammatical morphology.

For example:

-Inflectional suffixes such as –s (plural) and –’s (possessive)

-functional morphemes often take place of inflectional morphemes found in the source of language.

Pidgin hasn’t a written record.

Creole

It becomes the first language of a social community.

It descendants from Pidgins.

The separate vocabulary elements of Pidgin can become grammatical elements in Creole.

Creole:

It is any language that began as a pidgin but was later adopted as the mother tongue by a people in place of the original mother tongue or tongues.

Examples are the Gullah of South Carolina and Georgia (based on English), the Creole of Haiti (based on French)Similarities among creoles worldwide have led some linguists to speculate that they share a common origin, probably others attribute the similarities to universal laws governing human language.

Reference

Yule, G. (1996). The Study of Language. UK: Cambridge University Press