Topc 1

Language
and Dialect
X
LEAkNl NC DUTCDMES
By the end of this topic, you should be able to:
1. Explain the difference between language and dialect;
2. Draw a diagram of social networks;
3. Identify the basic difference between regional and social dialects;
4. Identify the different variables which inuence the use of style; and
5. Enumerate the concept of register.
X lNTkDDUCTlDN
Ah Chan lives in Alor Setar, Kedah. She converses with her family in Cantonese,
a Chinese dialect, and speaks to her neighbour in Hokkien, another Chinese
dialect. She uses the Kedah dialect at the grocery store where she buys provisions.
She uses the standard Malay language (Bahasa Malaysia) when she is in
school where she also studies English as a second language. She understands
enough Thai to enjoy the Thai movies that she gets to watch on the local TV
network.
According to Holmes (2001), more than half the people in the world speak at
least two languages. Most Malaysians living in a multiracial society tend to
be bilingual and many are multilingual. In the case of Ah Chan as described
previously, Cantonese and Hokkien are dialects of her Chinese language, the
Kedah dialect is for communicating in the immediate society that she lives in,
Bahasa Malaysia for education, English for future advancement, and Thai for
recreational purposes.
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In this topic, we will discuss the criteria developed by sociolinguists to
differentiate language, dialect and variety. The discussion of language and
dialect will also include diaglossia and its origin.
This topic serves as an introduction to sociolinguistics who are concerned with
the relationship between language and society.
1.1 DPEkATlDNAL DEFlNlTlDNS
What is language and what is dialect? When does a dialect become a language?
Many would say that one of the main criteria is mutual unintelligibility.
Mutual unintelligibility means that when speakers of two different dialects do not
understand each other, they may be said to be speaking two different languages.
This is a popular criterion but one which may not apply in real situations.
Danish, Norwegian and Swedish are mutually intelligible but they are considered
different languages rather than different dialects of the Scandinavian language.
In contrast, the Chinese language comprises many dialects which are mutually
unintelligible such as Cantonese, Hakka, Hokkien and Mandarin. They are
very different, as different as Bahasa Melayu and German, Hindi and Japanese.
However, the Chinese do not consider them different languages. To them,
they are just different dialects of a single language which are united through a
common writing system and a similar political, social and cultural tradition.
There is also a difference of size. Language is the superordinate term because
it comprises the total sum of all the variants of a specic language. For instance,
English language comprises Scottish English, Yorkshire English, Black English,
Malaysian English and so on. Dialect is any set of one or more varieties of a
language. It must share at least one feature or a combination of features which
distinguishes it from other dialects of the language.
The difference between language and dialect may also be sociohistorical. For
instance, Hindi and Urdu are the same language. However, due to political and
religious differences between India and Pakistan, minor linguistic differences
between these two varieties have been magnied. Hindi is written from left to
right in the Devanagari script. Urdu, on the other hand, is written from right to
left in the Arabic-Persian script. Hindi borrows heavily from Sanskrit while Urdu
relies on Arabic and Persian for its borrowings.
Unlike dialect, a full-edged language has a writing system and is used in
formal documentation. Dialects tend to represent the non-standard, even the
sub-standard. This implies a certain level of inferiority to those who speak a
dialect. A language has more power than its dialects. This is because the dialect
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that is chosen as the language is usually one which belongs to the politically and
socially superior group of speakers.
However, not all languages are equally prestigious. Thai and Laos are two closely
related varieties of a language. Laotians understand spoken Thai as it is widely
used in the media such as radio and television. Educated Laotians may also
comprehend written Thai. Thais do not readily understand spoken and written
Lao. This reects a power relationship. As far as Thai people are concerned, Thai
is a high prestige language unlike Lao. This does not mean that these languages
are inherently unequal. As far as linguistic judgements are concerned, all
languages are equal. It is the social judgement which makes people regard one
language as more important and powerful than another.
Solidarity is another contributing factor. This refers to common interest, the
feelings that tie or bond one with the other. The situation in Yugoslavia is an
example. Serbs and Croats used to speak Serbo-Croatian (a South Slav language).
They had their own versions of this language and the difference between them
was mainly vocabulary rather than pronunciation or grammar. The Serbs used
Cyrillic for its written script while the Croats used Roman. When the Serbs and
Croats split apart, so did the language. Now the Serbs speak Serbian while the
Croats speak Croat. Serbo-Croatian is non-existent in the Balkans, and Serbian
and Croatian have become two separate languages.
Bell (1976 in Wardhaugh 1998), has outlined seven criteria which may help
differentiate language and dialect. A language may fulll any or several subsets
of these criteria:
standardisation;
vitality;
historicity;
autonomy;
reduction;
mixture; and
de facto norms.
(a) Standardisation
First is standardisation, which is achieved through the process of selection,
codication, elaboration of function and acceptance which will be elaborated
later in this module. The standardisation process involves direct interaction
of the society where a certain dialect is chosen as a unifying force for the
country and a symbol of independence from other states.
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(b) Vitality
Second is vitality, which refers to the current existence of a community of
speakers. This helps to differentiate between living and dead languages. An
example of a dead language in the United Kingdom is Manx which used
to exist on the Isle of Man. It should be noted, however, that certain dead
languages remain signicant. Latin which mainly exists in written but not
in spoken form is very prestigious. Classical Arabic plays a signicant role
in unifying Islamic countries and Classical Chinese is important not only to
modern Chinese, but also to Japanese and Korean.
(c) Historicity
The sense of a common identity for a specic group of people using a
specic language is called historicity - the third criterion. The shared
identity may be social, religious, political or ethnic in nature. Russians are
unied by a common language just like the many varieties of Arabic which
are bonded together through Classical Arabic.
(d) Autonomy
Fourth is autonomy which refers to emotions. This means the speakers
themselves must feel that the language is perceived by its speakers as a
language, not just a variety.
(e) Reduction
Fifth is reduction. This means a variety is recognised as a subordinate rather
than a superordinate. For instance, the Kelantanese may almost certainly say
that they are speaking a variety of Bahasa Melayu, and that there exists other
subordinate varieties such as the Kedah dialect. These varieties may lack a
writing system and may be limited in function.
(f) Mixture
Mixture is the sixth criterion. It refers to the speakers perception of the
purity of the variety that they use. Speakers of certain languages such as
French, make conscious efforts to preserve the pure form of the language.
This is achieved through the establishment of local bodies such as the
Academie Francaise.
(g) De facto Norms
Lastly is de facto norms. This refers to the speakers perception of the
norms of proper usage. Such norms will distinguish good speakers
from poor speakers. They are highly important in certain languages. For
instance, English speakers perceive that it is important for them to speak
both correctly and appropriately, i.e. what to say, how to say it, to whom,
when, etc. The need to be communicatively competent has made English a
marketable and protable entity. When users of a language speak and write
it badly in almost all situations, the language may be dying.
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Different languages satisfy a different subset of the criteria mentioned.
Nevertheless, there is no distinction to be drawn between language and dialect
(Hudson, 1996:37). The two terms are ambiguous as the difference is more
than just linguistic. Through the direct intervention of society, a dialect goes
through the process of standardisation to become a standardised language.
1.1.1 Standard and VernacuIar Languages
The steps of standardising language are illustrated in Figure 1.1.
(a) Selection
As mentioned previously, the rst step in standardising a language is
selection. A variety or a combination of varieties can be selected and
developed into a standardised language. The selection is of great social and
political signicance where the selected variety is recognised as prestigious
by the community. Usually the dialect of the politically powerful and socially
prestigious will be selected. The chosen variety may also be one which has
no native speakers, as in the case of classical Hebrew in Israel and Bahasa
Indonesia in Indonesia.
(b) Codication
Secondly is codication. Some agencies or academies will produce
dictionaries and grammar to dene what is correct and incorrect. An
example is Dewan Bahasa and Pustaka in this country. The decision made
by these organisations must be shared and accepted by all users of the
language.
Steps in Standardising a
Language
Selection Codification
Elaboration of
Function
Acceptance
Figure 1.1: Steps in standardising language
What is your native language? Is it a standard language or a dialect?
Where is your language best spoken? How does your dialect differ
from other dialects of your language?
ACTlVlTY 1.1
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ACTlVlTY 1.2
What is the difference between language and dialect?
(c) Elaboration of Function
Thirdly, is the elaboration of function. The selected variety must cater
for various functions and situations such as government, bureaucratic,
educational, business, scientic, legal and so forth. This may require
additional linguistic items to be added, perhaps through the process of
borrowing. Existing forms may also be employed in new ways so that a
more established language can be achieved.
(d) Acceptance
Finally is acceptance. The selected variety must be accepted as the standard
language by the target population. If acceptance is achieved, the following
three factors may take place:
(i) the standard language can serve as a strong unifying force for the
country;
(ii) it becomes the symbol of independence from other states; and
(iii) it serves as a marker to differentiate one state from another.
In contrast to standard language, vernacular language refers to language which is
unstandardised and has not been made ofcial. There are hundreds of languages
which are not standardised such as Buang in New Guinea. The term vernacular
implies the following:
it is uncodied and unstandardised;
it is acquired in the home, as the rst variety; and
it refers to any language which is not the ofcial language of a country.
So, in Malaysia, a language like Tamil is referred to as vernacular. Similarly,
Greek is a vernacular language in Australia but not in Greece or Cyprus.

