LIN200 Midterm 2
Define language vitality
"Ethnolinguistic vitality" refers to how strong a language is and how likely it is to hang on in a community
ee vs um (Gullah)
'it' in subject/possessives and object positions Ex: I ain't do um (I didn't do it) Ee was foggy (it was foggy) Ee pipe in ee mouth (His pipe was in his mouth"
Language of burnouts
- Negation; negative concord or "multiple negation" ex: I didn't do nothing -Northern Cities Vowel Shift -Strongly non-standard and generally evaluated as reflecting lack of education
Negative aspects of adolescent language
- Use of filler "like" - Use of quotative "like" or "be all" - Rising intonation (rising terminals) - Slang words and expressions
Creole Summary
-Initial contact between two groups of people who lack a common language give rise to a pidgin language -The pidgin is used as a lingua franca for trade and as a way to communicate with slaves (e.g. slave ships) -Slave/workers do not share a common language -Pidgin is used on plantations to interact with slaves (Caribbean) or workers (South Pacific) -Children of slaves/workers adopt this pidgin as their native language -The pidgin is expanded and becomes a full-fledged language - a creole language
Who speaks AAE?
-Majority of African Americans speak AAE -Many code-switch between AAE and MUSE -Some speak only MUSE -Puerto Ricans, Dominicans, and other who live in or near African American communities learn AAE -Young people who affiliate with hip hop culture learn lexicon and some phonology, but not necessarily the full range of grammatical features
Where did AAE come from?
-West African (Niger Congo) languages (verbal markers instead of infelction) -British English dialects (uninflected be; use of ain't) -Scots Irish English (pronunciation and grammatical patterns; habitual be by Ulster Scots)
3 factors of language vitality
1. Status (of speakers, of the language) 2. Demography (distribution and number of speakers) 3. Institutional support (use in media, education, industry, etc.)
Statistics of the Slave Trade
1701-1810- 6 million transported to Americas 1 million to Latin America 500k to US 3 to 4 million to the Caribbean
Colonization of Hawaii
1893- overthrow of Hawaiian monarchy 1898- annexation by US; use of Hawaiian language discouraged, emergence of pidginized Hawaiian, later Hawaiian Pidgin English Early 1900s- addition of Chinese, Portguese, and Japanese to plantation work force; emergence of Hawaiian Creole English 1942-1946- Speak American Campaign 1945- beginning of decreolization of HCE 1959- Hawaii becomes 50th state of USA
History of Haitian Kreyol
1950s: movement to give Creole official status 1957: French is official language, use of Creole permitted in certain public functions 1969: law giving Creole limited legal status; language can be used in legislature, courts, and clubs, but not accredited educational institutions 1979: a decree permitted Creole as the language of instruction in the classroom 1983: Both Creole and French are national languages but French is official 1987: official status to Creole
Indignant come
A serial verb construction Ex: She come telling me (She has the nerve to tell me)
Compliments in difference model
A wider range of compliments may be addressed to women, and women also tend to pay more compliments
Unified View of origin of AAE
AAE arose from numerous sources: including African languages and Southern US varieties AAE has come from several evolutionary tracks
Creolist theory
AAE has roots in African language Arose from pidgin language created among slaves; features of both West African languages and English Developed into a creole (hybridized language) and became decreolized and began to resemble English more closely
Linguistically, African American English...
AAE is NOT a Niger-Congo language, but a sociolect of English
Dialectist View of Origin of AAE
AAE is a dialect of American English like any other; unique features come from older dialects of British, Irish, and Scottish English
Creolist View of Origin of AAE
AAE is not a dialect of English but a new development created by the interaction of Africans and Anglos as a result of slavery
3rd person plural verb absence
AAE treats all verbs alike regardless of the grammatical person of the subject "I go to school, he go to school"
Define Gullah
AKA "Geechee" Gullah comes from Angola Slaves brought to Sea Islands to grow rice and process indigo Evidence of Mende (Sierra-Leone) substrate influence Ex: Charleston, SC and Savannah, GA
Where in Africa did the slaves come from?
