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Social Dialects

Social Dialects. The limits of my language mean the limits of my world -- Ludwig Wittgenstein. Social boundaries. Socioeconomic status Ethnic or racial differences Country of origin Gender Social Dialects-- Dialect differences that come about due to social factors. A Myth.

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Social Dialects

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  1. Social Dialects The limits of my language mean the limits of my world -- Ludwig Wittgenstein

  2. Social boundaries • Socioeconomic status • Ethnic or racial differences • Country of origin • Gender • Social Dialects-- Dialect differences that come about due to social factors.

  3. A Myth People talk and think about a language as if it were a well-defined fixed system with various dialects diverging from this norm. This is false.

  4. Language Purists • Consider the dialect used by political leaders and national newscasters as the correct form of language.

  5. The “Standard” • The dominant, or prestige, dialect is often called the standard dialect. • Standard American English (SAE) is a dialect of English that many Americans nearly speak • SAE is an idealization

  6. Language Change • No academy and no guardians of language purity can stem the tide of language change, not should anyone attempt to do so, because such change does not mean corruption.

  7. Mainstream • All speakers who aspire to become successful may be required to speak that dialect even if it isn’t their own.

  8. Hypercorrections • Deviations from the norm thought to be “proper English” • Pronunciation of “often” or • between you an me or between you and I

  9. No dialect is more expressive, more logical, more complex, or more regular than any other dialect or language. • Any judgments as to the superiority or inferiority of a particular dialect or language are social judgments, which have no linguistic or scientific basis.

  10. Banned Languages • Language purists want to prevent language differentiation because of their false belief that some languages are better than others. • Also banning for political reasons.

  11. Banning Sign Language • In many places in the world, including the US, the use of sign languages of the deaf was banned. • The aim was to teach people to read lips and to communicate through sound.

  12. African American English

  13. African American English (AAE) • The historical discrimination against African Americans has created the social boundaries that permit this dialect to thrive. • Many black have embraced their dialect as a means of positive identification.

  14. Another Myth • It is false to think that you can identify the race of a person by speech alone.

  15. Differences between AAE and SAE • R-Deletion- poor is pronounced poe • L-Deletion- all is pronounced awe • Consonant cluster reduction- • Meant and mend- both pronounced men • Past and passed both pronounced pass • Neutralization of before nasals • Pin and pen – pronounced the same

  16. Continue • Diphthong Reduction • Boil and boy are pronounced • Loss of Interdental Fricatives • Glotal Stop Substitution

  17. Syntactic Differences- AAE and SAE • Multiple negatives • Deletion of the verb “be” • He nice • They mine • I gonna do it. • Habitual “be” • John be happy • He be late

  18. Latino (Hispanic) English • A major group of American English dialects is spoken by native Spanish speakers or their descendants.

  19. Many backgrounds • Learning English as a second language • Born in Spanish-speaking homes whose native language is English • Monolingual • Others speak Spanish as a second language • There is no homogeneous Latino dialect.

  20. Dialect Differences • Puerto Rican, Cuban, Guatemalan, and El Salvadoran immigrants and their children all speak somewhat different from one another.

  21. Code-Switching • Inserting a Spanish word or phrase into a single sentence or move back and forth between Spanish and English. • It is a misconception to think that bilingual Latinos speak a sort of “broken” English. • AKA -Spanglish or Tex-Mex

  22. Chicano English (ChE) • ChE is a mutually intelligible dialect that differs systematically from SAE.

  23. PhonologicalDifferences between SAE and ChE • Ship and sheep= both pronounced as sheep • Alternation of ch and sh- • shook is pronounced chook • Check is pronounced sheck • Devoicing of consonants • Word final consonant cluster reduction • Vowel length and intonation patterns • Scare is pronounced escare.

  24. Syntactic Variables in ChE

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