Professional Documents
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Functions of Language
Language is a marker of evolution for the human species
Language offers human beings the means of expressing
themselves verbally.
Language is extensive, meaning that the ability to speak
separates us from all other species.
Language stands as being widely creative.
Language has identity, meaning that you begin to identify
people based on his or her use of language. It creates
personal identity.
Characteristics of Language
Language has a human characteristic. Only humans have the
physical capability to pronounce the wide variety of sounds
that are used in world’s languages. Language must be sound
based. However, it is not necessary to write it to be
considered a language. Communication must take place for it
to be considered a language.
Mutual intelligibility: where information could be passed on
and understand
1. Sound
Since some sequences of sound are not acceptable.
Note that the spelling in some cases is not readily
recognized because it may not suggest a sequence of
sounds that speakers of English recognize or use
normally. Each language has its accepted sound
patterns that are easily recognizable to its speakers.
2. Grammar
Since some order of words, or parts of words, are not
acceptable. The grammar of a language is a set of rules
that govern how the words of the language are put
together to make meaning.
3. Semantics
Words have specific meanings and people cannot keep
changing the meanings of words because they feel like
it, nor can they combine words which produce
ridiculous combinations such as ‘green cow’. Such a
form is only possible as a figure of speech.
Purposes of language
1. Expressive purposes
Language can be used simply to express one’s feelings, ideas
or attitudes, without necessarily taking a reader or listened
intro consideration. When language is used in this way, the
speaker is not trying to effect change in an audience or elicit
response. He/she is merely giving vent to emotion or needs.
Diaries and journals are obvious examples of language used
for expressive purposes.
2. Informative purposes
Language is employed with the intention of conveying
information to others. This purpose is used to convey ideas,
truth statements, instructions, abstract and complex
propositions and to aid understanding. Therefore, a news
broadcast, a bulletin board or a textbook are all examples of
language being used for this purpose.
3. Cognitive purposes
When language is used cognitively, it is with the intention of
affecting the audience in some way in order to evoke some
type of response. Therefore, when one uses language to
persuade, entertain, stir to anger or arouse sympathy, one is
using language for cognitive purposes. Jokes, political
speeches and horror stories are different examples of ways in
which language can be used cognitively.
4. Poetic purposes
Language used in literary, stylistic or imaginative ways is
poetic. The user focuses on the structure and pattern of the
language and places emphasis on the manner in which
language is manipulated.
5. Phatic purposes
Language is used simply to establish or maintain contact
among people. This use of language is most obvious in spoken
communication. Language used for phatic purposes does not
necessarily seek to generate a meaningful response. Although
the phatic purpose of language does not often apply to written
communication, in the case of letter writing, the greeting and
closure are phatic. Informal or friendly letters and email may
also use expressions.
6. Metalinguistic purposes
This is the use of the language to comment on, refer to or
discuss language itself. A critique of a speech is
metalinguistic.
7. Social purpose
Sometimes when language is used, it has more to do with
certain cultural or ceremonial conventions that relate to social
interaction in a particular community.
8. Identifying purpose
This is seen in the use of slogans, chants, anthems, nicknames
and other terms that allow for expression of personal or group
identity.
9. Ritual purpose
This language offers the possibility of exercising control over
certain aspects of life.
Variation
Although any speaker of a language could communicate with any
other speaker of the same language, these people often do not all
speak the language in the same way. The way in which language is
used often varies from group to group, from one situation to
another, and from individual to individual. The language used may
also vary in relation to the intent of the speaker or the purpose of
the communication or even the nature of the relationship between
the speaker and the audience.
Dialect
Dialect is a variety of a language spoken by an identifiable
subgroup of people, i.e. dialects can be characteristic of
geographic, regional, ethnic, socio-economic or gender
groups; any version of a language spoke by a particular
geographic or social sub-group, e.g. British Standard English,
Cockney English, Yorkshire English, Trinidad Standard English,
American English, Dominican Standard English.
Sometimes, as a language evolves, one particular dialect
becomes dominant. This is usually due to the fact that it is the
dialect spoken by the people with the economic power or
greatest social influence in that society. In this case, their
dialect becomes accepted as the standard variety of that
language. Therefore, the standard variety becomes the one
used for writing and other formal purposes and is often given
prestige over the other varieties.
