Languages in Variation and

Languages in Contact

This chapter explores the unique speech

patterns of individuals, highlighting how each
person's way of speaking can vary even when
using the same language. It examines how
these individual speech patterns are influenced
by various factors, including regional dialects,
vocabulary choices, grammatical structures,
and pronunciation features. Although people
may speak the same language, differences in
their speech can arise due to personal, social,
and contextual factors.

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 Introduction to LANGUAGE,
Discussion: CULTURE, AND SOCIETY

An idiolect refers to the unique speech pattern of an individual, encompassing their

distinctive use of vocabulary, grammar, pronunciation, and voice quality. This individual
speech variety is why we can often identify people by their voice alone, even without visual
cues. For instance, we might recognize a friend's voice over the phone or identify familiar
television newscasters solely through their voice.

Key Components of Idiolects:

1. Voice Quality (Timber): Voice quality, or timber, is influenced by the anatomy of the vocal tract,
including the vocal cords, larynx, and other parts. This aspect of speech is largely determined by
physical characteristics that are beyond an individual's control, though features such as tempo and
loudness can be adjusted to some extent.
2. Pronunciation: The way words are pronounced can vary greatly between individuals, contributing to
their unique speech patterns. Pronunciation may change over time due to factors like age and shifts in
linguistic habits.
3. Grammar and Vocabulary Usage: Each person has a distinctive way of using grammar and choosing
words. These elements of speech reflect personal preferences and can vary based on the context of
communication. For instance, someone might use formal language in a job interview while opting for
casual language in a conversation with friends.
4. Voice Features: Elements such as pitch range, tempo, and loudness can be controlled and modified to
some extent, but these features also contribute to an individual's idiolect.

42 Variability in Idiolects

Age-Related Changes Contextual Variations

As individuals age, changes People often adapt their

in vocal anatomy and shifts idiolects based on the
in linguistic preferences can context of communication.
alter voice quality and For example, the language
speech patterns. used in a professional
setting may differ
significantly from that used
in casual conversation.

Dialects

Dialects are variations of a language spoken by groups of people who share common
geographic, social, or economic characteristics. These variations can be observed in vocabulary,
pronunciation, and grammatical features. When a group of speakers has enough in common with
one another in these aspects, their collective speech pattern is referred to as a dialect. A dialect is a specific
form of a language spoken by members of a particular regional, ethnic, or social group. It represents a subset

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 Introduction to LANGUAGE,
of a language that is distinguishable from other dialects within the same language. Dialects are mutually
CULTURE, AND SOCIETY
intelligible forms of a language, meaning speakers of different dialects can generally understand each other,
though the degree of mutual intelligibility can vary.

Mutual Intelligibility refers to the extent to which speakers of different dialects can understand one
another. For example, dialects of the same language are usually mutually intelligible to varying degrees. The
boundaries between what constitutes a dialect and what constitutes a separate language can sometimes be
ambiguous. Experiments have attempted to quantify mutual intelligibility, but defining clear-cut boundaries
between dialects and languages can be complex. For instance, in the Iroquoian language family, intelligibility
testing revealed different results depending on the threshold used to define distinct languages versus dialects.
For instance, how a Filipino from Luzon might interact with someone from Visayas or Mindanao, and the role
of dialects in preserving cultural identity.

English, due to its widespread use across various regions, exhibits significant dialectal diversity. For
instance, a native speaker of American English may find it difficult to understand a speaker of Cockney, a
dialect from London's East End, despite both being forms of English. This illustrates how dialects can vary
considerably even within a single language. Style in English, due to its widespread use across various regions,
exhibits significant dialectal diversity. For instance, a native speaker of American English may find it difficult
to understand a speaker of Cockney, a dialect from London's East End, despite both being forms of English.
This illustrates how dialects can vary considerably even within a single language.

