Notes for “Language and Society” (Sociolinguistics) Chapter Ten of Fromkin, Rodman, Hyams

Terms Idiolect – unique characteristics of the language of an individual Dialect (variety is more appropriate) Mutual intelligibility is key to definition Accent – phonological traits Isoglosses – a geographic line dividing two speech communities Dialect leveling – movement towards greater uniformity. (Is it happening?)

Concepts Dialect variation increasing Dialects of English Effects of travel and mass media Dialects of English General Exmamples r vs. r-less (FDR Example) (New York City Example) Cot vs. caught Sorry Double modals Phonological Differences “pen” [ p i n ] vs. [ p e n ] Syntactic Differences “between you and I” (growing in acceptance)

Purity Language Purity – video on debate Examples Who decides what is standard and what is corruption? Examples media, date, belittle (Jefferson) French Academy, Royal Spanish Academy Banned Languages and revival of languages

SYSTEMATICITY

African American Vernacular English (AAVE) General points discuss because it is widely misunderstood (p. 424) not genetic (LM p. 105) not all African Americans speak nor write using AAVE not limited to African Americans not the same all over but remarkable uniformity (p. 424) Characteristics [ r ] deletion (recall the prestige factor in England and the stigma in U.S.) Consonant cluster simplification pen and pin neutralization Loss of interdental fricatives Deletion of “be” (superior linguistically??) Habitual “be” (superior linguistically??)

African American Vernacular English (AAVE) Origins Anglicists Creole – West African influence contributions to English: tote, nitty gritty, Okay (?) Isolation (distance) remains a factor in growing differences early 20th century recordings show little difference between African American dialect and southern dialect (recordings from WPA) migration North Concluding points myths dealing with nurture/grammaticality are harder to debunk (LM p. 106) “No one is saying that this structure should be considered standard English – just that its linguistic integrity stands apart from its social assessment.” (LM p. 109)

Latino English Phonological traits Code-switching Double negatives five vowels (influenced from Spanish) “sh” becomes “ch” / t / or / d / for “th” / t I n / and / d e / / e / before s cluster Higher vowels – goween for going Code-switching Double negatives

Social Issues & Latino English “If English was good enough for Jesus, then it is good enough for me.” Ma Ferguson – First Woman Gov. in Texas (and US) English speakers feel threatened English speakers feel frustrated

More Terms Lingua franca Pidgin Creole Style or register Slang Jargon or Argot Euphemism

Men and Women Do you feel language influences your perception of gender roles? Kind of talk does show difference (LM p. 45) Classroom implications (LM pp. 46, 47)