1. Language Variation
LI Nathalie F. Martin

2. ON THE BOARD
Before class starts, please come over to the board and write where you are from.

3. Is this English? « What’shu talking ‘bout, Willis? »
Stay where you're to 'til I comes where you're at.
You ain’t gonna convince me.
Let’s Get
Started 3

4. Outline of Today’s Class
Review:
Linguistics & Language
Linguistic Community
Linguistic Variation
Geography
Through time
Social variation
Situational Variation

5. Descriptive vs. Prescriptive Spoken vs. written Language
LINGUISTICS
What do linguists do?
Descriptive vs. Prescriptive
Spoken vs. written Language

6. LINGUISTS WILL NOT JUDGE SOMEONE’S GRAMMAR
Prescriptive
LINGUISTS WILL NOT JUDGE SOMEONE’S GRAMMAR

7. Linguists Study Language As It Is Spoken
You don’t hafta judge
Descriptive
Linguists Study Language As It Is Spoken
And simply describe it

8. Prescriptive vs Descriptive
I don’t have none 
You was wrong 
Samuelle is fatter than me 
In Miramichi, they use the word “dipper” to mean “a utensil used for measuring water”.
Speakers of British English use different vowels than speakers of American English.
I don’t have any
You were wrong
Samuelle is fatter than I
Miramichi Dictionary: An Interpretive Guide. Doug Underhill (1996).
Descriptive

9. Spoken or Written Language?
Linguists have the tools to study both written and spoken languages!

10. LANGUAGE

11. What is Language?
Language is the method of human communication, either spoken or written, consisting of the use of words in a structured and conventional way.

12. A language is more than a simple instruments used for communication:
Language(s)
A language is more than a simple instruments used for communication:
It the can be the object of love and/or hatred;
It can also show relationships between different people and social groups.

13. Contemporary Linguistics Analysis: p. 5.
A Creative System
The Creativity Aspect of Language
Human language must be creative: allowing novelty and innovation is response to new thoughts, experiences, and situations

14. The Truth About Grammar
Generality: All languages have a grammar
Parity: All grammars are equal
Universality: Grammars are alike in basic ways
Mutability: Grammars change over time
Inaccessibility: Grammatical knowledge is subconscious
Reference: Chapter 1 (O’Grady & Archibald)

15. Language, Languages and Speech
FRENCH
ENGLISH
“Langage”
Language/ability
The innate ability to learn and produce language/code.
Natural, universal and innate ability (amongst humans).
“Langue(s)”
Language(s)/code
A code or system, used by consensus.
Ex: different languages (French, English, Spanish, Greek, etc.).
Collective (used within a language group, speakers of the language)
“Parole”
Speech
The individual act of speaking
(Concrete use of the language/code).
Ex: “Please stop the bus!”
Individual.

16. TERMINOLOGY to speak of language
Accents
Dialects
Pidgin
Creole

17. Accents A distinctive manner of expression: as
a : an individual's distinctive or characteristic inflection, tone, or choice of words —usually used in plural
b : a way of speaking typical of a particular group of people and especially of the natives or residents of a region
Merriam-Webster Dictionary (

18. Dialects
Dialect:
A ________ or ______variety of a language characterized by it’s own phonological, syntactic, or lexical properties.
Most of the time, we will use the term « ________ » in this class instead of speaking of dialects.

19. Pidgin Creole Contact Languages Ex: Hawaii English
Ex: Blood Diamond (Leonardo Dicaprio)

20. Pidgin
A ______that emerges when speakers of a ________language are brought together in a stable situation requiring ____________________; it has _______________and generally is considered to have a ________
________________.

21. Creole
A variety that arises as the ________________of the children of members of a ________speech community.

22. LANGUAGE VARIATION

23. A language, within a same community, is never quite ________.
Linguistic Variation
A language, within a same community, is never quite ________.
We speak of ____________ when we determine the differences between individual speech.

24. Linguistic Variation
In spite of all the variation found between speakers, there are _________in the way that speakers of a certain community speak, which _____________them from other linguistic communities
(e.g. Canadian English, British English, Newfoundland English, etc.)

25. Linguistic Variation
Invariability
(Core)
Variability

26. Linguistic Variation
To say that there is in fact a “linguistic community”, the language must present a certain ________.
Vocabulary, phonetic, syntax and grammar should be ________________the same within the community.
Let’s mention, though, that certain differences pertaining to vocabulary and accent, for example, are tolerated.

