 Language

We must acknowledge that a language is essentially a set of items,

what hudson (1996, p. 21) calls ‘linguistic items,’ such entities as sounds,
words, grammatical structures, and so on.

Language also is mean when two or more people communicate with each
other in speech, we can call the system of communication that they employ a
code. That code will be something we may also want to call a languange. We
should also note that two speakers who are bilingual, that is who have access
to two codes, and who for one reason or other shift back and forth between
the two languages as they converse by code-switching.

 Variation

The competence–performance distinction just mentioned is one that holds

intriguing possibilities for work in linguistics, but it is one that has also proved
to be quite troublesome, particularly when much of the variety we experience
within language is labeled ‘performance’ and then put to one side by those
who consider ‘competence’ to be the only valid concern of linguists. The
language we use in everyday living is remarkably varied. Some investigators
believe that this variety throws up serious obstacles to all attempts to
demonstrate that each language is truly a homogeneous entity, and that it is
possible to write a complete grammar for a language which makes use of
categorical rules,

I.e., rules which specify exactly what is – and therefore what is not – possible
in the language. Everywhere we turn we seem to find at least a new wrinkle or
a small inconsistency with regard to any rule we might propose.

 Society

There are several possible relationships between language and society.

 One is that social structure may either influence or determine linguistic

structure and/or behavior.
 A second possible relationship is directly opposed to the first: linguistic
structure and/or behavior may either influence or determine social structure.
 a third possible relationship is that the influence is bi-directional: language and
society may influence each other.
 A fourth possibility is to assume that there is no relationship at all between
linguistic structure and social structure and that each is independent of the
other.

Has observed that sociolinguistics is an attempt to find correlations between

social structure and linguistic structure and to observe any changes that
occur.

A. Language and Varieties

Language is both a system of communication between individuals

and a social phenomenon. When two or more people communicate with
each other in speech, we can call the system of communication that they
employ a code. In most cases that code will be something we may also
want to call a language. Language varieties refers to the various forms of
language triggered by social factors. Language may changes from region
to region, from one social class to another, from individual to individual, and
from situation to situation. This actual changes result in the varieties of
language.
B. Dialect
A variety of a language spoken by a group of people that is characterised
by systematic features (e.g., phonological, lexical, grammatical) that
distinguish it from other varieties of that same language.
Idiolect: the speech variety of an individual speaker
a. Language vs Dialect
Linguistic criterion
 Mutual intelligibility
YES? = dialects
NO? = languages
e.g., British vs. American vs. Irish vs. Australian (= dialects of English)
Q: Why do dialects exist?
A: Because of isolation or long term separation of groups Isolation can be
across time, geography or social barriers.
Two types of “dialects”:
(1) sociolects or “social dialects”: linguistic differentiation based upon on
membership in a longstanding socially-isolated or separate group. Social
dialect originated from social groups and depend on a variety of factors,
social class, religion, and ethnicity. Factors such us occupation, place of
residence, education, income, racial or ethnic origin, cultural background,
caste, religion related to the way people speak.
 example:

 Caste in India often determines which variety of the language a speaker

use.
 Christian, Muslim, and Jewish in Baghdad speak different Variety of Arabic.
 Ethnic group in America, e.g Labov’s work in NY.
 Speakers of Jewish and Italian ethnicity differentiated from the standard
variety or Black English.
(2) regional dialects: linguistic differentiation based upon on membership
in a longstanding geographically-isolated or separate group. Dialects that
are defined in terms of geographic boundaries, very distinctive local
varieties.

 It is reflected in the differences of pronunciation, in the choice and forms of

words and syntax.
 There is a dialect continuum.
 Various pressures-political, social, cultural, and educational, serve to
harden current national boundaries to make the linguistic differences
among states.
 Dialect Geography-term-used to describe attempts made to map the
distribution of various linguistic features.
C. Styles and Register
a. Style
Style is language variation which reflects changes in situational
factors, such as addressee, setting, task or topic. Style is
often analysed along a scale of formality, the level of formality is influenced
by some factors like the various differences among the participants, topic,
emotional involvement, etc. (Janet Holmes, 2001)
Addressee as an Influence on Style
Age of addressee ==> People generally talk to the very young and to the
very old. For example: Baby-talk.
Social background of addressee ==> People talk differently to the higher
class and to the lower class. For example: The pronunciation of
newsreaders on different radio station (Janet Holmes, 2001).
b. Register
Meanwhile, for the terms of Register, Janet Holmes ( 2001: 246)
explained that Registers are specific sets of vocabulary items associated
with different occupational group or the language of groups ofpeople with
common interests or jobs. For example: the language used by air-
plane pilots, surgeons, bank managers, jazz fans, commentators, etc.

