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

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

3. Modeling variety or code choice

4. 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

5. 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 An Introduction to Sociolinguistics, 4th edition. London: Pearson.

6. 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.

7. 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

8. 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

9. 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

10. 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 An Introduction to Sociolinguistics, 4th edition. London: Pearson.

11. 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

12. 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.

13. 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

14. 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

15. 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

16. 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:

17. 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

18. 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?

19. 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:

20. 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:

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

22. 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?