27. A Linguistic Community:
is a fuzzy concept since it can be very large (e.g. British English, Anglophones) or considerably small (for example, a ____or ________, or even a _____________).

28. Linguistic Community
Definition of a linguistic community according to Joshua Fishman:
“A linguistic community exists as soon as all members have at least one linguistic variety in common, as well as rules governing the proper use of this variety.”
Mutual intelligibility
NOTE: Communities, as well as individuals, have more than one Variety of language.

29. Classification of Linguistic Variation
We generally speak of four types of language variation factors.
________variation
_______(or historic) variation

30. Linguistic Variation Factors
Geolinguistic variation
temporal (or historic) variation
social variation
situational variation

31. Lexical Regionalisms / Colloquialism
Hugh Laurie: the British vs. American Vocabulary
LET’S SHARE DIFFERENT WORDS OR EXPRESSIONS USED IN OUR OWN REGION

32. Linguistic Variation Factors
Geolinguistique Variation
“ Massachusetts Hold Em’ ”
Linguistic Variation Factors
Geolinguistic Variation

33. Atlas of North American English Phonetics, Phonology and Sound Change
Website:

34. Examples of Different Language Varieties
Amy Walker’s 21 Accents

35. Linguistic Variation and it’s Factors
Temporal (or Historic) Variation
Linguistic Variation and it’s Factors
Temporal (or Historic) Variation

36. Temporal Variation
Temporal variation is ________and manifests itself through ________________differences.
The case of North American French:
In North America, a good number of archaic words that are no longer used in France (though they are sometimes used in certain areas) have been conserved.

37. ye shul first in alle youre werkes (you must first in all your works)
Temporal Variation
Middle English ( )
ye shul first in alle youre werkes
(you must first in all your works)
mekely biseken to the heighe God
(meekly beseech to the high God)

38. King James – Bible Translation
5Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus:
 6Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God:
 7But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men:
 8And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. (KJV)
5-8 Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. (NKJV)

39. The Message – Bible Translation
The attitude you should have is the one that Christ Jesus had: He always had the nature of God, but he did not think that by force he should try to remain equal with God. Instead of this, of his own free will he gave up all he had, and took the nature of a servant. He became like a human being and appeared in human likeness. He was humble and walked the path of obedience all the way to death— his death on the cross!
(Good News Translation)
 Think of yourselves the way Christ Jesus thought of himself. He had equal status with God but didn't think so much of himself that he had to cling to the advantages of that status no matter what. Not at all. When the time came, he set aside the privileges of deity and took on the status of a slave, became human! Having become human, he stayed human. It was an incredibly humbling process. He didn't claim special privileges. Instead, he lived a selfless, obedient life and then died a selfless, obedient death—and the worst kind of death at that—a crucifixion. (The Message)

40. Use of Plurals Through time

41. Linguistic Variation and it’s Factors
Social Variation
Linguistic Variation and it’s Factors
Social Variation

42. Social Variation Languages are to be seen through the eyes of _____.
A language changes socially. It needs to come to a certain consensus; that is why it is often heterogeneous, conflictual and dynamic.
Social linguistics variation corresponds to different social classes.
For example: the variation of /r/ in New York.
Linguists often use the more neutral term _______ rather than ________.

43. Video : My Fair Lady

44. Social variation : Social Variation
Allows speakers to be a part of a language community (feeling of ________);
Sets and maintains ________between social classes;
Can emphasize different contexts (if we choose to speak a certain way in a certain context, this can be seen as a political choice).

45. What Are We Really Saying?
What am I trying to say when I speak?
Speaking Standard French
Speaking Chiac French

46. Linguistic Variation and it’s Factors
Situational Variation
Linguistic Variation and it’s Factors
Situational Variation

47. Situational Variation
We do not speak the same way to everyone – we adapt our speech according to the “________”
Speakers adopt a certain way of speaking according to the _______.

48. How would I express myself in these given situations?
Exam
In writing a poem
Oral presentation
During an interview
Amongst peers at lunch break
In my home
Between friends
On the streets of London
In front of the Queen

49. Transatlantic Accent
Transatlantic Accent ( )

50. Geolinguistic Temporal Situational Social
Transatlantic Accent
Transatlantic Accent ( )
Geolinguistic
Temporal
Situational
Social

51. What kind of variation is this?
Review:
What kind of variation is this?
“I don’t want none. ”
“He nevere yet no vileynye ne sayde”
(He never even no wicked thing not said - Old English - Chaucer)
“Please remove your shoes before entering.” 51