Language variation2003

Internal variation: refers to the property of languages of having different ways of expressing the same meaning

E.g.: lorry- truck underground-subway flat-apartment.

Language variety: is used among linguists to refer to many different types of language variation.

French- Italian Appalachian English Single person

A dialect is any variety of language spoken by a group of people that is characterized by systematic differences from other varieties of the same language in terms of structural or lexical features.

Every person speaks a dialect of his or her native language.(dialectology).

Dialect: vocabulary, pronunciation and grammar.

an idiolect is a variety of a language unique to an individual. It is manifested by patterns of vocabulary or idiom selection (the individual's lexicon), grammar, or pronunciations that are unique to the individual.

mutual intelligibility is recognized as a relationship between languages in which speakers of different but related languages can readily understand each other without intentional study or extraordinary effort.

E.g. A person from New York speaking with a person from Texas.

E.g. In china Mandarin vs. Cantonese(they are considered different dialects of the same language).

A dialect continuum means a large geographical area, where the spoken language differs only slightly from village to village, but over a longer distance the differences become that huge, that mutual intelligibility is not possible.

E.g.: Dutch vs. German

Standard vs. Nonstandard varieties

Linguistically speaking, no one dialect or language is better , more correct, or more logical than any other.

In actuality, there is no one standard dialect but instead many different varieties of what people consider to be standard.(prestige)

Used by political leaders, the media and speakers from higher economical classes.

Known as the language of the power.

Good=proper

Associated with the language of the lower socioeconomic classes.

It is not substandard or inferior.

Bad=improper.

Bidialectal

Overt prestige: how people should speak in order to gain status in the wider community(standard dialects).

Covert prestige: how people should speak in order to be considered member of a particular community(nonstandard dialects)

Language varieties that are defined in terms of geographical boundaries are called regional dialects.

The study of the regional dialects is called dialectology.

The boundaries of a particular linguistic area are called isoglosses.

Many isoglosses= a bundle of isoglosses which indicates that the speech of that particular group is different in a number of ways from other groups around it.

田中 : こんにちは。 木村 : こんにちは。 田中 : 木村さん、こちらは私の友達です。 山田ひろ子さんです。