Styles and Language Contact

Stylistic Variation refers to the different ways language is used depending on context, social setting, and
the relationship between speakers. This variation can be observed at multiple levels:

1. Lexical Variation: Differences in word choice can reflect stylistic variations. For example, using
"gumshoe" instead of "detective" or "auto" instead of "car" can signal different levels of formality or
familiarity.
2. Phonological Variation: Pronunciation can vary significantly based on style. For instance, the
casual pronunciation of "butter" as [ˈbʌɾər] with a flap [ɾ] versus the more formal pronunciation with
a dental [t] [ˈbʌtər] reflects stylistic differences.
3. Morphological Variation: Changes in word structure or form can indicate style. For example, in
casual speech, "Who are you taking to lunch?" might be used instead of the more formal "Whom are
you taking to lunch?"
4. Syntactic Variation: Sentence structure can also vary. Casual speech might use "Wanna eat now?"
whereas formal speech would use "Do you want to eat now?"

Standard
44 vs. Non-Standard Varieties:

• Standard Language: Varieties of language that are used in formal contexts, carry social prestige,
and are considered correct according to grammatical norms. For instance, Standard British English,
often known as Received Pronunciation, is used in public schools, formal broadcasts, and serious
public occasions.
• Non-Standard or Substandard Varieties: These are varieties that do not adhere strictly to formal
norms and may be used in more relaxed or informal situations. Despite their status, these varieties
are valid forms of communication within their respective contexts.

Martin Joos' Five Speech Styles: Martin Joos (1907-1978) identified five distinct speech styles in his
dialect of American English:

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1. Frozen: Highly formal and often used in ritualistic or ceremonial contexts. It’s rarely used in
CULTURE, AND SOCIETY
everyday conversation.
2. Formal: Used in professional or formal settings, with a clear structure and adherence to grammatical
norms.
3. Consultative: A style used in more interactive settings, such as business or academic environments,
where some level of formality is maintained but interaction is more personal.
4. Casual: Common in everyday conversations with friends and family, characterized by relaxed
grammar and informal vocabulary.
5. Intimate: Used among close family and friends, with a high degree of personal and private
communication.

Language Contact and Its Consequences:

Languages have been in contact throughout human history due to trade, migration, war, and other factors.
This contact can result in:

1. Language Death: When a language ceases to be spoken, often due to speakers adopting another
language.
2. Language Development: New languages or dialects can emerge from the blending of different
linguistic influences.
3. Language Mixing: Contact between languages can lead to the creation of mixed languages or hybrid
forms.

Loanwords and Lexical Borrowing:

• Direct Borrowing: When a new item or concept is introduced into a culture, its name may be
borrowed directly from the language of the source culture. Examples include "ukulele" from
Hawaiian, "gumbo" from Bantu, and "algebra" from Arabic.
• Bidirectional Exchange: Language contact often results in mutual borrowing. For instance, English
has borrowed many words from French, such as "rendezvous" and "lingerie," especially following
the Norman Conquest of England in 1066, which led to a significant French influence on English
vocabulary.

Pidgins

Pidgins are simplified languages that develop when speakers of mutually unintelligible languages
45 come into
contact and need a means of communication for specific, often limited, purposes, such as trade. They
typically emerge in multilingual settings where individuals must quickly find a common ground for
communication.

Characteristics of Pidgins:

1. Limited Vocabulary: Pidgins have a restricted range of words because they are created for specific,
practical functions rather than for everyday, complex communication.
2. Reduced Grammar: The grammatical structures of pidgins are simplified compared to the
languages from which they are derived. This makes them easier to learn and use rapidly. Features
such as inflections, case markers, and tenses are often minimized or absent.
3. Functional Purpose: Pidgins generally serve specific purposes, such as trade or basic
communication, and are not used as native or first languages. They are often created to fulfill
immediate communication needs and may disappear when those needs no longer exist.

