Milroy exercises

25 febrer 2009

What is more common in language uniformity or variability? Variability is more common in language.

What kinds of variability exist? You can find variability in many different areas such as, Geographical (Dialects) , Historical and Social contexts (Registers, Formality, Grammar, etc)

How do we decide if a particular group of speakers belong to a particular dialect or language? We can observe their Grammar, Phonetics, Basic Linguistics, and also observe the Geographic, Historical, Economy (to be efficient) and Political aspects in their language.

Saussure emphasized the importance of synchronic descriptions of languages rather than diachronic. He and is disciples (structuralists) focused on language at different periods as finite entities. Is this reasonable? No, I think it is unreasonable because if languages are variable- they change constantly. So, it’s more reasonable to study diachronic linguistics to observe the looks and changes from one period to another, rather than studying the phonological aspects of a language at a stated time.

The unattested states of language were seen as transitional stages in which the structure of a language was, as it were, disturbed. This made linguistic change look abnormal. Is it abnormal? No, it is not abnormal- Every living language constantly undergoes changes and transitional evolution.

Milroy (1992: 3) says “the equation of uniformity with structuredness or regularity is most evident in popular (non-professional) attitudes to language: one variety –usually a standard language – is considered to be correct and regular, and others –usually ‘non-standard’ dialects – are thought to be incorrect, irregular, ungrammatical and deviant. Furthermore, linguistic changes in progress are commonly perceived as ‘errors’. Thus although everyone knows that language is variable, many people believe that invariance is nonetheless to be desired, and professional scholars of language have not been immune to the consequences of these same beliefs.”

Can you think of any example of non-professional attitudes to your own language?

Some non-linguistics and many linguistics think that the typical “dequeismo” or for example, using the word “dao” instead of the verb dado, are errors in spanish language usage.

I also have had the experience of non-professional discriminating attitudes with my so called “errors” speaking Spanish, I come from South California and English is my mother language, but I am also bilingual, so it happens that sometimes, I speak in what my family and I call “spanglish”; which to us means that we think in English (English structure, phonetical sounds or literal meaning translations) but we speak in Spanish, this usually means finding yourself in a comical misunderstanding in the conversation, but people that know me or are also bilingual or professionals, understand it.

Why does Milroy use “scare quotes” around non-standard and errors?

Milroy uses scare quotes to indicate that he does not accept the term or does not entirely accept the term, expressing skepticism that its use is appropriate, suggesting that its use is potentially ironic, or making some other criticism of its use. This meaning may serve to distance the writer from the quoted words and indicate that they are someone else’s terminology or to otherwise implicitly disaprove them.

Are non-standard dialects “incorrect, irregular, ungrammatical and deviant.”? Eventhough it doesn’t have the institutional support that a standardized dialect has, it has its own vocabulary and an internally consistent grammar and syntax; and it may be spoken using different accents, this doesn’t mean that it is incorrect or inferior.

Which of these systems is more irregular? Why?

Myself Yourself Himself Herself Ourselves Themselves

Myself Yourself Hisself Herself Ourselves Theirselves

The first row shows us the standard use, although the second row is more regular because the words are all composed of the possessive forms of the pronouns and –self or –selves.

Our Living Language Speakers of some vernacular American dialects, particularly in the South, may use the possessive reflexive form hisself instead of himself (as in He cut hisself shaving) and theirselves or theirself for themselves (as in They found theirselves alone). These forms reflect the tendency of speakers of vernacular dialects to regularize irregular patterns found in the corresponding standard variety. In Standard English, the pattern of reflexive pronoun forms shows slightly irregular patterning; all forms but two are composed of the possessive form of the pronoun and -self or -selves, as in myself or ourselves. The exceptions are himself and themselves, which are formed by attaching the suffix -self/-selves to the object forms of he and they rather than their possessive forms. Speakers who use hisself and theirselves are smoothing out the pattern’s inconsistencies by applying the same rule to all forms in the set.·A further regularization is the use of -self regardless of number, yielding the forms ourself and theirself. Using a singular form in a plural context may seem imprecise, but the plural meaning of ourself and theirself is made clear by the presence of the plural forms our- and their-. Hisself and theirselves have origins in British English and are still prevalent today in vernacular speech in England.*