INTRODUCTION TO SOCIOLINGUISTICS BY JANET HOLMES.

Chapter One

What do Sociolinguists Study?

Summary

This chapter introduces the concept of Sociolinguistics, and defines it as:

· It is the study of the relationship between language and society.

· It is interested in examining the use of language in different contexts.

· It identifies the social functions of language, and the ways it is used to convey social meaning.

Linguistic variation can provide social information.

Examining the use of language in different social contexts is very important.

The choice of one linguistic form rather than the other is important because:

1- It provides us with non-linguistic (social and regional) information. The two examples
(example 1, and example 2) mentioned in the chapter clarify how the relationship between the
two speakers governs the way of speaking and the choice of vocabulary. In the first example, the
speech serves many functions:

Ø It gives information (why the boy was late)

Ø Tells how the boy feels (angry and frustrated)

Ø Tells about the relationship between the two participants (in the first example, the relationship
is intimate and friendly. On the other hand, the second example shows a formal, distant and
respectful relationship).

In example 3, we can also see how the relationship and the feeling factors (which are
social factors) are reflected in addressing people. A mother would address her daughter in a way

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that differs from that of a stranger. Because the relationship between the mother and the daughter
is affectionate and intimate, the mother addresses her daughter with “dear”. However, if the
mother was feeling angry with her daughter she would use her name to show seriousness.
Therefore, we realize how the choice of vocabulary indicates social factors such as relationships
and feelings.

2- It reflects social identity. When we talk, we give clues to others about who we are and where
we come from. Therefore, people can know about our social and regional background. Another
social factor is “ethnicity”. In example 3, the friend uses the greeting “sut wyt ti?” which
indicates her Welsh ethnicity.

3- Sociolinguistics is also interested in different types of linguistic variation used to express

social factors.

What is the linguistic variation? How does it happen? How are different types of linguistic
variation used to express social factors?

First, the linguistic variation occurs on the level of vocabulary, sounds, grammar (syntax) and
word structure (morphology).

The linguistic variation leads to style, which is a group of different ways of expression.

The different styles are used in different social contexts. This may involve a use of different
dialect or different language.

In example 4, each participant has their own way of speaking (their own style) which, in
turn, gives information about the social background. The speaker who drops the “h” reflects his
education and occupation, which is considered as lower than the other speaker. Therefore,
although they share the same region, the linguistic variation which occurred on the level of
pronunciation has reflected the social background of the two speakers.

In example 5, the linguistic variation is on the level of grammar and vocabulary.

In example 6, the linguistic variation occurs on the level of dialect. It involves the use of two
different dialects. This means that they differ on the level pronunciation, vocabulary, grammar,
and style. In northern Norway, a village where people were studied by the two sociolinguists,
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Blom and Gompers, used two different dialects: one was for formal use, and the other was for
the casual use. The formal (Bokmal) was used for education, media and press, official business
transactions, and inside worship places. The casual (Ranamal) was the dialect used among
family and friends. It was also used to communicate with shop keepers. It signals one’s
membership to the local community (the village), unlike the Bokmal, which is used by strangers
in the village. Therefore, if a local used Bokmal while talking to a shopkeeper s/he will sound
too funny or snobbish.

Another social factor is the topic. The topic of discussion influences the way we speak, and
reflects different choices of linguistic variation. In example 6, village people in that Norwegian
village alter between two kinds of Norwegian dialects according to the topic of discussion.
Talking about foreign politics or academic topics will compel the speaker to opt for the formal
dialect (Bokmal), while they opt for (Ranamal) when they return home and talk about different
topics related to their children or friends.

Definition

Any set of linguistic forms (a group of linguistic variations on the level of voc, grammar,
pronunciation) that patterns according to, or that is influenced by social factors is called a code
or variety. A variety is a set of linguistic forms used under specific social circumstances. It is a
broad term that includes different accents, styles, dialects and even languages which contrast
with each other for social reasons (the social factors). The concept “variety” is a very useful
sociolinguistic term because:

Ø It is neutral.

Ø It covers all the different realizations of the abstract concept “language” in different social
contexts.

In example no. 7, the linguistic variation occurs on the level of languages. This means that each
language has its own pronunciation, morphology, syntax, and lexis. A speaker of one language
cannot understand the speaker of another. (Remember: this is opposite to dialects, where
speakers used to understand each other).

In the example, a village called “Sauris” experienced three stages:

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1. It was a part of the Austrian empire. The people spoke German.

2. Later, they used German for casual use (with friends and relatives) and Friulian with people
outside the village. It has become a language of solidarity used by young men among each other.

3. Italian was used for reading and writing, church and school as well as communicating with
people from outside the region. By 1971, adults were all trilingual (speaking three languages). In
that village, the social distribution is also different. And the social distribution is accompanied by
linguistic distribution as well.

The Linguistic Repertoire is the distinguishable varieties or codes which are available for use in
different social contexts.

In every community there is a range of varieties from which the speakers select according to the
context in which they are communicating. People may use different pronunciations, styles,
dialects or even languages for different purposes. In monolingual communities, people select
different styles or dialects for different purposes. For example, in a small village like Lancashire,
a woman’s repertoire would include the styles of English she needs in speaking to shop keepers,
bank employees, or her children and relatives.

In Malaysia, a woman’s repertoire would include two varieties of English with different styles,
and two different varieties of Chinese with different styles.

Social factors account for the use of linguistic variation. This depends on

Users: the participants Use: setting, topic and function.

Participants: The speakers in a speech event

Setting: the social context of the interaction (speech event)

The topic: the topic of discussion

The function: the purpose of this topic (why)

Also, there are four dimensions which are related to social factors:

1. Social distance
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2. Status scale

3. Formality scale

4. functional scales

As for the social distance scale, it is concerned with the relationship of participants. It
emphasizes solidarity. How well we know someone influences our linguistic choice. The
relationship, whether intimate or distant, affects the linguistic choice during speaking. We can
therefore use nick names in calling our siblings or friends, but can not do so in addressing our
teachers. The more formal the relation is, the more careful we are in choosing the appropriate
linguistic form in addressing the speaker.

