Language and Culture
Language Ties Us Together
• Language- The ability
to communicate with
others orally and/or in
writing.
– Can be both unifying
and dividing
• Unifying= nations use
their political power to
ensure the
widespread adoption
of a language
• Dividing= Many
independence
movements fueled by
desire to use one’s
own language
Monolingual vs. Multi-lingual
• Monolingual- has only
one official language
in which all
government business
is conducted
• Multilingual -has more
than one official
language
• Ex: Switzerland has
four official languages
(German, French,
Italian, Romansh)
Lingua Franca
• English is the most widespread Lingua
Franca in the world.
• Lingua Franca- a common tongue among
people who speak diverse languages,
often to conduct business.
• Ex: All airline pilots communicate in
English
Development and Lingua Franca
• The more developed a country is the more
its language will be used in worldwide
commerce.
• Ex: Mandarian Chinese is becoming more
and more important to learn. It is being
taught more and more in U.S schools.
• Ex: As business becomes more global it is
becoming more important to speak
another language.
Dialects
• Dialect- a form of a language
that is different in sound,
speed and syntax( the
grammatical arrangement of
a language, and vocabulary.
• EX: U.S DialectsNortheastern accent,
Southern accent, Midwestern
accent, Cajun accent,
accents based on age.
What is an isogloss?
• Isogloss- the boundary of a dialect
• Geographers and Linguists interview people from
different regions to determine speech patterns.
• Ex: North- “You guys” = a group of people
• Ex: Appalacia- “you’uns” = a group of people
• Ex: South- “Y’all”= a group of people
• The boundary for all of these is determine
by an isogloss.
Isogloss of Dialects
Another isogloss map showing
dialects
What do you call these
products?
•http://popvssoda.com:2998/
Dialects Continued
• Northeastern- elimination of letter r when a
short a precedes it.
– Ex: “Party” becomes “Pahty”
Pidgin, Trade, and Creole
Languages
• When cultures collide, languages mix.
– Ex: Cajun- mix of English and French
– Ex: Spanglish- mix of English and Spanish
• Pidgin- Mixture of languages
– Often very elementary as far as grammar,
vocabulary but they allow TRADE to occur.
• Trade Language- a made up language that
is used by people who want to trade
Hawaiian Pidgin
The Old Woman Who Lived in a
Shoe translated into Hawaiian
Pidgin
Dere waz one ol Tutu
Stay living in one slippa
She get choke kids
Planny braddahs and one sistah
She geev um lau lau
But no mo da poi
Den broke dere okoles
And sent dem moi moi
Vocabulary:
Tutu- grandmother
Slippa- sandals
Choke- a lot
Planny –plenty
Braddahs- brothers
Sistah- sister
Poi- a Hawaiian food made
from taro plant
Okoles- butt
Moi Moi- sleep
Creole Language
• Creole Language- a stable language resulting
from a blend of two or more languages which
does not include features of either.
• Ex: Haiti- speak a creole language that is a
blend of African languages with French.
•
(Don’t confuse this use of creole with Creole people who are of European decent
born in a European colonial era, particularly Latin America or the Caribbean)
What happens to languages
when a dominant culture
interacts with a less dominant
culture?
Extinct Languages
• A language no longer spoken or read in daily
activities by anyone in the world
– Examples:
• Native American Languages
• Gothic
• Indigenous African Languages
• Minority Languages/Endangered Languages
– Language spoken by a minority of the population of a
country
– Sometimes forced to give up language
• Examples: Gaelic, Welsh, Cherokee
What is AAVE or Ebonics?
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Ebonics Notes and Discussion
John R. Rickford
December, 1996
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(1) Some sample sentences in AAVE/Ebonics, with discussion of the ways
in which they show the systematicity of AAVE:
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AAVE: "She BIN had dat han'-made dress" (SE: She's had that hand-made
dress for a long time, and still does.)
AAVE: "Befo' you know it, he be done aced de tesses." (SE Before you
know it, he will have already aced the tests.)
AAVE: "Ah 'on know what homey be doin." (SE: I don't know what my friend
is usually doing.)
AAVE: "Can't nobody tink de way he do." (SE: Nobody can think the way he
does.)
AAVE: "I ast Ruf could she bring it ovah to Tom crib." (SE: I asked Ruth
if/whether she could bring it over to Tom's place.)
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