Vernacular language is the most colloquial variety of a persons language. Since it
is acquired at home, it is used among family and close friends for the purpose of
maintaining solidarity. This term has also been extended to refer to a monolingual
community or people from the same ethnic group.
The UNESCO report in 1951 denes vernacular language as the rst
language of a group, socially or politically dominated by a group with a
different language.
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1.2 SPEECH CDMMUNlTlES
People from the same group often speak in the same way. They may use the same
code and share the same norms and values. They may be said to belong to the
same speech community.
Read on to nd out the answers to these questions.
1.2.1 What s a Speech Communty?
Let us start this section by discussing the different denitions of speech
community.
In other words, Lyons conceives of people who speak the same language or
dialects, such as English, as representing one speech community. This denition
has several weaknesses:
(i) The difculty in distinguishing language and dialects. Since the two terms
are ambiguous, it makes Lyons denition ambiguous too.
(ii) A single language such as English is spoken in many different varieties,
e.g. China, Philippines, Singapore.
(iii) Variety can be regarded as its own community too.
(iv) A single speech community may employ more than one language, as in case
of Malaysia and Singapore.
(v) Many speakers of different languages such as Austrian, German and
Hungarian share similar rules on greetings, expressing condolences, and so
forth. Language background alone does not inuence the rules and norms of
communication.
(vi) Dening a speech community by linguistic variable alone is too restrictive
as group identity is also shaped by factors such as ethnicity, culture, and
political forces.
Lyons (1970:3260), denes a speech community as comprising of all the
people who use a given language and dialect.
SELF-CHECK 1.1
EXEkClSE 1.1
What are the boundaries which differentiate one speech community
from another? Is there a precise denition of speech community? Is it as
ambiguous as the terms language and dialect? Is the denition purely
linguistic or does it include cultural, social and political elements?
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Labovs views mark a focal shift from the use of language elements to shared
norms and beliefs which make speakers identify with a certain group or
community. Such norms and beliefs may not be exclusively linguistic in
nature. For instance, speakers of Hindi may see themselves as separate from
those speaking Urdu, while speakers of the various Chinese dialects may see
themselves as members of the same community even though their dialects are
mutually unintelligible and may not allow them to share a sense of community
except through a shared writing system.
Gumperz (1971:101), who introduced the term linguistic community, denes
it as a social group which may be either monolingual or multilingual, held
together by frequency of social interaction patterns and set off from the
surrounding areas by weaknesses in the lines of communication.
Labov (1972:120-121), has a different view of speech community which is
not dened by any marked agreement in the use of language elements, so much as
by participation in a set of shared norms.
On the other hand, Gumperz (1971), argues that there is no ground to dene
speech community by requiring that all members speak in a single language or
a single variety. Communities may be bilingual or multilingual, bidialectal or
multidialectal.
This implies that, internally, there must be social cohesiveness that binds the
community. At the same time, there must also be factors that differentiate it from
other communities. A community is not just dened by what it is, it must also be
distinguished from others by identifying what it is not.
Hymes (1974), supports the idea that a speech community cannot be dened
solely by linguistic characteristics.
He cites the example of the Ngoni in Africa. Most Ngonis no longer speak their
language but instead use the language of Malawi, the country they conquered.
However, the Malawi language uses the conventions of the Ngoni language so as
to demarcate itself from others. This is also true of English. Many minority groups
speak English in distinctive ways so as to preserve their identity and distinguish
themselves from the dominant group. This may be in terms of ethnicity, region,
social class, and so forth.
For Hymes and many others, the term speech community is difcult to dene.
Linguistics alone is inadequate since what is also important is how individuals
relate to society through the use of language and its varieties.
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There are, for instance, the English speaking community (in contrast to German or
Chinese), the New York speech community (in contrast to Detroit) and the Kuala
Lumpur speech community (in contrast to Kelantan). A person often belongs to
more than one speech community and it is important that the denition of speech
community allows speakers to exibly shift from one speech community to
another.
1.2.2 lntersectng Communtes
An individual may simultaneously belong to several speech communities.
Ah Chan, as we saw in the example at the beginning of this topic, lives in a
multilingual setting. At home, she speaks Chinese, her native language. When
conversing with her teachers in school, she switches between English and Bahasa
Malaysia. With her school friends, the switch is between English and the Kedah
dialect. And when she shops in Alor Star, the Kedah dialect is used. As is clear,
in the course of the day, Ah Chan constantly switches from one community
identication to another. At times, the switch may even take place in a single
utterance.
According to Wardhaugh (1999:124), the term community or group refers
to any set of individuals united for a common end, that end being quite
distinct from ends pursued by other groups.
ACTlVlTY 1.2
ACTlVlTY 1.3
1. List the different speech communities to which you belong.
2. Compare and contrast the following pairs of famous personalities. Do
they belong to the same speech community? Why?
(a) President Bush and President Clinton
(b) Michael Jackson and Mel Gibson
(c) Mahatma Gandhi and Margaret Thatcher
(d) Shakespeare and Chaucer
(e) Siti Nurhaliza and Mr Bean
(f) Noam Chomsky and Steven Speilberg
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Speakers in a community have a repertoire of social identities. They are constantly
creating social identities for themselves and such identications are innite. At
any one time, identication may be based on religion, another on ethnicity, then
it may be regional, and yet another on social class or occupation.
Usually, speakers will identify themselves as members of a specic community on
one occasion, and as members of a different community in another. The decision
on the speech community one wants to be identied with at a specic point in
time is dependent upon the purpose of communication. Knowledge and skill of
social and communicative rules to be employed is part of communicative strategy,
which is not just verbal but also non-verbal. The repertoire of intersecting
identications results in linguistic variation. People do not speak the same way
all the time and different people speak differently.
1.2.3 SocaI Networks
What are social networks? Read the following situation to understand the term:
Social networks deal with the characteristics of interaction between people that
is, how individuals in society relate to each other. It delineates how intensively
or frequently A interacts with B, then with C, and so on. It also deals with
how extensive or inter-related they are to each other, that is, how many others
interact with A, B or C. Figure 1.2 provides a few examples of social network
relationships. Diagram I shows a strong link because all members are equally
linked to each other. In contrast, Diagram II is weakly linked because they
are only linked to A and not to each other. Diagram III shows an even weaker
relationship between A and E as the link is achieved only through C and D.
Chad lives in Sri Serdang with his housemate Putra. They study at the same
university. Before going home everyday, they will have dinner at Jies house.
Jie is Chads sister. During weekends, Putra and Chad will play soccer with
their coursemate Nazar and their neighbour Bob.
Figure 1.2: Network relationships
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There are two important terms which are used to describe different types of
network density and plexity.
(a) Density refers to the measure of ties among the members. If A has ve
friends, and all ve know each other, the network is dense. If only two of
them know each other, it is less dense. If none of them know each other, then
the network is loose, as illustrated by Diagrams II and III.
In the case of Chad and his friends (refer to Figure 1.3), the network is
dense because they know each other independently of Chad. Chads
friends interact with each other on a regular basis, with or without Chad.
This is shown in the various connections between Chad, Putra, and Jie. The
relationship with Cash, however, is loose because it is only linked through
Jie, and Cash is not linked to any of the rest.
(b) Plexity refers to the range of interactions that the speakers are involved in
with different individuals. A uniplex relationship is one where a speaker is
linked to the other person only in one area. For example:

A multiplex relationship refers to interactions with other speakers in a
variety of contexts. This means that they are not only tied together through
school but also through work and other social contexts. Chads network is
multiplex. The people he studies with are also friends that he socialises and
lives with.
Putra
Jie
Cash
Bob
Chad Nazar
Figure 1.3: Chads social network relationship
The type of network one belongs to reects the speech used. The need to
identify with a certain group will also inuence ones speech. If one mixes
regularly with a relatively homogenous group and bears a positive attitude
towards this group, one tends to speak like the rest of the group.
A knows B because they are taking a course together.
A plays badminton with B but they never meet in other contexts.
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This situation is common, for instance, among school children. Parents often
realise (sometimes to their horror) that their childrens speech resembles
their school friends instead of the familys. For adults, they may use a
relatively standardised form at their work place, and a vernacular form at
the local market. They will switch their speech according to context and
situation.
1.3 LANCUACE VAklATlDN
All languages have internal variations.
Do variations occur in languages or do they also occur in dialects?
Is language the total sum of varieties?
According to Hudson (1996:2), a variety of language refers to a set of linguistic
item with similar social distribution. This suggests that sports commentary,
Malaysian English, lower class New York English, upper class New York English,
Kadazan, Bidayuh and so forth are varieties of language since they have a similar
social distribution.
The term variety is general, as general as the term music or plants which then can
be employed to differentiate the types of music or plants. It applies to something
greater than a single language and as well as something less, less even than something
traditionally referred to as dialect (Wardhaugh, 1998:21.)
This means variety may refer to as large as several different languages to as
tiny as a single item. Variety relates to the association between linguistic items
(sounds, words, grammatical structures, etc.) and external factors such as
location, social class, age and gender. Sociolinguists are interested in investigating
if there are patterns or conventions in the use and usage of the linguistic items
and the range of speakers and situations that they are associated with.
Why have the general term varieties? One of the most practical reasons is that
it allows us to form a basis in distinguishing concepts such as language and
dialects. From earlier discussion, we know that the difference between these terms
is not as straightforward. Languages are not distinguished from dialects because
of natural boundaries or sets of interlocking structural relations. Linguistics alone
SELF-CHECK 1.1
Name ve people you know and draw a diagram which illustrates the
social network that links you and the ve of them.
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may not be adequate. In fact, the sets of structural relations may be mixed up and
loosely tied.
Since there is no consistent distinction between language and dialect, the general
term variety, for the purpose of practicality, may be used to refer to both language
and dialects, and even style and register. The two latter concepts will be discussed
later in this topic. We will now focus on language variation in a monolingual
community which can be categorised into two:
regional dialect; and
social dialect.
1.3.1 kegonaI DaIects
When a person travels from one region to another, he/she is likely to encounter
noticeable changes in the way language is spoken by locals. These changes are
not just conned to pronunciation, it also involves the choice of words and
syntax. Such distinctive varieties of language are called regional dialects.
The study of regional dialect comes under the eld of dialect geography. Dialect
geography attempts to map the different distribution of various linguistic features so
as to show their geographical provenance (Wardhaugh, 1999:42). It seeks to describe
how the different distinctive features of a language are used in different areas.
For instance, is there an r pronouncing area in words such as car and cart
in English? What is the preferred form of past tense of certain words such as
drink? What are the choices of words that are used to describe common objects
in the environment? An example is the vocabulary chosen such as the word toilet
among the many possibilities - lavatory, loo, washroom, ladies, or restroom. In the
Malaysian context, which is the preferred choice; fridge, refrigerator, peti sejuk or ice
box?
Based on ndings from these studies, boundaries are identied and maps are
drawn to distinguish the areas where certain items are found from those that are
absent. These boundaries are called isoglosses and the main purpose of isoglosses
is to differentiate areas where a certain feature is employed from another where
it is not. When we have a situation where several isoglosses coincide, it is called
dialect boundary.
The term dialect is employed if there is a strong literary tradition of writing
associated with the regional variety. In the absence of literary tradition, it is
referred to as patois. Patois also describes the variety of speech from rural areas.
Therefore, we have rural patois rather than rural dialect. In urban areas, we have
urban dialects instead of urban patois. Furthermore, patois also applies to the
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Dialect Patois
Has strong literary tradition of writing No literary tradition of writing
Urban variety Rural variety
Used by higher class speakers Used by lower class speakers
Covers smaller geographical area Covers bigger geographical area
lower class speech variety. We have lower class patois and middle class dialects
but not middle class or upper class patois. Patois also covers smaller geographical
distributions, so village patois and regional dialect is acceptable, but village
dialect and regional patois is not.
Just like language and dialect, the difference between patois and dialect is also
ambiguous. Jamaicans perceive their Jamaican English variety as patois rather
than dialect. A summary of these differences is presented in Table 1.1.
The trend in sociolinguistics now seems to be that the term dialect is used to refer
