VARIETIES AND REGISTERS OF

SPOKEN AND WRITTEN

LANGUAGE
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 LANGUAGE VARIETIES
Also called “lects”, these refer to the different variants of a language that can be
sufficiently delimited from one another in terms of social, historical, or geo-spatial factors,
thus forming language clusters.
Language varieties may also be
grouped in the following classifications:
1)Pidgin
- It refers to a new language that develops into
situations where speakers of different languages need to
communicate but do not share a common language.
Examples are Chavacano in the Philippines and Bislama,
a language spoken in Vanuatu.
▪A pidgin is a language that does not have any native
speakers.
▪Pidgins are frequently developed for business and
trading.
▪A pidgin is also the combination of two different
languages. The language that provides the majority of
the vocabulary is called the superstrate and the
minority language is called the substrate.
▪A pidgin is a language that does not have any native
speakers.
▪Pidgins are frequently developed for business and
trading.
▪A pidgin is also the combination of two different
languages. The language that provides the majority of
the vocabulary is called the superstrate and the
minority language is called the substrate.
▪Pidgins are highly simplified in their grammar and syntax.
▪A pidgin usually sounds ridiculous to a speaker of either of
the two languages it is derived from. As such, they are often
difficult to learn for a speaker of either the superstrate or
substrate language to learn as they do not follow the
normal rules of grammar as found in the superstrate or
substrate language.
▪In Asia, most countries have or had some form of pidgin
English such as Thailand “Tinglish”, Japan has “Japanese
Bamboo English.” Over time, many pidgins mature into
what we call creoles.
2) Creole
- It is a pidgin that becomes the first
language of the children, or the mother tongue
of a certain community. Examples are the Gullah
and the Patwa, is a creole in Jamaica.
▪ A creole has a much more standardized grammar rules.

▪ People’s attitudes towards a creole are often different as well. Since it is

the first language of many people, there is a sense of pride over using the
language. A creole can also be used to identify members of a group. This
was not possible with a pidgin as pidgins serve as a way of
communicating between two groups while creoles are for communicating
both between groups and within a group.

▪ Examples of creoles include “Manglish” (Malaysian English), “Singlish”

(Singaporean English) and “Taglish” (Tagalog English).

▪ Pidgins and creoles serve the purpose of communicating among people

groups who have different languages. With time a pidgin may become a
creole if native speakers of a pidgin develop.
3) Regional Dialect

It is not a language that is not distinct from a

national language, but rather a variety of a language
spoken in a particular area of a country. Examples are as
Cebuano, Waray, Ilocano, and Hiligaynon in the
Philippines.
4) Minority Dialect.

This is a variety used as a marker of identity, usually

alongside a standard variety, by the members of a
particular minority ethnic group. Examples are the
Sinama of the Badjaos in the Philippines and the London-
Jamaican variety in Britain.
5) Indigenized Varieties.

These are spoken mainly as second languages in

former colonies with multilingual populations. A
classic example is Singlish (or Singaporean
English).
How do you classify the ‘conyo’ language in the
Philippines?
What do you think are the unique characteristics of this
language variety?
How do you feel about people using this variety?