No one variety of a language is superior to another and that
every language is really a collection of dialects.
A group of people who speak the same dialect is known as a
speech community.
Although two person may speak the same dialect, their
accents may be different. An accent is simply a variation in
pronunciation. Accents can be regional or social.
Dialects differ from one another by semantics (word choice),
syntax (sentence structure), grammar and morphology (word
forms).
No matter what dialect is spoken by a speech community,
each user is capable of manipulating that dialect in relation to
the context of communication. Depending on whom you are
speaking or writing to, you can vary the way you express
yourself. This type of language variation is called code
switching. This is the ability to manipulate between the
standard and non-standard dialect based on the social setting.
Dialectal Variation refers to a person’s conscious choice of
dialect which can be the variation of Creole or Standard
English. Choice of dialect is chosen based on the speaker’s
status, educational background, emotional state and attitude
towards the dialect.
The three different types of dialects are basilect, mesolect and
acrolect.
Basilect is a basic form of the dialect spoken by the group at
the bottom of the social ladder.
Mesolect is a midway point between basilect and acrolect.
Acrolect is a dialect that is closest to the standard European
language spoken by the groups in close contact with most
powerful sector of the society.
Jamaican Language Continuum
This is the range of languages and language dialects spoken in
Jamaica. This range is represented as a continuum because:
1. Not every point on the continuum is a separate language
2. Jamaicans will switch from one to the other continuously in
conversations and in different situations
3. according to some persons, the Creole is continuously
changing and becoming more like English.
Register
A register is the form of a language in which one may choose
to speak, where “form” refers to ranges in formality and
informality.
Standard English is a formal register, Jamaican Creole is a
more informal register.
Words used to refer to informal register include: colloquial,
vernacular.
A register is also a language variety associated with a
particular situation of use; the range of language choice
available for use in different situations.
One may choose to use an entirely different variety or dialect
of a language from one situation to the next. The variety of
language that you use at any given time is your register.
Choice of register also generally reflects the speaker’s/writer’s
relationship with the audience.
The ability to change your register is an important life skill.
There are five types of registers:
1. Frozen Registers
Used in print and public media, sermons, pledges, prayers.
The language of the register is fixed and unchanged. No
direct response from a reader or listener is expected.
2. Formal or Academic Registers
Used in formal social settings and interviews. It is the
language of seminars and lectures, ceremonies, public
speaking and conversation between strangers. This register
almost always uses Standard English. The sentence
structure and vocabulary are complex but more easily
understood in general than some forms.
3. Consultative Registers
Used in situations where the listener is expected to give
some feedback. Example: a doctor visit, interview,
counseling, client-lawyer. This register indicates that the
speakers are not intimately related but that there is
sustained communication between them. Standard and
non-standard forms of language may be used as the
speakers may switch codes to relate more easily to each
other.
4. Casual or Informal
Used when talking with friends and acquaintances in a non-
formal setting. This register is usually recognized by the
slangs used. The topic of discussion may be general and
there is a conversational tone reflected in the use of
colloquialisms (a word or phrase that is not formal or
literary and is used in ordinary or familiar conversation.)
and slang. There may be attempts to code-switch to adopt
the dialect of the person.
5. Intimate Registers
It is the language of persons who are very close. This is
usually marked by specialized words or expressions only
understood by the parties involved in the intimate
relationship. Communication is aided by non-verbal
elements and reference may be made to unspecified topics
and situations. There is evidence of intimacy in the use of
nicknames and terms of endearments as well as expression
of personal emotions. Incomplete sentences, interruptions,
shortened responses and unexplained references are the
norm.
Standard
This is the dialect used for education and other formal or
official purposes.
How does a dialect become a standard?
It is spoken by the dominant group in the society thus it
commands the most prestige and becomes the target to which
people aspire. Education, publishing and an established body
of literature enhance the status of the prestigious dialect and
it emerges as the standard and is often supported by
economic, political and social factors.
Creole
The term Creole originally meant a person of European
parents who had been born and raised in a colonial territory.
Later, it was used to refer to anyone native to these countries
and then it became the name of the language spoken by
these people.