to both patois and dialects with and without the writing system, regardless
of location, size and social status. Patois is not frequently used as a scientic
description in most texts.
The variety of regional dialects changes from place to place. In a big country, one
may notice the dialect that is heard at the beginning of the journey may be very
different from the dialect at the end of the journey, so much so that the dialects
at both ends of the journey are mutually unintelligible. In between, there is no
specic point that can be identied as the changeover location, nor is there a way
to determine the number of intermediate dialect areas for each of these dialects.
This is referred to as a dialect continuum where the dialects along the continuum
are sequentially arranged over space: A, B, C, etc. At the end of each continuum,
the varieties of bordering states may be mutually intelligible.
For instance, let us look at the case of Dutch-German and French-Italian. Despite
their similarities, when asked, speakers will most likely claim that they are
speaking dialects of their national languages, Dutch, German, French or Italian.
Such responses are not based on existing linguistic differences, but on political,
social, and cultural considerations. Their desire to conform to the national
standard and be differentiated from other national languages has made the small
linguistic differences more pronounced.
The term dialect should not be confused with accent. Accent refers to
pronunciation. A famous English accent is the Received Pronunciation (RP) which
is also known as the Queens English, Oxford English and BBC English.
Table 1.1:Dialect vs Patois
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This accent belongs to only about 3% of people in England and was prestigious
in the late 19th century. It is disputable if the Queen of England does in fact use
RP. Both the staff and students of Oxford University employ a variety of accents.
Even BBC are now using regional accents. There is no unaccented language. Some
languages are accented because of geography while others, such as English, are
due to social factors. This brings us to the next sub-topic - social dialects.
1.3.2 SocaI DaIects
The variety of social group or social class can also lead to differences in speech,
and this is referred to as social dialects.
The term social group or social class can be used to refer to ethnic, occupation,
status, caste, education, income, racial, religion, etc. For instance, ethnic variation
has led to the identication of a dialect associated with a specic ethnic group such
as Black dialect in cities such as New York, Detroit and Buffalo (Labov, 1966).
There are also the social dialects of Jews and Italians which are different from both
Black English and the standard variety. Basically, Jewish and Italian speakers tend
to overdo certain imitative behaviours referred to as hypercorrection. For instance,
Italians tend to pronounce bad and bag using a vowel which resembles beard and
Jews tend to pronounce the word dog using a vowel which resembles book.
A possible explanation for this is that both groups generally try to avoid using
the Italian and Yiddish vowels for the respective words as this may indicate
their ethnic markers. In this process, however, their pronunciation becomes
signicantly distinct from others which results in a dialect associated with their
ethnic origin.
In India, social caste, such as the Brahmins and non-Brahmin castes, inuences
the variety of language used by the speakers and thus, is one of the most obvious
social differences.
In Baghdad, religious belief inuences the Arabic variety used by the Muslim,
Christian and Jewish speakers. Muslims employ the Muslims variety which
serves as the lingua franca. The Christians and Jews will use their respective
Arabic varieties at home but switch to the Muslim variety when communicating
in social or business transactions, or in inter-group interactions.
Like any other eld, social dialectology faces many challenges. Certain variations
are more tedious to characterise linguistically compared to others. For instance, it
is more straightforward to describe linguistic variation in the country compared
to big cities. This is because migration, in and out of cities, makes confounding
variables difcult to control. Languages spoken may be diffused and it is very
difcult to control the background of the subjects.
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Furthermore, other factors such as occupation, employment, family structures
and economic levels also lead to language variation. Other than regional and
social dialects which help describe language variation, the two other factors are
style and register, which we will discuss in the next section.
1.3.3 StyIe
Ahmad and Jim are good friends. Here is an excerpt of their conversation at two
different occasions.
SELF-CHECK 1.2
Based on your understanding, briey explain the denition of lingua franca.
To test your understanding, identify the basic difference between regional
and social dialects by lling in the following table.
Regional Dialects Social Dialects
In both sets of utterances mentioned, Ahmad is making a request. However, the
form of the request changes according to the context. When Ahmad and Jim are
having coffee in a caf, the form is casual. When they are in court, despite their
already established out-of-court relationship, the form becomes formal.
1. Having tea at the caf.
Ahmad : Jim, whats all this?
Jim : Sorry! I will explain everything to you later.
2. In court, where Ahmad is a lawyer and Jim, the judge.
Ahmad : Your honour, I would like to request for an extension.
Jim : Extension denied.
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Language varies not just among its users or who is using the language, but also
its uses (what it is used for). In the above example, the users, Ahmad and Jim, are
constant, but the place and occasion changed. The change in context affects the
choice of form and this leads to stylistic differences. Style, can be inuenced by
many variables as shown in Figure 1.4.
(a) Addressee
When one is addressing someone familiar, a more casual and relaxed style
is used. More vernacular forms or non-standard speech style is employed
when addressing people one does not know well. The speakers relationship
to the addressee tends to be an inuencing variable in the style of speaking.

