topic 3 language dialect and varieties

Topic3.Language,dialects,andvarietiesMarch15th,2010谢聪LanguageVariation---acommonlanguagephenomenaLanguagevariation:languagedifferencesinspeechandwritingbetweenspeakersofdifferentages,genders,socialclassesoridentities;ordifferencesindifferentsituation,topic,addressee,andlocations;includingdifferencesovertime.“昨天晚上，我那很阳光的GG带着他那一点也不淑女的恐龙GF到我家来吃饭。GG的GF一个劲地向我妈PMP，酱紫真是好BT。7456，我只吃了几口饭，就到QQ打铁去了。”中央电视台《对话》节目曾展示了一个小学生的作文：Languagevariationoccursateveryleveloflanguage(1)phoneticandphonologicalvariation:e.g.fourthfloor---r-fulorr-less(2)morphologicalvariation:e.g.center¢re(3)syntacticvariation:e.g.Ididn’tseenothing/Ididn’tseeanything.(4)semanticvariation:e.g.Addressterms酸秀才称娘子；庄稼汉叫婆娘。有修养的人称太太；没文化的人叫老婆。年轻人称媳妇；老头子称老伴。不结婚时称女朋友；结婚后叫对鼻子。北方人称孩他妈；南方人叫伢他妈。大陆上称爱人；台湾叫内子。喝过洋墨水的称达令；土生土长的叫那口子。舍不得老婆的人称心肝；阔别老婆的人叫宝贝。对老婆亲热时称亲爱的；对老婆厌恶时叫那娘们。河北人称老婆为家里的；河南人称老婆为屋里头的；……Itisveryimportantaswellasnecessarytostudylanguagevariation!3.1Introduction3.1.1Purposeofthischapter3.1.2Whatislinguisticitems3.1.3Whatisvarietiesoflanguage3.1.4Howtodefine“speechcommunities”3.1.1Globalstatement,isitpossible?Sociolinguistics:language&societyThen,isitarelationshipbetween:Globallinguisticcategories&globalsocialcategories?OrDifferentlinguisticitems&socialvariables?Thiscanhelpunderstandthedefinitionswe’llmeetlater.3.1.2LinguisticitemsDefinition:smallbitsoflanguage,e.g.:lexicalitems,sounds,constructions(syntacticstructures),etc.Later,we’llseethatdifferentlinguisticitemsinthe“samelanguage”canhavequitedifferentsocialdistributions(intermsofspeakersandcircumstances).3.1.3VarietiesoflanguageDefinition:Asetoflinguisticitemswithsimilarsocialdistributions.Aretheyvarietiesoflanguage?(1)English?(2)LondonEnglish?(3)TheEnglishoffootballcommentaries?(4)ThelanguagesusedbymembersofaparticularcommunityinBritainVarietiesoflanguage“Variety”isactuallyaflexibleterm,foritcanbebigandsmall.“Variety”isageneraltermtocoveralltheseconceptsthatwouldnormallybecalledlanguages,dialects,registers,etc..Thedefiningcharacteristicofeachvarietyistherelevantrelationtosociety---thatis,bywhom,andwhen,theitemsareused.3.1.4SpeechcommunitySpeechcommunity,alsocalledlinguisticcommunity,iswidelyusedbysociolinguiststorefertoacommunitybasedonlanguage.Thedefinitionofitvaries:Definition1,byJohnLyons(1970)“Allthepeoplewhouseagivenlanguage(ordialect).”Accordingtothisdefinition,speechcommunities(1)mayoverlap;(2)neednothaveanysocialorculturalunity.Definition2,byCharlesHockett(1958)“Thewholesetofpeoplewhocommunicatewitheachother,eitherdirectlyorindirectly,viathecommonlanguage.”Criterionofcommunicationwithinthecommunityisadded.Definition3,byLeonardBloomfield(1933)“Aspeechcommunityisagroupofpeoplewhointeractbymeansofspeech.”Thisleavesopenthepossibilityofsomeinteractbymeansofonelanguage,andothersbymeansofanother---onlycommunicationisenough.Definition4,byJohnGumperz(1962)“Anyhumanaggregatecharacterisedbyregularandfrequentinteractionbymeansofasharedbodyofverbalsignsandsetofffromsimilaraggregatesbysignificantdifferencesinlanguageuse.”Thisdefinitionputsemphasisoncommunicationandinteraction.Definition5,byWilliamLabov(1972)“Thespeechcommunityisnotdefinedbyanymarkedagreementintheuseoflanguageelements,somuchasbyparticipationinasetofsharednorms…”(p.25)Theemphasisisonsharedattitudesandknowledge,ratherthanonsharedlinguisticbehavior.Definition6,byRobertLePage(1985)“Eachindividualcreatesthesystemsforhisverbalbehaviorsothattheyshallresemblethoseofthegrouporgroupswithwhich…”(p.26)Individuals“locatethemselvesinamulti-dimensionalspace”,thedimensionsbeingdefinedbythegroupstheycanidentifyintheirsociety.Definition7,byDwightBolinger(1975)“Thereisnolimittothewaysinwhichhumanbeingsleaguethemselvestogetherforself-identification,security…”(p.26)Bolingeridentifiesthese“personal”groupsasspeechcommunities,andstressestheunlimitedamountofcomplexitythatispossible.Howdoweevaluatethesedifferentdefinitions?Asharedlanguageordialect?Communicationorinteraction?Sharedattitudesandknowledge?Sharednorms?Individualswhocanidentifythemselvesasagroup?Orotherthings…Whatistheperfectdefinitioninyourmind?Theexistenceof“real”communities“outthere”???1.Mismatchbetweensubjectiveandobjectivereality.2.Evidenceagainstcommunitygrammars.3.Evidencefornetworks.4.Smallsizeofthemostimportantcommunities.(p.28~29)Conclusionswecanget…Conclusion:oursociolinguisticworldisnotorganizedintermsofobjective“speechcommunities”,eventhoughwecanthinksubjectively.(p.29)Whereislanguage?Languagemustbeintheindividualratherthaninthecommunity.3.2Languages3.2.1Languageanddialect3.2.2Standardlanguages3.2.3Thedelimitationoflanguage3.2.4thefamilytreemodel3.2.1LanguageanddialectThedistinctionbetweenlanguageanddialectwasdevelopedinGreek.(p.31)Butnowwetrytodistinguishlanguageanddialectintermsofsizeandprestige.a.size:alanguageislargerthanadialectb.prestige:alanguagehasprestigewhichadialectlacks(languagereferstoStandardlanguages)3.2.2StandardlanguagesStandardlanguagesaretheresultofadialectanddeliberateinterventionbysociety:aprocessofstandardi