Linguistics Varieties of language (06/ 03 hrs)&nb...

Linguistics Varieties of language (06/ 03 hrs) ∙ Formal & informal language ∙ Spoken & written language ∙ Dialects- Social & regional ∙ Registers ∙ Idiolects ∙ Formal & informal language Standard Language ∙ A standard language is a variety of language that is used by governments, in the media, in schools and for international communication. ∙ A recognized dictionary or group of dictionaries which embody a standardized spelling and vocabulary. ∙ A recognized grammar which records the forms rules and structures of the language. ∙ A standard system of pronunciation. ∙ Statues or constitutions giving the language an official legal status. ∙ The use of the language in the work of courts and legislations. ∙ Translations of important text in to that language. ∙ The teaching of grammar and spelling in school. When we investigated the sounds, words and structures of language in earlier chapters, we were concentrating on the features of only one variety, usually called the standard language. This is actually an idealized variety, but exists for most people as the version that is accepted as the official language of their community or country. If we think of Standard English, it is the version we believe is found in printed English in newspapers and books is widely used in the mass media and is taught in most schools. It is the variety we normally try to teach to those who want to learn English as a second or foreign language. It is clearly associated with education and broadcasting in public contexts and is more easily described in terms of the written language (i.e. vocabulary, spelling, grammar) than the spoken language. ∙ Spoken & written language Spoken Discourse ▪ Discourse is a language beyond the sentence level. In other words the patterns of language which is beyond word, phrase, clause or sentence level to communicate. Written Spoken Discourse Spoken Discourse refers to the patterns across the text. Text may be spoken or written. 1 EN1214_LSLU_Note from Lecturer Mrs.Nadeeka Laksiri_Typed and edited by Nisal Wanigasuriya Discourse Analysis ▪ Refers to analyzing the text beyond the discourse level both spoken and written text. Why we analyze Discourse? Relationship can be equal and unequal. Ex- Social culture being expect something from our society/culture/social philosophical believe/ Religious belief (Belief/ views)can be positive or negative. Factors of Social Interaction? –two employees – two collaborative businesses. ▪ Beliefs – Philosophical beliefs ▪ Views – what we think of the world ▪ attitudes – Positive / negative ▪ Middle ▪ lower ▪ upper Ex – caste system in India. you (ඔයා) – close loving උඹ , ත ෝ - depend on the text Context or situation තී - rude Ex – Accent represent social class 2 EN1214_LSLU_Note from Lecturer Mrs.Nadeeka Laksiri_Typed and edited by Nisal Wanigasuriya Difference between spoken and written Spoken Written Ephemeral Very impermanent Permanent Typically informal Typically formal Less Lexical dense (number of words) Lexical density (large number of words) Less complex (more loosely organized) Syntactically more complex, more tightly organized Levels of informality through pauses and other supra-segmental features Full stop in writing Intonation Punctuations, Exclamation mark Immediate speech is spontaneous and interactional Displaced Meaning carrying words, only content words Content words and more grammatical words Genres of spoken discourse Elder – youth Toddler – parent Modes of communication (Oral) Related things online communication – close , distant, visible, invisible ∙ According to Michal Halliday we should not see them, written and spoken see them as a continuum. A continuum is a line of progress. Typically Typically spoken Written Highly formal ∙ In between these two there are different levels of formality. 3 EN1214_LSLU_Note from Lecturer Mrs.Nadeeka Laksiri_Typed and edited by Nisal Wanigasuriya Features of spoken discourse ▪ Spontaneous ▪ Interactional Expect immediate response ▪ Lexical less dense ▪ Less complex clauses and/but/so ▪ Repetition and hesitation ▪ Discourse markers like, well, you know, ▪ Back channeling ` uh-uh, aha, -mmm ▪ General extend and, so on, something… Discourse competence. ∙ We need discourse competence for effective communication. ∙ Discourse competence includes, ▪ Linguistic knowledge o Grammatical accuracy o Lexical accuracy ▪ Textual knowledge ▪ Factors outside the text (what is medium) tone/medium/purpose of the interaction/ reader- writer relationship ∙ Dialects- Social & regional Dialectology Despite occasional difficulties, there is a general impression of mutual intelligibility among many speakers of different dialects of English. This is one of the criteria used in the study of dialects, or dialectology. Dialect ∙ A variety of language that is distinguished from other varieties of the same language by features of phonology, grammar, and vocabulary and by its use by a group of speakers who are set off from others geographically or socially. ∙ A provincial, rural or socially distinct variety of a language that differs from the standard language, especially when considered as substandard. ∙ A special variety of a language; The literary dialect is usually taken as the standard language. 