Sample 1 is an example of African American Vernacular English, sometimes called Ebonics. Sample 2 is an example of Standard American English.

They are the same in that both are spoken in North America, and native speakers of each generally understand each other when speaking to each other in their own language.

They are different in that while native speakers can understand each other, they do not follow exactly the same rules of pronunciation, sentence structure, or vocabulary choice.

Source of sample of AAVE: http://www.hawaii.edu/satocenter/langnet/definitions/aave.html

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Sample 1 is Norwegian and Sample 2 is Standard American English.

These samples use basically the same alphabetic writing system. The two writing systems aren't exactly the same, however. Native speakers of these two languages can't understand each other, nor can they read the writing of the other's language.

These are probably best described as two different languages.

Source of language samples: http://www.sofn.com/norwegian_culture/showlanguagelesson.jsp?Lesson=34 

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Sample 1 is Norwegian and Sample 2 is Swedish.

These two samples use the same basic alphabetic writing system, but the two systems aren't exactly the same. Native speakers of these two languages can generally read something written in the other language.

Native speakers of the two languages live in different countries, but they can understand each other even if each speaks his own language to each other. That is, the two languages are mutually intelligible.

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Sample 1 is Spanish and Sample 2 is Italian.

The two languages use basically the same basic alphabetic writing system, but there are small differences bewteen the two. Native speakers of the languages can understand each other even if the other speaks in his own language. That is, the two languages are mutually intelligible.

Native speakers of the two languages live in different countries. Spanish speakers live in Spain, Central America, South America, and the Caribbean. Italian speakers live in Italy, Switzerland, and some islands in the Mediterranean.

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Sample 1 is Mandarin Chinese and Sample 2 is Cantonese Chinese.

Although a transliteration is used in these samples, both languages use the same logographic characters in their writing systems. Native speakers of one language can read the writing of the other language.

Native speakers of Mandarin are not able to understand a native speaker of Cantonese when he speaks his own language, or vice versa. That is, Mandarin and Cantonese are not mutually intelligible.

Native speakers of both languages live in China. Cantonese speakers tend to live around Hong Kong and Mandarin speakers in other areas. Some Mandarin speakers also live in Taiwan.

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Link to glossary

 

 

 

English Structures

Sociolinguistics

Pages: 1, 2, 3, 4 Moodle TESL 551: Crowley   Houts-Smith
 

 

 

 

 

Sociolinguistics

Review and Introduction

Over time, languages change; English has gone through three periods: Old English (also called Anglo-Saxon), Middle English, and Modern English. We are currently in the Modern English period. Historical linguistics is the study of language change over time.

A language can evolve so that it becomes different from earlier versions of that language, like Modern English is different from Middle English, and we identify different historical periods of one language.

Alternatively, a language can change so that it becomes radically different from another version of the same language--that is, a completely different language can develop from one language. This is essentially what happened when Old English changed to become Middle English. It is also what happened to turn Latin into Italian and Spanish.

A third way that languages change is for one group of people to change aspects of the language from ways that it is used by other speakers of the same language, not so much that it becomes a different language altogether, but rather so that there are different varieties of the same language. The study of the sociological factors that create different varieties of the same language as used by different groups of speakers of the same language is Sociolinguistics. We may say that sociolinguistics is the study of language in relation to social factors.


Activity: Same or Different Language?

When do we say, “this is a different language from that”?
How do we decide what’s a different language and what’s not a different language?

Compare the two language samples side by side below, and decide if the two languages are the same or different. Pay attention to what you are using to make the decision.

Same or Different Language?
Sample 1 Sample 2  

I don't care what he say, you gon laugh.  ...as long as i's kids around he's gon play rough or however they're playing.

You don’t have to shout, I can hear you just fine.  You’re gonna give me a coronary one of these days.
Her finner du noen av Norges vakreste sandstrender, dype fjorder og spennende fjell med fiskevann.

Here you find some of Norway's most beautiful sandy beaches, deep fjords and exciting mountains with lakes for fishing.

Kledd i sine fineste klær--mange i bunader--marsjerte de opp Karl Johans gate.

1. Han läser fem tidningar varje dag.
2. Vet du inte var han bor?
3. Mitt hus har bara tre rum.
4. Många kvinnor i Sverige har hundar
5. Mannen vill ha tio kronor.

Ana: ¡Hola! Soy Ana López.
Daniel: Encantado de conocerte. Soy Daniel Gardel.
Victoria: ¿Adónde vas?
Daniel: Estoy yendo a la biblioteca. Necesito buscar unos artículos de diario para un caso que tenemos.

  • Buongiorno. Io mi chiamo David. Come ti chiami tu?
  • Io mi chiamo Liberty.
  • Dove abiti tu?
  • Abito a New York.

Nǐ hǎo. Nǐ jiào shénme?
Wǒ jiào Chen.
Zàijiàn

nehih ho ma?

geih ho. M goih.

The activity shows that distinguishing two languages from each other isn't as simple as one might think. Tied up in the issue are where the speakers live, what writing system they use, whether they can understand each's speech or not, and even whether they want to be associated with speakers of the other language.


Dialect vs. Language

When trying to decide whether two samples of human language represent the same or different languages, one must first decide on what the definition of a language is. So far we have used the following as our working definition of a language:

Language is a system of arbitrary symbols that humans use
to create meaningful communication with other users of the same language.

This definition suggests that we should use the "mutually intelligible" test, whose rules might best be stated as:

  • If speakers of two different varieties can not understand each other, then they are speaking two different languages.
  • If speakers of two different varieties can understand each other, then they are speaking dialects of one language.

A dialect may be defined as a subtype or subcategory of a language rather than as a wholly different language. Although differences exist between the forms of the language as used by speakers of two dialects, the two speakers can still create meaningful comunication.

A language, then, may be defined as a form of human language so different from another form that the speakers of the two different forms can not create meaningful communication with each other.

However, if that is the definition, then why are Italian and Spanish considered different languages? Why are Norwegian and Swedish considered different languages? Why are Mandarin and Cantonese both called Chinese? The mutually intelligible test doesn't capture all that goes into our notiions of a language.

We allow issues such as whether the speakers of the languages live in the same political state, or whether they historically once lived in the same political state to affect our judgments. In short, we allow social factors, such as history and politics, to affect the definition, and do not only consider language factors.

So does the addition of political factors mean that a language is the speech of a particular country? To answer that question, consider the following:

After a brief study of nations and their languages, we see that our concept of a language doesn't line up with purely political issues, either. So our concept of a language isn't purely political or purely linguistic. If it were, we'd call everything that is mutually intelligible a dialct of a language, or we would call everything spoken within the borders of a political state by the same name. Instead, we find a confusing mix of the two.

How do we account for the confusion? Instead of thinking of countries and language forms, we might do better to discuss groups of people and their identities. While the terms language and dialect are useful, linguists have coined other terms to assist in analyzing the situation where so many issues overlap.

The following terms help us talk about language related to the kinds of groups people divide into.

  • Language – a system of arbitrary symbols that humans use to create meaningful communication with other users of the same language.
  • Dialects – systematic distinctions between groups produce dialects.
    • Dialects may be spoken by identifiable subgroups of a larger speech community.
  • Speech community – a group of people who share a set of social conventions regarding language use.
    • Speech community is a general term for any type of group.
  • Speech variety – general term to describe distinctions in language that are unclear as to whether they are accentual, dialectal, or language differences.
Continue with Part 2