Linguistics Exam 4 (final)
Socioeconomic Variation (dialect)
• The "standard dialect" is usually associated with a higher socioeconomic class • Education and class are often intertwined
What two functions does babbling serve?
(1) practice for later speech (2) social reward
Morphological variations
*changes in inflection or derivation*; patterned; - ex: in SAE the suffix -ish is only attached to adjectives; while other english varieties use it on nouns (tree-ish) and adjectives (fast-ish).
The South
*phonetic:* • Front vowels are sometimes followed by glides to create diphthongs from monophthongs [i.e. led and net] ↳ The reverse happens with wide and my • Pin/pen merger *morphosyntactic:* • Fixin' to • Double modals such as "might could" *lexical:* • "buggy" for shopping cart • roly-poly
phonological acquisition
Development of the production of speech sounds and patterns (associated with a child developing speech) the *connection between sound and meaning*
Conditioned Head-Turn Procedure (HT)
Experimental technique usually used with infants between five and eighteen months with *two phases*: conditioning and testing. condition baby to hear a certain sounds and see a certain thing at the same time and see how they react when it is changed - if baby turns head to look at visuals immediately after change it sound, baby understands the change in sounds
How do children learn languages? What are the stages of acquiring a native language?
Knowing a language is more than just memorizing a list of words - it involves learning complex rules (grammar) There are many theories on how native languages and second languages are acquired
*Northern Cities Shift*
Refers to a chain shift in the vowel sounds of speakers in the northern region of the U.S. - ex: bet ➝ but bus ➝ boss
Reinforcement Theory
Reinforcement theory claims that children learn to speak like adults because adults praise them when they speak correctly and scold them when they speak incorrectly. *problems* - parents often don't correct child on grammar but rather accuracy. - even when adults try to correct grammar, it usually fails. - fails to explain where child's rule came from
Ethnic Variation
Speakers may use language to emphasize their ties to a particular ethnic group that represents the heritage/culture. - ex: • African American English (AAE) - No individual speaker of an ethnic variety speaks the same way all the time, we all vary in our speech depending on style and context.
U.S Dialects
The West, the North, the Midland, the South, Appalachia, New England
*holophrastic stage*
The one-word stage. 12-18 months - children in this stage are limited to one-word production.
topicalization
The process of moving an element to the front of a sentence so that it functions as the topic.
*Overt Prestige*
This kind of prestige is associated with the *higher-status dialect* and standard dialect
*Covert Prestige*
This type of prestige is attached to a *nonstandard dialect* • There is pride in associating oneself with a group that speaks a unique dialect.
T/F Linguistically speaking, no one dialect or language is better, more correct, more systematic, or more logical than any other.
True. - Every language is rule governed system and is an effective means of communication. - All dialects are linguistically equivalent
Levels of Variation
Variation can be: • Phonetic • Phonological • Morphological • Syntactic • Lexical
how do children discover word boundaries?
When a child hears a word in a bunch of different sentences, they will eventually come to realize it is a separate word through trial and error. - can be syllabic emphasis or and statistical cues
*critical period*
a certain time in one's life in which a behavior must be acquired. • If language isn't acquired during this critical period, the speaker will likely fail to completely learn it
*Speech Communities*
a group of people speaking the same dialect. - Are defined by: • the dialect they share • extralinguistic factors
*Isogloss*
a line drawn on a dialect map marking the boundary of an area where a particular linguistic feature is found. - bundles of isoglosses marks the boundary between dialects.
*emblematic language*
a particular language variety used to refer symbolically to a particular cultural heritage or identity
Phonological variation
accents or *patterns of changes* in pronunciation. - if you could write a rule about it, it's phonological - ex: some dialects say -cot; caught -dawn; Don with the same vowel, some don't. This is a pattern.
which theory of language acquisition is correct?
all and none. each one explains a little part of language acquisition- so consider them all together to get a complete answer
*Nonstandard Dialects*
are any dialects that are different from the "standard". • Not inferior to the standard dialect, though they are often stereotyped that way • Uses more slang • Not typically recognized in schools
*repeated/canonical babbling*
around the age of 7-10 months, - infants start to use their voice to make syllable-like strings - involves the sequence of a bilabial nasal consonant followed by a low vowel - ex: [mamamama]
Imitation Theory
claims that children learn language by listening to the speech around them and imitating it. *problems* - fails to acknowledge existence of a mental grammar (kids never heard parents say hitted) - cannot account for hoe children are able to produce and understand new sentences. (there are infinite amount of sentences)
*linguistic universals*
common *basic features* that all languages have - noun and verb
child-directed speech
cute talk you use when talking to babies and small animals - higher pitches, slower, sillier, pointing at objects
*registers*
different levels of speech formality - Formal vs. informal
Lexical variation (semantics)
different words/signs for the same thing or differences in meaning for the same words/phrases (same meaning; synonyms) -ex: pop vs soda lightning bug/ firefly/ glowworm
*telegraphic speech*
early speech stage in which a child speaks like a telegram—where you put in only the words you really need and hold meaning.