As for the Status Scale, it has two ends: superior (high status) and subordinate (low status). The
social status is relevant to the choice of linguistic forms. For example, dropping the (h) while
speaking reflects a social group that is lower than that of someone who keeps the (h) in their
pronunciation. Also, if a person is addressed by Mr. While he addresses others with their first
names, it means that the person enjoys a higher or superior status.

The Formality Scale is concerned with high formality and low formality. Speakers evaluate the
formality of the topic, and they use the linguistic form accordingly. For example, in the village
called “Sauris”, Italian was used for formal purposes (reading, writing, religious sermons), while
German was used for communication with family members. Similarly, Bokmal was used for
formal purposes like education, newspapers, radio and TV, while Ranamal was used for casual
purposes like communicating with the locals.

As for the functional scales, they embrace two functions: referential and affective functions.
Each speech event has its own function. The referential function provides information. For
example, the weather bulletin provides information about what the expected temperatures will be
like. However, if two people are talking to each other, and one of them says“it is too humid
today,” this sentence conveys her feelings. The function here is affective. In Example 1, the boy
speech serves referential and affective functions: he is giving information to explain why he was
late, and is expressing his frustration and fury towards the teacher. In speech, sometimes one

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function dominates the other: The more referential is the topic, the less feelings it conveys, and
vice versa.

So, these dimensions, along with the previously mentioned factors provide a useful framework
for discussing language in its social context.

Conclusion:

The chapter defined the study of linguistics which is done by two tasks performed by
sociolinguists:

1- Identifying the linguistic variation involved (whether on the level of pronunciation, syntax,
lexis, morphology, dialects, or languages).

2- Identifying the non linguistic (social) factors and dimensions that led to the linguistic
variation.

Chapter Two

Language Choice in Multilingual Communities

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Q- Choosing from the linguistic repertoire is related to the Domain. How?

Q- Explain how Domain is an important linguistic term.

Examples 1, 2 and 3 clarify how the social factors influence the use of linguistic forms. Social
factors like participants, setting, topic and purpose make up the Domain. The Domain determines
the choice of the code or variety rather than others in our linguistic repertoire.

A Domain is:

Ø A term made by the American Sociolinguist, Fishman.

Ø It is a very general concept which depends on three social factors: participants, topic and
setting. It involves typical interactions between typical participants in typical settings. For
example, in a family domain, the setting would be home, the participants would be family
members and the topic would be any family related topic.

For example, the linguistic repertoire of a boy living in Zaire would be informal Shi which is
used at home, market place, formal Shi which is used for weddings and funerals, Swahili which
is used as a lingua franca to deal with people from a different tribal group, and is also used at
school, and with officials at government offices, or having job interviews, and Kingwana which
is used to the adults he meets in the streets, younger children and also in the market place,
Indoubil is used among young people regardless of their ethnic background.

Similarly, in Paraguay two languages are used: Spanish and Guarani. The use of each language is
determined by the domain. For example, if we take the university as a setting, a student and a
lecturer as the participants, a lesson discussion as the topic, the domain here will make one
choose Spanish, because Spanish is used for education, religion and administration domains.
Other domains like family, friendship is related the use of Guarani.

A bilingual Tongan New Zealander would use Tongan in family interactions in a home setting,
the participants will be family members, and the topics will be family activities. All these social
factors make up the Domain. However, English will be used in domains like education.

Ø It is important for bilingual and multilingual speech communities because it helps in making
models that summarize the norms of language use. It forces us to be very clear about which
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domains and varieties are relevant to language choice. Also, it compares patterns of code choice
in different speech communities. it also serves as a summary to a newcomer to a community to
describe which code to use in a particular situation.

Code switching

Q- How is code choice governed by social factors?

Q- What is code switching? How do social factors influence code switching?

ü Other than setting, topic and participants, there are other more specific social factors that affect
code choice (code switching).

ü The components of a domain are not always related. This means that some times a typical
setting will not involve typical interaction. For example, two sisters may not use the local dialect
which is the appropriate code related to the domain of “home” while they discuss a school topic,
although the local dialect is supposed to be the typical code used for that setting and for these
participants. This is because they feel more comfortable in using English, for example, for the
school topic they are discussing. This means that the code related to the domain of education is
leaking into the domain of home.

ü Therefore, code switching happens when particular topics are discussed in one code rather than
another, regardless of the setting or the addressee.

ü Social dimensions also contribute to code switching. Social distance between the participants
determines the use of one code rather than another. Fro example, the boy living in Zaire will use
Swahili to strangers, but he will use Indoubli among his friends or peers. Social Status also
determines the use of code switching. For example, in Zaire, a man would use the standard
Swahili when talking to a high-level official, a student would also use standard Swahili when
talking to his teacher, and a patient will do the same when talking to his doctor. As for Formality,
a variety used in the sermon will differ from that used later while speaking individually with the
people. The variety used in a radio news report will differ from that used in adverts. Function or
the goal of interaction is also important in determining code choice. For example in Zaire, if the
person is applying for a job, he has to use Standard Swahili for this purpose. However he will use

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Indoubli when abusing a young child and will manage to express his feelings very well by this
code choice.

Diglossia

In the narrow sense, Diglossia has the following three characteristics:

1. Two distinct varieties of the same language are used in the community. One is regarded as
the high variety, while the other is regarded as the low variety.

2. Each variety is used for distinct functions. However the two varieties compliment each
other.

3. The high variety is not used in every day conversation.

For example, Arabic speaking communities use Fus’ha (Modern Standard Arabic) as the High
Variety. It is used for domains of media, education, religion, press etc. Also, the MSA is revered
as the language of Koran.

However, each Arab community uses its Colloquial dialect which is the Low Variety, such as the
Egyptian colloquial Arabic, the Syrian colloquial Arabic and so on depending on the Arab
different regions. MSA is not used in everyday conversations, and is merely confined to official
speaking and writing, and reading. One can not use MSA while buying food. S/he would sound
very funny or outlandish.

