Linguistics Summary PDF

Different theories on how languages originated DIVINE SOURCE God has taught humanity languages: Aramaic, Arabic SOCIAL INTERACTION SOURCE Based upon grunts/curses when humans lifted heavy objects TOOLMAKING SOURCE Language has ev...

Different theories on how languages originated DIVINE SOURCE God has taught humanity languages: Aramaic, Arabic SOCIAL INTERACTION SOURCE Based upon grunts/curses when humans lifted heavy objects TOOLMAKING SOURCE Language has evolved putting objects together (ex: rocks) GENETIC SOURCE Children learn to speak the language of their surrounding NATURAL SOUND SOURCE Connecting the sound + object that produces sound: boom INNATENESS HYPOTHESIS Humans can naturally speak languages because of bigger brains, meaning that we have this built-in instinct of just knowing language PHYSICAL ADAPTION SOURCE Human features such as upright teeth /f/ /v/, exhaling breath, muscles of lips /p/ and /b/ GESTURE SOURCE Connection between brain and areas that activate muscles in face, vocal folds and brain for us to speak Properties of human language Displacement is when humans can refer back to events in the past and communicate based on what has happened. Animals cannot do this. Arbitrariness means that there exists no natural link between the word and its meaning. We just decided to use the word cat for ‘cat’, not because it sounds or looks like a cat. Animals have a clear link: (sound) signal → message. Cultural transmission means that we learn the languages by our surrounding environment. Animals signal through instinct; their environment does not matter. We, humans, have to learn through interacting and talking with others. Productivity means that we humans are able to produce an infinite number of utterances in our language. Animals are limited. Duality means that human language has two layers: physical level to be able to produce different sounds /t/ /e/ /n/, and combining these sounds which carries specific meaning: /ten/ Communicative signals are intentional, such as — Informative signals are unintentional, such as body language or sneezing. WORD FORMATION BORROWING Taking words from other languages –– croissant (French) CALQUE Direct translation of words into a language –– skyskrapa → skyscraper COINAGE Inventing new words –– TEFLON ← TETRAFLOURON EPONYMY Words deriving from names of places or persons –– volt, watt, denim COMPOUNDING Two separate words joined to produce ONE word –– basket + ball = basketball BLENDING Mixing parts of words that become new words –– fog and smoke → smog BACKFORMATION Noun is shortened to create a verb OR verb becomes a noun by suffix television → televise edit → editor CLIPPING A part of a word that are being used as words alone –– application → app HYPOCORISM Showing affection by adding -y or -ie at the end of names, words –– Tommy CONVERSION A change in the function of a word; noun → verb –– a chair → to chair Water (N) → to water (V) To hit (V) → a hit (N) ACRONYMS New words formed from initial letters; AIDS, NATO, LASER, NASA What is agreement? Agreement is a grammatical feature that different parts of a sentence align together. ​ SUBJECT-VERB AGREEMENT must align with the subject in terms of person; first-person, or number; singular/plural. ​ PRONOUN-VERB AGREEMENT means that a pronoun must agree with its antecedent (the noun it refers to). Romeo thinks he is in love with Julia. The cat likes canaries. The cats like canaries. The subject “cat” is third person so the verb The subject “cats” is third person plural, “likes” is also third person singular. therefore the verb is “like” Active: subject performs the action Passive: subject receives the action ​ The cat bit the dog. ​ The cat was bitten by the dog. Everything about morphemes Morphology is the study of words and how every part is made up from smaller pieces, just like LEGO. Morphemes are small pieces of words that have meaning. FREE MORPHEMES BOUND MORPHEMES Can stand alone as single words NOT able to stand alone, but attached LEXICAL DERIVATIONAL Carry content and the main meaning of a Creates new words by prefixes/suffixes, word: girl, house changes meaning & world class (nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs) sometimes: encourage → encouragement FUNCTIONAL INFLECTIONAL Modifies the meaning of the word: Indicates grammatical function, tense, the, and, he, of number, comparative/possessive form. (articles, conjunctions, prepositions, -s → plays -ed → played pronouns) Free or bound? If free lexical or functional? If bound, inflectional or derivational? -​ In = free, functional -​ Enter = free, lexical -​ Fearlessness = bound, derivational -​ Represent = free, lexical ative = bound, derivational s = bound, inflectional Allomorphs are morphemes that occur in different versions The inflectional morpheme “plural” is an allomorph Cat + “plural” (cat + /s/) cats Bus + “plural” (bus + /iz/) = buses Man + plural (man + /ae/ → /e/) = men Sentence constituents The building blocks of a sentence and find SUBJECT + VERB + OBJECT. Find the immediate constituents (IC) This is when you look for the biggest parts of the sentence and separate them in different phrases, NP/VP… Syntax Tree diagrams S → NP VP; NP → Det; N; VP → V NP; NP → PRO Deep and surface structure Deep structure is the meaning of a sentence (what you’re trying to say). Surface structure is how the sentence looks (the words you actually use). Certain sentences are systematically related: ​ “The boy is sleeping” — declarative statement ​ “It is the boy that is sleeping” — cleft sentence ​ “Who is sleeping?” — WH-question Transformational Generative Grammar transforms the sentences, they mean the same thing but look different like: Deep structure: "Someone invites Sara." Surface structure 1: "Alex invites Sara." Surface structure 2: "Sara is invited by Alex."  Semantics The meaning of words, phrases and sentences: (understanding what is said) COMMUNICATION Speaker: puts together words and phrases to communicate a message Hearer: interprets the message according to their knowledge of the world and the context Referential meaning: describes physical/factual attributes and refers to something TWO FUNCTIONS 1.​ What/who is talked about is CLEAR 2.​ Explains and identifies the and ambiguous understanding of the word to someone who does not know it The referential meaning can also be defined by: ​ Lexical relations: a word is related to other words → cat and dog are related because both are animals. ​ Context: The meaning of the word can change depending on the situation → scratch can mean “itch” or “damage” on different occasions, depending on how it is explained. Associative meaning: individual feelings associated to words; means different things for different people based on their experiences THIS IS PERSONAL! Hospital → fear, blood (to me) Hospital → workplace (to someone else) Pragmatics We try to make sense of what speakers actually “Can you pass the salt?”  mean; the study of speaker meaning in CONTEXT As a request and not “ability” are you able.. Prerequisite for successful communication: shared assumptions and expectations in speaker/hearer Linguistic context Discourse or surrounding words in the linguistic I won’t go the lecture expression -​ Because it’s surely boring -​ Your mom needs you to stay.. Physical context Everything non-linguistic in the environment of the My car has a flat tyre speaker -​ I enter a tyre store -​ Deixis Words that point to sth in context. -​ Person -​ People involved in the conversation Person: “I, you, he/she” -​ Spatial -​ Locations relevant to the speaker/listener Spatial: “Here, there” -​ Temporal -​ Time relevant to moment of speaking Temporal: “Now, yesterday, then” Reference When language refers to (identifies) specific people, “Sara” in “Sara is my friend” places, or things ​ Have you seen Mr. Kawasaki? Inference Understanding meaning and intention behind words “He’s parked outside” – knowing that by the listener to understand what the speaker really he is the pizza delivery guy, and intends. someone has to get it. ​ He means go outside and get the pizza. Anaphora Referring back to mentioned earlier “John loves his dog. “He takes it on (subsequent reference) walks”. ‘He’ → John ‘It’ → dog Cataphora Referring to something which is mentioned later It was so tiny, I could almost not see -​ Common in stories it. The little cat. ‘It’ → cat Presupposition Assumptions the speaker thinks the listener already “Did you enjoy the party?” assumes knows or agrees with you attended the party Pragmatic markers Small words that organize interaction in Well, you know, like conversation; to mark a speaker’s attitude to the listener or to what is being said Politeness Strategies to show respect “Could you please help me?” instead of “Help me” Co-operative People generally cooperate to make communication principle effective; say things that are helpful and relevant to keep the conversation on track, based on purpose Gricean Maxims -​ Quantity Provide enough information, but not too much “What time is it?” Answering with: “10 a.m” and not adding information about “I made eggs for breakfast!” -​ Quality Speak truthfully, do not say that which you believe to be false -​ Relation Be relevant -​ Manner Be clear and brief Tautology Repeating a word; saying the same thing twice over ‘A sandwich is a sandwich’ in different words; giving no value to it; -​ not good or bad Hedges Words or phrases that indicate we are unsure of what It will take about five minutes.. we’re saying is correct or so, could, guess, might, a bit, sort of, like Implicatures Someone is implying something without saying it ‘Are you coming to the party tonight? directly; additional conveyed meaning. ‘I’ve got an exam tomorrow’ Interpreted as “no” or “probably not”; -​ Can be used to seem more polite →→→ With the co-operative principle Politeness Face; public self-image. ‘Give me that paper!’ face-threat act Face-threatening act or face-saving act. ‘Could you pass me that paper?’ face-saving act Positive / negative Negative face is the need to be independent; ‘I’m sorry to bother you’ face-saving face Positive face is the need to belong. act emphasizing negative face; concerns about bothering someone ‘The same thing happened to me, let’s do it together’ Face-sacing act emphasizing positive face; solidarity and common goal Speech acts Commanding, questioning, informating, requesting. STRUCTURE FUNCTION Interrogative = question Did you eat the pizza? Imperative = command (request) Eat the pizza (please)! Declarative = statement You ate the pizza. Direct speech acts Interrogative structure is used with the function of a ‘Did you do that?’ question; when you LITERALLY want to know; ‘Is she going to go back to him?’ asking for the information Indirect speech acts Interrogative structure for a request or ‘Can you pass the salt?’ not ability Declarative structure to make a request. ‘You left the door open’ do the action Synonymy = ROBUST AND TOUGH ​ (same) Antonymy = TOUGH AND WAK (opposite) 1.​ SUPERORDINATE = ANIMAL (general category) 2.​ HYPONYM = DOG ​(type of animal) a.​ HYPONYM = GOLDEN RETRIEVER (type of dog) 3.​ CO-HYPONYMS = SCHÄFER (also type of dog) Prototypes - chair; furniture - the most typical people think of Homophony - sea / see, allowed/aloud Homonomy - when a word is spelled the same and pronounced; different meaning; bat/bat Polysemy - unrelated meaning = heart (of a city) / heart (of a human) Metonymy - another word that is used to substitute; king / crown OR the White House / presidential administration Collocation - words that are frequently used together; pen and paper (nouns), also prepositions + verbs, commit / crime = fast food rather than quick food COMPONENTIAL ANALYSIS MEDIA AUDIO VISUAL TEXT TV + + + RADIO + - - NEWSPAPER - + + SOCIAL MEDIA + + + Semantic roles In grammar Verbs differ in number and types of NP complements Intransitive (bark) vs transitive (tell) NP’s take on the roles of either subject/object/predicative In semantics: entities take on roles in a sentence, how they relate NP with verbs, and verbs are key as they connect nouns to these roles. The boy drew the picture with a crayon; he flew to Chicago. AGENT (who does the action) the boy INSTRUMENT (what is used) a crayon THEME (what the action is about) the picture LOCATION (where it happens) — (if it happened in the living room) SOURCE (where it comes from) — (if he flew from New York → Chicago) GOAL (where it’s going) to chicago EXPERIENCER (who feels) — (if the boy got hit with a crayon) Pragmatics Discourse analysis -​ Language beyond the sentence = discourse (spoken and written) -​ Structure and intelligibility of a text is affected by: → Cohesion: 'sammanhållning', cohesive ties in a text; identify connections and common elements; referring to the same people and things by different words. EXAMPLE My father once bought a Lincoln convertible. He did it by saving every penny he could. That car would be worth a fortune nowadays. However, he sold it to help pay for my college education. Sometimes I think I’d rather have the convertible. PEOPLE My father – he – he – he – My - my - I – I THINGS A Lincoln convertible – That car – it – the convertible MONEY bought – saving every penny – worth a fortune – sold – pay TIME once – nowadays – sometimes TENSES bought (past) – did (past) – could (past) – sold (past) – think (present) → Coherence: everything fits together; the overall meaning ‘Woman robs bank with sandwich’ – what did you imagine? Turn-taking in One person speaks at a time, but some avoid normal conversation completion points, making conversations longer. Filled pauses Sounds; "em", "eh", "you know" that fill pauses in speech. Marking a turn complete → pausing at the end of a syntactically complete structure → asking questions Marking desire to speak → making short, repeated sounds → using body shifts and facial expressions Adjacency pairs if someone says hello - we respond with a similar greeting Insertion sequence sequence Q2 - A2 comes between Q1 - A1. Do you want some milk? Q1 Is it soy milk? Q2 Of course A2 Okay thanks A1 Schema theory General knowledge about