4 EN1214_LSLU_Note from Lecturer Mrs.Nadeeka Laksiri_Typed and edited by Nisal Wanigasuriya Accent and dialect Whether we think we speak a standard variety of English or not, we all speak with an accent. It is a myth that some speakers have accents while others do not. We might feel that some speakers have very distinct or easily recognized types of accent while others may have more subtle or less noticeable accents, but every language-user speaks with an accent. Technically, the term “accent” is restricted to the description of aspects of pronunciation that identify where an individual speaker is from, regionally or socially. It is different from the term dialect, which is used to describe features of grammar and vocabulary as well as aspects of pronunciation. We recognize that the sentence ▪ “You don’t know what you’re talking about” will generally “look” the same whether spoken with an American accent or a Scottish accent. Both speakers will be using forms associated with Standard English, but have different pronunciations. However, this next sentence – ▪ “Ye dinnae ken whit yer haverin’ aboot” has the same meaning as the first, but has been written out in an approximation of what a person who speaks one dialect of Scottish English might say. There are differences in pronunciation (ex -. whit, aboot), but there are also examples of different vocabulary (ex ken, haverin’) and a different grammatical form (dinnae). While differences in vocabulary are often easily recognized, dialect variations in the meaning of grammatical constructions are less frequently documented. ▪ In the following example (from Trudgill, 1983) two British English speaking visitors (B and C) and a local Irish English speaker (A) are involved in a conversation in Donegal, Ireland. A: How long are youse here? B: Till after Easter. (Speaker A looks puzzled.) C: We came on Sunday. A: Ah. Youse’re here a while then. ▪ It seems that the construction How long are youse here?, in speaker A‟s dialect, is used with a meaning close to the structure “How long have you been here?” referring to past time. ▪ Speaker B, however, answers as if the question was referring to future time (“How long are you going to be here?”). ▪ When speaker C answers with a past time response (We came on Sunday) ▪ speaker A acknowledges it and repeats his use of a present tense (Youse‟re here) to refer to past time. 5 EN1214_LSLU_Note from Lecturer Mrs.Nadeeka Laksiri_Typed and edited by Nisal Wanigasuriya ▪ Note that the dialect form youse (= “you” plural) seems to be understood by the visitors though it is unlikely to be part of their own dialect. Regional dialects The existence of different regional dialects is widely recognized and often the source of some humor for those living in different regions. ∙ In the United States, people from the Brooklyn area of New York may joke about a Southerner‟s definition of sex by telling you that “sex is fo’ less than tin”, in their best imitation of someone from the Southern states. ∙ In return, Southerners can wonder aloud about what a tree guy is in Brooklyn, since they have heard Brooklyn speakers refer to “doze tree guys”. Some regional dialects clearly have stereotyped pronunciations associated with them. Going beyond stereotypes, those involved in the serious investigation of regional dialects have devoted a lot of survey research to the identification of consistent features of speech found in one geographical area compared to another. These dialect surveys often involve painstaking attention to detail and tend to operate with very specific criteria in identifying acceptable informants. After all, it is important to know if the person whose speech you are recording really is a typical representative of the region‟s dialect. ∙ Consequently, the informants in the major dialect surveys of the twentieth century tended to be NORMS or “non-mobile, older, rural, male speakers.” Such speakers were selected because it was believed that they were less