In Diglossic communities, although the High and the Low varieties are linguistically related they
differ in some cases. For example, the sounds of Swiss German are different that those of
Standard German. The sounds of Egyptian Colloquial are different than those of MSA. The two
varieties also differ in Grammar. The H. variety has more complicated grammar than the L
variety. Standard German uses more case markers on nouns and tense inflections on verbs than
Swiss German. On the level of Vocabulary, the H variety has more technical and formal words
because it is used for formal domains, unlike the L variety. For example, in MSA we find many
formal words that we can find in Koran or, in lower level, poetry and literature.

Attitudes to H and L varieties also differ. The H variety is held in high regard. It is viewed as the
more sophisticated, the prestigious and the one that enjoys the higher status. It is also described
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as the fixed and standardized language in grammar books. However, the L variety is not given
that quantum of praise. But in many areas of Switzerland people are quite comfortable when
using their L variety. They also use it with strangers. In that case, L variety is valued by some
speakers.

Example 7 quotes a man who is proud of his Haitian language (L variety in Haiti) saying that this
variety can convey many meanings that the French variety (the H variety in Haiti) can not.

In the broader sense, diglossia covers any situation where two languages are used for distinct
functions in a speech community, and they complement each other. One language is used for H
functions, and the other is used for L functions. For example, in Paraguay, where Spanish is
appropriate to use, Guarani is not, and vice versa. Characteristics 1 and 3 are dispensed with.

All in all, the L variety is still admired by the people. For example, in Paraguay people take pride
in Guarani, which is the L variety. However, some people use the H in home, like in Sauris
where parents use Italian to children in order to prepare them for school.

Polyglossia

It occurs when a community regularly uses more than two languages. There is a functional
distribution for the different varieties used in the speech community. The relationships between
the varieties are not straight forward. 1- In Zaire, one has over four varieties used for different
purposes: home, market place, younger people, writing or other official and formal purposes.
(formal shi, informal shi, indoubli, etc.).

2- In Singapore:

Mandarine (H) VS Cantonese and Hokkien (L)

Singapore English formal variety (H) VS Singapore English informal variety.

3- In New Zealand, the Maori people were bilingual in English and Maori. Colloquial Maori was
the L variety used with friends and family in many shops. These communities made use of two H
varieties: a formal variety of Maori for formal interaction like ceremonies, and English was the
other H variety used for school, government, courts and for all official transactions.

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Changes in Diglossic Situation

Two varieties co exist together for a long time, but eventually one tends to replace the other.

1- England was diglossic in the broader sense (different languages were used for different
functions). Latin was H variety. When the Normans were in control (1066), French started to
expand and replace Latin. It became an H variety used for court, administration and legal
systems. English was the L variety used by peasents in the field. By the end of the fourteenth
century, English displaced French, and borrowed a huge number of words like beef (Boeuf ),
mutton (mouton, veal (veau) and pork (porc).

2- In greece, there were H variety and L variety that continued to exist side by side. Each one
had its own function. In 1901 there was a language riot because people protested over the
issuance of the New Testament in the L variety. Then the issue was related to politics, as the
right wing of the military government made the H variety as the only official language of
Greece. On the other hand, the democratic govenrmtn made the L variety the official standard
language, labeling it as “ the people’s language” finally, by 1990. The H variety was excluded
from school and school textbooks because it was regarded as archaic.

Code Mixing

How code switching reflect social dimensions? (participants, status, functions, social distance)

Code mixing occurs when a speaker switches the code he/she is using in a domain for the
following reasons:

1- example 8 shows how code switching may be related to the participants: when one switches
to another language to greet a person who has just arrived, this means that the speaker and the
other person share the same ethnicity. In some cases, the code switch is related to a particular
person or addressee. For example, a polish family living in Lancashire would switch to English
in the arrival of an English-speaking priest. Also, a speaker switches to another code or variety to
signal membership. For example, Scottish Highlanders who are not proficient speakers of Gaelic
use Gaelic tags and phrases in their English to mark their ethnicity. Example 9 also shows how
Maori people use Maori phrases in the same way too. This kind of switching is called

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emblematic switching or tag switching : the switch is an interjection ( a tag or a sentence filler)
in the other language which serves as an ethnic identity marker.

2- Switches can also reflect status. More formal relationships which involve different statuses
like patient-doctor, administrator-client are often expressed in the H variety, while social
relationships which involve minimal social distance are expressed in L variety.

Switches can also be influenced by Topic. Example 10 shows a speech between 2 people using
Bokmal (H) and Ranamal (L). they switch from a personal interaction to a formal transaction.
Here the change of topic symbolizes a change in relationship. I.e. they switch their roles from
neighbors to an bureaucratic and a member of the public. This kind of code switching is
commonly associated with a code switch in multilingual communities.

In Belgium, a government cleric deals with a query from someone she went to school with. They
switch from a local variety of Flemish to French to speak about business.

3- To serve a referential function: in the same example, (10) we see how bilinguals switch for a
certain language rather than another in discussing a certain topic. For discussing business,
Bokmal ir chosen rather than Ranamal. In china, students switch to English while discussing
school topics, but use Cantonese in speaking to each other. In example 11, when someone
quotes a person s/she switches the code to serve as quotation marks. In example 12, one switches
to quote a proverb or a saying in another language. These switches are referentially motivated.
They are used to serve as referential functions. (Referentially-oriented switch).

Switching for affective functions:

In example 13, the student switches from English to Patois (a variety of Jamaican) in order to
steam her fury at her teacher. Although the teacher could not understand what she was saying, he
knew that she was cursing him. He managed to know how she feels about the situation. Here,
code switching expressed affective rather than referential meaning.

It can also serve rhetorical effects. This is manifested in example 14 where the patois is being
used for amusement and dramatic effect. Polly is switching between the patois and the English to
imitate Melanie. Here the switch expresses an affective function.

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Many bilinguals and multilinguals are skillful in using different codes of their linguistic
repertoire to express rhetorical functions. For example, in Paraguay, Guarani (L) is considered
more appropriate for Joking.