About a quarter from central-southeast Africa (modern Angola and North Cameroon) Another quarter from "Bight of Biafra" in modern Nigeria 15% from "Bight of Benin" in Nigeria Other: Sierra Leone, Senegal, Gambia, Ghana, and the Ivory Coast
Shared traits with Niger Congo languages
Absence of double consonant Lack of possessives Lack of pluralization Zero copula or absence of the verb Double and triple negatives Pronunciation of words Consonant cluster reduction th-simplification (also found in many British dialects) Diphthong reduction (also found in Southern US English) Participle for past tense (common in nonstandard British English) "It" for "there" (found in Cornwall) Lack of /s/ (common in British dialects) Ain't (found in British dialects) Multiple negation (found in British dialects)
Conflict of AAE in terms of double consciousness
Acknowledging viability and adequacy of home language while understanding that it will never be accepted in mainstream society
Define Louisiana Creole
African substrate; French superstrate
Define copula
Am, is, are, etc.
Define Nortenas
American, Chicana identities San Francisco 49ers Mexican banda music (polka) Greater use of English
Examples of Multilingual Communities
Amish/Mennonite communities (Pennsylvania Dutch) Hasidic Jews (Yiddish) Native American reservations Louisiana (Louisiana French) Sea Islands -- SC, GA (Gullah) Hawaii (Hawaiian Pidgin)
Define hlonipha
Avoidance language found in Xhosa (South African language) Certain types of in-laws cannot be referred to or spoken directly, and words which sound like the names of such relatives must be avoided Ex: Male in-law named Bheki or Bhengu--> the syllable "bhe-" has to be avoided. Distort the word, use a synonym, or paraphrase
Remote Past BIN
BIN is a verbal marker that indicates an activity or state that happened in the remote ("distant") past. BIN must be stressed to have this meaning (different from "been") Bruce BIN ran (Bruce ran a long time ago) Bruce BIN practicin' for an hour (For a long time, Bruce used to practice in 1 hour periods) I BIN bought her clothes vs I BIN buyin' her clothes = BIN bought says that you bought her clothes a long time ago; BIN buyin' says that you are still buying but you have been for a long time
Define Polari
Back in Britain (1950s) language of gay community; secret code to help keep out of prison
Haitian Kreyol (summary)
Based on French Official language of Haiti One of a few written Kreyols Orthography is not French
Kreyol writing system
Based on orthography (phonetic representation) rather than French system
Creole Continuum
Basilect: substrate (grammar, socially subordinate language) spoken by field hands, least educated males Mesolect: in between (creole) spoken by house servants/slaves Acrolect: Superstrate (lexicon, socially dominant languages) can be classified as regional or social dialect of superstrate
Define Great Migration
Before WWI, most African Americans lived in the South Afterwards, they began moving north to find better jobs
OSB response to criticisms
Clarified that "genetically based" was meant to be "passed down orally through the family"
AAE phonology (summary)
Consonant clusters reductions and plurals Interdentals Monopthongization
AAE grammar summary
Copula absence Habitual be 3rd person verbal -s absence Remote BIN Completive done Negative concord (multiple negatives) Negative inversion
Define Creoles
Creoles are pidgins that have acquire native speakers Emerge in a period of rapid social change among people who do not share a common language Involves people from at least 3 different language groups who come into extensive contact whose ties to their native language communities have been severed
Oakland School Board Resolution
Declared Ebonics the primary language of the majority of their black students Goal: make a program to improve literacy for its African American students Stated that AAE exists Stated that AAE is genetically related to Niger Congo languages and is NOT a dialect of English Stated that African American students face many of the same obstacles as students who are learning English as a second language, and that they should be eligible for bilingual education funds like other students with limited English proficiency Stated that they should be instructed both in their "primary language" and in English
Benefits of bilingualism
Delayed onset of Alzheimer's symptoms Improved cognitive control (better multitasking and problem-solving)
Define consonant cluster reduction
Deletion of the second consonant in consonant clusters that occur at the end of a syllable or word A consonant cluster consists of two consecutive consonants (st, nd, ld, pt, kt) Ex: test> tes desk> des hand> han Happens in spoken english when the following segment is a consonant, but AAE speakers reduce consonant clusters even if the following segment is a vowel
Social Variation in AAE: Copula absence
Depends on age, speech situation, and internal factors Age: Higher percentage in male teens (vs adults) Situation: Higher percentage when speaking to black peers (over unfamiliar blacks and unfamiliar whites) Internal factors: dependent on category of the predicate Ex: Locative, noun, adjective, -ing verb, gon' (gonna) [order of rising percentage of use]
Social Variation in AAE: Absence of 3rd person -s verb
Depends on social class and speech situation Social class: mostly working classes Speech situation: Higher percentage when speaking to black peers (over unfamiliar blacks and unfamiliar whites)
Define Pennsylvania Dutch
Dialect of German. Spoken by many people of German ancestry Primarily spoken by people in Mennonite and Amish communities
Examples of negating verb markers in AAE
Dropped copulas Ex: She not running Habitual be Ex: She don't be running, She not be running, she ben't running Remote past BIN Ex: Bruce ain't BIN ran, Bruce BIN not ran, Bruce don't BIN ran
Define ashy
Dry (as in skin)
Define Ebonics
Emerged in 1973 (Ebony + Phonics) Sit on linguistic continuum with West African and Afro-Caribbean languages)
Define uptalk
Ending declarative sentences with rising intonation, as in questions Function of uptalk is unclear -encourages participation in conversation? -discourages interruption by signaling that the speaker is not yet finished?
