LINGUISTI

C
TERMS
COMMUNICATION STUDIES
HAMPTON SCHOOL
 LINGUISTIC TERMS
When people from different language communities comes into
contact for any length of time, the need to communicate,
understand and co-exist with each other becomes so pressing
that a common language has to be found. This common
language is called LINGUA FRANCA. Today, the term is used to
refer to any hybrid language. The lingua franca is a type of
pidgin.

Pidgin: is a simplified version of a language that has been

augmented by feature of other languages. This is
developed from several languages when speakers from
different linguistic backgrounds are forced to function or co-
exist.
 LINGUISTIC TERMS
The dominant language of these several contact languages
is determined by the one in which the speakers have
military and economic power over other language users.
The dominant and prestigious language is known as the
superstrate and the subordinate languages are known as
the substrate. In rare cases, two languages may come in
contact which are equal in prestige because of the power
associated with it, both languages mutually influence each
other are called abstrate languages.
 LINGUISTIC TERMS
◼ There are is limited vocabulary and grammatical structures
and usually have one verb form, often lacking verb tense and
case endings. Pidgins that are trade languages start with no
written form since their main purpose is to facilitate haggling
and trade.

◼ Overtime, if a new generation of speakers emerge that use

the pidgin as their first language or native language, then the
pidgin is said to be a CREOLE. When a pidgin becomes a
creole it is because its use and vocabulary has expanded. The
use is no longer restricted to trade or basic communication
but has expanded to include all the linguistic needs of the
speaker.
 LINGUISTIC TERMS
◼Development of a language does not end
when a language becomes creolized. A
post-creole continuum can develop
overtime. It is a process in which the creole
gradually merges with the corresponding
standard language which is part of the
parent language from which the creole
emerged. This process of merging is called
decreolization and involves different forms
of the creole becoming socially stratified.
 LINGUISTIC TERMS
◼ At one end of the continuum, the purest form of creole is
referred to as the basilect. It is associated with and spoken
by deep rural, lower class, uneducated/undereducated and
unsophisticated persons.

◼ At the other end of the continuum is the acrolect which is

closer to the standard language in structure and vocabulary
and is spoken by the upper class, professionals, educated.

◼ The mesolect falls in the middle and is a mixture of the

basilect and acrolect. It includes blends of creole vocabulary
and structures as well as those of the standard variety.
 CREOLE- CONTINUUM EXAMPLE
(ALLEYNE 1970)
◼Basilect:
Im a nyam im dina
Shi a nyam ar dina
Im a it im dina
Im iitin im dina

Mesolect:
Him is iitin his dina

Acrolect
He is eating his dinner
 LINGUISTIC TERMS
◼ Code Switching- This is the ability to move from one
language to the next, from one dialect to another, one
register to another and one accent to another.

This can happen for a number of reasons:

1. To improve social status & prestige
2. To become more impressive
3. To be more intelligible/inclusive
4. To avoid being a misfit
5. To exclude another group or language
6. To reflect a shift in mood
 LINGUISTIC TERMS
◼Dialect- This is a regional or social variety of a
language usually noticeable through features of
vocabulary and pronunciation. It also refers to a
variety of a language or to any version of a
language spoken by a particular geographic or
social sub-group.

◼Dialectal Variation: This refers to the written or

spoken differences in the use of language within a
speech community; in our case, English.
 LINGUISTIC TERMS
Examples of Dialectal Variation:

A. Within the English speaking community, we have a British,

Jamaican, American, Austrailian, Nigerian and Caribbean dialect.

◼ B. Within the creole speaking community there are Jamaican,

Grenadian and other English creoles.

◼ C. Within the French-Creole speaking communities we have the

Haitian, St. Lucian etc.

In some parts of Jamaica, a particular variation of creole is spoken

that may be unknown to other parishes. This is demonstrated in the
use of the term ‘shopping bag’ which is known as ‘scandal bag’ or
‘laada bag’.
 LINGUISTIC TERMS
Language and Identity
Identity may be broadly defined as a sense of who we are, how we
perceive ourselves and how others perceive us. Language helps to
give us a sense of identity because it marks us off as belonging to a
group/ speech community. The dynamic nature of language allows
people to interact in dynamic ways, often facilitating the shifting of
roles in different situations. People can change their accent to one
that disguises their place in a particular ethnic or national. When
persons alter their speech to fit more closely with the speech of the
person they are speaking to, it is called linguistic convergence.
This is a type of code-switching that is common in tourist areas. On
the other hand, persons may opt to deliberately affirm differences
between themselves and others to whom they are talking. This
strategy is known as linguistic divergence and has been observed
among immigrants who wish for exclusion from the dominant culture.
 LINGUISTIC TERMS
◼Idiolect (Individual Language Characteristics)
This is like language DNA in that no two people
speak exactly the same. There are variations such as
voice quality, pitch, speech rhythm, choice of words
and grammar.