Also, a code switch from L to H variety may happen because the person is angry or is rejecting
something. In example 15, the grandfather in a Hungarian family living in Germany uses
German with his grandchildren to put them at a distance, to show that he is serious and
disapproves their actions. In this case he does not use Hungarian because it shows solidarity and
friendliness.

In example 16, we see that the switch is done on the level of Style. The father uses informal style
to call his son (he calls him with his nick name), but then he switches to a more formal style
(calls him with his full name).

Metaphorical Switching (code mixing):

How does code switching differ from code mixing?

1- This is achieved by a rapid switching between different codes for rhetorical purposes. In
example 17, in Papua New Guinea a business man tries to convince his tribe men to maintain
their investments in a store. He uses the local language “Buang” to signal membership, and he
uses the H variety “Tok Pisin” (talk pidgin) to signal his education, his skillfulness, superior
knowledge and experience as a successful businessman.

2- In metaphorical switching, each code represents a set of social meanings, just like am
metaphor represents complex meanings. This switch also requires rhetorical skills.

3- Metaphorical switching enriches communication.

In example 18, the speaker switches codes between Samoan and English to describe his
experience in weight loss. Samoan is used to express his feelings, and how he felt shame and
embarrassment over his look (it serves affective functions), while English is used to give
information about the experience, and what the doctor’s advice for him was. (Serves a referential
function). It also gives distance and objectivity about the topic.

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Code switching differs from code mixing in the fact that code mixing is done due to lack of
competence, while switching is motivated in relation to the symbolic meaning each variety or
code gives. The rapid switching also conveys referential and affective information.

Lexical Borrowing

Q- How does lexical borrowing differ from code switching?

1- This kind of switch is caused by lack of vocabulary.

2- It is motivated by lexical need: People may borrow a term from another language to express
a concept that they do not have an equivalent term for in their original language, mainly nouns.
This differs from code switching in the sense that speakers have a choice about which words they
are going to use.

3- It also differs from code switching on the level of form, because the words are adapted to the
speaker’s first original language. They are pronounced and used grammatically as if they were
part of the speaker’s original language

4- For example, New Zealand English has borrowed the word mana from Maori. There is no
exact equivalent to its meaning in English. It is pronounced as {ma:n\} by most New Zealanders.
However, the Maori pronunciation is different as it uses short /a/ in both syllables.

The word Maori is also adapted by most English speakers. They use the English diphthong /au/
rather than a longer /a:o/ sound. They also pluralize the word Maori with the English by adding
the plural infliction (s) producing the word to produce the plural form: Maoris. In the Maori
language the plural is not marked by (s). People who rapidly switch tend to switch completely
between two linguistic systems (sounds, grammar and vocabulary) as opposed to borrowing.

Q- There are linguistic constraints or limitation to code switching. Explain.

There are very general rules for switching regardless of the codes or varieties involved. These
rules are universal. It has been suggested that the switch occurs when there is

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1- Linguistic equivalence between the two codes, meaning when there is a point where the
grammars of both codes match each other. For example: you can switch between an adjective
and a noun if both codes use the same order. ex: You switch from French to English to say
Grande house (big house), but you can not say bateau red. (Red boat).

2- Also, it has been suggested that there is a matrix language frame which imposes structural
constraints on code switched utterances. So all system morphemes (such as tense and aspect
inflections) will come from this matrix, and any switch will be determined or governed by this
matrix. Example 20 shows that the content words are from English but the system morphemes
are from Swahili, which is the matrix language. And they follow the normal order in Swahili.

3- There are also social stylistic and contextual factors. This is related to which codes are
involved, the function of the switch, the level of proficiency in each code of the people
switching. It is suggested that bilingual people with high proficiency will switch within
sentences, while less-proficient people will use tags or short phrases.

Attitudes to code switching

People are unaware of the fact that they code-switch, and many of them apologize for it. Many
people regard code switching as a negative thing. This is clear in the terms that people used to
refer to code switching processes in monolingual areas:

Ø Among Mexican Americans, the derogatory (degrading) term tex mex is used to describe the
rapid code switching between Spanish and English.

Ø In French speaking Canada, the negative term “joual” is used to describe switching between
french and English.

Ø In Britain, switching between Punjabi and English is given the term (broken up panjabi)

On the other hand, bilingual or multilingual communities eye code switching positively, as they
regard it as indication of one’s proficiency in more than one language, and the ability to
manipulate tow or more codes confidently.

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Chapter Three

Language Maintenance and Shift

This chapter discusses the political and economic factors that influence Language choice.

Language shift in different communities:

A- Migrant minorities:

Example 1 shows that migrant families provide examples of language shift. The example
illustrates how a British Hindu woman living in Britain tended to use Gujerati at home as well as
her work place with her friends as their home language. However when she was promoted (and
this shows that she has moved to a high level which forces her to use an H variety) she used
English more of the time. Finally when she was moved to the Main Office she used English all
the time. This example shows the experience of a minority in a monolingual country, and how
the predominant society’s language over time displaced the mother tongue of the minority. This
shift was made by social factors, as the shift occurs from one language to another for
communicative needs.

In English speaking countries like UK, USA or Australia, children are exposed to English in
school, and over time they start to use English in home when they discuss school topics or even
friends’ issues. Gradually English infiltrates the home through the Children who use English
when they grow up and be engaged in jobs.

Immigrants who look and sound different have to use the language of the mainstream or the
predominant society. They are under pressure, and therefore they shift to English. Speaking
good English is then regarded as a sign of successful assimilation. This leads to abandoning the
minority language. Typically migrants are monolingual in their mother tongue, their children are
bilingual, and their grandchildren are monolingual in the language of the host country.