*idiolect*
every speaker's own personal language variety with structural or lexical differences - Every speaker has their own unique ______, which is different from the other speakers.
*Common Slang*
everyday language considered to be informal or non-standard - (fridge, TV, dank meme, etc)
*Extralinguistic Factors*
factors that influence language variation based on linguistic structure, such as location, SES class, age, gender, ethnicity, etc ↳ 'Extra' as in 'outside of' the linguistic structure.
*universal grammar*
humans are all born with a set of *structural characteristics* shared by all languages
Communicative Isolation
identification of any speech variety as a pure dialect. - It results when a group of speakers forms a coherent speech community that is isolated from speakers outside that community.
*Jargon*
is a language variety consisting of technical terms. - differs only in *lexical* items - These terms can describe aspects of a sport, hobby, job, field of study, etc.
*Prescriptive Standard*
is society's opinion of what is "right" and "wrong" to say. • This is random and often changes over time. - Old english had double negatives, it was standard then but now nonstandard
Standard American English (SAE)
is the standard dialect in the United States. • Not a single dialect • A hypothetical "ideal" with minimal variation • Usually defined by grammar rather than pronunciation What happens when nonstandard dialects are in competition with a standard dialect like SAE? • Speakers become bidialectal
*Sociolinguistics*
is the study of the *relationship between* these *language varieties and social structures* as well as the interrelationships among different language varieties.
*Standard Dialect*
is usually the most respected dialect of a language - it is associated with prestige and power • Typically used in political speeches, media, school, speakers of higher socioeconomic class • Helps people communicate across different dialects - A languages does NOT have *one* standard dialect. but instead many varieties that people consider standard
What are the issues with this criterion?
it's hard to tell how much mutual intelligibility is needed to consider them to be dialects - factors like cultural, political, geographical and historical cloud the issue. - Dialect continuum ↳ Ex: In native American languages papago and pima, they are mutually intelligible but speakers consider the language to be of different dialect because the two tribes are culturally and politically distinct.
*Accent*
systematic *phonological* variation ↳ phonological ➝ pattern of sounds ↳ we apply our phonological rules to a language • Everyone (yes, even you!) speaks with an accent.
*Speech Style*
systematic variations in speech based on factors such as topic, setting, and addressee - can be formal/careful or informal/casual
*Mutual intelligibility*
the ability for speakers of two language varieties to understand each other ↳ like British English and American English
Regional variation
the internal variation role location plays in determining dialect - dialectologist study this - responsible for differences in american english vs british english
Motor development
the progression of muscular coordination required for producing speech sounds correctly
*In-group Slang *
the slang of a particular group at a particular time - can be used to keep insiders together and exclude outsiders - inside jokes
Why do people choose to use jargon?
to talk about people/things without others knowing AND to sound better and create a sense of group
Syntactical variation
variation in how words are combined. variation in the words and phrases in which they belong. - ex: southern english ↪ might could standard english ↪ might be able to - pro drop languages (omitting noun is allowed)
*Dialects*
varieties of one language with *structural or lexical* differences from other varieties of the same language. Ex: • Southern english • Australian english • British english
*Regional Dialect*
variety of language defined by region or geography.
*Social Dialect*
variety of language defined by social factors such as social class, age, gender, and ethnicity. - these are the speaker characteristics that are associated with the social groups to which the speakers belong.
*style shifting*
when people *unconsciously* adjust their speech style based on setting.
Common Stereotypes
• "There is one correct dialect, and other dialects are inferior." • "A person's dialect indicates their intelligence." • "Slang words aren't real words." • "My way of speaking is more logical than that other person's way of speaking." *None of these are true!*
The West
• A hybrid of the other U.S. dialects • Cot/caught merger • California English has introduced new usages of *like* and *all* ("i was like") *lexical:* • firefly • lookie lou • soda
African American English (AAE)
• Dialect of American English with early influences from West African languages and southern speech. • Absent of third-person singular inflectional suffix -s (he need a book) • copula absence - deletion of is/are • Habitual "be" (to indicate repeatable action) • Multiple negation
How do we study child language acquisition?
