Week 10: Sociolinguistics

Cockney Dialect

Expression Meaning Examples

China Mate/ friend How are you, my old ChinaHow are you, my friend

Plates Feet You have got big platesYou have got big feet

•Used in London by the working class in certain areas• Characterized by its own special vocabulary and usage, and "rhyming slang.’

Reflexive Formation

A. To create a reflexive pronoun, put the possessive pronoun together with the noun(s) self/selves .

Reflexive Formation

B. Third person singular reflexive: Hisself/ Herself / Itself

Third person plural reflexive: theirselves

Cockney Dialect and Reflexive Formation

C. Singular: Himself/ Herself/ Itself Plural: Themselves

D. 1. Prescriptive approach- List of explicit rules that we follow when we speakThe forms in (b) are incorrect.

Based on standard English rules, Hissself/Theirselves do

not exist at all!

Cockney Dialect and Reflexive Formation

2. Descriptive approach- Model the rules that speakers implicitly use when

speaking to each otherThe forms in (b) are correct!

They follow the reflexive formation rule in (a).

3. “ systematic” : Follow a consistent ruleNonstandard forms of English such as Cockney Dialect,Middle English are more systematic with respect toreflexive formation

Q2: Contact Linguistics and Tok Pisin

Tok Pisin One of 3 official languages of

Papua New Guinea Literally means ‘Talk pidgin’ English Creole Language Originated from workers in

colonial English/German plantations from different tribes who needed a common language

Returning workers brought back Tok Pisin as a lingua franca

Tok Pisin PhrasesTok Pisin EnglishTaim bilong kol• Time belong cold – time

when it is cold

‘winter’

Taim bilong san• Time belong sun – time when

the sun appears

‘summer’

Man bilong wokim gaden• Man belong work (him)

garden – person who works in a garden (farm)

‘farmer’

• ‘bilong’ is a preposition, functions like ‘of’/‘ from’• ‘-im’ (from ‘him’) marks a transitive verb

Tok Pisin PhrasesTok Pisin Englishtasol• that’s all

‘only’

kamup• come up

‘arrive’

Haus sik• House sick – House (building)

for the sick

‘hospital’

Haus moni• House money – House

(building) containing money

‘bank’

Tok Pisin PhrasesTok Pisin Englisholgeta• altogether

‘all’

sapos• suppose

‘if’

Handet yia• Hundred year

‘century’

Hamas krismas yu gat?• How much Christmas you

got? – How many Christmases have you celebrated?

‘How old are you?’

Question 3

Choosing an official language for Gavagaibabibahasa

Pros ConsFrench - Spoken by elites

- Language of administration & education

- Colonial past- Only elite groups

are educated in French

English - Most popular language

- Economic / educational / scientific / technological advantages

- Not a colonial language

- Unknown to 80% of population

Dondon - Numerical majority- Can be shared

among different ethnic groups

- Resistance from other vernacular languages

- Lacks a lexical / terminology repertoire for modernization & education

Ababa - Pollitcally neutral- Language of trade

- Limited to trading domains

- Unknown to others

Things to note Gavagaibabibahasa newly independent country ∴

most important thing now is to achieve economic growth

Our Decision

French!

English

Reason:

Unknown to 80% of population Unable to communicate effectively

Dondon

Reason:

Lacks the lexical and terminology repertoire needed for modernization and education

Ababa

Reason:

Limited to people in the trading industry Percentage of people in that industry is unknown

French

Reason:

It has been in use for the past 80 years Elites can bring economic growth to the country

Question 4

How would you explain to your parents/spouses/friends/loved ones, etc. what linguistics is and why we care about it in your own words? Obviously, these people may rightly have no idea what linguistics is and what linguists are doing unless they have taken a linguistic course. Specifically, what do we study natural language for? Why do we care about such things like wh-movement, minimal pairs, Chomsky, Singlish, or maxims of conversation!?

Why study linguistics and what is it (to a layman)?

What is Linguistics?

Trick question… You should know by now

What is Linguistics?

It is the scientific study of language

Study of Sound Study of Meaning Study of Rules Study of Origin

Phonology Semantics, Pragmatics Syntax Sociolinguistics,

Biolinguistics

Why study Linguistics?

Linguistics uncovers how a language is formed, perceived and received. It is the science of an art. It is the making of the seemingly abstract and implicitly intuitive nature of language into a more simplified and universally understood manner. Through the understanding of the works of linguistics, we can better understand languages we utilize and equip ourselves with knowledge to acquire new ones. Also, especially through the understanding of sociolinguistics, people are more aware of their own linguistic differences and how it depends on the context to which certain slang or form is used (code-switching). This will hopefully influence the people to be more accepting of others despite their seemingly different accents. Also, the study of language is important as we need a common understanding to communicate. (e.g. IPA) Language is intriguingly the most obvious cognitive difference between our species and others, so it is imperative to investigate more on it. It is also the ground to all other disciplines so it has a significant impact on almost all the things we do. For example, to talk to each other, to direct instructions, to present in front of you guys! MAXIM OF

QUANTITY

Why study Linguistics?

1. Helps in the understanding of our own language

Why study Linguistics?2. Helps us understand other languages/accents

Why study Linguistics?3. Forge a common ground

IPA

Make foreign language easier to work with!

Why study Linguistics?4. Just like any science, it aims to have 2 things:

Predictability Efficiency

Phonology helps especially if language is transparent (one sound-to-one symbol match)

PredictabilitySyntax also helps in predicting the correct order of words in sentence

Why study Linguistics?4. Just like any science, it aims to have 2 things:

Predictability Efficiency

Efficiency at its best

Conclusion

Linguistics has enabled more effective communication between languages and people, forging understanding from different perspectives

THANK YOU!