Language and Dialect Flashcards
What is an idiolect
a person’s individual dialect/language
What is dialect continua?
Dialect borders
How does dialect continua affect language?
bordering dialects of German and Dutch are linguistically similar
Hindi and Urdu are mutually intelligible
Mandarin and Cantonese are mutually unintelligible
What are the 3 types of dialect?
regional, social and ethnic
Explain regional dialect
geographically based lexical and grammatical variation
What are isoglosses?
Maps showing dialect geography/distribution of various features
Explain social dialect
systematic linguistic variation based on social factors such as class, age, gender
What is a problem of social dialects?
Difficult to define and demlimit social class
Explain ethnic dialect
systematic linguistic variation based on ethnic group,
as socially constructed as social dialects
in group ways of speaking the majority language
Give an example of an ethnic dialect
AAVE (African American Vernacular English) lack of verbal -s zero copula invariant 'be' with habitual meaning 'th' as /t/d/v/
Explain prestige
no variety of a language is inherently superior, but some have more prestige
What are the benefits of using a prestige form of a language?
controlling phonology and grammar of a particular variety can help establish group membership
speaking and writing the standard can indicate education and lend authority
What are the disadvantages of using prestige language?
may mark the speaker as an outisder
