1. Ethnicity and Social Networks
Sociolinguistics
Chapter 8
Ethnicity and Social Networks

2. Learning Objectives Ethnicity Social networks
African American Vernacular English
British Black English
Maori New Zealanders
Social networks
Communities of practice and the construction of social identity

3. Ethnicity
Many ethnic groups use a distinctive language associated with their ethnic identity.
Even when a complete conversation in an ethnic language is not possible, people may use short phrases, verbal fillers or linguistic tags, which signal ethnicity.

4. Ethnicity
Example 2
New Zealanders use Maori linguistic signals like kia ora, e ki, ne to express their ethnic identity.

5. Ethnicity
Further examples
Chinese Singaporeans in Singapore use the tag la to express solidarity.
Italians in Boston and Sydney use particularly high percentage of vernacular pronunciations of certain vowels.

6. Ethnicity Scottish people in New Zealand retain the [r].
Further examples
Scottish people in New Zealand retain the [r].
Jewish people in Boston and New York use marked linguistic tags such as oy vay, and Yiddish vocabulary items such as bagel.

7. Ethnicity African American Vernacular English British Black English
Maori New Zealanders

8. African American Vernacular English
Omission of the verb be
Example 4
Invariant be to signal recurring actions
Example 5
Multiple negation
Figure 8.1
Consonant cluster simplification
last Standard American English [la:st]
AAVE [la:s]
Exercise 2

9. British Black English
People of West Indian or African Carribbean origin who were born in Britain are described as British Black community.
They speak Patois, a variety of Jamaican creole.
Example 6

10. Patois Vocabulary Pronunciation Grammar lick meaning hit
kenge meaning weak
Pronunciation
then [den]
thin [tin]
Grammar
No use of plural, tense markers

11. Maori New Zealanders Vocabulary Pronunciation Grammar
tangi meaning funeral
kuia meaning old woman
Pronunciation
then [den]
Grammar
Vernacular use of present and past tense forms
Example 8
Exercise 4 11

12. Activity 8.1
Do you see ethnic groups using a distinctive language to signal their ethnic identity in your society? Give examples to illustrate your answer.

13. Ethnicity 140,000 Filipinos in Hong Kong
Large import of labour from the Philippines since 1974
Tagalog

14. Social Networks
People’s speech reflect the types of networks they belong to.
Example 9

15. Social Networks
Sandy
Jo Cousin Mike
Tom
Gerry Uncle Bob

16. Density and Plexity Density
Whether members of a person’s network are in touch with each other
Plexity
Whether there are many types of transaction members are involved in 16

17. Activity 8.2
Draw a network for yourself. Identify the three people you talk to most. Link them to yourself by lines on the diagram.
Do you think your social network would provide any clues to the way you speak? Would it identify the people whose speech your speech most resembles?

18. Communities of practice and the construction of social identity
Communities of practice develop around the activities which group members engage in together, and their shared objectives and attitudes.
Example 11