1. PIDGIN

A pidgin /ˈpɪdʒᵻn/, or pidgin language, is a grammatically simplified means of

communication that develops between two or more groups that do not have a
language in common: typically, a mixture of simplified languages or a
 simplified primary language with other languages’ elements included. It is
most commonly employed in situations such as trade, or where both groups
speak languages different from the language of the country in which they
reside (but where there is no common language between the groups).
Fundamentally, a pidgin is a simplified means of linguistic communication, as
it is constructed impromptu, or by convention, between individuals or groups
of people. A pidgin is not the native language of any speech community, but is
instead learned as a second language. A pidgin may be built from words,
sounds, or body language from multiple other languages and cultures. They
allow people who have no common language to communicate with each
other. Pidgins usually have low prestige with respect to other languages.

2. CREOLE

A creole, by contrast, is a natural language developed from a mixture of

different languages, like Haitian Creole, which is based on 18th-century
French but absorbed elements of Portuguese, Spanish and West African
languages. Semi-creole languages, which Mr. Holm also studied — Afrikaans
is an example — share even more traits with their vocabulary-source
languages.

3. LINGUA FRANCA

A lingua franca /ˌlɪŋɡwə ˈfræŋkə/, also known as a bridge

language, common language, trade language or vehicular language, is a
language or dialect systematically (as opposed to occasionally, or casually)
used to make communication possible between people who do not share
a native language or dialect, in particular when it is a third language, distinct
from both native languages.

Lingua francas have developed around the world throughout human history,
sometimes for commercial reasons (so-called “trade languages”) but also for
cultural, religious, diplomatic and administrative convenience, and as a means
of exchanging information between scientists and other scholars of different
nationalities. The term originates with one such language, Mediterranean
Lingua Franca.

e.g., Urdu is the lingua franca of Pakistan, as well as the national

language. Indonesian has the same function in Indonesia; even
though Javanese has more native speakers, Indonesian is the sole official
language and spoken (often as a second language) throughout the country.

Finally, the only documented, widespread lingua franca that happened to be a

sign language is Plains Sign Talk which was spoken across much of the North
American continent and used as a second language across many indigenous
National boundaries. Alongside, or possibly a derivation of, Plains Sign Talk
existed Plateau Sign Language which is now extinct. Inuit Sign
Language could be a similar case in the Arctic amongst Inuit to communicate
across oral language boundaries, but little research is there.

Argot (a French word of unknown etymology), usually refers to the secret language
of the underworld, though it too has also been used to refer to any specialized
occupational vocabulary---the argot of the racetrack, for example. Jargon (once
meaning the warbling of birds) is usually used by someone unfamiliar with a
particular technical language to characterize his annoyed and puzzled response to it.
Thus one man's technical vocabulary is another's
jargon. Feature, shift, transfer, artifactual, narrowing, acronym, blend, clip, drift---all
these words belong to the vocabulary of semantic change and word formation, the
vocabulary of historical linguistics. But for anyone ignorant of the subject and
unfamiliar with the terms, such words would make up its jargon. Thus cant, argot,
and jargon are words that categorize both by classing and by judging.

An argot (English: /ˈɑːrɡoʊ/; from French argot [aʁˈɡo] 'slang') is a secret language used by various
groups—e.g., schoolmates, outlaws, colleagues, among many others—to prevent outsiders from
understanding their conversations. The term argot is also used to refer to the informal specialized
vocabulary from a particular field of study, occupation, or hobby, in which sense it overlaps
with jargon. The discipline of medicine has been referred to as having its own argot which includes
abbreviations, acronyms, and "technical colloquialisms".[1]
Author Victor Hugo was one of the first to research argot extensively.[2] He describes it in his 1862
novel Les Misérables as the language of the dark; at one point, he says, "What is argot; properly
speaking? Argot is the language of misery."
The earliest known record of the term argot in this context was in a 1628 document. The word was
probably derived from the contemporary name les argotiers, given to a group of thieves at that
time.[3]
Under the strictest definition, an argot is a proper language with its own grammar and style. But such
complete secret languages are rare because the speakers usually have some public language in
common, on which the argot is largely based. Such argots are mainly versions of another language,
with a part of its vocabulary replaced by words unknown to the larger public; argot used in
this sense is synonymous with cant. For example, argot in this sense is used for systems such
as verlan and louchébem, which retain French syntax and apply transformations only to individual
words (and often only to a certain subset of words, such as nouns, or semantic content
words).[4] Such systems are examples of argots à clef, or "coded argots."[4]
Specific words can go from argot into common speech or the other way. For example,
modern French loufoque 'crazy, goofy', now common usage, originates in
the louchébemtransformation of Fr. fou 'crazy'.
"Piaf" is a Parisian argot word for "bird, sparrow". It was taken up by singer Edith Piaf as her stage
name.[5]