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4. Short-lived Existence: Pidgins often emerge suddenly in response to a communication need and
CULTURE, AND SOCIETY
may vanish just as quickly when their purpose is no longer relevant. Their existence might last from
a few years to a few decades, rarely extending beyond a century.
5. Lexical Influence: The vocabulary of a pidgin is typically derived from one of the contact
languages. For example, English-based pidgins are common due to historical British colonialism and
trade interactions.

Example of Pidgin Use:

A notable example is Melanesian Tok Pisin, which is based on English and used in Papua New Guinea.
Here’s a comparison of the opening lines of Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar in English and Tok Pisin:

• English: "Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears; I come to bury Caesar, not to praise
him."
• Tok Pisin: "Pren, man bolong Rom, Wantok, harim nau. Mi kam tasol long plantim Kaesar. Mi
noken beiten longen."

In Tok Pisin:

• "Pren" and "mi" are simplified forms of "friends" and "me."

• "Harim nau" translates to "hear now," reflecting a more direct expression.
• "Plantim" is derived from "plant," used metaphorically for "bury."
• "Noken" means "cannot," simplifying the verbal negation.

Pidgin Structure and Adaptability:

Pidgins feature structural simplicity, which aids in cross-cultural communication with minimal effort. They
often use repeated morphemes for emphasis and simplified syntactic constructions. Despite their simplicity,
pidgins have their own rules and structures and adapt to new contexts as needed.

Historical Context: Historically, pidgins like Sabir, a medieval lingua franca based on Romance languages,
illustrate
46 how pidgins serve as fundamental tools for communication across diverse linguistic backgrounds.
Although pidgins may appear similar in their basic structures, they vary according to the lexifying languages
that contribute their vocabulary.

Pidgins vs. Broken Languages: It is essential to recognize that pidgins are not "broken" languages or
primitive forms of speech. Rather, they are creative linguistic adaptations developed to meet specific social
and communicative needs. Along with creoles, pidgins demonstrate how languages evolve and adapt through
societal interactions and historical circumstances.

From Pidgins to Creoles

Pidginization and Creolization

Pidginization: This process refers to the reduction of a language's grammatical and lexical complexity to
create a pidgin. Pidgins typically arise in multilingual contact situations where speakers of different languages
need a simplified means of communication for specific purposes, such as trade. Pidginization involves a
limitation in function, vocabulary, and grammar compared to the original languages.

Creolization: As a pidgin becomes more widely used and its role expands beyond its original purpose, it
undergoes creolization. This process involves the pidgin evolving into a creole—a fully developed language

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 Introduction to LANGUAGE,
that becomes the first language of a community. During creolization, the pidgin's vocabulary and syntax are
CULTURE, AND SOCIETY
expanded, often incorporating elements from various languages, and it gains greater complexity and depth.

Example: Tok Pisin

In Papua New Guinea, Tok Pisin exemplifies this transition from pidgin to creole. Originally an English-based
pidgin with limited use, Tok Pisin has grown to become one of the country's official languages and a lingua
franca for approximately 1 million people. It has evolved into a creole spoken natively by about 20,000
households.

Vocabulary and Grammar in Tok Pisin:

• Vocabulary: Approximately three-fourths of Tok Pisin vocabulary is derived from English, with the
remainder coming from indigenous languages and other sources like German.
• Grammar: Tok Pisin features simplified grammar compared to English. For example:
o Personal pronouns like "mi" (I/me), "yu" (you), and "em" (he/she) serve multiple functions.
o Possession is indicated by the particle "bilong," and transitive verbs often end in "-im,"
converting adjectives into causative verbs.
o Example translations: "Mi kukim kaikai bilong mi" (I cook food), "Wanpela lek bilong mi i
bruk" (One of my legs is broken), "Ol i kapsaitim bensin" (They spilled the gasoline).

Tok Pisin in Use:

• Road Safety Handbook: An English paragraph and its Tok Pisin translation demonstrate
47 the
pidgin's effectiveness and its growing role in official and everyday contexts.

