1. What is
more common in language uniformity or variability?
In language is more common variability.
2. What kinds
of variability exist?
Geographical, social,
historical, educational, register, etc
3. How do we
decide if a particular group of speakers belong to a particular dialect or
language?
We can look at
their accent, the vocabulary they use or their pronunciation.
4. 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?
5. 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?
6. 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?
Attitudes
in a non-professional way could be which you use when you speak with your close
friends, or your class mates or everything related to
the family environment.
7. Why does
Milroy use “scare quotes” around non-standard and errors?
8. Are non-standard
dialects “incorrect, irregular, ungrammatical and deviant.”?
They
could be irregular and ungrammatical.
9. Which of
these systems is more irregular? Why?
|
Myself Yourself Himself Herself Ourselves Themselves |
Myself Yourself Hisself Herself Ourselves Theirselves |
The first one is a standard form, which is more regular than the second
one, so the second one is irregular or non-standard.
10. “… much of
the change generally accepted body of knowledge on which theories of change are
based depends on quite narrow interpretations of written data and econtexutalized citation forms
(whether written or spoken), rather than on observation of spoken language in
context (situated speech). (Milroy 1992: 5) Why do you think this is so?
11. Any
description of a language involves norms? Think of the descriptions of your own
language. Why is this so? For example: He ate the pie already is considered to
be non-standard in which variety of English and perfectly acceptable in which
other?
12. What is
the difference between descriptive and prescriptive grammars?
Descriptive
grammar does not deal with what is good or bad language use. It is a grammar
based on the way a language actually is not how some think it should be.
Prescriptive grammar lays out rules
about the structure of a language. Unlike a descriptive grammar it deals with
what the grammarian believes to be right and wrong, good or bad language use;
not following the rules will generate incorrect language.
13. Weinreich, Labov and Herzog’s (1968) empirical foundations of
language change:
Constraints:
what changes are possible and what are not
Embedding: how
change spreads from a central point through a speech community
Evaluation:
social responses to language change (prestige overt and covert attitudes to
language, linguistic stereotyping and notions on correctness).
Transition: “the
intervening stages which can be observed, or which must be posited, between any
two forms of a language defined for a language community at different times” Weinreich, Labov and Herzog 1968: 101)
Actuation: Why
particular changes take place at a particular time.
14. What do
you think the “prestige motivation for change” and the “solidarity
constraint” mean? How are they opposed?
Sound change:
post-vocalic /r/ in
Actuation: Why
did /k/ palatalize before certain front vowels? PrsE: cheese, German käse English/Norse doublets shirt/skirt?
15. What is
the biological metaphor in language change?
16. What is
the difference between internal and external histories of a language?
17. Look up Neogrammarians and lexical
diffusion. Why are they often found in the same paragraph or chapter?
18. Look up social
norm-enforcement, childish errors and slips of the tongue. What have
they to do with language change?