likely to have influences from outside the region in their speech. One unfortunate consequence of using such criteria is that the resulting dialect description tends to be more accurate of a period well before the time of investigation. Nevertheless, the detailed information obtained has provided the basis for a number of Linguistic Atlases of whole countries (e.g. England) and regions (e.g. the Upper Midwest area of the United States). Isoglosses and dialect boundaries We can look at some examples of regional variation found in a survey that resulted in the Linguistic Atlas of the Upper Midwest of the United States. One of the aims of a survey of this type is to find a number of significant differences in the speech of those living in different areas and to be able to chart where the boundaries are, in dialect terms, between those areas. If it is found, for example, that the vast majority of informants in one area say they carry things home from the store in a paper bag while the majority in another area say they use a paper sack, then it is usually possible to draw a line across a map separating the two areas, as shown on the accompanying illustration. This line is called an isogloss and represents a boundary between the areas with regard to that one particular linguistic item. 6 EN1214_LSLU_Note from Lecturer Mrs.Nadeeka Laksiri_Typed and edited by Nisal Wanigasuriya ∙ Registers register /reʤɪstər/ n 1 see style 2 a speech variety used by a particular group of people, usually sharing the same occupation (e.g. doctors, lawyers) or the same interests (e.g. stamp collectors, baseball fans). A particular register often distinguishes itself from other registers by having a number of distinctive words, by using words or phrases in a particular way (e.g. in tennis: deuce, love, tramlines), and sometimes by special grammatical constructions (e.g. legal language). Registers Register is the term used for a variety of language determined by subject matter. Most typically, a switch into a particular register involves little more than turning to a particular set of work associated with the topic at hand. Ex - ▪ A category of software that hides the underlying network and its communication protocols from application. These will be distinctive grammatical features as well. ▪ Cooking instructions. Cut the eggs in halves length ways. Arrange a greased shallow ovenproof casserole. Pure curry sauce over eggs, sprinkle with bread crumbs and do with butter. Cook in a moderately hot oven approximately 20 minutes until golden brown on top. Here the language is characterized by a series of short simple sentences consisting of a verb in the imperative mood followed usually by an object NP and this followed in cases by a PP (expressing place or manner) ∙ There are two types of register in literature, formal and informal. Either or both may be used to great effect in literature. ∙ The language we can use when talking to our friends is not the same language we could use when meeting someone as important as the president. ∙ There are formal and informal registers in spoken and written language. ∙ Formal registers can include everything from an academic essay to wedding vows. ∙ Informal registers occurs between people who know each other well and who speak without trying to be „proper‟ ∙ Sometimes this includes speaking in slang and other times it‟s simply a more casual deliver ∙ Idiolects idiolect /ˈɪdiəlekt/ n idiolectal /ɪdiəlektl/ adj The language system of an individual as expressed by the way he or she speaks or writes within the overall system of a particular language. In its widest sense, someone‟s idiolect includes their way of communicating; for example, their choice of utterances and the way they interpret the utterances made by others. In a narrower sense, an idiolect may include those features, either in speech or writing, which distinguish one individual from others, such as voice quality, pitch, and speech rhythm. see also dialect, sociolect 7 EN1214_LSLU_Note from Lecturer Mrs.Nadeeka Laksiri_Typed and edited by Nisal Wanigasuriya Varieties of English (06/ 03 hrs) ∙ British English ( RP) ∙ American English ∙ Standard Sri Lankan English 8 EN1214_LSLU_Note from Lecturer Mrs.Nadeeka Laksiri_Typed and edited by Nisal Wanigasuriya Issues of Intelligibility Issue Examples

The pronunciation of:

Comments The confusion between the bilabial plosive /p/ and the labiodental plosive /f/ As the sound /f/ is not found in Sinhalese (the participant L1), many Sri Lankan learners find it difficult to distinguish between the /p] and /f] sounds. While some learners cannot produce [f], others use the two sounds indiscriminately. The participant of this study has the tendency to replace /p/ with [f], which is a result of hypercorrection. This confusion impedes intelligibility because /p/ and [f/ are not allophonic in English. The confusion between the alveolar fricative /s/ and the post alveolar fricative /ʃ/ /s/ and /ʃ/are often used indiscriminately in spoken Sinhalese as /ʃ/, which is usually found in Sanskrit loanwords, is replaced by /s/ in colloquial speech by many Sinhalese speakers. Therefore, many Sri Lankan learners tend to confuse /s/ and /ʃ/ in English as well, which impedes intelligibility because these sounds are not allophonic in English. The replacement of labio dental derivative /v/ and labiovelar /w/ with a labio dental approximant /ʋ/ Due to absence of the /v/ and /w/ in Sinhalese, these sounds are replaced the near-equivalent labiodentals approximant /ʋ/ The difficulty in articulating the voiced alveolar fricative /z/ As /z/ is absent in Sinhala, the sound is replaced with the unvoiced alveolar fricative /s/ Non-aspirated realization of the voiceless plosives /p/, /t/ and /k/ in word initials stressed syllables. Shackle (2001:229) and Gunesekera (2010:120) established that this is typical feature of South Asian Englishes such as Sri Lankan English. However, Jenkins (2000:140) emphasizes the importance of aspirating these consonants in word-initial stresses syllables for mutual intelligibility in ELF context as an unaspirated plosive may be mistaken for its voiced counterpart. The substitution of diphthongs /eɪ/ and /əu/ with long vowels This substitution is due to the lack of these diphthongs in Sinhalese. This issue can impede intelligibility in the case of minimal pairs such as boat and bought and may have an impact on preserving vowel length distinctions. 9 EN1214_LSLU_Note from Lecturer Mrs.Nadeeka Laksiri_Typed and edited by Nisal Wanigasuriya Supra segmental features (06/ 03 hrs) ∙ Stress- syllables & word stress, sentence stress ∙ Intonation- Falling, rising, rising- falling, falling- rising. Stress /stres/ n, v The pronunciation (See ARTICULATION) of a word or syllable with more force that the surrounding word of syllables. i.e. which it is produced by using more air from the lungs. Syllables may be stressed or unstressed. A listener hears a stressed syllable or word as being louder and/or of longer duration and/or produced with a higher PITCH than the surrounding words or syllables. A syllable may be stressed because; (a) the ACCENT is on that syllable, ex- dismay, ever, confusion. (b) the speaker whishes to emphasize (give PROMINENCE to) the syllable Ex-: I said INduce, not Deduce Syllables A syllable must contain a vowel or vowel-like sound, including diphthongs. The most common type of syllable in language also has a consonant (C) before the vowel (V) and is typically represented as CV. Technically, the basic elements of the syllable are the onset (one or more consonants) followed by the rhyme. The rhyme (sometimes written as “rime”) consists of a vowel, which is treated as the nucleus, plus any following consonant(s), described as the coda. Syllables like me, to or no have an onset and a nucleus, but no coda. They are known as open syllables. When a coda is present, as in the syllables up, cup, at or hat, they are called closed syllables. The basic structure of the kind of syllable found in English words like green (CCVC), eggs (VCC), and (VCC), ham (CVC), I (V), do (CV), not (CVC), like (CVC), them (CVC), Sam (CVC), I (V), am (VC) is shown in the accompanying diagram. Consonant clusters Both the onset and the coda can consist of more than one consonant, also known as a consonant cluster. The combination /st/ is a consonant cluster (CC) used as onset in the word stop, and as coda in the word post. There are many CC onset combinations permitted in English phonotactics, as in black, bread, trick, twin, flat and throw. Note that liquids (/l/, /r/) and a glide (/w/) are being used in second position. English can actually have larger onset clusters, as in the words stress and splat, consisting of three initial consonants (CCC). 