B- Non-migrant minorities:

Here, the shift is caused by political, economic and social changes in a community. Example 2
shows how people of Oberwart, which was a part of Hungary before WW1, spoke Hungarian to
each other, and German to outsiders. When the war was over, the town became a part of Austria,
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and grew to be an industrial area, the German language was increased to include domains of
school, education, business and official transactions. It also symbolized formality and social
distance. On the other hand, Hungarian was the language of solidarity used for social and
affective functions. It became associated with peasants, and became old-fashioned, while the
German language was associated with economic and social progress. Later, the young people
used German with their friends, and even parents used German with their children. Hungarian
was confined to prayers and church. The use of linguistic choices “patterns of language use”
depend on the social networks that the speaker is involved in. (Social interaction)

C- Migrant Majorities:

Sometimes the language shift reflects the influence of political and economic factors such as the
need to work. People may shift location and language for this reason. Many Scottish, Irish and
Welsh people moved to England and changed their language accordingly by shifting to English
in order to get a job. In this case, they need to shift to English to maintain their social being and
for their job success.

We also find the same result when a majority group moves to another place. For example,
colonial countries like England, Spain or France made their language dominated in the places
they have colonized such as India, South Africa and Papua New Guinea. But this was also by the
help of the multilingual nature of those areas. Multilingualism was well established in those
areas. Otherwise it would be very difficult that an alien language would have the ability to
eradicate (obliterate or delete) the indigenous (original) language. But when multilingualism was
not widespread, the indigenous language becomes under threat, and the dominating language (the
language of the colonizers) will be described as the “Killer Language”. Where one group brings
about political power and imposes its language along with its institutions (government-
education-religious places, courts), the minority will find themselves as under pressure to adopt
the language of the dominant group. Example 3 shows how Maori people moved from
monolingualism in Maori to bilingualism in both Maori and English, then to monolingualism
again but in English. A survey made in 1998 indicated that less than 10% of Maori people can
speak Maori fluently. The survey also indicated that there are very few domains where Maori is
used.

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The indigenous people in USA and Australia have similarly lost their language, as their language
was obliterated by the language of the colonizer which is English. The indigenous people were
also decreased in number due to war and diseases.

Language Death and Language Loss

Language death differs from language shift. In language death, the language is not spoken by
anyone at all. This is due to the fact that the speakers of this language are disappeared due to
continuous extermination or death by diseases. For example, Cornish disappeared completely
from Cornwell by the 18th century by the death of the last speaker of Cornish, Dolly Mousehole.
On the other hand, a community such as the Turkish community in England may shift to English
over a couple of generations. This involves the loss of the language of these speakers. But the
Turkish Language, however, is not facing any threat because it is still being used in Turkey.

The process of language death comes about through a gradual loss of proficiency and
competence by the speakers. Example 3 shows how a young speaker of Dyirbal (an Australian
aboriginal language) has lost a great number of vocabulary of Dyirbal because she uses English
most of the time. She even uses English words while she talks to her grandmother because she
can not remember the words in Dyirbal, and how her grandmother complains her word order.

The result of this situation:

- The girl can not use inflection and word order in the right way, because she puts the words
together in the same way she does in English. The language in such a situation erodes over time.

- With the spread of a majority group language (English in this case) into more and more
domains, the number of domains and contexts in which the original language is being used
decreases until it becomes confined to very personal things like dreaming or praying.

- The stylistic range that people acquire when they sue a language in a wider range of
domains disappears.

- There is a gradual simplification of grammatical constructions and sound rules.

- The number of vocabulary becomes smaller.

18
In a wide community the language may survive for ritual occasions, but the speakers’ fluency
will be confined to prayers. For instance, in Australia Maori is used for ceremonial and religious
speeches by the elders who still know how to perform the rituals.

Factors that contribute to / lead to Language Shift

1- Economic, social and political factors:

A- Importance of second language: The community believes in the importance of the second
language. The importance is attributed to economic or political reasons. For example, looking for
a job forces the speaker to learn English in English-dominated countries. This causes
bilingualism which is a precursor of language shift. Although this is not the case in Diglossic
communities.

B- Unimportance of ethnic language: the speakers believe that there is no reason in maintaining
the ethnic language, and that it does not offer any advantages to their children. In this case, shift
is inevitable.

C- The speed of shift is governed by the social and the economic goals of the individuals in a
community. When the dominant language is a prerequisite for success, the people are anxious to
emerge successfully in the community. Newly arrived immigrant women to Zealand tend to have
less education than their husbands because they tend to stay at home and do not seek job
opportunities, maintaining their minority language.

2- Demographic Factors:

A- Rural VS Urban areas: in rural areas people use their ethnic language as it fulfills all their
needs. They are also isolated fro the centre of political power, while in urban areas they tend to
use the predominant language. For example, in New Zealand Maori survives in inaccessible rural
areas, and used by Maori people. In Canada, Ukrainians who live in rural areas and on farms
maintained their ethnic language better than Ukrainians in towns.

B- The size of group is a critical factor. Language shift occurs at one group faster than another.
For example, the Spanish community is great in USA, and this is why the Spanish language
survived in USA. Example 5 shows how it is important to have a number of people to use the

19
ethnic language with to protect it from dying. A Spanish-speaking girl finds her self weird
among other students in school. This is why she shifts to English. She even refused to use
Spanish at home, while her parents spoke Spanish to each other. The parents in this case are
isolated. Maintaining language under such conditions is nearly impossible.

C- Intermarriage accelerates language shift. In this case one language tends to predominate in
home. For example, a German man in Australia marries an English-speaking Australian woman,
the language used in home will be English. It will also be the main language used with children.
In other cases, when a mother’s English is not strong and wants to pass her ethnic language to
the children, she would slow down the process of language shift by using the ethnic language to
her children. Italian and Greek fathers in Australia believe that it is important for the children to
acquire their ethnic language. Also, Maori fathers pass Maori to their children in order to be used
in ceremonies like marriage or any other official occasion. When children of mixed marriages
start school, a parent must exert so much effort to keep the ethnic language used in home.

D- Attitudinal factors: Language shift is slower when the ethnic language is valued by a
community. Example 6 shows how a Samoan family is proud of its ethnic Samoan language, and
how it keeps using it every now and then in different occasion. The children are also happy
because their parents taught them Samoan.