Decreolization

Creoles can undergo a process called decreolization, where they shift towards the standard language from
which they were derived. This often occurs among speakers in urban settings or those striving for social
mobility. For instance, Jamaican Creole has a spectrum of usage from the basilect (most divergent from
standard English) to the acrolect (approaching standard English).

Global Examples and Trends

Contact Languages: Besides pidgins and creoles, other methods of linguistic contact include:

• Lingua Francas: Languages adopted for communication among speakers of different native
languages. For instance, English served as a lingua franca in British India and is used among Native
American tribes in the United States.
• Artificial Languages: Languages created for international communication, such as Esperanto.
Despite its efforts, English remains the dominant global language due to its widespread use and
acceptance.

Japanese English: In Japan, English has significantly influenced the language, with a large number of
loanwords and created terms (wa-sei-eigo). Examples include "furaido poteto" (French fries) and "famicon"
(family computer). These loanwords reflect evolving cultural norms and attitudes toward individualism in
Japan.

The World of Languages

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Estimating Linguistic Diversity
CULTURE, AND SOCIETY
The exact number of languages spoken worldwide is uncertain, with estimates typically around 6,900
(Gordon 2005). This figure includes Creole languages but not pidgins or languages that have disappeared
over time. Several factors contribute to the difficulty in providing an accurate count:

1. Unexplored Regions: Some languages are yet to be documented, especially in remote areas like the
equatorial rainforests of South America, Africa, and New Guinea.
2. Endangered Languages: Many languages are spoken by only a few individuals and may soon
vanish without a trace.
3. Dialect vs. Language: Determining whether dialects are sufficiently distinct to be considered
separate languages involves both linguistic and sociocultural factors. For example, Czechs and
Slovaks can understand each other's languages easily, yet Czech and Slovak are considered separate
languages due to their distinct standards and literary traditions. Conversely, dialects spoken in more
isolated regions might be classified as separate languages based on their mutual intelligibility.
4. Dialect Count: If one were to count all the dialects of the world's languages, the number would
48 likely reach into the tens of thousands.

Linguistic Diversity and Population

While 6,900 languages is a significant number, the distribution of speakers is highly uneven:

• Few Dominant Languages: A small number of languages are spoken by most of the global
population. These languages have historically been more successful, often due to conquest, historical
events, or other circumstances.
• Linguistic Structures and Cultures: Each language represents a unique system of communication
with its own complex structure, reflecting the cultural worldview of its speakers.

Discussion:

Language, Social Class, and Identity

One of the most obvious manifestations of social class is language – perhaps more than
personal possessions, style, or place of residence. For our purposes, we will reduce class
distinctions to differences in economics, education, familial prestige, and some other
ways people might rank themselves in society. Speech differences can characterize
different economic or social statuses. In the most extreme situations, such as castes in
India, hereditary social classes restrict the association of their members with members of other
classes, and this is often reflected in language. In addition, similar linguistic stratification can be found
even in places where class differences are less pronounced. In the US, William Labov conducted a well-
known study of sociolinguistic–linguistic change understood in the context of the society in which it
occurs.

Language and Gender

J.K. Chambers, in this textbook on sociolinguistic theory (1995:102), states categorically that ―in
virtually all sociolinguistic studies that include a sample of males and females, there is unequivocal
evidence that women use fewer stigmatized and non-standard variants than do men of the same social
group in the same circumstances‖. Although admitting specific cultural differences, he claims this finding
also holds true cross-culturally.

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 Introduction to LANGUAGE,
CULTURE,
First, a few general remarks AND
about the term SOCIETY
―GENDER as it is used here. Among the several
senses of this term is SEX – one of the two forms of most organisms that are characterized by
differences in reproductive organs and related structures. The use of the term GENDER rather than
SEX avoids the misleading association with sexuality. However, it is mainly acknowledged that gender
is a social construct likely to vary from one society to the next or even from one social group to
another within an embracing society or culture.