10 EN1214_LSLU_Note from Lecturer Mrs.Nadeeka Laksiri_Typed and edited by Nisal Wanigasuriya The phonotactics of these larger onset consonant clusters is not too difficult to describe. The first consonant must always be /s/, followed by one of the voiceless stops (/p/, /t/, /k/) and a liquid or glide (/l/, /r/, /w/). You can check if this description is adequate for the combinations in splash, spring, strong, scream and square. Does the description also cover the second syllable in the pronunciation of exclaim? How about /ɛk-skleɪm/? Remember that it is the onset of the syllable that is being described, not the beginning of the word. It is quite unusual for languages to have consonant clusters of this type. Indeed, the syllable structure of many languages (e.g. Japanese) is predominantly CV. It is also noticeable in English that large consonant clusters may be reduced in casual conversational speech, particularly if they occur in the middle of a word. This is just one example of a process that is usually discussed in terms of co articulation effects. The Syllable All words can be divided into one or more syllables. The syllable is important in the rhythm of the language. A syllable typically contains a consonant or set of consonants followed by vowel followed by another consonant or set of consonants. Words with one syllable (cat, springs) are monosyllabic, while words with more than one syllable are polysyllabic. The nature of the syllable. Syllable are usually described as consisting of a centre (nucleus) which has little or no obstruction to airflow and which sounds comparatively loud ; before and after the centre. (That is , at the beginning and end of the syllable) ex – the words are /aː/ , or /ɔː/, err /ɜː/ These are preceded and followed by silence. Ex- am - /æm / ought ɔːt / ease iːz / Ex- rum /rʌm /, sat /sæt / fill /fɪl/ ∙ Intonation- Falling, rising, rising- falling, falling- rising. Intonation The sound pattern of phrase and sentences produced by pitch variation in the voice to distinguish between question, statements and other types of utterance is known as intonation. Pitch of the voice plays the most important part, when we speak normally; the pitch of our voice is constantly changing. In some respects, its function is similar to the use of punctuation in writing, but it is far more complex than punctuation. Would you like whisky or gin or tea? Would you like whisky or gin or tea…? The use of the dots indicates that the list of drinks could be extended; whereas in the first sentence there are three to choose from. In speech the difference is made by intonation. 11 EN1214_LSLU_Note from Lecturer Mrs.Nadeeka Laksiri_Typed and edited by Nisal Wanigasuriya Some functions of English tones ∙ Fall yes, no (Neutral) If someone is asked a question and replies yes or no, it will be understood that the question s now answered and that there is nothing more to be said. That fall could be said to give an impression of „finality‟. ∙ Rise yes, no In a variety of ways, this tone conveys an impression that something more is to follow. ∙ Fall-rise yes, no Te fall-rise is used a lot in English and has some rather special functions- „limited agreement‟ or „response with reservation.‟ ∙ Rise- fall yes, no This is used to convey rather strong feelings of approval, disapproval or surprise. ∙ Level yes, no This tone is certainly used in English, but in a rather restricted context; it almost always coveys (on single syllable utterances) a feeling of saying something routine, uninteresting or boring, A teacher calling names of pupils from a register will often do so using a level of tone on each name, and the pupils would be likely to be responded with the same tone. Intonation Check the examples below, you‟ll notice that there‟s a predictable change of pitch before the marked pauses. Technically, the tone unit consists of prominent stress (its „nucleus‟). It is here that there is a change in pitch. The tone unit may also have a „‟head and a „tail‟. Ex- a) b) c) 12 EN1214_LSLU_Note from Lecturer Mrs.Nadeeka Laksiri_Typed and edited by Nisal Wanigasuriya d) 13 EN1214_LSLU_Note from Lecturer Mrs.Nadeeka Laksiri_Typed and edited by Nisal Wanigasuriya 14 EN1214_LSLU_Note from Lecturer Mrs.Nadeeka Laksiri_Typed and edited by Nisal Wanigasuriya Aspects of connected speech (06/ 03 hrs) ∙ Linking- C+C, C+V, V+V, intrusion ∙ Assimilation- Progressive, Regressive ∙ Elision assimilation /əˌsɪməˈleɪʃən/ n assimilate /əˈsɪməˌleɪt/ v When a speech sound changes, and becomes more like another sound which follows it or precedes it, this is called assimilation. For example, in English then negative PREFIX appears as im- before words such as possible - impossible . As possible starts with a BILABIAL sound the prefix im- ends in a bilabial sound. Before words like tolerant, however the prefix in- : intolerant. As tolerant starts with an ALVEOLAR sound, the prefix in- ends in an alveolar sound. As the following sounds bring about the change, this process is called regressive assimilation. On the other hand, the difference between the /s/ in the English words cats and the /z/ in the English word dogs