Past studies in Mombasa, Sweden and Hawaii have shown that people tend
to employ a different variety of language when they talk to people inside
their community, as compared to visitors from the outside. This suggests
that solidarity or social distance is a signicant dimension of social relations.
There are many factors which inuence such solidarity. Among them is the
age of the addressee. Consider the following letters:
Variables that influence style
Context and
Social Roles
Social
Class
Addressee
Ethnic
Group
Figure 1.4: Variables that inuence style
Letter A

Dear Ahmad,
Hi! How are you? Thanks for writing to me. You write very well and
I enjoyed reading your letter. I am happy you are enjoying your stay.
I really miss the beach and I can really do with a vacation.
What do you do at night? Do you go out? Have you made even more friends?
Do tell. I am really excited to hear more. Got to dash now. Take care.
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Which of the above letters is addressed to a child and which to an adult?
The letter written to the child has shorter sentences, a common vocabulary
and simpler grammar. In contrast, the letter to the adult uses relatively more
complex sentences and words which are of low frequency such as exotic,
embroiled, absorbed, serenity and tranquility.
The same applies to spoken conversation. Spoken interaction between an
adult and a child is different compared to an adult and another adult. An
adult may opt for parentese or babytalk, using such expressions as doggie, No
go when speaking to a child. The adult may even use a sing-song intonation.
When conversing with another adult, a wider and more complicated range
of vocabulary and grammar is employed.
(b) Social Class
Linguistic style is also inuenced by social class. Trudgill (1974) found that
the pronunciation ing [ ] was used differently by speakers from different
social classes in Norwich. It was found that the higher the social class, the
more frequent the [ ] pronunciation was used. The sound [ ] is also used
more frequently in the formal contexts.
Speakers from the lower social group, consistently employed less [ ] sound
and their speech is more casual. This suggests that when one wants to shift
style, one can imitate the speech of the target person. To sound more casual,
one may adopt the linguistic features of the lower social class. In contrast,
when giving a speech or presiding in court, one may want to use the
linguistic features of the higher social class.
Stylistic variation not only reects the variation that exists between speakers
of different social classes, but it is also derived from them. One may adopt
the linguistic style of a target social group in the process of shifting styles.
Between the two ends, the lower social group tends to shift styles more often
compared to the higher social group.
Letter B

Dear Karam,
How are you? Its been a while since I last heard from you. I hope you are in the
best of health and that you are enjoying every minute of your stay in Kuantan.
From what I have heard, it is an exotic place, with long stretches of white beaches
and beautiful blue ocean. I guess you must be totally absorbed by the breathtaking
scenery instead of being embroiled in your work. I wish I were there to soak in the
serenity and tranquility.
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In another study, it was found that newsreaders with different kinds of
audience tend to employ different linguistic styles so as to cater to the
needs of their audience. The news may be the same, the concept and context
identical, but the difference in the social background of the addressee will
inuence the linguistic style of the speaker. A newsreader in a programme
which is watched by the higher end of the social spectrum may employ
a more formal style compared to one with an audience from the lower
spectrum.
Bell 1981 (in Holmes 1999), compared the styles of newsreaders on different
New Zealand radio stations. The nding of his study is in Figure 1.5. YA is
the newsreader for a prestigious National Radio network with an audience
from a higher social strata, in contrast to ZB, the newsreader with an
audience made up of the lower end of the social spectrum.
It was found that YA voiced the [t] between vowels so it sounded like [d],
employed less consonant cluster, less determiner deletion and less negative
contraction. These linguistic features are parallel to the features of the
targeted audience. Accommodating to the speech style of the addressee
is a positive signal to express ones interest and making the addressee
comfortable.
Figure 1.5: Linguistic feature on the styles of newsreaders in New Zealand
Source: (Bell 1984 in Holmes 2001:228)
0
20
40
60
80
[t] voicing CC reduction Determiner
deletion
Negative
construction
YA
ZB
ACTlVlTY 1.4
In your opinion, what is the inuence of social class on linguistic style?
Discuss with your coursemates.
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There are quite a number of studies which detail how the addressees
speech changes in response to the interviewers speech. For Trudgill (1974),
however, the opposite occured. He found that, during his interview with
people in Norwich, he shifted his speech to that of his interviewees instead.
The number of glottal stops he used in words like better and bet reected the
speech of his interviewee.
Trudgill employed 98% of the possible contexts for glottal stops when
interviewing the lower class who used them. However, when interviewing
the higher class where the glottal stop level was just 25%, Trudgills dropped
to about 30%.
It is quite clear from the study that Trudgill (1974), was accommodating to
the speech of the interviewees who came from different social backgrounds.
This process is called speech accommodation, in which each persons speech
converges so that they become more similar to each other.
Speech accomodation is a polite strategy and this suggests that the
addressees speech is worth imitating. For instance, a business person needs
to get customers. Likewise, potential customers adopt the language of the
seller to ensure a good bargain. This is done by adjusting to the addressees
speech so that they are on the same wave length.
The process of convergence can be either upwards or downwards. When
one simplies ones vocabulary and grammar, one is converging downwards
to a simpler linguistic prociency. When an employee imitates some of his/
her employers linguistic variety, the convergence is upwards.
Speech divergence occurs when one purposely avoids using the language
used by the addressee. For instance, when an oil communiqu was issued in
Arabic instead of English, a strong political point was made. The deliberate
linguistic divergence indicates that the Arab nations had no desire to
accommodate Western English-speaking powers. Another example is the
insistence of English-speaking Maoris in New Zealand on using the Maori
language in court instead of English. Such linguistic divergence from a
minority to a majority group also presents strong political statements.
Speech divergence can also be positive. Entertainers such as Brigitte Bardots
and Maurice Chevaliers French accent has been greatly admired. The
addressees perception of the convergence will determine if it is positive or
negative. If the form of the divergence is admired, it is positive. However, if
it is perceived as patronising or that the speaker is making fun of others, it
may be negative, as in the following:
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Salesperson : Take this onelah. This one nicelah. [pointing to a vase]
Man : If this is one, then that is two? [teasing the salesperson]
Salesperson : This one good mah! [smiling embarrassingly]
Man : And that is bad, pah?
Salesperson : Hai ya! I dont know how to talk to youlah.
(c) Context and Social Roles
Read situation A and B:
Situation A
At an army camp, Jimmy who is a lance corporal has to report to his father
who is a general. Etiquette required Jimmy to address his father as Sir. When
his father called out his name, he answered Yes, Sir! He cant remember the
last time he called his father, father.

Situation B
In a lecture hall, Suzy is the daughter of the respectable lecturer. In this
situation, etiquette requires her to refer to her mum as Dr Lily. When asking a
question, Suzy says Dr Lily, can you please repeat the answer? At the end
of the class, Dr Lily said I appreciate the awkwardness you are experiencing,
Suzy.

