Languages and Dialects Discussion Points Subfields of Linguistics

Languages and Dialects Discussion Points

Subfields of Linguistics • Descriptive Linguistics – Aims to characterize a language with regard to its phonological structure, grammar, and vocabulary. An anthropologist who goes to live with an understudied group, like Lincoln Keiser, has to become a descriptive linguist. • Sociolinguistics – looks at the social use or structuring of language.

What is a language? • Watching both films should convey that everyone speaks a language, and many people speak a language and dialect simultaneously. • In a nation state historical circumstances elevate one dialect to the status of a standard for the rest of the country. For instance the influence of Martin Luther elevated the dialect of Hannover to become “German. ” The greater political power of the kingdom of Castile elevated it’s language to become “Spanish. ” Do you speak American discusses standard American English.

What is a dialect? • Dialects are versions of a language. Often it differs in vocabulary and pronunciation from other dialects, but has a grammar that is largely the same. Mutual intelligibility is a determinant as to whether people are speaking different languages or dialects. This comes out when Robert Mac. Neil interviews a hielos vendor. • When a dialect is not the standard for a country, it is referred to a non-standard dialect. • A dialect is not slang. Slang is an affected speech pattern that lacks permanency.

Types of Languages • Prestige Language – language used by the dominant class or caste of a society. The aristocrats of Europe often spoke a language that differed from that spoken by the lower classes. • Pigin language – a language invented to enable communication between speakers of different language backgrounds. It has a universal grammar.

Types of Dialects • Prestige dialects – an affected dialect of the upper classes, e. g. Locus Valley lockjaw aka Larchmont lockjaw aka Mid-Atlantic accent. See William F. Buckley, Thurston Howell III on “Gilligan’s Island, ” or “Higgins” from Magnum P. I. (original series). • Regional dialects – Discussed in “Do You Speak American” • Ethnic dialects – ditto. • Broadcast dialects – often distinct from spoken language.

Language and nationalism • Linguists cannot accept what a country says about the status of its languages at face value. Often countries wish to present a face of national unity by minimizing linguistic differences between its communities. • E. g. modern China has wished to propagate a myth of a unified ethnic group “Han Chinese. ” And so all citizens are said to speak “Chinese” when in fact there are many distinct languages spoken in the country.

Written languages • The grapholect – the written standard language of a country. Like broadcast dialects it is distinct from spoken vernaculars. • In some countries and in some time periods grapholects are/were independent of vernacular languages, e. g. Chinese or Japanese characters.

Points to think about from each movie • Is Scots a language? What are the arguments for and against? • Do Scots and Scots Gaelic have the status of languages or dialects when compared to each other? Which is currently dominant in Scotland? • Are the regional dialects of the USA remaining steady, or are they becoming more distinct? • Which American dialect has become the US standard for broadcast speech? (hint: Johnny Carson, Tom Brocaw).

More things to think about • What dialect does our current president speak? Why do some linguists believe that it gave him an advantage in the last presidential election? • What dialect do I speak? What dialect region did my family emigrate from in 1921?