Sociolect: Language varied depending on one’s

social class.

Mutually Intelligible: This is information and

communication that is understood by all parties
concerned when using a particular language.
 LINGUISTIC TERMS
◼ First Language: This is the first naturally acquired language in
which the speaker is most competent and spontaneous.

◼ Second Language: This is the language that is acquired

subsequent to the first language. It is often characterized by
the absence of fluency and efficient articulation.

◼ Monolingual: This occurs when the speaker is fluent in only

one language. Example: Cuba (official language is Spanish and
the Mass Vernacular is Spanish)

◼ Bilingual: This occurs when the speaker is fluent in two

languages.

◼ Multilingual: Fluency in more than two languages.

 LINGUISTIC TERMS
◼Diglossia: Two languages used under different
conditions within a speech community with one
being more prestigious than the other. Example:
Jamaica and Haiti are considered diglossic.

• It is the coexistence of two varieties of the same

language throughout a speech community. Often,
one form is the literary or prestige dialect which is
considered high language, and the other is a
common dialect spoken by most of the population
which is considered low language.
 DIGLOSSIA (CONT’D)
In diglossic situations the ‘High’ language variety is the one used in
writing, in education, in government administrative and legal
institutions, and generally in public and formal situations.

The ‘Low’ variety is the one used by the mass of the population in
the course of their everyday private and informal interaction, within
the family, and in the various forms of popular culture.

• Both varieties are kept apart functionally.

• The high variety is the prestige variety; low variety lacks prestige.
• High variety is highly codified.
• All children learn the low variety.
• High variety is usually learnt in school.
• Low variety tends to borrow learned words from the high variety
especially to express new ideas.
 DIGLOSSIC EXAMPLES IN THE
CARIBBEAN
◼ Haiti and Jamaica are considered prime examples of diglossia
in the Caribbean.

◼ Haiti
• Standard French (H) and French Creole (L)
• FC has been given official status. The speech community by
law is bilingual.

• Jamaica
Jamaican Standard English (JSE)-High Variety & Jamaican
Creole (JC)- Low Variety
DIGLOSSIA (CONT’D)
 LINGUISTIC TERMS
◼ Copula: This is a connecting word in Jamaican Creole. The
letter ‘a’ functions as a copula. This is used as an article as well
as in the present continuous tense.

◼ Ethnolinguistic: This is the science of the relationship

between language and culture.

◼ Calque: This refers to a combination of words in Jamaican

Creole. Example: foot-battam, nose-hole, hand-miggle, neck-
back.
◼ Vernacular: The language that is commonly spoken on a daily
basis especially in an informal setting. It is the native language
of a locality and it is the language of the masses/natives.
 LANGUAGE DECAY &
DEATH
◼ There are natural changes in language taking place due to its
dynamic nature. In some cases however, the changes have
such far reaching consequences that a language will disappear
from use all together.
◼ Language decay begins with the loss of vocabulary and other
levels of structure. There is also the loss of competence among
speakers resulting in a limitation in how they can use the language
and for what purposes. Eventually, there is a loss of native
speakers until the language becomes used only by socialized
groups for specialized functions. Eg. Maroons.
◼ Language death results when speakers of a language forget
how to speak it due to a lack of interest. This lack of interest is
often attributed to the limited universal value outside of the
speech community. Language death also takes place when the
last remaining speaker of the language dies.
LANGUAGE SUICIDE & MURDER
◼ There are two main processes that result in language death.
They are language suicide and language murder.

◼ Language Murder occurs progressively when two languages

are fairly similar to each other; one dominant and the other less
prestigious. The less prestigious language continuously borrows
vocabulary and structures from the dominant language
because of social and political reasons. Overtime, the less
prestigious language cannot be distinguished as a separate
language and it loses its distinctive features and identity to the
dominant language. Language suicide occurs because of the
process of decreolization whereby speakers of the creole
language will, overtime, progressively adjust their use of the
language to bring it close to the superstrate language.
LANGUAGE SUICIDE & MURDER
◼Language Murder is more likely to take
place in a bilingual context where the first
generation of bilingual speakers are fluent
in both languages but with the passage of
time, the more prestigious of the two
languages exerts a dominant influence over
the less prestigious language. Eventually,
only the older speakers will remain using
the language and as they die off so too will
the language.
LINGUISTIC TERMS