language, variety and dialects

by林慧杰Language,Dialects,andVarietiesContentsDefinitionofVarietyPart1LanguageandDialectsPart2DialectsPart3RegistersPart4LanguageVariation---acommonlanguagephenomenaLanguagevariation:languagedifferencesinspeechandwritingbetweenspeakersofdifferentages,genders,socialclassesoridentities;ordifferencesindifferentsituationandtopic;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.farm-----with'r'orwithout'r'(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!2.1varietyWhatislinguisticitemsHowtodefinevarietiesoflanguageHowtodefine“speechcommunities”2.1.1LinguisticitemsDefinition:smallbitsoflanguage,e.g.:lexicalitems,sounds,constructions(syntacticstructures),etc.Differentlinguisticitemsinthe“samelanguage”canhavequitedifferentsocialdistributions(intermsofspeakersandcircumstances).2.1.2VarietiesoflanguageDefinition:Asetoflinguisticitemswithsimilarsocialdistributions.--------HudsonForexample:(1)English(2)LondonEnglish(3)TheEnglishoffootballcommentaries(4)ThelanguagesusedbymembersofaparticularcommunityinBritain(p21)AnotherdefinitionofvarietyHudsonandFergusonagreeindefiningvarietyintermsofaspecificsetof‘linguisticitems’or‘humanspeechpatterns’,whichwecanuniquelyassociatewithsomeexternalfactor(presumably,ageographicalareaorasocialgroup).(p21)Thedefiningcharacteristicofeachvarietyistherelevantrelationtosociety---thatis,bywhom,andwhen,theitemsareused.Varietiesoflanguage“Variety”isactuallyaflexibleterm,foritcanbesomethinggreaterthanasinglelanguageaswellassomethingless,lesseventhansomethingtraditionallyreferredtoasadialect.“Variety”isageneraltermtocoveralltheseconceptsthatwouldnormallybecalledlanguages,dialects,registers,etc..Language,Dialects,andVarietiesnamedifferencesexampleslanguageCanbeusedtoasinglelinguisticnormortoagroupofrelatednorms.languageistheempoweredvarietyChineseandEnglisharelanguagesdialectTorefertooneofthenorms,andadialectisasubordinatevarietyofalanguage.CantoneseisadialectofChinese;LondonEnglishisadialectofEnglishvarietyCanbesomethinggreaterthanasinglelanguage,orlessthansomethingreferredtoasadialectChinese,English,Cantonese,LondonEnglish,theEnglishoffootballcommentariesTherelationshipsofthesethreeLanguage,Dialects,andVarietieslanguagedialectvariety2.1.3SpeechcommunitySpeechcommunity,alsocalledlinguisticcommunity,iswidelyusedbysociolinguiststorefertoacommunitybasedonlanguage.Thedefinitionofitvaries:Definition1,byJohnLyons(1970)“Allthepeoplewhouseagivenlanguage(ordialect).”Accordingtothisdefinition,speechcommunities(1)mayoverlap;(2)neednothaveanysocialorculturalunity.Definition2,byLeonardBloomfield(1933)“Aspeechcommunityisagroupofpeoplewhointeractbymeansofspeech.”ThisdefinitionemphasizestheimportanceofcommunicationDefinition3,byWilliamLabov(1972)“Thespeechcommunityisnotdefinedbyanymarkedagreementintheuseoflanguageelements,somuchasbyparticipationinasetofsharednorms…”Theemphasisisonsharedattitudesandknowledge,ratherthanonsharedlinguisticbehavior.2.2LanguageandDialectLanguageanddialectStandardlanguages2.2.1LanguageandDialectsHaugen(1966a)haspointedoutthatlanguageanddialectareambiguousterms.Hesays,theterms‘representasimpledichotomyinasituationthatisalmostinfinitelycomplex.’Languagecanbeusedtorefereithertoasinglelinguisticnormortoagroupofrelatednorms,anddialecttorefertooneofthenorms.HaugenThedistinctionsbetweenLanguageanddialectThedistinctionbetweenlanguageanddialectwasdevelopedinGreek.(p.24)Butnowwetrytodistinguishlanguageanddialectintermsofsizeandprestige.a.size:alanguageislargerthanadialectb.prestige:alanguagehasprestigewhichadialectlacks(languagereferstoStandardlanguages)◆ThedistinctionbetweenundialecteandunpatoisinFrenchUndialecte(方言)isaregionalvarietyofalanguagethathasanassociatedliterarytradition.undialecteandunpatoisUnpatois(土话)isaregionalvarietythatlackssuchaliterarytradition.(Celtic)PowerandSolidarityPower:Itrequiressomeasymmertrical(不平等的)relationshipbetweenenities;onehasmoreofsomethingthatisimportant,e.g:status,money,influence,etc,thanothers.(HindiandUrdo)Solidartity:Itisafeelingofequalitythatpeoplehavewithoneanother.Afeelingofsolidaritycanleadpeopletopreservealocaldialectoranendangeredlanguagetoresisitpower.vernacularandkoinevernacularvernacularcanbedefinedas'thespeechofparticularcountryorregion'or,morespecifically,'aformofspeechtransmittedfromparentstochildasaprimiarymediumofcommiunication.'koine(共同语言)Akoineis'aformofspeechsharedbypeopleofdifferentvernaculars.'Akoineisacommenlanguage,butnotastandardone◆Haugen’sViewDialectisusedbothforlocalvarietiesofEnglish,e.g.,Yorkshi