Dominant language in Louisiana today
English, including AAE Cajun and Colonial French largely merged Louisiana Creole is a distinct variety
Jamaican Creole/Patois
English-based creole (Not to be confused with Jamaican English) Developed in 17th century Communities in Miami, NYC, Washington DC, Toronto, etc
Transgender opinion on pronoun
Expect to be referred with the pronouns that matches their gender, not their sex (does not apply to transexuals)
Conversational support in difference models
Female speakers more frequently use features that provide support and encouragement for other speakers
Variationist studies (Labov and Trudgill)
Females: tendency to use prestige features (overt prestige) Males: tendency to use vernacular features (covert prestige)
Features of Creoles
Fewer case distinctions (I= me) Habitual aspect markers Reduced verb inflection Limited vocabulary (more homonyms, compounds, phrases) Smaller phoneme inventories (fewer consonants and vowels) Very little inflection morphology (like -ed, -s, -ing) Habitual aspect indicated grammatically, with a special pre-verb word Ex: He does be go" (He usually goes) Verbs remain unchanged Often no plurals No copulas Serial verbs
General features of Creoles
Fewer case distinctions on pronouns Lack of morphology Tense-Aspect-Mood (TAM) markers Copula absence Limited vocabulary
Origins: Trade/conquest
Fort Creole: developed at fortified posts along West African coast, where European forces held slaves until the arrival of the next ship Ex: Guinea Coast Creole (Guinea Coast, English)
Gendered language
French, Japanese, etc. - reflect gender in grammar itself English can be male or female
Define quotatives
Function words that signal when the speaker is going to quote someone else's speech. Ex: He says... She's like... He's all... Allows for speech and/or actions of another person to be reported, for lively narration, and does not make a claim to verbatim speech
Define Gangsta limp/pimp walk
Gansta limp/pimp walk: male style of walking or strutting with a slight dip in the stride
Define "got your nose open"
Got your nose open: refers to a person who is vulnerable or helpless because of being deeply in love
African American attitudes toward AAE focus on...
Grammar Use MUSE grammar but also keep AAE rhetorical devices and intonation patterns
AAE syntax (summary)
Habitual be Remote past bin Completive done Copula drop Negative inversion Embedded questions Usage of 'come' (she come tellin' me) Absence of 3rd person -s Usage of steady
Hawaiian vs Hawaiian Pidgin
Hawaiian Pidgin = creole; also known as Hawaiian Creole English (HCE) Hawaiian is a Polynesian language indigenous to Hawaiian language
Hawaiian: Hawaiian vs HCE Features
Hawaiian: native language HCE: Creole between Hawaiian, English, Portugese, Japanese, etc. Features: Th as d/t R-lessness Stei: locations Copula absence Fo used for purpose statements Tense-aspect markers
O'Barr and Atkins (1980) courtroom language interactions
Hedges, polite speech, etc did not correlate most strongly with women Correlated instead with people who had relatively little power in the courtroom
Define hip
Hip: knowledgeable, with it; to inform someone or make them aware of something
Define gender
How we perform our sexual identities; learned behavior "Gender is the activity of managing situated conduct in light of normative conceptions of attitudes and activities appropriate for one's sex category" "Gender activities emerge from and bolster claims to membership in a sex category"
Language discrimination
Identify speech community and racial subgroup depending on auditory cues (dialect) People can judge speaker's race on the basis of speech with high accuracy rates (81-97%)
Who is multilingual in the US?
