LINGUISTIC VARIATION:
Basic concepts
- Definition of these
concepts
I.
Variation
-
Geographical/areal:
continua; discrete borders; isoglosses; transition zones; recessive
vs. progressive features. Focal areas; communications networks;
disruption of spatial continua.
-
Social:
independent (non-linguistic) variables (class, age, gender, ethnic
group, caste, profession, etc.; social networks (family, peer
groups, professional, etc.). Continua vs. discrete categories.
-
Stylistic:
formal vs. informal (monitored vs. unmonitored) as a sociolinguistic
concept. Register, field, tenor; written vs. oral, etc.
Related concepts: contact,
accommodation, convergence; feature transference/interference;
bidialectalism, bilingualism. Dialect/language mixing, levelling,
restructuring. Pidgins and creoles. Lack of contact:
separation/divergence.
Linguistic levels affected :
phonology, morphology, lexis, semantics, syntax.
Discourse level affected: style, genre,
text-types.
II.
Varieties : Accents, dialects, languages.
The pragmatics of category-making/classification : social, political,
territorial, linguistic, perceptual factors.
III.
Analysis of dialects/languages according to their
societal functions:
-
Institutional: government, administration, law courts, education
system etc.
-
Media
-
Private/public
non-institutional intercourse
-
Micro uses
(signs, adverts, shop names, in-group words/phrases, etc.)
-
Frequency of use
-
Who speaks
what dialect or language to whom, when, why, where
Related concepts: diglossia,
code-switching, bi-/multi-lingualism/dialectalism
IV.
Classification by speaker/societal usage: Native
vs.non-native. Inner, outer and expanding circles
V.
Standard :
Non-standard Varieties
-
Expanded
functions : reduced functions (especially written channel
functions)
-
Prestige :
loss of prestige (often stigmatisation)
-
Normativisation : non-normativisation (eg.
Grammar and spelling) via
handbooks,grammar books, dictionaries etc. Usually involves
reduction of internal ‘free’ variation.
-
Institutionalisation : non-institutional
-
Norm-giving
(endonormative) : exonormative
[Prendergast 2002, Variation, varieties and other concepts]
Exercises
We will go through: Reading comprehension,
Listening comprehension, Multiple choice, Filling in the blanks and
Rewriting sentence exercises on these subjects.
1. Listening comprehension
Listen to the videos and answer the following questions after having
discussed it in groups of two or three:
-
Write down your answer in no more than 125 words.
-
Exchange your written answer with another group.
-
Once you have the
answer of the other group, comment with the members of your
group on whether you agree or not with it.
-
Write down your point of view (we agree because.../we don't
agree because...) and give it back to the group who wrote it.
-
Write down your answer in no more than 125 words.
-
Exchange your written answer with another group.
-
Once you have the
answer of the other group, comment with the members of your
group on whether you agree or not with it.
-
Write down your point of view (we agree because.../we don't
agree because...) and give it back to the group who wrote it.
Answers to the two first listening
comprehensions
Optional listening comprehension
2. Reading comprehension
Download the text in
Languages, dialects or accents,
read it and summarize the main ideas in relation to the following
question:
3. Exercise:
Adaptation of varieties to a special social function.
From Middle English to Modern English: Social
functions.
Read
the
prayer and transcribe it
into Modern English.
Try
to identify the features that are not possible in Modern
English and explain why they were possible in Middle English
in your opinion.
-
THIRD ASSIGNMENT:
A 125/200-word summary of the main topics we have worked
in class (reading, listening, etc.).
-
Title:
Languages, dialects and accents.
-
Format: MsWord
/ pdf
-
Submission: Send
a Word or a pdf file to
montserrat.batllori@udg.edu
-
Deadline
/ due date: March
29th.
-
Percentage of the
final mark: 5%
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