LANGUAGE
VARIATION:
A given language like English is not a uniformed or
homogenous system, but it contains many slightly or
strongly divergent sub-systems or varieties.
Differences in systems of a language result from historical,
geographical, social and functional changes.
The dynamic nature of language means that language variation is
always taking place/at any period of language history, varieties of
language coexist. These varieties usually develop in cases where
there is limited communication between individuals that share one
language.
Sometimes as language evolves, one particular dialect becomes
dominant. This is usually due to the fact that it is the dialect
spoken by the people with economic power, or the greatest
social influence in that society. In this case, their dialect becomes
accepted as the standard variety of that language.
Many educated people speak two dialects – the standard and a non-
standard dialect. The ability to manipulate the two, based on social
setting, is called code-switching or style shifting.
Accent – a specific way of pronouncing words.
Differences in an accent do not indicate a different dialect because
dialects differ from each other in terms of semantics (word choice),
syntax (sentence structure), grammar and morphology (word
form).
Accents, like dialects, can be regionally or socially. They can be used
to strengthen social bonding or increase prestige.
The ability of different speakers within a language community to
understand each other is referred to as mutual intelligibility.
HOW LANGUAGE CHANGES
OVER TIME…
Language changes when people who speak different languages
choose to or are forced to interact with each other.
The history of colonization and imperialism is one of the forced
contact between languages and cultures. Thus, in such cases, people
must develop a lingua franca or a hybrid language serving as a
medium of communication between different peoples. This new
hybrid language that is created referred to as a pidgin , will consist
of features of the speakers’ native language or mother tongue and
the other language the speaker is interacting with.
It is believed that a pidgin is not just a lingua franca primarily
aimed at facilitating trade and communication between colonizers
and the colonized, but it results from an unsuccessful attempt by
subordinate groups to learn the official language of their overlords.
As a language, the pidgin is usually limited and lacks complexity.
A pidgin becomes a creole language overtime when it becomes the
native language of most of its speakers and when it is expanded to
meet all the communication needs of its speakers.
Another factor affecting change in the use of language is social taboo
regarding topics such a religion, sex, death, mental illness and bodily
functions. There is a tendency to use euphemisms to replace words
that are considered socially offensive or in poor taste. Ex. “pass away”,
“have an affair”, “sanitary engineer”, “domestic technicians”, “funeral
director” etc.
Overtime, some of these euphemisms become contaminated and lose
their fresh and positive connotation, in which they are said to undergo
a process of pejoration (an historical process by which the semantic
and connotative status of a word tends to decline ). When this
happens, new words have to be generated to replace these discredited
ones. In other cases, words may undergo the opposite process of
elevation by which they shed a previously negative connation for a
positive one.
The production of slang and jargon are other methods of generating
new fresh language. Slang is considered to be more direct , less formal
and tends to be less concerned with offence. In some cases, some of
these words become incorporated into the mainstream language.
when a group uses a type of slang as a secret means of
communication, with a view to excluding those outside the group, such
language is called argot (the jargon or slang of a particular group or
class Ex - "teenage argot“)
Jargon is special word or expression used by a profession or group that
is difficult for others to understand. Like slang, jargon is a sociolect
(the dialect of a particular social class) of a variety of language used by
a particular social group and such language reflects the development
and change in the professional field to which it is related.
Language also changes overtime because of the ongoing process of
word formation by which words already existing in a language
undergo changes. New words are created where they did not
previously exist; hence, the process of transliteration through which
words move from one language into another.
Coinage (the invention of a new word or phrase)is one of the most
common ways new words are added to the language – when a new
invention or phenomenon appears that was not previously named, a
new name has to be coined or created to show its difference from
other things.
Borrowing words and phrases from another language has also
become a common way for languages to fertilize themselves.
Compounding - new words enter a language when two or more
independent words are combined. Ex. Desktop, laptop etc.
Blending – parts of words are combined to form new ones. Ex.
‘Smoke’ and ‘fog’ results in ‘smog’
Homework
From the list below, match these foreign words borrowed into
English with their language of origin. Some languages are
represented more than once.
Japanese, Latin, Greek, Javanese, French, Hindi, German, Italian,
Arabic, Sanskrit, Spanish, Dutch, Chinese, Portuguese
Borrowed Words/Phrases:
A capella, Alma mater, Bambino, Batik, Cul-de-sac, Eureka, Grand Prix, Guru,
Haiku, Ikebana, Jihad, Karaoke, Kindergarten, Terminus, Verbatim, Volkswagen,
argot, Anonymous, Loot, Guru, Safari, Cigar, Cartoon, Wanderlust, Cookie, Lemon,
Avatar, Ketchup, Entrepreneur, Justice, Massage, Metropolis
Anonymous (Greek)
Loot (Hindi)
Guru (Sanskrit)
Safari (Arabic)
Cigar (Spanish)
Cartoon (Italian)
Wanderlust (German)
Cookie (Dutch)
LEMON (ARABIC)
AVATAR (SANSKRIT)
KETCHUP (CHINESE)
ENTREPRENEUR (FRENCH)
JUSTICE (FRENCH)
MASSAGE (PORTUGUESE)
METROPOLIS (GREEK)
