Language Variations and Dialectal Variations

Language Variations Or Dialectal Variations Standard Pidgin Creole Patois Dialect Colloquial Language Rasta Foreign ...

Language Variations Or Dialectal Variations Standard Pidgin Creole Patois Dialect Colloquial Language Rasta Foreign  Language /Dialectal Variation Language Variation or Dialectal Variation, refers to changes in language due to various influences. These include, social, geographic, individual and group factors. OR The term 'Language/ Dialectal Variation refers to the regional, social, or contextual differences in the ways that a particular language is used. List of Language/ Dialectal Variations 1. Dialect 2. Pidgin 3. Creole 4. Patois 5. Standard 6. Colloquial 7. Foreign (English) 8. Rasta (English) Dialect Dialect refers to the variety of language characteristic of a particular group of people in a given speech community (country) or region. For example: Caribbean dialect There are certain vocabulary items (words) and sentence structures that Caribbean countries (English speaking) have in common, so the caribbean can be seen as a speech community. There can be different variations even within the same speech community. Source Jamaica Barbados Guyana T&T St. Lucia Quenepo ginep ackee Ginep chenet ackee Gossip Cass- cass gossip Talkname commes ro- ro Greedy craven likrish Likrish likrish vowas Firefly peenie-walli firefly Candlefly candlefly firefly Hmmm??? BASILECT MESOLECT ACROLECT  Language Continuum Honey Banana Bumpy Banana Stumpy Banana Sugar Banana Baby Banana Pidgin Pidgin is used for communication between speakers of different language/ speech community. However, when a pidgin is being used as the first language/ mother tongue of a people (the children), the pidgin becomes a native language, and it acquires a more complex grammar to become a Creole language. (Simon & Osbourne 2013) Creole The meaning of the word 'creole' has changed considerably over the years. It is normally used to refer to a dialect or language which results from contact between the language of a colonizing people and the language of a colonized people.  In the Caribbean, Creole languages are as a result of contact between English, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Dutch (languages of the colonizers) and West African languages, Twi and Akan (languages of the colonized). Patois Patois is a word of French origin which translates to mean 'gibbrish', ‘uncultivated speech’. Patois is used to refer to a geographical dialect which differs from the standard language spoken in a given country. In Jamaica, for example, the word patois is used to refer to the English based creole spoken. Patois carries the usual negative associations and lack of prestige which characterize non-standard, rural or regional dialects. Standard Variety This is the variety of language or dialect that is used for formal, official and education purposes. It is also used as an instrument for mass education and communication causing it to acquire greater prestige and uniformity. (Creoles have been observed to lack uniformity as a result of not being standardized.) Most Caribbean countries have a Eurpoean language as its standard variety for formal, official purposes and a Creole language for informal communication amongst native, family and friends. Haiti is the only exception where the French Creole was made an official language alongside French. (5% of Haitians speak french) Internal variation refers to the different varieties of a particular language.  Eg. Spanish (Cuba, Spain, Mexico, Venezuela and Eqatorial Guinea). English (Britain, America, Australia and Jamaica) Colloquial Language/ Slang This is a popular, fashionable use of words and phrases which may be either old words given new meaning or completely new words. In the same way that fashion changes, so do slang expressions. Slang is a normal part of everyday speech but may not be acceptable in certain formal settings. When used in formal writing, in particular, these expressions should be put in inverted commas.. For example 'wicked'/ ‘shell’/ ‘slap’ - Jamaican slang for good/amazing. 'off the chain'-American slang for exciting/good) Foreign English This refers to varieties of the English language spoken by persons not from native to that particular country. Rasta English This refers to a special variety of English indegenous to Jamaica, spoken by a religious group of persons called Rastafarians.  This variety differentiates itself from standard and non-standard English by use of different, specialized vocabulary items. The psychology of 'no contradiction' extends to all aspects of a Rastafarian's life, including language. For example 1. oppress -/up-res/---- because it sounds contradictory for it means held down in life, Rastafarians refer to this verb as downpress. 2. participation -/part-icipation/ means being fully involved therefore they refer to this noun as fullticipation. Other Examples!!!!!!!! The language is also characterized by use of 'I' to signify positivity and the importance of the individual in relation to another, so instead of 'You and I', Rasta would refer to us as 'I and I' to signify that we are both equal in importance. Irie, refers to a good vibe Ital food refers to food considered good for the body (i.e, Vegetarian based food).