Language Choice in Multilingual Communities Lecture 3. Holmes, Janet. 2013. An Introduction to Sociolinguistics. Chapter 2. London: Pearson.

Domains of Language Use  Participants/addressee  Setting Topic (in case of bilingual communities) Holmes, Janet. 2013. An Introduction to Sociolinguistics, 4th edition. London: Pearson.

Modeling variety or code choice

Other social factors affecting the code choice Social distance: how long they know each other. Status Degree of formality function Other social factors affecting the code choice

Drawback of the Domain Approach “The domain-based approach allows for only one choice of language per domain, namely the language used most of the time in that domain. Clearly more than one language may occur in any domain. Different people may use different languages in the same domain.” Holmes, Janet. 2013. An Introduction to Sociolinguistics, 4th edition. London: Pearson.

diglossia Diglossic Languages have one variety that is used for ‘high’ (formal, literacy) purposes: the H-variety, has the most prestige This contrasts with the L-variety which is different phonologically, grammatically, lexically, and syntactically L-variety is used for informal, mostly spoken purposes; lacks prestige, may be spoken lesser beings, uneducated people…etc. No one uses the H variety in everyday conversation.

Arabic, with its Koranic form established in the 7th Century, vs Arabic, with its Koranic form established in the 7th Century, vs. modern spoken dialects German as spoken in Switzerland: Schrift-deutsch (Hochdeutsch) vs. dialects Tamil and many other South Asian languages Example

H-variety dominates certain domains: literacy, religion, public speaking, ‘high’ usages L-variety dominates in ‘lower’ domains: jokes, intimacy, street use, is the first language learned

Domains may shift, get taken over by a non- traditional variety, but only slowly Domain shift may be an index of change of register, or change of formality

Diglossia—Narrow Definition 1. Two distinct varieties of the same language are used in the community. (One is regarded as High, the other as Low.) 2. Each variety is used for quite distinct functions; H and L complement each other. 3. No one uses the H variety in everyday conversation. Holmes, Janet. 2013. An Introduction to Sociolinguistics, 4th edition. London: Pearson.

Ferguson’s diglossia applied to languages where H and L are related; L is usually a linguistic descendent of H (or thought to be) Fishman (1967) extended diglossia to apply to situations where historically unrelated languages were used together, a prestige language for H, a colloquial one for L Fishman’s extension

Ex. Hebrew and Yiddish in eastern Europe English and Spanish in the US English and South Asian languages in South Asia Russian and other languages in the USSR German and other languages in the Austro- Hungarian Empire French and other languages in Francophone Africa Swedish and other languages in Sweden Ex.

Mutual intelligibility May be lacking mutual intelligibility between the H-variety and the L-variety or varieties, especially with the Fishman kind of diglossia! People who know only H can’t understand L; people who know one L-variety can’t understand others, e.g. Arabic dialects from the Maghreb to Yemen or Dubai H-variety and L-varieties are said to control ‘domains’ Mutual intelligibility

Domain shift: a kind of code-switching Public speaking in Tamil: begins in H-variety, with formal greetings and exhortations Shifts to L-variety for solidarity, connection with ‘the people’ (shows that the politician is ‘one of the people’) Shifts back at the end, with a formal ‘wrap-up’ Domain shift: a kind of code-switching

Usually H dominates the ‘high’ registers (education, religion) or domains of the language, while L is relegated to informal, familial, uneducated, humor, trades… But people switch from one to another, depending on the ‘formality’ of the occasion People who don’t control H, remain silent, or risk looking/sounding foolish

Parallel with Diglossia: H-variety used for representing power L-variety expresses lower status Code-switching to L from H indicates ‘solidarity shift’ Parallel with Diglossia:

Switch to English, e.g. in South Asia Represents even more power! Those who don’t control English, don’t have power Many small groups now demanding English medium, in order to get more power! State educational systems that try to impose use of state language are trying to deny power to minority groups Switch to English, e.g. in South Asia

What does this mean in Central Asia? Russian previously dominated the H domains of science and technology Uzbek etc. will have trouble replacing the terminology and developing new registers Russian will continue to represent power and freedom, even as it did during Soviet period Change will be very slow… What does this mean in Central Asia?

To compete, Central Asian languages will have to: Be willing to borrow and loan-translate terminology Be willing to use acronyms, blends, and abbreviations Let the scientists and users develop the registers, rather than have an Academy provide it Be flexible To compete, Central Asian languages will have to:

Russian may yield to English: If Russian is to be displaced, it may be English or another language that will take its place, not an indigenous Central Asian language If various languages take different paths, they will diverge and divide-and-conquer may occur. In the past, Persian occupied the H-domains; is there a chance it could return? What about Turkish of Turkey? Russian may yield to English:

Factors Affecting Code-Switching  Situational Switching  Topic  For Affective Functions Holmes, Janet. 2013. An Introduction to Sociolinguistics, 4th edition. London: Pearson.

Thesis Topic: Lexical Borrowing in Chinese 1. How much borrowing is there in Arabic? (e.g., from English) 2. What kinds of borrowing? 3. What do the borrowed words look like after borrowing? Has the pronunciation changed? Has the meaning changed? 4. Are people aware that a word is borrowed? 5. Is borrowing necessary?