Also, if the language enjoys a high-level status on the international level, it will be maintained.
French is maintained in USA and Canada because it is a language of an international status. The
Greek people are proud of their contribution to the western philosophy and culture. They view
their language as important, and that is why they resist attempts of language shift to English.
However there must be a community to support these positive attitudes, other wise the language,
even if it enjoys an international status, would die. (In example 5, the Spanish language was
obliterated because there was no support to use it in the community of the speaker, even in
home.).

How can a minority language be maintained?

· Regarding the ethnic language as important: if the ethnic language is regarded as an

important symbol of identity, it is likely to be maintained longer. For example, Polish people
eyed their language important wherever they immigrated to preserve their identity. Therefore, the
20
Polish language was maintained for three or four generations. The case is similar with Greek
migrants to Australia, USA and New Zealand.

· Frequency of contact: if families from a minority group live near each other, their ethnic
language is likely to be more preserved. For example, members of the Greek community in New
Zealand belong to a common church where they use Greek, and have also established shops
where they sell Greek food. I the market place they also used Greek with each other. The same
goes with Indian and Pakistani communities in UK, in USA, Chinese people who live in
Chinatown also preserved their Chinese dialect.

· Degree of frequency of contact with homeland: migrants to another country or visitors need
to keep their ethnic language alive. New Zealand Polynesian visitors arriving in New Zealand are
being welcomed by the Polynesian New Zealands. The visitors provide a new linguistic input to
the New Zealand community. Also, organizing trips back home is also a good opportunity to
maintain fluency. Greek New Zealanders regard a trip to Greece as essential, which forces them
to maintain proficiency in Greek.

· Social factors may also help in resisting language shift resulting from economic pressures:
Using the language in home, banning intermarriages help in maintaining the language.
Associating the use of language with a particular setting like the school or the place of worship
also helps in maintaining the ethnic language.

· Institutional Support: governmental offices, media, press, education, law or religion are
domains of the predominant language. If the ethnic language is tied to such domains it will be
maintained for sure.

Language Revival

Sometimes a community becomes aware of the fact that its language is being threatened or
endangered by disappearance. Therefore, attempts were made to revive these communities’
languages. For example:

a- Hebrew: Hebrew was dead for nearly 1700 years. Its use was confined to religious sermons
or prayers. However, the strong feelings of nationalism helped in promoting and reviving the
Hebrew language
21
b- Welsh: when English industrialists invaded Wales (in-migration), the Welsh language was
under a process of erosion. The miners and the workers began to use English as it became the
predominant language used excessively by the English people. The situation became worse when
many Welsh workers left the place (out-migration). The two thirds of population started to speak
English. Welsh people then worked on slowing down the language loss by obtaining a welsh-
language TV channel, as well as establishing bilingual educational programs. (bilingual
education)

Chapter 4

Linguistic Varieties and Multilingual Nations

Sociolinguists use terms that enable them to distinguish between different varieties or codes in
multilingual communities. The codes or varieties are being categorized based on function and
status.

1. Vernacular language
22
2. Standard Language

3. Lingua Franca

4. Pidgins and Creoles

Vernacular language: specific and broad definition:

· It is a language that has not been standardized and which does not have official status.

· In a multilingual community, the different ethnic languages used by different groups are also
described as vernacular.

· It is usually the first language learnt by the people, and they are often used for narrow range
of informal functions.

· The term vernacular is made up of three facts:

Ø It is an uncodified and nonstandardised variety. For example, Spanish is regarded as a

vernacular in USA but not in Spain, this is because the UNESCO report defined a vernacular
language as the first language of a group that is socially and politically dominated by a group
with a different language. So in USA, the dominant language is English, but vernaculars would
be any language spoken by ethnic groups.

Ø It is acquired as the first variety (usually in home).

Ø It is used for limited functions. It is used for communication in home and with friends. It is the
language of solidarity.

· It refers to the most colloquial variety in a person’s linguistic repertoire.

By extension, the term was used to refer in a monolingual community to the most informal and
colloquial variety of a language which may also have a standardized variety. In this sense, the
term is being used by sociolinguists who study dialects.

The term is also used to indicate that a language is used for everyday interaction, without
implying that it is being used for informal domains only. For example, Hebrew was not a mother
tongue for any speaker, and was only used for performing rituals, and was not regarded as a
23
vernacular. However as Hebrew started to be the national language of Israel, the sociolinguists
called this process as vernacularization. Therefore its H status included L functions. So Hebrew
now became the language of everyday communication. In this sense, the term is very broad and
not useful, as it regards all the languages spoke by native speakers as vernacular.

So:

Specific: informal vs. formal (the more useful definition)

Broad: calls any native language used by a speaker as vernacular.

Standard language:

Criteria

ü Codified

ü Prestigious

ü Serves H functions

A standard variety is one that is written and had undergone a process of codification. It is
recognized as prestigious in the community, and it is used for H functions along with a diversity
of L varieties. This term is general because:

Few of the world’s languages are written

Few languages are standardized and accepted as a language for formal functions. The next
example shows what the definition means:

* By the 15th century, Standard English emerged naturally from a variety of regional English
dialects. It was the variety used in court and the influential members and merchants of London,
which was the centre of political, social and influential life in England. This dialect of English
used is what we regard now as Standard English.

* This dialect was prestigious because its use in court. It was influential because it was used by
economically powerful merchant class. This code later on, because many people were keen on
learning it, developed formal H functions in the context of administration and government.
24
* Codification is usually done through lexicographers (Dictionary compilers) who lay down the
grammar and the rules of the language as part of the standard variety, and they prescribe the
standard forms of the language. The codification process was accelerated by the emergence of
printing.

The development of Standard English illustrates the three essential criteria: it was an influential,
prestigious variety. It was codified and stabilized, and it served H functions as it was used in
court, literature and administration. It has also gained its special position as a result of social,
economic and political influence.

