Linguistic Varieties and Multilingual Nations (Part 2) PDF

Chapter 4 Linguistic Varieties and Multilingual Nations (Part 2) Sociolinguistics 1  2. Standard Languages Standard variety is generally one which is written, and which has undergone som...

Chapter 4 Linguistic Varieties and Multilingual Nations (Part 2) Sociolinguistics 1  2. Standard Languages Standard variety is generally one which is written, and which has undergone some degree of regularization or codification (for example, in a grammar and a dictionary); it is recognized as a prestigious variety or code by a community, and it is used for H functions alongside a diversity of L varieties. What’s wrong with this definition? 2  1 2 The term standard is more This is a very general slippery than vernacular definition, and it immediately because it is used in many excludes most of the world’s different ways by linguists. four or five thousand languages. 3  Codification Codification is usually achieved through grammars Standard varieties are and dictionaries, which codified varieties. record, and sometimes prescribe, the standard forms of the language. 4 English Language – 15th Century 5  Standard English emerged naturally in the 15th century from a variety of regional English dialects, largely because it was the variety used by the English Court and the influential merchants of London. What was It was a prestigious variety. happening? Therefore, English became a standard variety in the region due to three major reasons. 6 Three essential criteria, which characterize English as a standard variety: It was influential or prestigious variety. It was codified and stabilized. Served as an H function in that it was used for communication at court, literature, and for administration. It also shows that what we refer to as a standard language is always a particular dialect, which has gained its special position as a result of social, economic, and political influences. 7 English (Standard Dialect) A standard dialect has no particular linguistic merits, whether in vocabulary, grammar or pronunciation. It is simply the dialect of those who are politically powerful and socially prestigious. Standard languages developed in similar ways in Europe. In Italy, Spain, and France for example, there were a variety of dialects of the vernacular languages (derived from Latin), which served as L function varieties alongside the H language. 8 3. New or World Englishes [English spread in other Standard English has served as a useful variety for communication between areas of dialect parts ofonlythe diversity, not world; within whose Britain but also populations in countries where the British havehave their had a colonial influence. own mother-tongues] Local varieties of English, with distinctive linguistic features have developed in many multilingual countries such as Malaysia, Singapore, Hong Kong, India, and many African countries where English has served as a valuable language of wider communication in a multilingual context. The term (World Englishes or new Englishes) is used to emphasize the range of different varieties of English that have developed since the 19th century. 9 Where multilingualism is the norm, relatively standard varieties, such as formal Singapore English expressing global concepts shared across nations co-exist alongside more nativized varieties of English influenced by local languages. For example, Singlish, a very informal colloquial variety of Singapore English. [She shop here yesterday]; Ni hao [meaning hello]; Today weather damn shiok [meaning the weather is really nice today] These varieties may express the local aspirations and identities of a wide range of 10 communities, and this is reflected in the linguistic characters of grammar, vocabulary, stress patterns, and grammatical features. Different Varieties of English (Kachru, 1985) 11 The Three English Circles: Inner-circle: UK, USA, Australia, and Canada; English varieties used by native speakers of English. Outer-circle: Malaysia, Tanzania, India; whom English is a second language. Expanding-circle: With globalization, there are now many more speakers of English with English being the language of the Internet, and computer mediated communication, especially in multilingual countries (English is seen/learned as a foreign language). Countries like: Russia, China, and Japan. 12 13