common things, like knowing what a supermarket is and what is inside it. Script A dynamic schema; the usual steps or actions for common activities, like going to a dentist or restaurant. Language and the Brain ​ On the left hemisphere -​ Broca’s area: anterior speech cortex (linked to speech production) -​ Wernicke’s area: posterior speech cortex (linked to language comprehension) -​ Motor Cortex → Arcuate Fasciculus: controls muscles, connected to Broca’s area through the arcuate fasciculus (curved bundle). Localization View hearing a word → understanding it → saying it. Tip of Tongue The word is known but can't be recalled, first initial sounds and Phenomenon phonemes are correct; not the rest. often with uncommon words/names. We do remember number of syllables & stress Malapropisms Near-misses for words with strong phonological similarities, e.g., saying "distinguisher" instead of "fire extinguisher." Slips of the Tongue Errors in speech, such as "use the door to open the key" (spoonerisms). 1. Perseveration: sound carried over, e.g., my favorite fong. (song) Slips of the Tongue Types 2. Anticipation: sound used early, e.g., roman→noman numeral. 3. Exchange: sound swap, e.g., beel fetter. Slips of the Ear Mishearing words, e.g., great ape instead of gray tape. Aphasia Language disturbance due to brain damage (often from a stroke). Broca’s Aphasia Reduced speech, distorted articulation, slow speech; focuses on (Expressive) nouns, verbs, adjectives, but lacks inflections (e.g., plural, past tense). Example: I eggs and eat and drink coffee breakfast. Wernicke’s Aphasia Fluent speech but hard to understand, often using vague terms; (Receptive) includes anomia (difficulty finding words). Conduction Aphasia Damage to the arcuate fasciculus; difficulty repeating words, mispronunciations, and disrupted rhythms, though no articulation problems. L1 Acquisition requirements Physically able to produce sounds; cultural transmission Language interaction with Exaggerated intonation, repetition, questions, turn-taking, young infants (care-giving slower speech, simplified words. speech) Input The parents and other children speak to the little child Acquisition schedule Develop same basis as biological motor skills; follows stages: cooing, one-word, two-word, telegraphic speech Stages of Speech - Cooing: i, u sounds (0-5 months). - Babbling: gaga, dada (5-12 months). - One-word: milk, cat (12-18 months). - Two-word: baby chair (18-20 months). - Telegraphic Speech: strings of words (2-2.5 years). Overgeneralization Applying grammar rules too broadly (e.g., “goed” instead of “went”). Overextension Using a single word for multiple items (e.g., “dog” for all four-legged animals). Phonology Stage 1 (1-2+ years): /b/ /d/ /g/, /f/ /s/, /m/ /n/, /w/ /j/. Stage 2 (3.5-5+ years): Remaining fricatives, /l/, /r/. Morphology -ing, in/on, plural -s, irregular past tense, possessive -s, articles, 3rd person singular -s. Syntax Development Questions: 1-2 words + rising intonation → more complex WH-questions. Negatives: no/not at start → didn’t/won’t forms. Critical Period L1 must develop by puberty; crucial period for language receptiveness. Writing and Speaking Speaking develops naturally, but reading/writing requires instruction. Writing Systems - Pictograms: symbols for objects. - Ideograms: abstract symbols. - Logograms: symbols for words (Chinese). - Rebus Principle: using symbols to represent sounds (2B4GIVN). - Syllabic Writing: symbols = syllables (Japanese). - Alphabet: symbols represent sounds. Brain and Language Left Hemisphere: Linear thinking (language). Right Hemisphere: Holistic, creative. Contralateral: Each hemisphere controls opposite sides of  the body. Lateralization Language primarily processed in the left hemisphere. Dichotic Listening Test Right ear inputs processed faster (direct to left hemisphere); left ear inputs take longer to process. Second Language Acquisition (L2) There is a difference between learning a language: ​ Learning a foreign language means that it is not spoken in the country you live in → EFL ​ Learning a second language means that it is spoken in the country you live in → ESL Bilingual is someone who is proficient (speaks) two languages. In history, immigrants to the USA have been actively discouraged and punished for speaking their mother tongue, Spanish, which led to the loss of family’s heritage and language. – this is called subtractive bilingualism Learning our mother tongue/home language (modersmål) has become encouraged, and gives personal identity – this is called additive bilingualism L2 acquisition usually happens during teenage or adult years, or in a few hours each week of school, NOT as in L1 by constant interaction as a