• High Amplitude Sucking (HAS) and Conditioned Head-Turn Procedure (HT) - using these, we know that babies can hear extremely slight differences in sounds - at 6 months, babies can distinguish many sounds. by 12 months, only sounds in home language
Gender Variation
• Not males vs females but rather masculine vs feminine. • Cultural norms for how males and females should speak • Women tend to use more prestigious variants • Various *communities of practice* may influence this speech
Stages of Language Acquisition
• One-word stage (holophrastic stage) • Two-word stage • Multi-word stage
The Midland
*phonetic:* • L-vocalization • Rounding the vowels in boat and mow • Cot/caught (near)merger is not quite the same *morphosyntactic:* ↳ It seems to rain every weekend anymore. (as in these days) ↳ The table needs washed. (VERB+ed) ↳ It was all the further I could drive. *lexical:* • potato bug (for roly-poly) • sweeper for vaccuum
Appalachia
*phonetic:* • Vowels change in fish [fiʃ ], push [puʃ], think [θæŋk] *morphosyntactic:* • *A-prefixing* such as He came a-runnin' • Multiple negation as in "i din't have no lunch" • Lexical items such as poke, holler, and jasper
New England
*phonetic:* ↳ Cot-caught merger *morphosyntactic:* ↳ Some *non-rhotic* varieties ↳'So don't I' instead of 'so do I' *lexical:* ↳ 'On line' instead of 'in line'
Chicano English
- 2nd or 3rd generation of Mexican descent in the US - emblematic language use - Spanish phrases are usually only used to reference Latino Hispanic cultural identity (mostly symbolic contexts) - I seen her vs. SAE I have seen her - *topicalization* such as "To talk about myself, it's easy for me"
High Amplitude Sucking (HAS)
- Experimental technique used to study sound discrimination in infants from birth to about six months. - Infants are given a special pacifier that is connected to a sound-generating system. Each suck on the pacifier generates a noise, and infants' sucking behavior is used to draw conclusions about discrimination abilities. - baby quickly learns that sucking produces sound. - the noice is changes after sucking slows down and if the infant sucks faster after change, baby recognizes the new sound and sucks faster because baby is interested in new sound.
Labov's results
- Higher socioeconomic classes tend to use more rhotic speech, while lower classes tend to use less rhotic speech. - Repeating the same phrase slowly and carefully also influences pronunciation
Social Interaction Theory
- assumes that children learn language by interacting with others - believe that children must develop rules and that they have a predisposition to learn language - child-directed speech can help a child acquire language - *like reinforcement theory* but without the act of reinforcement but instead interacting with them. - it can coexist with both active construction theory and connectionist theory.
What kind of skills do children need before they begin to speak a language?
- must be able to identify the sounds of the language they hear - must learn how to produce each allophone of these sounds (phoneme) - must decode the larger strings of sounds that they hear into syllables and words - must learn to combine the sounds into larger strings some sort of muscle coordination in order to make sounds
Lumbee English
• Spoken by Lumbee Native-Americans, the largest tribe east of the Mississippi River • Tobacco becomes baccer and potato becomes tater • "I weren't over there last night." • "John bes tired after school." (as i is/are) • Unique words like buddyrow ("friend") and ellick ("coffee with cream and sugar")
William Labov's study
-determine the effects of socioeconomic status on language in NYC department stores -Tested for "prestigious" rhotic speech vs. "non-prestigious" non-rhotic speech (pronouncing r or not) -asked clerks at different stores serving different socioeconomic levels to pronounce "fourth floor • Casual vs. emphatic speech
Lenneberg's characteristics of biologically controlled behaviors
1. language emerges well before children have to fend for themselves 2. language is not the result of a conscious decision. They don't choose to, they just do it. 3. language is not a result of something special triggering it. 4. children don't necessarily perceive or correct a mistake just because an adult points it out. 5. language has a sequence of milestones or stages of development. 6. language has a critical period of birth to the start of puberty.
*Two-word stage*
18-24 months • Word order expresses a semantic relation, not adult syntax yet • Lack of function morphemes and function words (telegraphic speech)
*communities of practice*
A group of people who come together to share some activity or lifestyle. - ex: • family sharing a meal • softball team • students in a classroom - An individual belongs to any number of overlapping groups, and in each group he/she will construct a gendered identity differently. - Focusing on this community of practice will help researchers understand the complex nature of gender.
