Eng208
Wardhaugh, Ch. 02
Variety
Hudson (1996, p. 22) defines a variety of language as ‘a set of
linguistic items with similar distribution,’ a definition that allows
us to say that all of the following are varieties:
Canadian English, London English, the English of football
commentaries, and so on.
Variety
A variety can therefore be something greater than a single
language as well as something less, less even than something
traditionally referred to as a dialect.
Language & Dialect
Haugen (1966a) has pointed out that language and dialect are
ambiguous terms.
As Haugen says, the terms ‘represent a simple dichotomy in a
situation that is almost infinitely complex.’
Language & Dialect
Language can be used to refer either to a single linguistic
norm or to a group of related norms, and dialect to refer to one
of the norms.
Hindi–Urdu
China – Mandarin & Cantonese
Hindi and Urdu Alphabet
Cantonese and Mandarin
Cantonese and Mandarin are dialects of the
Chinese language and are both spoken in China. They share
the same base alphabet, but as a spoken language they are
distinct and not mutually intelligible
Language & Dialect
‘power’ and ‘solidarity’
A language has more power than any of its dialects.
It is possible to speak of languages such as
English, German, French, Russian, and Hindi as Indo-
European dialects.
Language & Dialect
One such attempt (see Bell, 1976, pp. 147–57) has listed
seven criteria that may be useful in discussing different kinds
of languages. According to Bell, these criteria
(standardization, vitality, historicity, autonomy, reduction,
mixture, and de facto norms) may be used to distinguish certain
languages from others.
Language & Dialect
1. Standardization refers to the process by which a language has
been codified in some way. Codification and elaboration.
Language & Dialect
Vitality, the second of Bell’s seven criteria, refers to the existence of a
living community of speakers.
Language & Dialect
Historicity refers to the fact that a particular group of people finds a
sense of identity through using a particular language: it
belongs to them. Social, political, religious, or ethnic ties
may also be important for the group, but the bond provided
by a common language may prove to be the strongest tie of
all.
Language & Dialect
Autonomy is an interesting concept because it is really one of feeling.
A language must be felt by its speakers to be different from
other languages.
Bangladeshi Bengali and Indian Bengali
British English and American English.
Language & Dialect
Reduction refers to the fact that a particular variety may be regarded
as a sub-variety rather than as an independent entity.
Cockney – subordinate, subvariety
Lack a writing system
Language & Dialect
Mixture refers to feelings speakers have about the ‘purity’ of the
variety they speak. This criterion appears to be more
important to speakers of some languages than of others, e.g.,
more important to speakers of French and German than to
speakers of English.
Language & Dialect
Finally, having de facto norms refers to the feeling that many
speakers have that there are both ‘good’ speakers and ‘poor’
speakers and that the good speakers represent the norms of
proper usage.
Language & Dialect
The standard variety of any language is
actually only the preferred dialect of that language.
It is the empowered variety.
As a result, the standard is often not called
a dialect at all, but is regarded as the language itself.
Language & Dialect
It takes on an ideological dimension and becomes the ‘right’
and ‘proper’ language of the group of people, the very
expression of their being.
A dialect is a subordinate variety of a language.
The language name (i.e., English or German) is the super-
ordinate term.
Vernacular
The speech of a particular country or region,’ or, more
technically, ‘a form of speech transmitted from parent to
child as a primary medium of communication.’
Bengali
Koine
A koiné is ‘a form of speech shared by people of different
vernaculars – though for some of them the koiné itself may be
their vernacular.’ A koiné is a common language, but not
necessarily a standard one. Petyt’s examples of koinés are
Hindi for many people in India
Regional Dialect
As you travel throughout a wide geographical area in which a
language is spoken, and particularly if that language has been
spoken in that area for many hundreds of years, you are
almost certain to notice differences in pronunciation, in the
choices and forms of words and in syntax.
Dialect Continuum
A dialect continuum is a range of dialects spoken across
a large geographical area, differing only slightly between
areas that are geographically close to each other, and
gradually decreasing in mutual intelligibility as the distances
become greater.
Regional Dialects
Accent
Received Pronunciation (or RP)
the Queen’s English, Oxford English, and BBC English.
Social Dialects
The term dialect can also be used to describe differences in speech
associated with various social groups or classes.
An immediate problem is that of defining social group or social
class, giving proper weight to the various factors that can be
used to determine social position, e.g., occupation, place of
residence, education, ‘new’ versus ‘old’ money, income,
racial or ethnic origin, cultural background, caste, religion,
and so on.
Social Dialects
Whereas regional dialects are geographically based, social
dialects originate among social groups and are related to a
variety of factors, the principal ones apparently being social
class, religion, and ethnicity.
Register: the right variety of English at the right time
We speak and write differently depending on who we are
communicating with, the topic of the communication, and
the reason we are communicating.
“I got your note, thanks”
“Thank you. I received your message.”
“Your letter has been received.”
Register
In a language and linguistics department we use an academic
register, including…
formal grammar
no contractions (cannot, not can’t)
passive voice
no phrasal verbs (discover, not find out)
no slang
Register
In a language and linguistics department we use an academic
register, including…
academic conventions
citations – (Trudgill, 1983)
references –Trudgill, P., (1983). On dialect: Social and
geographical perspectives. Oxford: Blackwell.
Register
Most commonly now, register is analysed precisely by
looking at three sub-categories: field, tenor and mode.
field = the topic
tenor = the relationship between participants
mode = the type of communication
Halliday, M. (1978). Language as social semiotic. London:
Edward Arnold.
