SOCIOLINGUISTICS LI 2023 NATHALIE F MARTIN Sociolinguistics Related

SOCIOLINGUISTICS LI 2023 NATHALIE F. MARTIN

Sociolinguistics Related to ______. Relates _____phenomenon and _____ phenomenon. Human side of linguistics … _____: individual and collective What is truly said behind our « way » of saying it. . _____: Our use of language and other’s use of language

Languages & Diaclects Could it be that the way we speak creates social _____? Do we place different « ways » of speaking on a _____? Language … dialect Are there languages/dialects that we consider more _____or _____? Ex: French, Swahili. . .

What did you Answer … DISCUSSION: To speak of your own linguistic competence? Which region could serve as a model of proper English?

Terminology used to speak of linguistic variation? HOW DO WE CALL IT? WHAT TERMINOLOGY DO WE USE TO SPEAK OF LINGUISTIC VARIATION? 1. LANGUAGES 2. DIALECTS 3. PIDGINS 4. CREOLE

A Language: A code or system, used by consensus. Collective Ex: French, English, Spanish, Greek, etc.

Dialects or Varieties of a Language Dialect/Variety - includes pronunciation (phonological/phonetic), but also includes grammatical, lexical and language usage Some examples of homophones for some -- hock/hawk, caller/collar, cot/caught, Don/Dawn Ø Variety - used as a more neutral term for dialect or language

Pidgin: speakers of a different language intergroup communication; no native speakers (because the speakers have their own language that they speak in their homes) reduced grammatical system. Ex: Traverler’s use of another language

Creole Defined in it’s political and historic context Colonialism and slavery Derived from colonial languages: French (Haiti), English (Jamaica), Netherlands (South Africa), Portugeese (Cap Vert) Spanish (Philippines) Contact with African languages (mostly) Oral languages, vernacular Ø NOTE: Creoles are considered languages in their own right.

Creole (continued) Here a few examples of French Creoles: Statement: « I don’t know where he is. » French: «Je ne sais pas où il est» M’pas kome (ki) koté li yé (haïtien) Moin pa sav ola i yé (guadeloupéen) Mi koné pas ousa i lé (réunionnais) Mo pa koné li été (mauricien) Consider spoken French (Acadian): Ø Mwa, j’sé pa ous qui é. Ø Mwa, j’connais pa a yous qui é.

Terminology used to speak of Languages in contact? CODE SWITCHING VS. CODE MIXING BORROWING

Languages in Contact Code Switching or Code mixing: The systematic alternation between language systems in discourse. Borrowing: A source of language change that involves adopting aspects of one language into another.

What about Chiac Video : Chiac pour les Dummies http: //www. youtube. com/watch? v=_q 9 Bqf. Xyx 4 k http: //www. youtube. com/watch? v=z. Rgbp. IQU 1 hw

Terminology used to speak of a language’s/dialect’s functions VERNACULAR LANGUAGES VEHICULAR LANGUAGES

Vernacular Languages Vernacular: a variety of a given language often limited to _____within the _____ (not often written). Example: Chiac is a vernacular language of francophones living in the south-east region of NB.

Vehicular Languages Vehicular : a language used to assure _______between many groups of differing tongues. For example: American English is a vehicular language throughout the world at present. Wolof is the vehicular language of Senegal, West Africa.

Evaluating a Speaker ANSWER THESE QUESTIONS AS HONESTLY AS POSSIBLE

Evaluating Speakers What is your impression of this speaker? Education? Profession? Social class? Describe the character of this person? Friendly? Honest? Intelligent? Proud/ arrogant? Etc.

Perceptions, Presuppositions and Prejudice

Language Myths What is "proper English"? English What is the most prestigious pronunciation? pronunciation Is there a right way and a wrong way to speak ? Sociolinguists often want to know two things: 1. How do you perceive _________? 2. How do you perceive _________? Video: http: //www. youtube. com/watch? v=_v. F 9 g 37 FCmk (AMERICAIN TONGUES) 6: 18 min

Prestigious Pronunciation? SOCIOLINGUIST: WILLIAM LABOV SOCIAL STRATIFICATION IN NEW-YORK’S DEPARTMENT STORES.

Prestigous Pronunciation Hypothesis: Is there a correlation between the pronunciation of the words with the sound /r/ and New. Yorker’s social classes. According to Labov, many individuals that are part of the upper class tend to pronounce the final /r/ in words like car, card, four, et fourth.

Labov (3) Employees of three New-York departement stores Upper: Saks Fifth Avenue Middle : Macy's Lower: S. Klein Asked them a question to which the answer would be « fourth floor » in order to determine their pronunciation of the final /r/.

Labov: Résultats Results : 62% of the employees at Saks pronounce the /r/, 51% at Macy's; 20% at Klein.

Linguistic Insecurity 1. REAL PRONUNCIATION VS. PERCEIVED PRONUNCIATION 2. SEEKING THE PRESTIGIOUS PRONUNCIATION 3. CONSEQUENCE OF LINGUISTIC INSECURITY

Prestigious Pronunciations Peter Trudgill, Norwich (Great Brittan) Study of the pronunciation of the words: tune, student, music These words have variants in Norwich: /ju: / et /u: / Ex: /tju: n/ (considered more prestigious) /tu: n/ (considered less prestigious)

Prestigious Pronunciations Peter Trudgill, Norwich (Great Brittan) Two steps in this study: 1. Ask the people to pronounce the words (transcribe the actual pronunciation) 2. Then ask the people what they _______they pronounce.

Trudgill: Results Those who say that they pronounce /ju: / Those who say that they pronounce /u: / (considered more prestigious) Those that actually pronounce /ju: / 60 40 =100 16 84 =100 (considered more prestigious) Those that actually pronounce /u: /

Trudgill: Interpretation 40% of the people who actually use the prestigious pronunciation seemed to have “under-evaluated” their pronunciation. 16% of the people who used that less prestigious pronunciation had a tendency to “over-evaluate” their pronunciation.

Trudgill: Men vs. Women Trudgill then analysed the results in light of SEXES : Total Over evaluate Under evaluate Right perception Men Women 13 0 29 7 6 7 80 94 64

Trudgill: Interpretation Sociolinguistics now wants to explain these results. Ø As opposed to « descriptive linguistics » that only seeks to describe. Trudgill’s interpretation in view of sociological findings: Women: Are more preoccupied with the desire to adopt what is promoted as a more socially acceptable behaviour, in this case, language. “women are more likely to have social class aspirations than men” Men: Do not tend to desire to adopt what is promoted as a more socially acceptable behaviour, in this case, language.

Trudgill: Interpretation (2) Linguistic security vs. insecurity. Linguistic insecurity : The anxiety _______ experienced by speakers and writers who believe that their use of language does not conform to the principles and practices of _________(e. g. Standard English).

Video : Learning not to Tawk Like a New Yorker http: //video. nytimes. com/video/2010/11/19/nyregion/124 8069311927/you-talkin-to-me. html

Linguistic insecurity Possible effects of linguistic insecurity: False perceptions Loss of confidence to speak given language Hypercorrection: “You and I” “Whomever” Loss of desire to speak given language Language transfer Loss of identity Effects on others

Acadian Teachers: Boudreau & Dubois Professors at Université de Moncton, did a similar experiment. Future teachers: Results: The more there is intense language contact, the more Acadians are insecure about their language.