*articulatory gestures*
A movement of a speech organ in the production of speech, for example, the movement of the velum for the production of a nasal consonant. babies must learn these before making sounds -In the beginning, it is easiest to make palatal and bilabial sounds.
Multi-word stage
Acquire verbal and plural inflection, possessives, negatives, interrogatives
Which characteristics are most likely to influence someone's speech?
Age, gender, geographical location, socioeconomic status - Some may influence more than others such as geographical location more than gender
Why use a particular dialect?
Because a dialect might offer overt or covert prestige.
*variegated babbling*
long strings of different kinds of syllables; 10-12 month old infants - ex: [bugabimo]
How do we tell if two language varieties are dialects of the same language or two totally different languages?
mutual intelligibility
where do we get evidence for a critical period?
neglected and feral children - the age of rescue corresponds to likelihood of fully learning language deaf children who were deprived of language - *homesign* systems ( not a language, limited lexicon with no grammar) - creation of nicaraguan sign language - The older deaf children only were able to learn a pidgin with inconsistent grammar, but the young children who learned after were able to create a language with grammar. This shows that there was a critical period.
Why is it difficult to find a completely isolated (pure) dialect?
people constantly are exposed to other dialects which influences the speech. plus each person has there own idiolect, which they share with others when they speak
*Hypercorrection*
produces nonstandard forms by way of false analogy (over- application of a rule) ex: -This is a matter between Kim and I. Give the money to Kim and I.
*babble*
producing sequences of vowels and consonants if they are acquiring spoken language, or producing hand movements if they are acquiring signed language. - it is done to practice muscle coordination - starts at *4-6 months*
*Bidialectical*
refers to an individual who has the ability to speak or utilize two or more dialects
*Language Variety*
refers to any form of language characterized by systematic features - Any systematic type of language
*Slang*
refers to stylistic choices in vocabulary - often considered less formal, creative, shows group membership - found in all languages two types: 1. Common slang 2. In-group slang
*Internal Variation*
refers to the differences within *one* language. • Variation occurs: ↳ Between languages ↳ Within a single language ↳ Between individuals in a group of speakers ↳ Within the speech of one person (talk faster with friends; slower in professional setting) • Variation evolves over time • Variation exists in all languages
*Non-rhotic*
sequences in which vowel-/r/-consonant or vowel-/r/ word boundaries *are NOT permitted* - ex: 'park' the car (boston accent) [pʰaːk]
*Rhotic*
sequences in which vowel-/r/-consonant or vowel-/r/ word boundaries *are permitted* - ex: 'park' the car [pʰaɹk]
*Dialect Continuum*
situation in which a large number of neighboring dialects exist, each mutually intelligible with the next, but with the dialects at either end of the continuum not being mutually intelligible - identifying the exact border of mutually intelligible is difficult
*Dialectologists*
study how people say things differently. • Features are marked on a map and divided by lines called isoglosses
Phonetic variation
subtle differences in the way you pronounce *singular sounds* - ex: [r] vs [ɹ] vs [ɾ]
Innateness Hypothesis
suggests that humans have some knowledge of language at birth - claims that babies are born with the knowledge that languages have patterns and have the ability to seek out and identify those patterns. supported by: linguistics universals, universal grammar, and critical period
The North
• The *Northern Cities Shift* - Bag ➝ beg; lock ➝ lack [These are pronounced higher and closer to the front of the mouth.] • Phonetic differences: - Bet ➝ but; bus ➝ boss [These are pronounced farther back and lower in the mouth] • Syntactic differences like: ↳ "John is coming *with*". ↳ "The table needs clean*ing*". • Lexical differences: ↳ use *pop* vs soda ↳ use *sneaker* vs tennis shoe
Connectionist Theories
• These theories assume that children learn language by making *neural connections* in the brain. • Words can be associated with meaning, mental images, individual sounds, places, etc. • Children make statistical generalizations in order to choose the correct word to say • Can coexist with the Active Construction of a Grammar Theory • explains why children can create past tense of nonsense verbs "fring"
Active Construction of a Grammar Theory
• This theory claims that children invent the rules of grammar themselves. (ability to do so is innate) • claims children listen to language around them and analyze it to identify patterns, they then add the rule to existing grammar. • This theory predicts patterns of mistakes that children are likely to make (hitted, goed, etc) • Rules are continuously added to the child's mental grammar
Age Variation
• Younger speakers are not "ruining" the language • New words are constantly introduced (download) • New variations such as "like"