HG2020 Language in Society

tutorial 8

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1) Diglossia

How can the following three dimensions be used to distinguish between H and L varieties in a diglossic speech
community?

a) Formality
b) social distance
c) social status

All three have certain restrictions inherent within them, which force diglossic speech communities to choose
between H or L varieties depending on those three factors. Social distance and status force one to be more
aware of those inherent parts of their identities – you’d be more inclined to use H if there is a greater social
distance or L if there is a lower one, so on and so forth.

Summarise what you now know about the differences between H and L in diglossic communities.

a) How are they linguistically related? Are they distinct languages or varieties of the same language? They
can be both! Standard Arabic vs darija in Morocco or different ones like in Paraguay where they use
Spanish and Guruani.
b) How are they used in the community?
c) Which is used for conversation with family and friends? L, shows closeness. Unless of the higher class.
d) How is each variety learned? Depending on the class of the speaker – if they are in an asymmetrical
bilingualism, then they are forced to learn H.
e) Which has most prestige? H
f) Which is codified in grammar books and dictionaries? H
g) In which variety is literature usually written? Standard – they have the power again !

Fill in the following table on the basis of your predictions about when H will be used and when L will be used in
diglossic communities.

H(igh) variety L(ow) Variety

Religion (sermon, prayers) H L – missionaries
Literature (novels, non-fiction) H L
 Shopping H L
Newspaper (editorial) H
Gossiping L
Broadcasting: TV news H
Education (written material, textbooks) H
Education (lesson discussion) H L

2) Code-switching and code choice in multilingual settings

a) How many varieties (languages, dialects, styles) do you use on a normal weekday? Quite a few.
b) Consider which varieties you use in different places/settings? Classroom settings vs family setting.
Customer voice?
c) Do you ever use more than one variety in the same social context? If so why? They apply to different
contexts in the situations
d) Read the following example adapted from another sociolinguistics textbook, then answer the questions:

Oi Lin Tan, a 20-year-old Chinese Singaporean, uses three languages regularly. At home she uses
Cantonese to her mother and to her grandfather who lives with them. With her friends she generally
uses Singapore English, often the colloquial variety – Singlish. She learned to understand Hokkien in
some shops, wet market and hawker centres, but in shopping malls she again uses Singapore English. In
school she had Mandarin Chinese, and so she often watches a Mandarin television station, and she
sometimes reads a Chinese newspaper Lianhe Zaobao. Her schooling was mostly in a formal variety of
Singapore English. This is the code she uses when she has to deal with government officials, or when she
applies for an office job during the university holidays. She is now studying geography and economics at
an English-medium university. Her text books are all in English.

Q: Although Oi Lin Tan uses Cantonese to her mother, she uses Singapore English to her sisters. On the
other hand, she uses Cantonese at the market to elderly Cantonese vegetable sellers. What factors
might account for these code choices?

C to Mum but SE to sisters: upbringing – generally use MT to mother, , what they taught her but sisters
are closer to age & grew up in the same contexts of education as sisters; SE more natural – cultural
familiarity to relate to situations.
C to WM stall owners: solidarity? Maybe to build rapport? Storefront

Diglossic formula is far too simplistic to explain certain things – when we operate in and out of certain
speech situations

3) additional reading

Read the article found in the folder “additional readings” and be ready to discuss it in class.
Enjoy your tutorial! 

Luke & Ivan