young child. ​ → Even in ideal acquisition situations (Joseph Conrad phenomenon) (meaning, even if you study the language the really hard and even move to the country for instance) – you can acquire a great proficiency in WRITTEN language, but SPOKEN will be more difficult to sound like a native (in most cases, since pronunciation is more difficult to acquire). Most people still have a foreign accent. The age factor plays a significant role when it comes to learning a second language. ​ Some mean that after the critical period for language acquisition has passed, around the time of puberty, it becomes difficult to acquire another language fully. As the dominance of L1 is strong in terms of pronunciation.  ​ Others mean that it is proven that students in their early teens are quicker and more effective L2 learners in the classrooms than seven-year-olds. The optimal age for classroom learning language may be during 10 to 16 years; as our capacity for language has not been completely lost yet and the maturation of cognitive skills is apparent and makes it easier to learn. Affective factors When it comes to teenagers learning L2, there can still be barriers that make it difficult to learn for them. Teenagers are more self-conscious than younger children, and if they’re in a classroom and have to attempt to produce different sounds of another language by embarrassment or unwillingness, then it overrides physical and cognitive abilities. Also, by lack of identifying with the culture of the new language or traditions. Other affective reasons can be: ​ Boring textbooks in school ​ Boring classroom environment ​ Negative feelings of stress, unmotivation Motivation is important to successful L2 learning. ​ Instrumental motivation: learn L2 to achieve a goal; graduation requirement or being able to read books, scientific publications, watch movies ​ Integrative motivation: learn L2 for social purposes, to take part in the social life of a community and be accepted as a member of that community (moving to a country) Those that are willing to make mistakes while learning a language, take risks and try to communicate in the L2 are more successful; also those who experience success in their journey of learning a language are most motivated. Teaching methods The Grammar-Translation Method ​ Learning the same way as any other academic subject ​ Vocabulary lists, set of grammar rules and memorization  ​ Focus on written language rather than spoken language ​ Roots in how traditional Latin was taught The cons: ​ Students can leave school with high grades in French but can’t really communicate if they go to France, slow, focusing on details and therefore lack of fluency → too much focus on rules in this method! The Audiolingual Method ​ The fluent use of a language was a set of habits that could be developed with practice ​ Hours spent in a language lab repeating oral drills; notably in courses for military personnel The cons: ​ Isolated practice in drilling language patterns is not at all similar to how it actually is to interact with actual spoken language and can be very boring Communicative Approaches ​ Emphasizes the functions of a language (what/how it is used) ​ Classroom lessons in this approach is more “learning to ask for things” rather than “the forms of past tense grammar” ​ A reaction against “pattern-practice” and against consciously learning grammar rules Task-based learning ​ Teachers have created interactive tasks and activities in the classrooms such as working in small groups and doing exercises like “describe a way to get form A to B” or “plan a shopping trip with your partner by making a shopping list” ​ Students will improve their ability, especially their fluency, by using L2 in an activity that emphasizes getting meaning across ​ This is actually proven to be a good method! In L2 there is more focus on the learner and a change that has happened recently is that eros are tolerated. Transfer ​ Transfer is using sounds, expressions or structures from L1 (mother tongue) when speaking L2. EXAMPLE: A Spanish speaker (L1) who says “take it from the side inferior” uses the Spanish word inferior = lower which is common because in Spanish it is placed after nouns. ​ A positive transfer = If L1 and L2 have similar features (EXAMPLE: marking plural on the end of nouns with s at the end in both languages), then the learner can benefit from its knowledge from their mother tongue (L1) when learning the new language (L2). ​ A negative transfer (interference) = If the features from L1 is very different, it can result in the L2 expressions being very difficult to understand. This often happens when the languages are very different to each other. (EXAMPLE: Becoming