The context of the situation is a powerful inuence on speech style. Formal
situations such as the army, the classroom, the court and even the church
require participants to override personal relationships. In court, where the
presiding judge is the parent of the solicitor, the judge must be addressed
as Your Honour, Sir or the Bench, while the child needs to be addressed as
Mr., Mrs., or Miss. In church, the priest is referred to as Father even by his
own father during a religious ceremony. These are examples of social roles
determined by the formality of the contexts.
Social roles are also determined by a persons status and solidarity. In the
case of a prominent public gure, for example Michael Maddison, he may
be addressed by his rst name such as Michael or the short form of his name
Mike by people close to him. Social subordinates and others may address
him using his title and last name Mr. Maddison.
(d) Ethnic Groups
Certain ethnic groups have a very distinct style of referring to different
social groups. The Japanese, for instance, will employ not only different
pronunciation but also different lexical choice and sentence structure to
differentiate plain, polite and deferential styles.
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Japanese speakers usually feel that they need to assess their relationship to
the addressee very early in the conversation so that they can adjust their
style of speaking. It is common to nd Japanese exchanging business cards
very early in the conversation when meeting for the rst time. This is to
nd out each others social class and family background to determine the
appropriate style of speaking.
The skill of adjusting different styles in the Japanese language is also related
to education. Educated individuals are more skillful at managing stylistic
variation. Other than education, individuals of a higher social status are also
better able at orchestrating the various styles of Japanese and Korean.
Javanese is another language which distinguishes its pronunciation,
vocabulary and sentence structure according to social class and status. There
are basically three stylistic levels, from the formal or high style referred as
krama inggi to the least formal or low style which is called ngoko. The second
person pronoun you can be referred to as nandalem and panjenengan for
formal references, sapeyan for mid and sliramu or kowe for the most casual
speech.
If an ordinary person is addressing an important gure, he should use the
high style to show respect. The important person in return, may just opt to
use the lowest level in return. If both parties are of high status, they tend to
use the highest level of style to each other. Like the Japanese, the Javanese
people are very sensitive in adjusting their speech style to social class and
status. An inappropriate choice of style for the different social divisions may
lead to embarrassment, or even insult.
EXEkClSE 1.2
In real life communication, it is common for one to shift from one style
to another. How this is made possible and how does one adjust to the
linguistic style of another?
ACTlVlTY 1.5
Try to identify the situation where you may hear the following:
(a) Havent we met before?
(b) Take a deep breath. Good, lungs are clear.
(c) Take care. I look forward to hearing from you.
(d) If you add another two to the equation, you will get ..
(e) With this ring, .
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1.3.4 kegster
If style is usually analysed in terms of formality or situational factors, register
refers to speech related to a certain speciality. This section concerns register -
how we use language to express our social identity and social competence, some
of the forms of this usage, and the non-linguistic factors which determine it.
(a) Communicative Competence
Complete or mature language use requires at least three types of competence
as shown in Figure 1.6.
Figure 1.6: Three types of competence in using mature language
Use of mature language
Grammatical competence
Conversational competence
Sociolinguistic competence
(i) Grammatical competence denotes knowledge of the grammar: the
lexicon and the phonological, morphological, and syntactic rules of the
language.
(ii) Conversational competence denotes knowledge and acceptance of
the cooperative principle which obligates one to make a meaningful
contribution to the accepted purpose and direction of discourse.
(iii) Sociolinguistic competence enables speakers to distinguish
among possibilities such as the following. To get someones
attention in English, each of the utterances is grammatical and
a fully meaningful contribution to the discourse of the moment,
but only one of them may satisfy societal expectations and the
speakers preferred presentation of self. Hey! addressed to
ones mother or father, for example, often expresses either a
bad attitude or surprising misunderstanding of the usually
recognised social proprieties, and saying Sir! to a 12-year-old
probably expresses inappropriate deference.
Grammatical, conversational, and sociolinguistic competence are three aspects
of communicative competence.
Every language accommodates such differences as a non-discrete scale or
continuum of recognisably different linguistic levels or styles, termed
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registers, and every socially mature speaker, as part of learning the language,
has learned to distinguish and choose among places on the scale of register.
(b) Speech Situations
Each occasion of speech, or speech situation, determines a different register,
and each register favours certain choices among different utterances, each
of which may fulll the requirements of grammaticality and the cooperative
principle. Notice in the following three speech situations how each of the
three English sentences differently characterises the speakers understanding
of the social situation and his or her place in it.
(i) Interrupting a passerby to ask the time, one might say any of the
following.
Hey. What time is it?
Hi. Do you have the time?
Excuse me. Could you tell me what time it is?

(ii) Wishing to have the heat turned up, one of the following.
Turn the heat up!
Would you turn the heat up, please?
Its sorta cold in here, isnt it?

(iii) As the greeting of a letter to a member of the city council, any of the
following.
Dear Betty,
Dear Ms. Jones,
Your excellency,

Registers may range even more broadly, while the basic purpose and raw
information of speech remain constant.

Figure 1.7 displays the suggested eleven ways in English to express the
desire/demand that someone leave, approximately ordered from very polite
to very impolite. Readers will surely disagree with some of the rankings,
and might even broaden the scale of politeness with additional sentences.
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(c) Linguistic Features of Register
As in these examples, mature speakers distinguish registers by an array
of linguistic features, across the grammar, from phonology to lexicon and
morphology to syntax. Some English examples are:
(i) Phonology: rate of speech, and contractions, as in I do not know vs. I
dunno; Whatcha doin? vs. What are you doing?
(ii) Lexical morphemes such as wish vs. demand; yes vs. yeah.
(iii) Grammatical morphemes: I aint vs. Im not. Late Middle English had
also the pronoun distinction of familiar thou/thee (second person
singular, subject and object case) vs. polite ye/you, which were also and
orginally second person plural.
(iv) Syntax: I dont suppose youd leave, huh? Will you leave? Leave!
(d) Three Non-linguistic Factors Inuencing Register
Differences of register may be thought of as based upon three important
non linguistic factors which are also called S-factors, or F-factors:
Speakers, especially their relationship of familiarity with one another.
Setting or the relative formality of the occasion.
Subject of discourse, or the functions, or purposes, of speaking.
These three factors are ordinarily interdependent. We tend to talk to certain
persons in certain settings about certain subjects, and we tend to be more
familiar with people in less formal circumstances in which language fullls
certain functions rather than others. Altogether, our linguistic response to
the three factors has been termed speech accommodation (Tiles,1984), and
audience design (Bell,1984).
Figure 1.7: Ways of expressing the desire/demand that someone leave
Very polite
(a) Perhaps I should be alone now.
(b) May I be alone now?
(c) I don't suppose you would leave, would you?
(d) Would you be willing to leave?
(e) I'd appreciate it if you would leave.
(f) Please leave.
(g) Don't you wanna leave?
(h) Would you leave?
(i) Get goin', how 'bout it?
(j) Get outta here.
(k) Get your arse outta here.
Very impolite
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(i) Speakers and Familiarity
Certainly, speakers address one another differently; particularly
according to how familiar they are with one another, and how much
information and experience they share.