Standard languages developed in a similar way in many European countries such as Italy, France
and Spain. There were a variety of dialects of vernacular languages which were derived from
colloquial Latin and served L functions for their communities, along with the classical Latin, the
H language, which served H functions. From these dialects a standard dialect emerged. Once a
standard dialect is developed it generally provides a very useful means of communication across
areas of dialect diversity. Its status is prestigious and guarantees its spread. Standard English has
also served as a useful variety for communication between areas of dialect diversities in the areas
where the British influence existed. Local varieties have spread in areas like Malaysia,
Singapore, and many African countries. The English of UK has served as a norm in countries
that already developed their English like Australia, New Zealand, USA and Canada. In
Singapore, the British English is the endorsed language by the government rather than
Singaporean English.

Lingua Franca

v The term lingua franca describes a language serving as a means of communication between
different linguistic groups in a multilingual speech community.

v It is used between the people whose native language differs. For example:

If Colombian Indians want to communicate with Indians living in Vaupes, they would use
Tukano as a lingua franca.

25
If Indians want to communicate with non-Indians (who are not familiar with Tukano), the
Colombians would use Spanish, and the Brazilians would use Portuguese.

v It is the official or national language. For example:

Tanzania: Swahili

Papua New Guinea: Tok Pisin

Regional lingua franca like Hiri Muto

Soviet Union: Russian

Arab World: Standard Arabic

In multilingual communities some times linguafrancas displace vernaculars. For example, when
people from different ethnic groups in Zaire or Tanzania marry they will use the lingua franca in
home. Consequently, the lingua franca will be the language of their children (vernacular).
However, sometimes the marriage system is exogamous. People must marry from outside the
group. Each party will use his/her own language, and this will maintain both parties’ vernaculars
due to linguistic distinctiveness. (Like Pauves)

v Lingua Francas develop as a trade language. This emphasizes the economic influence over
language change.

Africa

East West

Swahili Hausa

Swahili was used as the market and trade language in East Africa, while Hausa was the market
and trade language in West Africa.

Papua New Guinea: Tok Pisin, which later on became official language.

Tanzania: Swahili was used as the official language by the gov. for promotion.

Pidgin and Creole

26
Definition

Pidgin

Has no native speakers, and develops as a means of communication between people who do not
have a common language. (Ex. On seacoasts, it was developed as languages of trade between the
traders who used the language of the colonizer with the people whom they are trading with). It
may derive from the word business as pronounced in the pidgin English that developed in China.

Creole

A pidgin that acquires native speakers. It is learnt by children as their first language. (Ex: Tok
Pisin has developed into a Creole because it became the native language of a large number of
speakers).

It is expanded in structure and vocabulary to express the range of meanings required for a first
language.

Function

Pidgin

- It serves restricted domains and functions, ex: (trade-administration-buying and selling).

- Used for referential rather than affective functions.

- Not used for signaling group identification or to express social distance.

- It has a short life if it is restricted for restricted functions. It disappears when he function
disappears. (ex: American troops and Vietnamese people in Vietnam developed a pidgin to
communicate. When this situation was over the pidgin died.

Creole

- It is used in a wide range of domains and functions. (Politics, education, administration,

original literature, and debate in parliament in PNG).

- It has been accepted as official and national languages in a number of countries.

27
Structure

Pidgin

- The H variety which tends to supply the largest amount of vocabulary is called (lexifier-
superstrate), while the language used to influence the grammatical structure is called (substrate).
Ex: in PNG, English is the lexifier for Tok Pisin, as it provided 77% of vocabulary, while Tolai
is the substrate.

- No affixes to mark gender.

No inflection to mark tenses or pluralism.

- It has structural complexity: There is a use of affixes and inflection to mark gender and
pluralism.

Creole

- It is more structurally regular than pidgins: a linguistic strategy that regularizes the structure of
words with related meanings, and so makes the forms easier to learn and to be understood.

Attitudes

Pidgin

- Do not enjoy H status

- Described as mongrel jargons and macaroni lingoes.

Creole

Speakers of creoles are proud of their language as a means of communication with a wide range
of influential people, and in getting decent jobs. (ex: though Haitian Creole is the L variety
beside rather than French, the monolingual speakers of Haitian Creole express strong loyalty to
that language that express their feelings (affective). The same goes with Buang in PNG as the
code switching between the Tok Pisin and Buang demonstrate solidarity.

Origins and endings

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Origins: - some had argued that pidgins and creoles had a common origin, as most pidgins can be
traced back to a single 15th Portuguese pidgin or perhaps a Mediterranean lingua franca called
Sabir.

- Others argue that each pidgin arises and develops independently. They say that similarities are
caused by two types of constraints:

1- Pidgins arise in different contexts but for the same basic functions (trade or any other
referential function).

2- These functions are expressed through universal structural processes like simplification or
reduction. These processes are found in any context where communication is the aim, so there is
no need to argue for a common origin for all pidgins.

Endings: - what happens later to a Creole depends on the social context:

Societies with rigid social division: Remains a stable L variety (ex: Haitian Creole is the L
variety while French is the H variety)

Societies with more fluid social barriers develops towards the standard language from which it
derives most of its vocabulary.

Societies where social barriers are not insuperable decreolization (the features of Creole tend to
change into the direction of the standard variety.

Eventually, there may exist a continuum of varieties between the standard language and the
Creole. This is known as “Post-Creole continuum”. It may also be standardized and adopted as
an official language like Tok Pisin in PNG, or may become a national language like Indonesian
which was developed from Pidgin Malay.

29
Chapter 5

National Languages and Language Planning

Difference between official and national language:

Definition:

A national language is the language of a political, cultural and social unit. It is generally
developed and used as a symbol of national unity.

Its functions are to identify the nation, and unite the people. However, the official language is a
language which may be used for government business. Its functions are utilitarian rather than
symbolic. One language of these two can serve both functions.

Their use by government:

Governments use the terms official and national according to their political aims.

Paraguay

National official

Guarani, Spanish Spanish

Tanzania

National official

Swahili Swahili, English

Vanuatu

National official

Bislama Bislama, French, English

Many countries do not make a distinction between the national and the official language. In
monolingual nations, the same language serves both purposes.

30
In multilingual nations, the government declares a particular language to be the national
language for political reasons. For example, it may be an attempt to assert the nationhood of a
state just like Swahili in Tanzania, Hebrew in Israel, Malay in Malaysia, and Indonesian in
Indonesia.