Immigrants Children of immigrants Sometimes grandchildren of immigrants People who live in multilingual communities
Why is adolescence important?
Important for establishing group membership and social identity. Linguistic research concentrates on role of language in this process
AAE Morphosyntax - Embedded questions
In a subordinate clause, an indirect "yes/no question" has statement word order. BUT in AAE, the clause has question word order Ex: We wondered could he come out (instead of We wondered if he could come out) Ex: Didn't nobody ask me do I be late for class (instead of Nobody asked me if I'm usually late for class) [example of negative inversion and habitual be]
How do adults characterize adolescent language?
Inarticulate Sloppy Vague Indecisive Irresponsible Illogical
Identifying sexual orientation by speech?
Inconclusive studies Some studies found that it is at chance level Some say it's possible. When it is possible, it's unclear what phonetic cues are used
Define slang
Informal words or phrases (vocabulary) - informal - doesn't last for long (one generation) - often used for taboo words (sex, drugs, etc.) - must be constantly updated to remain effective - adults have less occasions to use slang
Emergence of Creoles
Initially a pidgin to facilitate communications Children adopt pidgin as their native language, imposing regularity and causing it to be more grammatically complex than pidgin Over time it acquires an expanded lexicon, and becomes a full fledged language (creole language)
Origins: War
Korean Bamboo English (pidgin) American wars in Asia (Japan, Korea, Vietnam, Thailand) Marginal, unstable pidgins that rapidly disappear when the invaders leave
Define sibilant duration
Length of /s/ and /z/ Crist (1997) - 5 out of 6 speakers exhibited longer /s/ in gay stereotype speech Linville (1998) - gay speakers had longer /s/ Rogers, Smyth, and Jacobs (2000) - both /s/ and /z/ were longer in gay-sounding speech Levon (2004) - altering sibilant duration artifically in perception tests is insufficient to change perception of gayness
Copula drop (Louisiana Creole)
Li feb = he is weak; similar to french "Il est faible"
Linguistic Society of America (LSA) response to OSB
Liked that it recognized AAE as legitimate and rule-governed Using someone's first dialect to teach standard language is acceptable Individual and group benefits to maintaining vernacular language varieties
Define social age
Linked to social milestones -- marriage, etc.
Well-Known Creoles
Louisiana Creole (US) Hawaiian Creole (US) Gullah (US) Haitian Creole (Haiti) Tok Pisin (Papua New Guinea) Jamaican Creole (also called patois or patwa)
West (1984) deficit model
Male doctors interrupt patients more often than female doctors do Male patients interrupt female doctors more than female patients do Both female and male patients interrupt female doctors more than they interrupt male doctors
Amount of talk in difference model
Male speakers have been found to talk more than females
Interruptions in difference model
Male speakers interrupt female speakers more than vice versa
"You just don't understand" by Deborah Tannen
Males and females are different subcultures Women: rapport style -creating and maintaining relationships Men: report style - communicating information, placing themselves in social hierarchy
Zimmerman and West (1975) Deficit model
Males interrupt more than females
Louisiana Creole differs in...
Many aspects. Not close to English at all. Grammar, Syntax, Negatives, etc.
Define mannish/womanish
Mature, adult
Define Surenas
Mexicana identities LA Raiders American "Oldies", Motown music of 1950s and 1960s Greater use of Spanish
Patois grammar: no copula with adjectives
Mi haadback now I am old now
Pidgins in the USA
Mobilian Jargon: spoken on Mississippi river, spoken by Mobilian Indians until 20th century Chinook Jargon: Spoken in Pacific Northwest, originated as a trade language among Indians community, peaked in mid 1800s
AAE phonology
Monopthongization of /aI/ words like time and high Pin~pen merger Postvocalic /r/-lessness Consonant cluster reduction Interdental fricatives (th) --> d/f
Define creaky voice (vocal fry)
More frequently used by females, particularly college-aged women Also noted among Latinos (more by females than males)
African American English is just slang
Myth
All African Americans use AAE
Myth
Ebonics is not a valid form of speech
Myth
In the United States, only immigrants and tourists speak languages other than English
Myth
Slang is improper speech with no redeeming social value
Myth
Text messages do not follow the rules of grammar, and social media is ruining language
Myth
The language used by some social groups is illogical
Myth
There is only a handful of languages currently spoken in the United States
Myth
Throughout US history, speakers of languages other than English have been consistently viewed as un-American
Myth
Unlike earlier generations of immigrants, those who have recently arrived in the United States are not learning English
Myth
HCE Negations
Nat if no verb No before verbs Neva is a past negative Nomo means there isn't/are't
Slaves come from various linguistic background
Nigeria (500+) Cameroon (200+) Ivory Coast (80+) etc.
