Language, Dialect and Accent (definitions)

What is a Language?
Hockett's Design Features:

Vocal-auditory channel. Refers to the idea that speaking/hearing is the mode humans use for language. When Hockett first defined this feature, it did not take sign language into account, which reflects the ideology of orality that was prevalent during the time. This feature has since been modified to include other channels of language, such as tactile-visual or chemical-olfactory.

Broadcast transmission and directional reception When humans speak, sounds are transmitted in all directions; however, listeners perceive the direction from which the sounds are coming. Similarly, signers broadcast to potentially anyone within the line of sight, while those watching see who is signing. This is characteristic of most forms of human and animal communication.

Transitoriness Also called rapid fading, transitoriness refers to the idea of temporary quality of language. Language sounds exist for only a brief period of time, after which they are no longer perceived. Sound waves quickly disappear once a speaker stops speaking. This is also true of signs. In contrast, other forms of communication such as writing and Inka khipus (knot-tying) are more permanent.

Interchangeability Refers to the idea that humans can give and receive identical linguistic signals; humans are not limited in the types of messages they can say/hear. One can say "I am a boy" even if one is a girl. This is not to be confused with lying (prevarication). The importance is that a speaker can physically create any and all messages regardless of their truth or relation to the speaker. In other words, anything that one can hear, one can also say.

Not all species possess this feature. For example, in order to communicate their status, queen ants produce chemical scents that no other ants can produce (see animal communication below).

Total feedback Speakers of a language can hear their own speech and can control and modify what they are saying as they say it. Similarly, signers see, feel, and control their signing.

Specialization The purpose of linguistic signals is communication and not some other biological function. When humans speak or sign, it is generally intentional.

An example of non-specialized communication is dog panting. When a dog pants, it often communicates to its owner that it is hot or thirsty; however, the dog pants in order to cool itself off. This is a biological function, and the communication is a secondary matter.

Semanticity Specific sound signals are directly tied to certain meanings.

Arbitrariness ** languages are generally made up of both arbitrary and iconic symbols. In spoken languages this takes the form of onomatopoeias. In English "murmur", in Mandarin "mao" (the higher tone) (cat). In ASL "cup", "me" "up/down", etc. There is no intrinsic or logical connection between a sound form (signal) and its meaning. Whatever name a human language attributes an object is purely arbitrary. The word "car" is nothing like an actual car. Spoken words are really nothing like the objects they represent. This is further demonstrated by the fact that different languages attribute very different names to the same object.

Signed languages are transmitted visually and this allows for a certain degree of iconicity. For example, in the ASL sign HOUSE, the hands are flat and touch in a way that resembles the roof and walls of a house.^[3] However, many other signs are not iconic, and the relationship between form and meaning is arbitrary. Thus, while Hockett did not account for the possibility of non-arbitrary form-meaning relationships, the principle still generally applies.

Discreteness Linguistic representations can be broken down into small discrete units which combine with each other in rule-governed ways. They are perceived categorically, not continuously. For example, English marks number with the plural morpheme /s/, which can be added to the end of any noun. The plural morpheme is perceived categorically, not continuously: we cannot express smaller or larger quantities by varying how loudly we pronounce the /s/.

Displacement Refers to the idea that humans can talk about things that are not physically present or that do not even exist. Speakers can talk about the past and the future, and can express hopes and dreams. A human's speech is not limited to here and now. Displacement is one of the features that separates human language from other forms of primate communication.

Productivity Refers to the idea that language-users can create and understand novel utterances. Humans are able to produce an unlimited amount of utterances. Also related to productivity is the concept of grammatical patterning, which facilitates the use and comprehension of language. Language is not stagnant, but is constantly changing. New idioms are created all the time and the meaning of signals can vary depending on the context and situation.

Traditional transmission Also called cultural transmission. While humans are born with innate language capabilities, language is learned after birth in a social setting. Children learn how to speak by interacting with experienced language users. Language and culture are woven together.

Duality of patterning Meaningful messages are made up of distinct smaller meaningful units (words and morphemes) which themselves are made up of distinct smaller, meaningless units (phonemes).

Prevarication Prevarication is the ability to lie or deceive. When using language, humans can make false or meaningless statements.

Reflexiveness Humans can use language to talk about language.

Learnability Language is teachable and learnable. In the same way as a speaker learns their first language, the speaker is able to learn other languages. It is worth noting that young children learn language with competence and ease; however, language acquisition is constrained by a critical period such that it becomes more difficult once children pass a certain age.

Features of Language:

• Exists in a number of varieties
• shared by a community in any number of varieties (show a pattern that can be associated with any number of cultural forces-geography, ethnic group, religion, etc.)
• people apply social evaluation to the variety of speech and who speaks them

• Dialect vs Language
• mutual intelligibility-if we understand each other do we speak the same language?
• single set of norms or group of related norms?
• political implications?

• DIALECT
• variety associated with a literary tradition?
• variety associated with a non(sub)/standard?
• variety associated with differences at all levels of linguistic structure (not just pronunciation)?
• variety associated with social meaning (marked)?