If this language is not capable of serving internal and external functions like government or
administration, another official language is needed, just like French in Ivory Coast, Chad and
Zaire. Also, Arabic is an official language in Israeli besides Hebrew.

When the choice of a national language is problematic in a multilingual nation, an official

language must exist. For example, India has failed to label Hindi as a national language;
therefore there are 14 official languages along side English and Hindi. Zaire has four African
languages as national languages. Haiti has two national languages: Haitian Creole and French,
but French is the official language.

Official status

English is an official language in countries like Pakistan, Jamaica and Vanuatu, and often shares
this status with one of the indigenous languages such as Malay, and Swahili in Tanzania.

In countries like USA, England or New Zealand, the language of the majority is not legally
described as the official language. In New Zeeland, although English is the language of
administration and government and education, Maori is legally declared as the official language.
This declaration gave the language a symbolic meaning that acknowledged the importance of the
country. In Wales, the government made Welsh the language of education and government, but it
has no official status in Britain.

In India, linguistic minorities have rioted over the governmental ignorance of their demands. In
Canada, although English and French were given equal status in all aspects of federal
administration, the Quebec government was not happy over the English domination.

Many minorities would like to gain official status for their languages but the costs of providing
services and information in all official languages are considerable.

31
What price the National Language

A national language of a political entity would emerge as the official language. “One nation, one
language” was an effective slogan. Linguistic nationalism in Europe grew by the 19th century.

It then doubled in the 20th century when colonized countries became independent. At that time
Nationhood and independence were important political issues around the world.

- In multilingual countries like Tanzania, Indonesia and China and Philippine, the symbolic
value of a national language in the face of colonization became very strong.

- In a single dominant group, the issue of choosing an official language does not arise. In
Somalia, Somali is the first language, and the national official language. In Denmark, Danish is
the first and the national language.

Political influence in multilingual countries plays a role in choosing the national language. For
example: when Philippines gained independence, Pilipino became the national language. It was
based on Tagalog (the language of the most influential political group in the country). However,
this is not the case in Indonesia, where the language of the elite Javanese is not selected as the
national language, but rather Malay that was widely used as a trade language. It was more neutral
than Javanese which had a complicated politeness system. India and a number of African
countries avoided selecting a national language because the wrong choice leads to riots.
However, this is not the case in Tanzania which successfully adopted a national language.

Part Two (planning)

The process of selecting the national language (Planning)

Four steps are crucial for making a language suitable for official use:

1- Selection (choosing the variety to be developed). It is usually based on a political decision

2- Codification (corpus planning – linguistic processing) it has to do with standardizing the

structural and linguistic features of the variety.

32
3- Elaboration (extending the functions of the variety to be used in more domains. this involves
developing the necessary linguistic resources for handling new concepts and contexts).

4- Securing its acceptance: status of the variety and attitudes of the people towards it must be
taken in consideration.

Selection and acceptance are based on social and political factors. However, codification and
elaboration are related to linguistic factors. The linguists must make sure of the availability of
linguistic resources for that language in terms of words and structures.

The planning process of a national official language in a large multilingual country (Tanzania)
where the competing varieties are distinct languages.

Selection: the first president of Tanzania chose Swahili as the official national language. It was
difficult to choose English as it was the language of the colonizer. The choice was based on the
facts that Swahili was already the language of education. It also served as a lingua franca of the
anti-colonial movement, and strengthened social relations between different groups that were
subject to colonization. Swahili is also identified s an African language, as it belongs to the
Bantu family.

Codification and Elaboration:

v Standardization began by the British Administration before independence.

v A southern variety of Swahili was selected as the basis for the standard.

v The codification involved developing spelling system, describing grammar, and writing a
dictionary for the vocabulary.

v After independence, Swahili was used for many contexts like education, administration,
politics and law. The vocabulary expanded to cover the needs of new contexts by borrowing
from English and Arabic.

v The president recommended that Swahili would be used for post-primary education, high
courts and governments. This required more vocabulary for making new technical terms needed
for different fields.

33
Attitudes

Because Swahili was used to unite the people of Tanzania it was regarded in a positive way.
Tanzanians were very loyal to the language that united them in working towards freedom. The
language also acquired the charisma of the president who used Swahili in different occasions
rather than English. Literary works of Shakespeare were also translated into Swahili. Swahili had
a neutral status because it was not identified with a particular tribe.

Developing a standard variety in Norway:

Selection: In Norway there was a Diglossia situation where Danish was the H Variety and the
language of the oppressor from whom Norway gained independence. Other Norwegian
vernaculars are the L varieties. The attitudes towards Danish were hostile, and it was not used by
people at rural countries. On the other hand, choosing from the regional Norwegian varieties also
stirred problems in relation to people’s attitudes, as well as form and function.

So, there were two approaches taken to develop a standard written variety of Norwegian. One
approach selected a variety based on Danish with some orthographic and morphological
modification reflecting Norwegian educated speech. (Bokmal). The other approach created a
New Norwegian written standard by drawing on a range of Norwegian rural dialects. (Landsmal
or later Nynorsk) also called New Norwegian.

Codification and elaboration:

* The New Norwegian was subject to a process of codification and elaboration by Ivar Aasen, a
school teacher who:

Ø Wrote a grammar and a 40.000 word dictionary.

Ø Identified common grammatical patterns in different dialects, and chose vocabulary from a
range of different dialects also. He chose the forms that were the least corrupted and influenced
by Danish.

* Rural dialects solved the problem of functional elaboration or extending the use of Norwegian
into domains where Danish had been regarded as the appropriate code.

34
* By the 20th century, language planners tried to bring Bokmal and Landsmal together through
codification efforts. After WW2, there was a gap between the two languages, and the gap
widened by 1990 when there were arguments about the appropriate written form of Norwegian.

* The two languages, though different, share common syntactic features and morphological
variants. However they differ in terms of words. Pronouncement is made by the Norwegian
Language Council which identifies the appropriate pronouncement.

35