Patois grammar: Past tense
No past tense marker (-ed) - tense marked by en and a Progressive: a-da-de
Define chronological age
Number of years since birth
Define African American English (AAE)
One of oldest dialects of English; dates back to earliest contract between enslaved Africans and Europeans (four centuries) Social variety or sociolect spoken by a majority of African Americans in the US
Community response to policy on Standard English in Hawaii
Outrage HCE was a vital aspect of local identity
Examples of Spanish based Creoles
Palenquero (Columbia) Papiamentu (Aruba, Bonaire, and Curacao) Bozal (Cuba)
Define vowel differences in gay men
Particular pronunciation of /ae/
Define code-switching
Patterned switching between two or more languages or dialects
Louisiana Creole: People move from where to where? Cajun vs Louisiana? Features?
People move from Maine to Louisiana Cajun: spoken by Acadians Louisiana: merged Cajun and Colonial French Features: Copula absence No change in pronouns Absence of verb conjugation Tense-aspect markers
Non-black attitudes toward AAE focus on...
Phonology (metathesis)
Define biological age
Physical maturation
Etymology of pidgin vs etymology of creole
Pidgin- thought to come from Chinese mispronunciation of 'business' Creole- Portugese: cioulo from verb criar (to raise or be brought up) Spanish cognate: criollo Creole: culture or language of people born in the New World
Gullah: Place? Origin? Basic structure?
Place: GA, SC Origin: Sierra-Leone Basic structure: No verbal conjugation, Abundance of tense and aspect markers
Origins: Slavery
Plantation Creole: developed on plantations in the New World colonies under the dominance of different European languages Ex: Jamaican Creole (Jamaica, English) Negerhollands (Virgin Islands, Dutch) Haitian Creole (Haiti, French) Papiamento (Netherlands Antilles, Spanish) Angolar (Sao Tome, Portugese)
Attitudes to Male Gay American English; Mann (2011)
Positive: -highly ranked on intelligence/status scale - highly ranked on solidarity/friendliness scale Negative attitudes -sounds effeminate, unmanly -might hinder upward social mobility
Define Third Wave Feminism
Post feminism; exploring structural factors behind gender inequality; the performative nature of gender; gay and lesbian rights
Define First Wave Feminism
Pre 1960s; human rights, suffrage, divorce, child custody
Define pitch raising in gay men
Present in declarative sentences
Situations when copula CAN drop
Present participle statives Ex: She runnin' Locatives and adjectival predicates Ex: He here, He pretty Nominal predicates Ex: They teachers
Define decreolization
Process of a creole language changing to become more like its historical superstrate (moving away from substrate influences) promoted by increased contact with "standard language" speakers and by social pressure through expanded job opportunities and education
Define epicene pronouns
Pronouns that include both genders; "he-and/or-she" Refer to both, but often perceived as male Ex:they, them, their; s/he; co, se, shim.
Fuh (Gullah)
Purpose/reason Ex: I had gone to my aunt house fuh see my sister Ex: You do um cause you want me fuh tote you
Define rap
Rap: originally a romantic conversation from a man to a woman to win her affections; now means any strong, aggressive, highly fluent powerful talk
Gullah: The future
Rapidly disappearing due to contact with mainland, tourism, and influx of outsiders
AAE refers to...
Refers to the full range of standard and non-standard or "vernacular" varieties used (mainly) by people of African American descent in the US
Nerds in California
Rejection of California "cool" vowel shift Articulation of medial /t/ and final /t/ ex: Butter, and what's that?
What keeps languages going?