A Creole is a language that is as a result of contact between
Africans speaking different native languages and Europeans
speaking different varieties of European languages. Or it is the
set of varieties which have their beginnings in situation of
contact where groups of people who do not share a common
language are forced to communicate with each other.
A Creole is a language that comes into being through contact
between two or more languages.
The substrate of Creole is the grammar of the African
languages while the superstrate of Creole is the vocabulary of
European languages.
It is the set of varieties which have their beginnings in
situations of contact where groups of people who do not share
a common language are forced to communicate with each
other.
When people who speak different languages find themselves
in a situation where they have to communicate with each
other for purposes of trade, business or to survive, these
people usually devise a form of language communication
called a pidgin. A pidgin is a system of communication that
has grown up among people who do not share a common
language but need to trade or conduct business.
Pidgins are not ordinary languages since they are normally
used only for communication between persons from different
speech communities. However, in some case, a pidgin begins
to be used as the first language of people in the same
community.
The pidgin may then become a native language; it acquires
the more complex grammar of a full language and is referred
to as a Creole.
Therefore, all Creole languages start as pidgins. Sometimes
Creole languages are referred to as patois or patwa.
However, the word patois can be used as synonym for any
non-standard variety or local dialect, including pidgins.
Characteristics of English Creole Languages
Grammar
Nouns, verbs and pronouns are not altered in form to indicate
plurals, tense, person or case.
Creole uses the plural marker ‘dem’ without changing the
noun in any way.
Singular Plural
Standard English Girl Girls
Creole Gal/ gyal Dem gyal/ de gyal
dem
CHARACTERISTICS OF GRAMMAR
Phonology
Phonology is a branch of linguistics concerned with the
systematic organization of sounds in languages
In the case of English-based Creole, the most distinctive
differences in sound combinations are observed in sounds that
occur in Standard English but not in the Creole.
A very obvious one is the ‘th’ sound, which does not exist in
Creole. It is replaced by either the ‘d’, ‘t’ or ‘f’ sound,
depending on its postion in the word and the presence or
absence of other non-English influences on the Creole.
Creole also dispenses with the final consonant in the words
that end in ‘ing’ or with ’d’.
In some cases, an English sound combination is not dropped
but reversed, for example: ask becomes aks and film become
flim.
CHARACTERISTICS OF PHONOLOGY
No voiceless-voiced consonant
clusters at the end of words, for
example, -sed > s, as in miss; Voiceless-voiced consonant
-ghed, gh, as in laugh; -ped>p, as clusters at the end of words, as in
missed, laughed, leaped
in leap
Vocabulary
The vocabulary (lexicon: list of all the words in a language) of
Caribbean Creole English is derived primarily from Standard
English. However, a number of words used in Creole speech
are related to cultural influences from other European,
Amerindian, African, East Indian and Chinese languages.
Like any other language, the vocabulary of Creole is dynamic
and reflects changes that arise out of social movements such
as Rastafarianism or the incorporation of prevalent slang.
CHARACTERISTICS OF VOCABULARY
Language in Society
1. Historical Factors
The language situation in any country can normally be linked
directly to historical factors. These are often related to
colonization or migration.
3. Cultural Factors
Global movement of people (globalization) has been a major
influence on language. Many migrants and refugees are eager
to assimilate quickly as much of the new culture as they can,
to facilitate their ability to fit in with their society. As
generations are born into the new culture, much of their
original language is lost.
4. Political Factors
The official language of a country is normally indicated in the
national constitution or other official sources. Recognition
given to other languages is also a political or government
decision. Most countries maintain the assigned status of their
languages regardless of political changes. However, in some
countries, language is significantly influenced by political
events.
Roles of Languages
There are several roles of languages such as social, political,
ethical and psychological.
Choice of language
While attitudes to local dialects have been slowly changing,
many people still associate the use of Creole with negative
images and believe that its use should be relegated to specific
circumstances and occasions. However, the fact that non-
standard language varieties are the most widely spoken in the
Caribbean makes them the choice of persons trying to get
information to large sections of society.
A language variety is usually chosen because of its perceived
social function.
Such factors which influence the choice of language and
communicative behaviours in interactive situations are:
1. Audience
2. Message
3. Purpose
4. Occasion
5. Gender
6. Age