Language Varieties

1
Language Varieties

• Dialects distinct and consistent differences
  within a language system used by a specific group
  of speakers
• Mutually understandable with other dialect
  speakers
• Regional differences influenced by geography
• Social differences influenced by social aspects
• Dialects reflect these differences at all
  linguistic levels
• Not just difference in accent or lexicon
• Speakers normally do not shift between dialects
  in different social situations

2
American Regional Dialects
3
Dialect or Language?

• There is no scientific way of labelling a
  linguistic system a dialect or a language
• Chinese dialects are for the most part not
  mutually understandable when spoken
• There are several distinct languages that are for
  the most part mutually understandable
• Hindi and Urdu, Swedish and Norwegian
• The label usually has more to do with political
  and cultural considerations
• Nationalism, ethnic identity, regionalism

4
Idiolect

• Nobody speaks exactly like anyone else we all
  have certain quirks in our language use
• Idiolect refers to linguistic differences that
  are localized in individuals
• Pronouncing gestures with an initial g
• Using yesterday to refer to all days before
  today, not just the one immediately proceeding it

5
Pidgins, Creoles, Languages

• Pidgin Communication by combining vocabulary
  used by the different speakers
• Mostly content words, minimal grammar, no native
  speakers
• Creole Language variety that has been greatly
  influenced by (an)other language(s)
• Established function words, consistent grammar,
  minimal inflections, order-dependent syntax,
  native speakers
• Distinguishing between creoles languages more
  about politics than clear linguistic
  distinctions some linguists prefer term hybrid
  language or hybrid variety to the label
  creole

6
Black English

• One of the mostly widely spoken social dialects
  of American English is Black English (BE)
• Also known as African-American English and
  Ebonics
• BE is not slang nor bad English the
  differences between it and standard English are
  systematic and they also appear in other
  varieties of English
• There are regional variations of BE
• Not all African-Americans speak BE not all BE
  speakers are African-American

7
Dialect Marker of BE

• Deletion of postvocalic liquids
• If r or l occurs after a vowel it will often
  be reduced
• /sIst?r/?/sIst?/ /storm/?/stom/
• Interdental shift
• Non-initial interdental fricatives become
  labiodental fricatives T?f ð?v
• /mawT/?/mawf/ /brið/?/briv/
• Initial voiced interdental fricatives become
  voiced alveolar stops ð?d
• /ðæt/?/dæt/

8
Dialect Markers of BE

• Final velar nasal shift
• Final velar nasals become aveolar nasals
• /du??/?/du?n/ /ple??/?/ple?n/
• Omission of 3rd Person, singular suffix
• He walk She have a bike
• Zero-Copula
• In sentences with a copula verb, it is usually
  absent
• She real nice They out here
• The exception is when the copula is exposed in
  the sentence structure Know what it is? Is
  she?

9
Dialect Markers of BE

• Be as habitual auxiliary
• The use of be to marks habitual actions
• He be busy he is usually busy He be goin'
  to the movies
• Left Dislocation
• My brother, he bigger than you.
• Your sister, I like her.
• Emphatic Negatives
• Aint nobody beat me at no basketball
• I ain't done nothing to nobody

10
History of BE

• BE has its roots in the African slave trade
• Slave traders/owners prohibited slave
  communication in African languages
• American slaves develop creoles between English
  and generic West-African grammar base
• Contemporary relative of these creoles is Gullah
• Over time, these creoles and the Southern dialect
  of English influence each other leading to the
  slaves acquiring a similar dialect to Southern
  English
• Post-slavery, in communities where
  African-Americans are isolated, the modern BE
  dialect develops