is an example of progressive assimilation because the preceding sounds bring about the change. assimilation n a process in which a group gradually gives up its own language, culture, and system of values and takes on those of another group with a different language, culture, and system of values, through a period of interaction. see also ACCULTURATION, SOCIAL DISTANCE. Assimilation When two sound segments occur in sequence and some aspect of one segment is taken or “copied” by the other, the process is known as assimilation. If we think of the physical production of speech, we realize that this regular process happens simply because it‟s quicker, easier and more efficient for our articulators as they do their job In isolation, we would typically pronounce [ɪ] and [æ] without any nasal quality at all. However, when we say words like pin and pan in everyday speech, the anticipation of forming the final nasal consonant will make it easier to go into the nasalized articulation in advance and consequently the vowel sounds in these words will be, in more precise transcription, [ı˜] and [æ˜] This is a very regular feature of English speakers‟ pronunciation. It is so regular, in fact, that a phonological rule can be stated in the following way: “Any vowel becomes nasal whenever it immediately precedes a nasal.” This type of assimilation process occurs in a variety of different contexts. By itself, the word can may be pronounced as [kæn], but, when we say I can go, the influence of the following velar [ɡ] will almost certainly make the preceding nasal sound come out as [ŋ] (the velar nasal) rather than [n] (the alveolar nasal). The most commonly observed conversational version of the phrase is [aɪkəŋɡoʊ]. Notice that the vowel in can has also changed to schwa [ə] from the isolated-word version [æ]. In many words spoken carefully, the vowel receives stress, but in the course of ordinary everyday talk, that vowel may no longer receive any stress and naturally reduce to schwa. We may, for example, pronounce and as [ænd] by itself, but in the normal use of the phrase you and me, we usually say [ən], as in [juənmi]. 15 EN1214_LSLU_Note from Lecturer Mrs.Nadeeka Laksiri_Typed and edited by Nisal Wanigasuriya ∙ Elision elision /ɪˈlɪʒən/ n elide /ɪˈlaɪd/ v the leaving out of a sound or sounds in speech. For example, in rapid speech in English, suppose is often pronounced as/spəʊz/, factory as /fæktri/ and mostly as /məʊsli/. see also ELLIPSIS, EPENTHESIS Elision In the last example, illustrating the normal pronunciation of you and me, the [d] sound of the word and was not included in the transcription. That‟s because it isn‟t usually pronounced in this phrase. In the environment of a preceding nasal [n] and a following nasal [m], we simply don‟t devote speech energy to including the stop sound [d]. This isn‟t laziness, it‟s efficiency. There is also typically no [d] sound included in the everyday pronunciation of a word like friendship [frɛnʃɪp]. This process of not pronouncing a sound segment that might be present in the deliberately careful pronunciation of a word in isolation is described as elision. In consonant clusters, especially in coda position, /t/ is a common casualty in this process, as in the typical pronunciation [æspeks] for aspects, or in [himəsbi] for the phrase he must be. We can, of course, slowly and deliberately pronounce each part of the phrase we asked him, but the process of elision (of /k/) in casual conversation is likely to produce [wiæstəm]. Vowels also disappear, as in [ɛvri] for every, [ɪntrɪst] for interest, [kæbnət] for cabinet, [kæmrə] for camera, [prɪznər] for prisoner and [spoʊz] for suppose. Reduced & full forms (strong & weak forms) (06/ 03 hrs) Strong from / strɔŋ fɔːm/ || / strɔŋ fɔrm/ n One of the possible forms in which a word appears in speech. If a word is said in isolation or if it is stressed (eg he can pay us), the strong form is used (ex - /kæn/ can). If a word is unstressed, it often appears in its weak form, For example, the vowel sound in can does not have the same quality in the weak form and is reduced in length. (Ex- kən) Strong and weak forms “What do we mean by „strong‟ and „weak‟? We could describe them partly in terms of stress (by saying, for example, the strong syllables are stressed and weak syllables unstressed)”

Weak syllables can only have four types of centre:

∙ The vowel ə (“Schwa”) ∙ A close front unrounded vowel in the general area of iː and ɪ ∙ A close back rounded vowel in the general area of uː and ʊ ∙ A syllabic consonant 16 EN1214_LSLU_Note from Lecturer Mrs.Nadeeka Laksiri_Typed and edited by Nisal Wanigasuriya