opinions on dialect
- All speakers are speakers of at least one dialect (Standard English for example)
- It does not make any kind of sense to suppose that any one dialect is in any way linguistically superior to any other.
- ‘Language is a dialect with an army and a navy’ (attributed to Max Weinreich)
- A nation without a language is a nation without a heart
dialect continuum
A dialect continuum or dialect chain is a spread of language varieties spoken across some geographical area such that neighboring varieties differ only slightly, but the differences accumulate over distance so that widely separated varieties may not be mutually intelligible.
abstand languages
•Developed by Heinz Kloss
•Abstand (having to do with linguistic distance): ‘a variety of language which is regarded as a language in its own right rather than a dialect, by virtue of being very different in its linguistic characteristics from all other languages’ (Trudgill, 2003)
•e.g. Basque
- no family languages
ausbau language
- Ausbau (meaning extension or building-up): ‘a variety which derives its status as a language, rather than a dialect, not so much from its linguistic characteristics, […], but from its social, cultural and political characteristics’ (Trudgill, 2003)
- e.g. Norwegian and Swedish
what is a variable
any linguistic unit which varies (it can be lexical, phonological, morphosyntactic, discourse…)
what did Rosina Lippi-Green say about discrimination?
1997
“If as a nation we are agreed that it is not acceptable or good to discriminate on the grounds of skin color or ethnicity, gender or age, then by logical extension it is equally unacceptable to discriminate against language traits which are intimately linked to an individual’s sense and expression of self.”
what did Labov say about the logic of non standard English?
- Non-standard varieties are not any worse, mistaken than the Standard, just different.
- Often incredibly complex underlying patterns/rules…
- Language prejudice is often a cover for social prejudice.
what is Perceptual dialectology
•Uncovering how languages, accents, varieties or specific features are viewed to help us understand why variation occurs
Methods used in perceptual dialectology
•Matched-guise tests •Self-reporting •Dialect maps •Judgment of specific features •Portrayal of accents (film, books)
examples of what people call AAE?
- Negro dialect •American Negro Speech
- Black English
- Black Street Speech •Black Vernacular English
- African American Vernacular English •African American English
- Ebonics
features of AAE?
- 3rd person present –s omitted she walk
- noun plural –s omitted four girl I know •possessive –s omitted the girl one
- reducing final CC clusters before V lif’ up
- copula (and aux) deletion with is she nice •Devoicing of voiced stops in stressed syllables bid [bɪt] bag [bæk]
- The use of remote time stressed been to mark an action that took place or a state that began a long time ago and is still relevant You been paid your dues a long time ago
- The use of habitual be She don’t usually be here
what did DR Baugh find?
spoke to different letting agents in general American and African American English. The renter was more likely to say that the apartment had already been taken when he spoke with AAE.
what did Tim Machan say about prescriptivism?
prescriptive rules are “akin to driving the rules of the road whos violation results in accidents and citations”
- prescriptive rules are often compared with etiquette rules such as table manners, the imposed social conventions that govern polite behaviour
- prescriptivism can be compared with conservative parenting rules
four strands of prescriptivism
standardising prescriptivism - rules/ judgements that aim to promote and enforce standardization and ‘standard’ usage.
stylistic prescriptivism - rules/ judgements that aim to differentiate among points of style within standard usage.
restorative prescriptivism - rules/ judgements that aim to restore earlier, but now relatively obsolete, usage and/or turn to older forms to purify usage.
politically responsive prescriptivism - rules/ judgement that aim to promote inclusive, non discriminatory, politically correct and politically expedient usage.
