Bookshelf 📖

Week 4

Diglossia = switching between two different varieties of language in different areas of life

• 4 key properiteis
  • two distinct varieties of the same language in different situations
    • german-speaker switzerland
      • standard German
      • Swiss German
    • different from each other
    • labels to categorize two forms
      • H = high = standard german
      • L = low = swiss german
        • L ia not normally used for writing - only cartoons
  • different varities for different functions in different areas of life
    • use of H form is appropriate
    • use of L form is appropriate but not H form
    • H and L are in complementary distribution = when you hear one use but not the other, no ramdom ordination between H and L
  • Different varities are acquired or learned
    • in different areas of life
    • L is learned at home, first
    • later, H is learned in school
  • H variety is never used in informal conversation
    • in Swizeland people will chat each other in swiss german 2 additional propertieis
• H variety may often be standarized
• L variety normally has no dictionaries or grammatical descriptions
• Literature/writing: often there is much literature in H of high status - plays, poetry, novels and all scientific/academic writing
  • Greece involves many years of diglossia, there is a H form and L form
  • Religious activities are carried out in the H form but not L form
  • political discussion and government is carried out in the H variety but not the L variety
    • Domains of H/L use
      • literature is almost exclusively in H: poetry, plays and novels
      • newspapers and technical/academic writing are also regularly in H not L
      • Soap operars are in L varieity
      • L is always used with family and friends Extended diglossia
• two varieties of the same language patterning in H and L ways
• extended diglossia = two distinct languages patterning in the typical H and L ways
  • doesn’t have the first properties of diglossia

Triglossia

• a situation wheere threre are three varieties/languages in H/L relations to each other
  • exmaple: Tanzania
  • 2 H varietites: English + Swahili
  • L = regional/tribal languages
  • England
    • 3 languages, 2 H varieties: French and Latin, L = English

Updating Classical Arabic for use in the modern world

• the vocabulary of Classical Arabic has been ezpnded with new words for science, technology, modern life
• words carefully created to blend well with CA
• learned in the school as H
• L is learne din the home and they fucntion as typical L roles Contact-induced change
• change through contact
• they started to be infleunced so local people started to learn arabic
• arabic spoken in Epgt digerged code-switching = switching between two or more different languages in a single conversation
• Code-Switching/CS refers to switching between different languages in a single conversation or within a single sentence.
• not triggered by different kinds of activities
• both language invovled in this conversation
• code-swtiching within a sentence

Four sub-types/levels of CS

• “Sentence-boundary CS
  • each sentence is entirely in one language, but speakers alternate between languages in different sentences
  • schematic representation: each box = one sentence, different colors = different languages
  • Extra-sentential CS
    • tag-insertion
    • short phrases or single-word tags in L1 are inserted at the beginning or end of a sentence in L2
    • Schematic representation
• Clause-boundary CS
  • switch between 2 languages are made at the clause boundarieis
    • a part of a sentence with its own subject and verb = John said Mary left already = John is the subject of the verb said and Mary is the subejct of the verb left
  • Intra-sentential CS: switches are made within clauses often multiple times
    • code-mixing
      • requires the highest level of skill and knoweldge of L1 and L2