Five characteristics of language which particularly depend on
relationships, and perceived relationships, between a speaker and an
audience are:
forms of address;
politeness morphology;
ellipsis;
contractions; and
code-switching.
Forms of Address
In probably all languages, speakers acknowledge politeness and
familiarity by choice of forms of address: in English, for example:
President Bush/Mr Bush/Richard/Billy. Choice of one or the
other form of address communicates the speakers acknowledgement
of a social circumstance, including the speakers place in it. This is not
always a matter of use or non-use of titles and nicknames. In English,
for example, a parents use of a childs name tends to mean trouble for
the child: Mohamed Michael, come here! or Marlina , I saw that!
Politeness Morphology
Perhaps most languages - though not modern English except in archaic
uses of thou and thee, and potential use of the royal we by a monarch -
distinguish politeness by choice between grammatical morphemes,
especially familiar and polite pronouns.
This distinction is often made in second-person pronouns, for those
addressed (English you, your, yours), but may also be in third-person
pronouns, for persons spoken about (English he, she, it, they, etc.).
Spanish has the following familiar polite:
2nd-person singular tu usted
2nd-person plural vosotros ustedes
Tu and vosotros are usually considered to be used for persons of similar age
and social status as the speaker, though young people tend to use familiar
pronouns for persons of the same age, regardless of social status.
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Amharic is a language which has the familiar/polite distinction in
singular third-person pronouns: familiar Issu he and isswa she vs.
polite issaccaw. The polite form is particularly for older persons, but is
favoured even for persons unfamiliar to the speaker. In languages with
such grammatical morphemes, there is grammaticisation of politeness,
since the choice between a familiar or polite pronoun concerns
grammatical competence, in the choice of grammatical morphemes, as
well as simultaneous sociolinguistic competence, in the expression of
social expectations and presentation of self which this choice signies.
Japanese has other forms of grammaticised politeness, including plain
versus polite forms of verbs. Plain forms, for example miru see vs.
polite form mimasu, and iku go vs. polite form ikimasu, are used when
speaking to close friends, and polite forms when speaking to others,
especially older persons and persons one does not know.
Ellipsis
Ellipsis is the omission of major constituents of sentences, as in I did
(the object of the verb is unstated, vs. I did what you said ;), and cant go
(the subject is unstated, vs. I cant go). People who are familiar with one
another share a lot of information, concurrently, conversations between
them much of this can go unsaid, and ellipsis contributes to uency in
their talk. The uency and greater rate of speech are also evidence as
well of register choice, signaling speakers judgements of the degree of
familiarity in their relationship to one another.
Knowledge of the possibilities of ellipsis is a matter of grammatical
competence. English for example does not allow object ellipsis with
some verbs: I understand is okay but not I opened. However, the choice to
employ ellipsis or not reects sociolinguistic competence.
Contractions
The rate of speech increases with familiarity between speakers. As the
result of grammaticisation of fast-speech deletions of phones, many
languages, including English, have customary short pronunciations and
spellings of some frequent grammatical morphemes. In English these
are the contractions of auxiliary verbs including Im and theyre, and of
not as in dont and isnt.

Code-switching
Switching from language to language within a single speech situation is
called code-switching, a phenomenon which characterises the sociolect
of bilingual speech communities, the members of which have the
grammatical competence to code-switch when speaking to one another.
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Register Description
1. Intimate Conversation of intimates
2. Casual Talk at parties and in games
3. Consultative Ordinary commercial transactions
4. Formal Contributions of participants at meetings, hearings,
conferences, etc.
5. Frozen One-directional communication by authorities at
meetings, hearings, conferences, etc.
Some occasions of code-switching may be necessitated by speakers
lesser degree of grammatical competence in one of the languages. For
example, one who has received a specialised education in a second
language often nds it necessary to switch out of the native language
when talking about that specialisation. Although bilingual competence
is perhaps never balanced for all subjects and settings, many occasions
of code-switching are motivated as aspects of register, since they occur
in contexts in which differential grammatical competence cannot be an
explanation.
(ii) Setting and Formality
We know special forms of language for use in particular settings
often distinguished by their degree of formality. Formality in these
cases largely means degree of xedness of social relations between
speakers, and this tends to correspond to the socially licensed amount
of reciprocity of speech - whether talk tends to be one-way or whether
all those present talk more or less equivalently. In the courtroom, for
example, the judge has to be addressed in the proper way, even by an
old friend, and only the judge speaks at will.
The most established and routinised settings also tend to determine
regular or even ritualised, one-way, forms of language. For example,
the classroom, sports events, and formal meetings have their preferred
linguistic forms. The meeting will come to order is the usual and
ritualised way of saying, in meetings, Hey, lets get quiet and get to work
now.
Two features of language which particularly depend on the setting
within a speech situation are:
vernacular vs. non-vernacular usage, including use of taboo words;
and
hypercorrection and malapropism.
Table 1.2: Five Point Scale of Register
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Vernacular and Non-vernacular Language
Vernacular language is that of ordinary, carefree, colloquial speech.
Use of vernacular forms in non-vernacular contexts could be evidence
of a speakers ignorance of the socially prescribed standard language,
and certain forms in particular are recognised as giving such evidence.
These are linguistic social markers.
An often noted American English example is aint, the originally
perfectly well-formed contraction of am + not, which fell into disrepute
in standard English after it was extended out of rst person singular as
in third-person He aint. Other English social markers are third person
singular dont as in he dont, and demonstrative them as in them are mine.
Aint, for example, is common in the vernacular of many English-
speaking communities, and its use in non-vernacular settings tends to
guarantee the notice of listeners of other communities.
However, such usage may also signal frankness and honesty, and
solidarity with others whom speakers recognise as fellow members
of their vernacular dialect. When used by obviously well-educated
persons, such interpretation is guaranteed. A standard dialect speaker
of English who intentionally switches to use of social markers such as
aint and he dont is said to seek covert prestige. Such prestige is covert
because its elicitation will often not, if successful, be consciously noted.
Deliberate use of taboo words such as bitch and shit, whose usage which
tends to characterise male more than female speech, may also seek
covert prestige, but the strength of these as social markers makes this
more difcult to achieve.
Hypercorrection and Malapropism
Language use is such a valuable marker of social competence that
one seeking the overt prestige of unfamiliar standard language usage
may sometimes produce hypercorrections. A common English hyper
correction, for example, concerns the subject pronouns as in They
asked he and I for traditional standard They asked him and me, and after
prepositions just between she and I for just between her and me.
The object pronouns me, him, her, and them are more frequent and earlier
learned than subject pronouns I, he, she, and they, and there is a natural
tendency, especially of child learners but persisting in adults, to substitute
object pronouns for subject pronouns, especially after and, as in Jack and
me were there, and in some dialects even before and as in Him and me
were there. (Notice that the same speakers would never say Me was there,
but the presence of and in the subject somehow licenses the use of object
pronouns). That is, as he and I may be a correction of him and me, between
you and I is a hypercorrection of between you and me.
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The lexical-morpheme equivalent of such hypercorrection of
grammatical morphemes is known as malapropism: substituting
similar sounding words for words which one does not know well, such
as sympathy for symphony (I prefer listening to sympathies) or ravished
for ravaged (Fire ravished much of the business district).