The choice of words by men and women varies according to the occasion, the type of
audience present, and various other circumstances. Profane or coarse speech is less likely to be
heard when children or people held in respect are within earshot, and a job interview calls for a
more considered vocabulary than a casual conversation between two close friends. Nevertheless,
some lexical differences between men's and women's speech are relatively common and can be
illustrated in American English. Certain words are used by women much more frequently 67 than by
men. Among such words are expressive adjectives that convey approval or admiration – for example,
delightful, spectacular, charming, divine, lovely, fascinating, and sweet – and fashionable color names
– for example, beige, chartreuse, fuchsia, magenta, and mauve.

Men are much more likely to phrase their approval or liking for something by using a neutral
adjective such as fine, good, or great, and reinforcing it, if necessary, with such an adverb as damn.
As a rule, men's color vocabulary is much less discriminating and, hence, somewhat poorer than
women's.

Other differences between the speech behavior of men and women were suggested.

For example:

1. When women talk to other women on a social basis, topics are about relationships, social
issues, house and family, workplace, and personal and family finances.
2. When men talk with other men, topics are work, recreational sports, and WOMEN.

In other research, women interviewees were more cooperative and polite, and offered more
information than men.
SOCIAL POWER THEORY goes back to the 1980s when William M. O'Barr and Bowman
K. Atkins (1998) studied how witnesses speak in court. They studied courtroom witness testimony
for two and a half years, examining ten speech differences between men and women. They
concluded that speech patterns were ―neither characteristic of all women nor limited only to women.
Instead, they found the women who used the lowest frequency of women‘s language traits had
unusually high social or economic status – well-educated professionals with middle-class
backgrounds. A similar pattern was found for men – men with high social or economic status
spoke with few women‘s language traits. O‘Barr and Atkins argued that it was power and status,
rather than gender that accounted for these differences. A powerful position that ―may derive
from either social standing in the larger society and/or status accorded by the court‖ allowed speakers
– both male and female – certain linguistic advantages.
Some scholars argue that women‘s language is also significantly shaped by the style of
COMMUNICATIVE STRATEGY. For example, Jane Hill (1987) studied the social expectations,
gender roles, power differences, and language in Malinche Volcano Communities near Mexico City.
She found that local women changed their native language, Nahuatl to be ―more Spanish. By the
mid-1970s, many Nahuatl-speaking men were earning relatively good wages in Mexico City, where
Spanish was the elite language. The men saw Spanish as the language of capitalism and hegemonic

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 Introduction to LANGUAGE,
power, but they used Nahuatl to maintain local social solidarity. The women remained behind to
CULTURE, AND SOCIETY
take care of the fap7aw8-qqqqrm field. They had the responsibility of passing the Nahautl language
on to the children. Understanding the importance of maintaining the language of their ethnic group
but also wishing to show their appreciation of modern things and education, the women began to
speak a form of Nahuatl highly influenced by Spanish pronunciation.

Language and Nationality

In the last decades of the 21st century, many scholars argued that “ethnicity is not always the survival
of cultural diversity born of geographical and social isolation, but maybe the outcome of intensive interaction, a
constellation of practices that evolve to channel complex social relations”. 68
As part of contemplating, we ask, "Is speaking the same language sufficient grounds for people
to establish a nation? Should all people in the same nation speak the same language?” if the answer to
these questions is NO – and probably most people in the 21st century would agree – what should be
the status of ―minority‖ languages in multilingual societies? Because of the symbolic value of
language, language choice, maintenance, and shift are some of any community's most important
personal and political social issues.
In this discussion, we will focus on language and the nation-state. We will look at how the
people use the symbolic value of languages to pursue political power and ends, and foster
consciousness among members of the group. We will look at two of four case studies: INDIA,
SPAIN, Czech Republic, and Canada.