Same Language?---mutually intelligible

• Itialian/Sicilian/Dante Allegari (P)
• Danish/Norwegian/Swedish? (P)
• Serbian/Croatian?---different writing systems (PRS)
• Fanti/Twi? (C)
• Bokmal/Nynorsk (Norway)? (C)
• Kechua/Aimara (Peru)? (C)
• Hindu/Urdu (India/Pakistan)?---different writing systems (PRS)
• Austrian/German? (PC)
• "Chinese" Mandarin/Cantonese (no mutual intelligibility, same writing system)(none)

1. Political Distinctions: "a language is a dialect with an army" (Labov)
2. Religious distinctions
3. script
4. other (socio-economic/subcultural)-POWER

POWER vs SOLIDARITY (interplay and social identity)

• a language is more POWERFUL than any of its dialects
• however, feelings of SOLIDARITY/GROUP IDENTITY will preserve dialectal variation

Norwegians, Danes & Swedes

• claims of mutual intelligibility are based on power relationships
• Denmark long donimated Norway
• Sweden is most powerful country in the region today
• Denmark is least powerful today

Linguistic Claims:

• Danes and Swedes claim to understand Norwegians
• Norwegians claim to have trouble with Danish
• Swedes claim to not understand Danish
• Danes understand Swedes
• Norwegians say they understand Swedish

Thai & Lao

• Laotians understand and read Thai (educated)
• NOT VISA VERSA (prestige is low for Lao and high for Thai)

Italian and Sicilian are the SAME language

• Not really mutually intelligible, but part of the same nation so considered ITALIAN like may other dialects in the nation (important to national unity)

 The problem with ENGLISH:

• many varieties which are not always mutually intelligible
• What is it that UNIFIES English?
• Cockney
• S. African
• Australian
• Ozarks
• Black Vernacular 

How else do we determine the difference between language and dialect?

• STANDARDIZATION
• codification and elaboration
• how do we (a nation) select a NORM of communication to standardize? This may be difficult since varieties are rife with cultural meaning.
• Choices
• ethnic/political/power associations
• choose the elite variety (problems)
• choose lesser variety (problems)?
• THE CASE OF ISRAEL & HEBREW

• What is a standard form and how does it function?
• form with power
• common-ease of communication
• unites people
• form for education (gives standard speakers a higher status from others)
• Case of ACADEMIE FRANCAISE (institutional mechanism)
• eliminates or reduces diversity
• Assertions of Independence:
• Finns (from Swedes & Russians)
• Turks
• Hindi
• Hebrew
• Swahili (Tanzania)

• VITALITY
•  living community of speakers
• alive versus dead
• Latin (dead)
• manx (dead)
• Cornish (revived)
• Hebrew (recreated)
• HISTORICITY
• people find a sense of identity through using a particular language
• AUTONOMY
• language is felt to be unique/separate by the people who speak it
• REDUCTION
• the variety is NOT seen as a separate language because it has low status or limited use (Black English???/ "slangs")
• MIXTURE
• feelings about the degree of purity of the langugae
• DE-FACTO NORMS
• feelings that there are both good and bad speakers, good speakers represent the norms of proper usage 
• Parisian French
• Florentine Italian (Dante Allegari)

LANGUAGES ARE ALL EQUAL STRUCTURALLY, BUT NOT SOCIALLY

DIALECTS

• Regional Dialects (language always varies along a regional continuum)
• social dialects: based on socio-economic status
• styles and registers (developed by people participating in recurrent activities)
• formal
• informal
• social group
• discrete occupation

MULTILINGUALISM: Cultural Groups where more than one language is spoken

• Code Switching 
• Situational: changes according to the situation (no topic change)
• Metaphorical : changes according to the topic (gives an added SENSE)
• Affective: rhetorical effect (emotion, emphasis, etc)

• RULES:
• Intrasentiential Switching (word order remains the same in the languages used)
• Matrix Language Frame: a new language is embedded into the frame of the "matrix" language
• no pattern
• Subconscious constraints with negative values:
• texMex
• Spanglish
• Tuti Fruti (Panjabi English)
• BVE

• DIAGLOSSIA: Where two forms exist side by side and are used in ridgidly defined and separate situation 
• Latin & Italian in the vatican
• Tries to minimize code switching by clearly identifying where it should occur.
• differs from code switching in that code switching is not rigidly defined, but exists on the level of the subconscious to a great extent. Code switchers could not tell you WHY they switch.
• FERGUSON
• stable situations for multilingualism
• tensions between low and high are usually resolved by using an intermediate for (creole mesolect for example)
• High and Low form
• high: prestige form, more beautiful, more logical, better able to express things, special power or ritual value-always seen as superior to low, may make High seem like the only REAL language. Learned in formal education. HAS RULES
• standardized grammar, pronunciation, vocabulary (does not change easily)
• NOT USED as a medium of ordinary conversation
• low: learned through normal acquisition, does not take any special training, language associated with children. NO REAL RULES (perception)
• low levels of standardization leads to great internal variety within low forms.

• Code Mixing: when codes are mixed within the same utterance
• may be motivated by a lack of competence
• MLF