Residential concentration (living together in a group of speakers of a non-English language) Ideological support (promoting a culture that values a non-English language) Separate institutions (schools, churches, etc. that operate in the non-English language)
Situations when copula CANNOT drop
Sentence final position Ex: I ain't the one did it, he is Emphatic context Ex: Allah IS God Tag questions Ex: He ain't home, is he? The first person strongly resists copula drop: I'm running; NOT I runnin'
Define gay implicature
Similar to counterlanguage, a system of exposing one's sexuality to one another without making themselves vulnerable to potentially homophobic and hostile straight overhearers
Decreolization
Some creoles merge with the standard language in postcolonial situation
Define Haitian Kreyol
Spoken by 90% of people in Haiti Elite are bilingual in French and kreyol Made co-official language of Haiti in 1989 Education offered in Kreyol and French
Define Colonial French
Spoken by French colonists and administrators of Louisiana - a French colony until it was sold to the US in 1803
Define Cajun French
Spoken by descendants of Acadians (French colonists who settled in Canada - Nova Scotia and Maine and were then displaced by British and settled in French owned Louisiana 1755-63)
1987 Policy on Standard English and Oral Communication
Standard English is the mode of oral communication for students and staff in the classroom setting/school related settings except when the objectives covered native Hawaiian or foreign language instruction and practice
Male and female language use a series of 6 contrasts (Tannen)
Status vs Support Independence vs Intimacy Advice vs Understanding Information vs Feelings Orders vs Proposals Conflicts vs Compromise
HCE syntax
Stei (stay) to give location Get is used for there is/are Head is used for there was/were Copula absence Use of fo (for) instead of to (purpose)
Define pidgin
Structurally simple language that arises when people who share no common language come into contact -Generally no written down -Receive no official recognition -In some cases, it can become a lingua franca (language of commerce) in multilingual areas
Define style
Style is how kids signal their orientation to the culture of school. Makeup, clothing, hobbies, hair, language
Example of Pidgin: Solomon Islands Pidgin
Superstrate: English Substrate: Oceanic languages
Sources of Linguistic Input of Creoles
Superstrate: socially dominant language. Most vocabulary from the superstrate language (the lexifier language) Substrate: Socially subordinate language(s). Most grammatical structure from the substrate language(s).
Define metathesis
Switching of two sounds in a word Ex: asks --> aks
Define "get over on"
Take advantage of
Define Double Consciousness
The inability to see oneself except through the eyes of others. Used by Du Bois to describe situation of black people in America Belief in the need to master MUSE to get ahead coupled with suspicion of black people who use MUSE
Negative inversion (and multiple negation)
The inversion of a negated auxiliary or modal (e.g. couldn't) and the subject (e.g. nobody) Ex: Ain't no cop gonna put his hands on me Can't nobody beat 'em Can't nobody say nothin' to dem peoples Switch positions of negated auxiliary/modal and subject (both negative)
Define counterlanguage
The value placed on the ability to infer meaning from purposefully ambiguous statements -communicative system that allows for multiple levels of meaning -a feature of African American speech communities
Tentativeness in difference model
There are claims that female speakers use features that make their speech appear tentative and uncertain (e.g. rising intonation in declarative sentences, uptalk)
Poor imitaiton "call X's self __-ing)
They call themselves dancing (They are only doing a poor imitation of what I'd call dancing)
What kind of person embraces standard language?
Those who orient more towards globalizing institutions
What kind of person embraces vernacular language?
Those whose loyalties and aspirations are tied to the local milieu (social environment). Embrace vernacular as part of a construction and an expression of local identity and solidarity
Patois grammar: fi
To/for Ex: dem a fight fi wi (they are fighting for us) Possession Ex: Dat a fi mi book (That's my book) Obligation Ex: Im fi kom up ya (He has to come up here)
Iberian Colonial Social Hierarchy
Top to bottom: Peninsulares (born in Europe) Criollos (born in New World) Mestizos (people of mixed ancestry) Indios, Africanos (natives and imported slaves)
Adolescent language is not uniform; there are many styles, reflecting different orientations, identities, and lifestyle
True
Serial Verb Constructions
Two verbs in same clause Ex: He take stick kill him Ex: I ran go home
Habitual "be"
Un-conjugated (or "invariant") form of the verb be used to denote repeated or habitual action Ex: She be runnin' (She runs regularly) She be workin' (She always/usually works)
Define hedge "like"
Used for approximations
Define focus "like"
Used for emphasis. Ex: This dude is like real cute.
Cross-gendered forms
Used in LGBT community for humor "John invited me to her house" Acceptable only in certain contexts and between members of relevant community
Define tense-aspect-mood markers (TAM or TMA markers)
Used to indicate if the action is already happened, if it's completed, when it happened, or will happen, etc.
