language change and variation

7/29/2019 Language Change and Variation

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Language change

Language VariationManglish


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Kinds of change

PHONOLOGICAL CHANGE: AN OLD EXAMPLE

Latinpiscus ~ English fish

Latinpater~ English father

Latinpes ~ English foot

Latin centus ~ English hundredLatin caput~ English head

Latin canis ~ English hound

These correspondences (among others) allow us to suggest a series

of sound changes which took place as Proto Indo-Europeandeveloped into Proto Germanic, at some point beginning in the firstmillennium BC (e.g. PIE *p > PGmc *f). This series of changes isknown as Grimms Law.


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Kinds of change

PHONOLOGICAL CHANGE: A NEW EXAMPLE

RP [bath] ~ Cockney [baf]

RP [thin] ~ Cockney [fin]

RP [brother]

RP [breathe]

Earlier records of Cockney, along with contemporary study of age-

based variation, suggest that this is a phonological change in

progress, a merger of two phonemes.


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Kinds of change

SEMANTIC CHANGE

What do the following words mean to you?

starve; nice; knight; hussy; cretin; gayModE starve = either to be hungry or to die

of hunger

OE steorfan = to die (cf. German sterben)


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Kinds of change

OE cniht= boy

OE huswife = housewife

FrcrtinChristianThe change in meaning of cniht is an

example of AMELIORATION

The changes in meaning of the lexicalisedform hussy, and of cretin, are examples of

PEJORATION


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The gaydebate

Gay [get OED dates]

Chris Moyles and the ringtone: I dont wantthat one, its gay

Is this a reflection of an on-going semantic

change, or an instance of homophobia, orboth?


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EModE

Saw you not his face? (Shakespeare,

Hamlet, 1601)


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Why do languages change?

LANGUAGE INTERNAL REASONS (e.g.

markedness and analogy)

LANGUAGE IN USE (e.g. frequency of use

of a particular form)

SPEAKER FACTORS (e.g. identification

with social groups; projection of identity)

In other words, a combination of FORMAL

and FUNCTIONAL factors


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AN ONGOING CHANGE?

Quotative verbs in English:

I saidHes a really nice person

An old one:Quoth he, Whatsoever thou wisheth.

A new one:

And I was likeWhat are you talking about?

What other quotative verbs do you use, or do you knowthat other speakers of English use?


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Sort and kind

What do the words sortand kindmean in thefollowing examples? What grammaticalcategory do they belong to? Are there any thatare hard to classify? Why?

(a) I dont like that sort of pasta

(b) What kind of a piano is it?

(c) Hes sort of a football coach

(d) Theyre kind of my favourite band(e) I got annoyed with him, sort of

(f) A: Do you like fish and chips? B: Kind of.


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Grammaticalization

An early definition of grammaticalization was

that of Meillet (1912): lattribution du

caractre grammatical un mot jadis

autonome [the attribution of grammaticalcharacter to a word which once was

autonomous]


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A classic example of gzn: be going to

Duke:

Sir Valentine, whither away so fast?

Valentine:

Please it your grace, there is a messenger

that stays to bear my letters to my friends,

And I am going to deliver them.

(c. 1595, Shakespeare, Two Gentlemen of VeronaIII.i.51)


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Reanalysis

I [am going] [to deliver them] verb of motion

I [am going to] [deliver them] marker of futurity

cf. He is going to love London

Hes gonna love London


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The grammaticalization ofway

[All examples taken from OED Online www.oed.com]

1460Paston Lett. I. 525 As for tythyngs here, the Kyng isway at Eltham

1891Anthony's Photogr. Bull. IV. 29, I would have sold at a

very low price, way below cost.1959Times Lit. Suppl. 16 Oct. 589/3 You are feet deep in

snow and the temperature is way below zero.

1988Freestyle BMXJune 25/2 The guys behind the bar

were way cool, flowing free beers to the visiting skaters.
http://www.oed.com/http://www.oed.com/


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Some googled ways (1)

(1) Via Virginia Postrel comes this nice profile of the NYT'sJohn Tierney, and speculation that he may be Safire'sreplacement at op-ed. Make it so! And then fire MaureenDowd. Not because she's liberal, but because she's an

embarassment. Fiftyish women should not usephrases like way harsh

(http://www.affbrainwash.com/genehealy/archives/015686.php)

(2) Math Becomes Way Cool

(http://www.maa.org/devlin/devlin_11_98.html)
http://www.dynamist.com/weblog/http://www.prospect.org/print/V12/16/mooney-c.htmlhttp://www.affbrainwash.com/genehealy/archives/015686.phphttp://www.affbrainwash.com/genehealy/archives/015686.phphttp://www.maa.org/devlin/devlin_11_98.htmlhttp://www.maa.org/devlin/devlin_11_98.htmlhttp://www.affbrainwash.com/genehealy/archives/015686.phphttp://www.affbrainwash.com/genehealy/archives/015686.phphttp://www.prospect.org/print/V12/16/mooney-c.htmlhttp://www.dynamist.com/weblog/


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Some googled ways (2)

(3) In case you're trying to amass a majority, I'd vote for theCleveland Heights/Shaker area. Keep in mind, I grew upin Parma and now live in Garfield, so I'm way not cool(http://ask.metafilter.com/mefi/14342)

(4) jo(e), you only have to type in ISBNs or some little bit ofthe book -- a few words from the title, for example. Itlooks up the rest of it for you. It is so way cool. You cantype a few in while you're waiting for other pages toload...