(iii) Subject and Function
Depending on the purpose of speaking, the subject or topic, and
functions (as to assert, question, and persuade), we have more or less
uency or facility of grammatical competence, especially concerning
vocabulary, and we can putthis knowledge to use to express
sociolinguistic competence as well.
Jargon and Slang
Professional and technical topics - including some talk about sports - may
encourage the use of jargon, whereas familiar and strictly social topics are
occasions for slang. Auto mechanics and physicians, for example, would
often describe the same engine repair or medical condition to one another
the way they would to their customers or patients, respectively, nor do
gang members or friends talk about their activities among themselves the
way they talk about these activities with others.
Jargon and slang provide lexical alternatives to more typical or
ordinary usage (for example linguistic jargon semantics for meaning,
and slang cop for policeman), and the choice of a jargon or slang
alternative in preference to the ordinary language choice expresses
an acknowledgement or claim of shared group membership in and
solidarity with the group which the jargon/slang choice typies. In the
case of the intentionally obfuscatory use of jargon (that is, intending not
to be understood), the claim is an assertion of separateness, expertise,
and perhaps more general superiority.
Speaking vs. Writing
Speech and writing have different strengths and weaknesses. Certain
subjects and/or functions of language tend to favour the use of
speech or writing, and certain forms of language are encouraged or
discouraged according to whether language is spoken or written.
Contractions, vernacular usage, and slang, for example, are often
avoided in written styles, which also favour more complex syntax and
lower frequency vocabulary.
A marked distinction between the language of speaking and writing
may have been more apparent in the past, and is perhaps becoming
less so today, particularly with the appearance of e-mail, and on-
line electronic communication, for which traditional standards and
expectations of written form often seem not to apply.
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Linguistic Characteristics of Genres
Research supports our intuitions that certain linguistic features tend
positively or negatively to characterise discourse of certain types. For
example,
contractions tend to occur in conversation and to be absent in
formal writing;
passive verbs tend to occur in scientic and technical writing and
to be absent in speech and informal writing; and
third-person pronouns and past tense verbs tend to occur in
narratives.
Certain sets of linguistic features have been found to characterise certain
functionally dened types of spoken and written language, or genres.
1.4 DlCLDSSlA, LANCUACE DlALECTS
AND VAklETlES
Diglossia is dened as a relatively stable language situation where primary
dialects of the language exist alongside a divergent and very highly codied
variety.
This variety usually has a more complex grammatical structure and a respected
body of written literature either from an earlier period or in another speech
community. This variety is usually formally learned and used for formal written
and spoken purposes. It however is not used by any part of the community for
ordinary conversation. (Ferguson, 1959: p336)
A diglossic situation happens when a society has two distinct language codes
with a very clear functional separation.
An example of this phenomenon is the Arabic situation where there is Classical
Arabic (high variety) and the various colloquial varieties (low variety). Classical
Arabic is the language of the Quran and is not used for ordinary conversation.
The colloquial variety, on the other hand, is used for ordinary everyday social
chores and functions.
EXEkClSE 1.3
1. In what ways is register distinguished?
2. List the ve types of register. Provide an example for each type.
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A key characteristic of diglossia is that both high and low varieties are kept apart
in their functions.
The high varieties may be used for formal lectures and delivering sermons as
well as literature. The low varieties may be used for giving directions to servants
or workers, in conversations with familiars, in popular soap dramas and folk
literature.
The high variety is perceived to be the more prestigious variety as there tends
to be a body of literature in that variety and none in the lower variety. Another
important difference is that children learn the lower variety while the higher
variety is taught in some kind of formal setting.
1.4.1 The Drgns o! DgIossa
What are the origins of diglossia? Ferguson (1959), theorised that a diglossic
situation could have happened in a society when there was a signicant amount
of literature in a language very similar or identical to the natural language of a
community.
Literacy was however, limited to a small elite population and over a period of
several centuries, this elitist variety becomes the variety of the establishment.
Traditionally, the high variety is associated with an elite and the lower variety
with everybody else. As such, diglossia reinforces social distinctions and may be
used by those in power to safeguard the existing power structure. Nevertheless,
other factors may also come into play.
Society
Occurrence of diglossic situation
Language
Code 2
Language
Code 1
Separation of language functions
Figure 1.8: How a diglossic situation happens
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A certain language or variant may be accorded the high variety because of its
religious association classical Arabic, for example. Similarly, a long literary
tradition may make a variety a high variety as in the case of Sanskrit in India and
perhaps Mandarin in China.
A diglossic situation is interesting as it offers insight into the ambiguous
concepts of language and language dialects. Scholars have long pointed out
the considerable difculties in deciding which is the language and which is the
dialect or variety of the language.
An example of this confusion would be ancient Greek which was actually a group
of local varieties used for differing purposes. Ionic was used for history, Doric for
choral and lyric works, Attic for tragedy. The Greek we know today was actually
a dialect of the major cultural and administrative centre.
Socio-historical factors also play a major role in dening languages and dialects.
Hindi and Urdu are inherently the same language with minor differences which
are magnied for political and religious reasons.
In direct contrast to this would be China with its many dialects, most mutually
intelligible to one another. However, the Chinese would say that they speak only
one language as they are united through a common writing system and tradition.
In essence then, the term language can be used to refer to either a single linguistic
norm or to a group of related norms. A dialect is one of these norms. Through the
process of standardisation, it becomes a subordinate variety of a given language.
A standard variety of any language is in short, the preferred dialect of that
language.
This variety could have been chosen as the standard for numerous reasons,
perhaps, political, social, religious or economic. For example, the standard British
variety is historically based on the dialect of the area surrounding London while
French was the dialect of Paris.
The consequence of this process of choosing a dialect as the standard is that
one dialect becomes the perceived language and all others are relegated to the
position of subordinate dialects.
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Language is the superordinate term of dialect. Dialect is any set of one or
more varieties of a language.
A language may fulll any or several subsets of these criteria: (a)
standardisation; (b) vitality; (c) historicity; (d) autonomy; (e) reduction; (f)
mixture, and (g) de facto norms.
Vernacular language refers to a language which is unstandardised and has
not been made ofcial. It is usually acquired at home and not the ofcial
language of a country.
Speech community refers to people from the same group who speak in the
same way and share the same norms and values.
Style is a way in which speech is uttered that depends on the level of
formality or situational factors.
Style in speech can be inuenced by many variables: (a) addressee; (b) social
class; (c) context and social roles, and (d) ethnic groups.
EXEkClSE 1.4
1. Dene the following terms
(a) diglossia
(b) language
(c) dialect
2. What are the main characteristics of a diglossic situation?
3. Explain the main difference between a standard variety and a dialect
of a language.
SUMMAkY
SELF-CHECK 1.3
A dialect is said to be a variation of a given language. However,
dialects may become a language. When will this happen? What are
the criteria that we need to have for a dialect to assume this role? State
your reasons.
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Register is a speech related to a certain specialty. There are ve characteristics
of language that determine the types of register used: (a) forms of address;
(b) politeness of morphology; (c) ellipsis; (d) contractions, and (e) code
switching.
There are also two features of language discussed in this topic: (a)
vernacular vs. non-vernacular language, and (b) hypercorrection and
malapropism.
De facto norms
Isoglosses
Diglossia
Ellipsis
Plexity
Jargon
Social Networks
Speech Communities
Variety of Language
Vernacular Language