Define steady
Used to mark actions that occur consistently or persistently, especially of the activity that is vigorous and intentional. Occurs immediately before the main verb of the sentence Ex: "she steady talkin'" = she is talking non-stop
Define Standard Hawaiian English
Variety spoken by majority of highly educated, locally born professionals. MUSE with a slight Hawaiian accent
AAVE as decreolized?
View that AAVE comes from decreolized slave creole. Retain some creole features Contrary view that it does not have creole origins and has always been a dialect.
Phonology of plural in MUSE
Voiceless consonants end in /s/ Voiced consonants end in /z/ Words that end in /s/, /z/, /sh/, or /dg/ end in [ez]
Reduction + plural in AAE
When consonant cluster reduction occurs, speakers logically follow rules of English plural formation desk --> des'--> desses
Questions about male vs female speakers
Who talks more? Who interrupts more? Who is most cooperative in conversation? Who is most tentative? Who pays more compliments?
Define Lakoff's deficit model (1975)
Women (white educated women) use a number of features that collectively indicate uncertainty and hesitancy. Tag questions: It's late, isn't it? Politeness: Would you please close the door? Hedges: It's sort of hot. Rising intonation: I was born in LA ((?)) Empty adjectives: darling, adorable, divine, cute, lovely Features deny women strong expression; appear trivial. Denies access to power.
Difference model
Women appear cooperative, facilitative participants, demonstrating in a variety of ways their concern for their conversational partners Men tend to dominate the talking time, interrupt more often than women, and focus on the content of the interaction and the task in hand, at the expense of attention to their addressees
Generalizations about women's language
Women are more polite, more attuned to status and prestige, and strive for solidarity in interactions
Experiments in language discrimination
Word "Hello" can reveal racial subgroup alone Telephone survey - landlords discriminate based on sound of voice
Phrase "Call ___-self X"
X only to a degree that fails to meet perceived standards Ex: They call themselves dancin' --> They are bad dancers
Patois grammar: Equative verb "a"
a = am Me a di ticha
Patois grammar: locative verb "de"
de = are We de a London
Gullah verb forms of help
he'p (present/past tense) bin he'p (past tense) gwine he'p (future tense) done he'p (perfect tense) duh he'p (present progressive or repetitive action) binnuh he'p (past progressive)
Oakland education states
over 50% of students in Oakland public schools are black. African American students median GPA is 1.8 (out of 4.0) African American students make up 71% of Oakland's special education classes but only 37% of gifted-talented programs
Interdentals in AAE
these, them, those --> d think, thanks --> t bath, cloth--> f brother, mother --> v
AAE in adolescents
Can be used by anybody; signals "coolness"; signals rejection of school-oriented culture Part of adopting an American identity for immigrants (especially Latinos and Asians)
Completive done
Completive indicates an activity that has already been completed Ex: He done read that book (He already read, and finished, that book)
Previous names of AAE
Black English: BE (60s-70s) BEV: Black English Vernacular (60s-70s) - or BVE Ebonics (70s) AAVE: African American Vernacular English (80s) AAE: Afircan American English (Late 1990s) BL: Black language (21st century; Alim 2005)
Adolescence is NOT a natural life stage according to many social scientists
True
Adolescent language is more diverse than the language of different age groups
True
If you want to study adolescent language, you have to explore a whole range of practices that go along with it
True
Slaves were denied access to education and failed to learn Standard English
True
Eckert 1989 study of "jocks" vs "burnouts"
"Jocks" - college bound, scholarships, rewarded and acknowledged by school culture "Burnouts" - vocational training, marginalized, alienated, not acknowledged by school culture
Define sex
A determination made through the application of socially agreed upon, biological criteria for classifying persons as females or males - genitalia at birth - chromosomal typing (XX female vs XY male) - identification display that proclaims one's membership in one category or the other
What is AAE?
A dialect with its own phonology, grammar, and vocabulary A rule-governed systematic language system like all other dialects and language varieties A culturally transmitted way of communicating
Criticism of deficit model
-Data was personally observed and not systematically collected -Features observed by Layoff are not emblematic of women, but of people with lack of power -however, even that is too strong, as indirectness is often used by powerful politicians
Define Second Wave Feminism
1960s-1970s; birth control, abortion, sexual liberation, equal pay for equal work (ERA), access to job market