(http://www.haloscan.com/comments/becceratoo/112947877449751687/)
http://ask.metafilter.com/mefi/14342http://www.haloscan.com/comments/becceratoo/112947877449751687/http://www.haloscan.com/comments/becceratoo/112947877449751687/http://www.haloscan.com/comments/becceratoo/112947877449751687/http://www.haloscan.com/comments/becceratoo/112947877449751687/http://ask.metafilter.com/mefi/14342


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Sociolinguistics

The study of the interrelationships oflanguage varieties and social structure

Language varietyis a term used to refer to

many different type of languagevariationany form of languagecharacterized by systematic features

Language variety looks at accent, dialects,idiolect, slang, jargon, etc.


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Dialect

How do we know if two languages are

dialects of the same language or two

distinct languages?

Mutual Intelligibilityis one criterion, but not

the only one.

A group of people speaking the same

dialect is known as a speech community.


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Prestige

No one dialect or language is better, morecorrect, more systematic, or more logical thanany other.

Yet, we do make a distinction between standard

and nonstandard dialects Generally, the standard dialect is perceived as

more prestigious because it is used by thepowerful, wealthy, and educated.

Nonstandard dialects are usually associatedwith the language of the lower socioeconomicclass.


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Prestige, cont.

There are two types of prestige: covert and overt

Overt prestige is when speakers perceive the standardlanguage as being prestigious

Covert prestige is when speakers in a speech

community perceive the non-standard language asbeing prestigious Typically an expression of solidarity

More often seen in a tight-knit community


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Think about your native

language

Do you have a standard and non-standard

dialect?

Who speaks the standard?

Who speaks the nonstandard?

What are some of the linguistic features of

each?


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Social Factors

Socioeconomic (Labovs study)

Age- youth tend to be trendsetters when

it comes to language

Gender- women tend to use the standard

variant; men tend to use nonstandard

Ethnic


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From Manglish To English


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Id like a Coke and a Sprite too.

Guests cannot

Guests cannot have.

Guests cannot have guests!


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Yeah-lah!No lah!


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Bungalow Outstation

Slippers Buy one free one

Handphone Mutton

Teleconversation Staffs


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The long and the short of it

We would like to have the bill now please, if you dont mind

Certainly, Sir.

Eh, bossbill

Okay-lah


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No more already

Im afraid theres no more left

I cannot see him.

I cant see him


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Are Manglish and Malaysian English the same?

Why do people speak Manglish?

What is Manglish?


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What is Manglish?

He go back already

Look at my new handphone

No-lah


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First language Interference

How important is first language interference?

How different is Malay from English?

What is the best way to overcome the problem of first language

interference?

Where got?Can oso!


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Proper English, how to speak?

Say things in a more natural way

Find a good language model

Understand the differences between languages


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People will laugh at me if I speak proper English, so how can?


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The Kings of Manglish

Can

Daddy, you pick me up after school, can ornot?

Sorry, cannot come tomorrow. Too busy-lah.


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The Kings of Manglish

Got I got a surprise yesterday

I got three brothers My house got air-con

Got many expensive restaurant in KualaLumpur

Hes got two wives


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That restaurant got nice food

Got many shops in MegaMall

I got a problem with my PC I got a notebook computer from that shop


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That restaurant has nice food

There are many shops in MegaMall

I have a problem with my PC I got a notebook computer from that shop


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Put an s in the correct place

Flight leave to Jamaica every 45

minute.

I bought cheese, biscuit, bread, appleand some snack.

She sell seashell on the seashore.

Do you like cat? All the student are wearing jacket

today.

Sometime, I like to get information from


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Add a or the to the sentences

I bought cat but damn thing died.

Government passed new law.

She loves using computers. I have big problem with my sister.

Do you need to go to dentist?


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Answers

I bought a cat but the damn thing died.

The Government passed a new law.

She loves using computers. I have a big problem with my sister.

Do you need to go to the dentist?


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Using the -ed ending

I feel bored.

The instructions will be included.

I have finished my prayers. The show ended three hours ago


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Add -ed where necessary

The movie finish at 3:00.

I have always want to be a star.

Wong is interest in photography. The gallery is inspect once a year.


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Answers

The movie finished at 3:00.

I have always wanted to be a star.

Wong is interested in photography.

The gallery is inspected once a year.


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Are these questions correct?

You understand or not?

Why the sky is blue?

Are you come back late yesterday?

Why you never buy me dinner?


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Answers

Do you understand?

Why is the sky blue?

Did you come back late yesterday?

Why do you never buy me dinner?

Why dont you ever buy me dinner?

C t th


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Can you spot these common

mistakes? Last time, I drive a Kancil.

You work for Maybank, isnt it?

Better you dont go.

My friend, he supports Liverpool

Do you like some coffee?

Please off the lights.


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Answers

I used to drive a Kancil.

You work for Maybank, dont you?

Youd better not go.

My friend supports Liverpool

Would you like some coffee?

Please switch off the lights.


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The End

language change and variation

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