proficient in English is more demanding for Chinese than for German speakers, as English is a Germanic language just like German, and not Chinese). ○​ Negative transfer is more common in the early stages of L2 learning and decreases with time. ​ intonation (rising and falling tone, failure of staying level) ​ the wrong word order in questions (Känner du henne?) ​ pronunciation /e/ and /ae/ ​ vocabulary, e.g. German bekommen (means get) Interlanguage ​ Interlanguage is mistakes that are produced by L2 learners which do not have any connection to either L1 or L2. Highly individual. EXAMPLE: Spanish L1 speaker says: “She name is Maria” –– this is NOT correct in either English or Spanish. ​ An in-between system with its own ‘imaginary’ rules. All L2 production is based on it ​ Fossilization is when people are learning a second language (L2), sometimes they keep using the same phrases, even if they aren't completely correct. They stop improving and don't get closer to speaking like native speakers. ○​ Fossilized language can still help communication. Researchers study how to keep improving, with understandable input being key. Input and output Input in L2 is that which is comprehensible, because we can’t process what we do not understand. ​ Input is understandable only if it is in simpler structure and vocabulary which can be classified as in foreigner talk. EXAMPLE: An Native English speaker asks an international student ‘how it’s going with their studies’ and if not understood they can simply say: “English class, you like it?” ← this is beneficial for both immediate communication and providing the learner with understandable examples of basic structure with L2 AS INPUT. ​ Negotiated input is when the non-native speaker (L2 learner) interacts with L2 material which the learner can get through requests for clarification while active attention is being focused on what is said. ○​ EXAMPLE: Native English speaker explaining what a triangle is to someone who does not know English very well (non-native). “Triangle has THREE straight sides, like a mountain, a peak” → using words that they CAN understand and then the learner will use themselves and produce it. ​ Output is when a learner uses what they learned to communicate clearly during meaningful interactions. 4 important communicative competences 1.​ Grammatical: to use accurate words and structures 2.​ Sociolinguistic: has to do with pragmatics, enables the learner to know when to say “Can I have some water?” or “Give me some water!” → in what social context? 3.​ Strategic: The ability to organize a message effectively and to compensate for any difficulties. 4.​ Communication strategy: EXAMPLE: Dutch L1 speaker describes the word for something that they do NOT know → the native speaker instantly understands. Social variation in Language A speech community is a group of people who share a set of norms and expectations regarding the use of language. Sociolinguistics is the study of the relationship between language and society. Social dialects are different classes in society; middle-class & working class. Dialect: geography defines what a group has in common considering language Sociolect: social class defines what a group has in common considering language EXAMPLE: Ain’t = is used by working class and ​ Class is the social variable ​ Pronunciation or word is the linguistic variable Idiolect = personal dialect because of unique circumstances of every person’s life. We share an idiolect with others who have similar educational and occupational backgrounds, socio-economic status. Labov study → the postvocalic /r/ in New York City’s department stores – the higher the socio-economic status of the store the more /r/ sounds were produced The lower the status the fewer /r/ sounds Social markers ​ Special way of speaking that shows which group a person belongs to ​ Include accents, slang that signal social class or region In contemporary English → [h]-dropping is associated with lower class and less education. Speech-style can also be viewed as a social feature of language use. ​ Formal use: when we pay more attention to how we are speaking (careful style) ​ Informal use: when we pay less attention to how we are speaking (casual style) Style-shifting is when a person changes from one to the other style. ​ Middle-class speakers usually shift to speak in the style of upper middle class when they are using careful style. ​ Lower-middle-class speakers use postvocalic /r/ even more than upper-middle-class ​ Hypercorrection is when speakers can produce different forms or odd pronunciations as they shift their speech style to speak better, of a prestige form. Prestige ​ Overt prestige is when individuals change their speech