Language and Dialect

Language vs. Dialect “A language is a dialect with an army and a navy.” Usually “language” refers to the DOMINANT dialect, which is perceived as closest to the STANDARD form used in writing. As Ottenheimer notes, we often think of dialects of a language as being mutual intelligible with one another (speakers of each dialect can understand speakers of the other dialects and vice versa)

Dialects (Varieties) A dialect is a regionally or socially distinctive variety of a language, identified by a particular set of words (vocabulary) and grammatical structures, as well as a certain phonology. To avoid the stigma of “dialect,” most linguists use the word “linguistic variety” instead

Prestige and Stigma A prestige variety is a dialect associated with mainstream social prestige – for example a dialect that sounds “educated” or “sophisticated” A stigmatized variety is a dialect associated with negative features, from a mainstream social perspective: e.g. “uneducated” “lower class”

Negative prestige A negative prestige variety is one that is associated with negative social value, but also carries a lot of prestige in certain social groups. Example: Male speakers of certain regional dialects (North End Boston) are often considered “extra-masculine” within their social group

Language Attitudes Language attitudes are attitudes about language. Examples include: beautiful, ignorant, lazy, logical, clear, melodious, primitive, precise, passive, forceful etc. What are some of the stereotypes we relate to different dialects in the US?

Language and cultural differences communicative practices are habitual language practices groups of people use to communicate with each other and to create and maintain distinct groups/identities Example: use of rising intonation in Southern dialects of English. http://classweb.gmu.edu/accent/english45.html

Language is not homogenous! Language isn’t now and never was homogenous, that is, the same across all speakers, regions or situations. In fact, variation across speakers or groups of speakers is part of the reason why language change occurs

One language  One Culture Speakers of the same language may still differ in important ways in terms of their norms and expectations for language use. This might include: Accent (pronunciation of words) Word meanings Appropriate speech in different situations Paralinguistic rules (gaze, gesture etc.) Proxemics Other community- or group-based conventions/expectations

Speech Community A speech community is a group of people who share a set of rules and norms for communication and interpretation of speech. “Rules and norms” includes everything from intonation and vocabulary, to body positioning and eye contact Ottenheimer pg. 94 – “A speech community is a group of people who share one or more varieties of language and the rules for using those varieties in everyday communication.”

The idea of a speech community allows us to do two things: 1) Focus on a smaller social unit than all the speakers of a language. 2) Get away from the idea that one language = one culture Can we belong to more than one speech community?

Competence Communicative competence refers to what we know when we really know a language. It means that we can recognize and use a broad range of registers, and that we know the meanings of different communicative practices used by most people in a given speech community.

Ethnography of Speaking The ethnography of speaking focuses on describing features of different speech communities: includes descriptions of explicit norms for communication details verbal, nonverbal and social expectations surrounding interaction focuses on particular contexts and types of speech events, and how language changes in different situations

Members of a speech community SHARE ideas about appropriate conduct in different speech situations When two people come from different speech communities and don’t share ideas about appropriate conduct, miscommunication often occurs.

Miscommunication miscommunication - a misinterpretation of intended meaning; failure to achieve communication Miscommunication occurs all the time within speech communities, but across speech communities miscommunication often occurs at regular points where rules and norms are different in the two communities

Bailey article Example of ethnography of communication About miscommunication across ethnic lines Focuses on interactional styles – the basic ways people organize their interactions with one another based on expectations for those interactions

Politeness strategies or styles involvement strategy express approval and emphasizes solidarity (African-American) restraint strategy emphasizes unwillingness to impose on others (Korean)

Social Consequences of Miscommunication Each side engages in “inappropriate” behavior by the standards of the other The service encounter breaks down Cultural stereotypes and animosity are reinforced

Norms and expectations Koreans – business encounter should not be personal; should focus on business and involve minimum of speaking African American – business encounter should be a social encounter that emphasizes a relationship between interactants

According to the information Bailey gives, do Koreans and African Americans in LA belong to different speech communities? Understanding how norms for communication differ across communities can help ease tensions/stereotypes

Register “register” is a term that describes how language varies across situations Ottenheimer: varieties of a language that are considered appropriate to specific situations [formal; informal; babytalk] Agar examples: Scuba divers, junkies

Ways of Speaking Registers can be described as “ways of speaking” The way you speak to an older person a baby when you are joking

Register features Registers exist WITHIN dialects. However, registers usually involve variations in vocabulary, pitch, pacing, and sometimes phonology and intonation. e.g. most formal registers in English have less pitch variation than informal ones, plus a distinct vocabulary, and pacing that may be slower or faster than casual ones

Film: American Tongues As you watch, think about this quote from two leading sociolinguists: “Although public discrimination on the grounds of race, religion and social class is not now acceptable, it appears that discrimination on linguistic grounds is publicly acceptable, even though linguistic differences may themselves be associated with ethnic, religious and class differences.” quote from L. Milroy and J. Milroy’s Authority in Language

Discussion Examples of prestige, stigmatized and negative prestige dialects? Thinking about the definition of speech community, are “dialect” and worldview connected?

Do we all speak one language? One language  One culture Obvious examples from American Tongues What cultural differences did people focus on when also describing regional or socio-economic differences in language?