INDIA. Occupying an area only one-third as large as the US but with the second largest
population in the world, India is one of the most multilingual countries in the world. What makes
India one of the world's most linguistically diversified nations is that more than 400 languages are
spoken there; they span at least four language families – Indo-European, Dravidian, Austroasiatic,
and Tibeto-Burman), as well as some isolates. There are 22 official
―scheduled‖ languages recognized in the constitution.

How does India, a federal republic, deal administratively with such a vast collection of languages?
On a regional basis, eastern India is dominated by three Indo-European languages – Bengali, Oriya,
and Assamese -, western India by two – Maratji and Gujarati – northern India by four – Hindi and Urdu,
Panjabi and Kashmiri, and southern India by four languages of the Dravidian language family – Telugu,
Tamil, Kannada, and Malayalam. The principal official language in six of the 25 states of the republic
as well as of the country at the federal level is Hindi. However, as long as many non-Hindi-speaking
citizens are reluctant to accept Hindi, English serves as the associate national language and as a lingua
franca acceptable in both Hindi-speaking north and the south.
In a country where many languages are spoken but do not all enjoy the same degree of
prestige, bilingualism, multilingualism, and diglossia are of common of common occurrence. For
interethnic communication of an informal nature, Hindi or Urdu is used to a varying degree
throughout the country. For cultural prestige, there has been some resistance to using Hindi as a
contact language in the Dravidian-speaking part of the country and in Bengal. For formal or written
communication, English-language newspapers and periodicals accounted for 26 and 20 percent of
the total published, and those in English had the highest circulation.

Today, more than a half-century after India gained independence, knowledge of English is
still considered indispensable for high government positions, and although only a very small
percentage of the population speaks and reads English, Indians with knowledge of English tend to
be the cultural, economic, and political leaders. 69

Throughout much of the world, dialectal differences have tended to diminish rapidly in

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 Introduction to LANGUAGE,
recent decades as a result of the mass media, education, and mobility. This has not happened in
CULTURE, AND SOCIETY
India, where caste differences are effectively symbolized by speech differences. As long as the old
and well-established social hierarchy persists, linguistic differences serve a useful function and are
likely to be retained.

SPAIN. Although the official language of Spain is Castilian Spanish, some dozen other
languages are spoken in the county. Catalan and Basque are two of the most important minority
languages, and they are spoken by 15% and 1.4% of the population respectively. Both are important
because of the issues of nationalism and ethnic pride associated with each.

Euskara or Basque, is the language of the Basque people who inhabitant northeast Spain and
southwest France. There are about 650,000 Basque speakers in Spain and some 100,000 in France.
The language is an isolate, with only disputed affiliations with other languages. It has five major
dialects. Under the language policy of the Franco Regime (1939- 1975), from 1937 until the mid-
1950s, it was prohibited to use the Basque language in public. After the Basques regained some
political sovereignty, they were once again allowed to use their language in public. The Royal
Academy of the Basque Language created a standard orthography. Although many Basque speakers
were reluctant to accept such standards at first, Euskara Batua gradually became accepted and is
now used by the Basques at all levels of education.

Unlike Basque, Catalan is a Romance language of the Indo-European family, and shares
85% lexical similarity with Spanish. Its history goes back to the 3rd Century BCE when the Catalonia
area was ruled by Rome. Because of close contact with Rome Catalan developed from a more
modern and more popular form of Latin than did Castilian. Currently about 7 million people in Spain
speak catalan as their first language. It is also spoken in small areas in southwest France, and Sardinia
in Italy.

Right after World War II, the Franco government took severe repressive measures against
Catalan language and culture, partly because of the resistance put up be Catalonia during the
Spanish Civil War. Barcelona, its capital, was then a center of revolutionary leftist activity. Much
of Catalonia‘s prewar autonomy was lost and the public use of the Catalan language was prohibited.
During the latter days of the Franco regime, some folk celebrations and religious observances in
Catalan came to be tolerated. But because of the institutionalized language discrimination, and its
similarity to Spanish, today there are few, if any, monolingual Catalan speakers.

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