in the direction of those perceived to have higher social status. ​ Covert prestige is a hidden status of speech style. Some groups value the way they talk because it shows they belong to their social group. They care more about group loyalty than sounding like people from higher social classes. Speech accommodation ​ Our speech style is influenced by the audience we speak to and their perception. Convergence ​ We adjust our speech style and make it more similar to the style of the person we’re talking to. THIS REDUCES SOCIAL DISTANCE. EXAMPLE: A teenage boy asking his friends for photos is more “ C’mon give me the photo.” or asking his friend’s mother “Excuse me, could I have a look at your photo album, Mrs. Hall?” Divergence ​ We want to sound DIFFERENT and emphasize social distance when speaking. The speech style diverts from the other. EXAMPLE: Teenager shifts to a speech style when speaking to teacher to try and show that he can’t do the assignment. Teenager: I can’t do it, sir. Teacher: Oh, come on. If I can do it, you can too. Teenager: Look, ah can’t do it so… Register ​ Using language that is appropriate in specific context such as situational (church), occupational (among lawyers) or topical (talking about language). ○​ Religious register: “Ye shall be blessed by God in times of tribulation” ○​ Legal register: “The witness is ready to take a stand in this court”  ○​ Linguistic register: In this dialect there are fewer inflectional suffixes” Jargon ​ Jargon is special vocabulary used in a specific job or interest, helping people in the same group connect. EXAMPLE: Like using the word “penal code” by lawyers. ​ Using the right jargon can make someone a recognized professional in that field. ​ Too much jargon can exclude outsiders and lead to complaints, like "jargonitis" in medicine. Slang ​ Slang changes with fashion, especially among teenagers, and helps groups show their identity outside higher-status groups. ​ Slang changes ocer tie, like how bucks for dollars has been around for a long time, but new terms like “para” can be used now. ​ Age affects language use because younger speakers often use more taboo words which are seen as slang differences between age groups. ​ Slang is viewed as informal, unconventional but also catchy and expressive. Taboo terms ​ Words related to body parts, bodily functions and sexual acts that people avoid due to religion, politeness, or prohibited behavior. ​ In a study of high school groups, burnouts (lower status) regularly used taboo words while jocks (higher status) only used them with only males, and females didn’t use them at all. ​ Social class division is evident during adolescence; meaning, which social groups use what kind of slang. African American English (AAE) ​ Variety spoken by many african american across the U.S, sometimes called Black English.  ​ Social barreires like discrimination and segregation create difference in social dialects, similar to how geographical barreiers create regional dialects. ​ AAE has distinct social markers but has often been unfairly seen as “bad language” by dominant groups. ​ Despite discrimination, AAE holds covert prestige, among younger people in popular music. Vernacular Language ​ Vernacular means the everyday, non-standard spoken language, often seen as lower status. ​ African American Vernacular English (AAVE) is the most studied form of African American English and is considered a vernacular or non-standard social dialect. ​ Vernacular originally described early local European languages like Spanish, French and Italian compared to Latin which was of high status. ​ AAVE shares features with Chicano English and Asian-American English, showing common traits across different communities. The sounds of a Vernacular ​ AAVE reduces final consonant making words like “left hand” sound like “lef han” → This affects past tense forms -ed, “i passed the test” can sound” I Pass the test” ​ TH-sounds in “the” are pronounced as d or t, the becomes da → you da man! ​ Possessive ‘s and third person singular -s are dropped John’s girlfriend → John girlfriend ​ Plural -s is not used if the sentence already show its plural like “two guy” instead of two guys The grammar of a Vernacular ​ AAVE is unfairly criticised as illogical, especially in grammar, when they’re actually logical. ​ Double negatives “he don’t know nothing” are seen as illogical but are used in many English dialects and languages like French, where they emphasize the negative meaning. IT IS ACTUALLY USED to add greater emphasis. ​ The absence of “to be” forms “you crazy” “she working” in AAVE is critized as sloppy, but it’s a common feature in casual speech, similar contractions exist in Arabic and Russian.