The English Language between

Homogeneity and Heterogeneity

An Introduction to the Study of Varieties of Present-day English

Rodica Albu
Alexandru Ioan Cuza University of Iai
ralbu@uaic.ro
Iai
The systematic nature of language
A language = a set of interrelated systems,
each acting in accordance with specific rules
and restrictions and each being studied by
specific branches of linguistics.
- Phonology;
- Morphology;
- Syntax;
- Semantics;
- Discourse analysis;
- Pragmatics.
Basic assumptions in traditional
language studies:
Language as a set of interrelated
systems.
The assumption of language uniformity
(dominating in pedagogical grammars)
and of an ideal speaker of a
homogeneous language.
The idea of correctness.
One needs to have:
Knowledge of language + knowledge of
things in the world
a small elephant vs. a big mouse

Imaginaire linguistique + creativity

a pink elephant
Pink +
For discussion:
ENL
*Football plays the bugs.

?He aint got no money./?You tired, isnt it?

He hasnt got any money./Youre tired, arent

you?
How are you? Fine.

----------------
EFL
He has come here since last summer.

Either I put on weight or my clothes shrinked.

Language as
Language as expression of logical thinking >
Congruence (Logic, Cognitive linguistics)
Language as system (Descriptive linguistics)
Language as norm > Correctness
(Prescriptive/Normative linguistics)
Language as speech > Appropriateness
(Pragmatics, Sociolinguistics, Cultural
linguistics, Functional stylistics)
eHistLing
http://www.ehistling-pub.meotod.de/

View like this lead to the

development
The notion of right and wrong
revisited: congruence, acceptability,
correctness, appropriateness
Task: Use an asterisk (*) to mark the
unacceptable sentences in the set
below. Use a question mark (?) if you
are in doubt about the correctness/
acceptability/ appropriateness of any of
these sentences:
The notion of right and wrong
revisited

1. Colourless green ideas sleep furiously.

2. John drinks bricks.
3. John drinks liquids.
4. I dont need no help.
5. I dont need any help. / I need no help.
6. I live in Rome but my family live in Bari.
The notion of right and wrong
revisited
7. This is the woman about whom I told you.
8. I wonder if it might be at all possible for you
to pass me the salt.
9. People whose professional activity lies in the
field of politics are not, on the whole,
conspicuous for their respect for factual
accuracy.
10. I have come to Bari since Sunday.
Remember the three broadest criteria by which
a text or text extract is commonly judged.

We say that a text is clear, coherent, that is,

congruent if it is "in agreement with the general
principles of human thinking or with a certain
knowledge of things" (COSERIU 1994: 44);
A text is correct if it conforms to the rules, to the
norms, of a certain language;
A text is appropriate if it conforms to the norms of
discourse (that is, appropriate to the subject matter,
to the interlocutor, to the situation...).
Potential English

V1 = the set-theoretical
V2 union of all the
V6 varieties of English
(Kangiesser 1972)
V3
V5 Question: Can anyone ever
V4 master the whole set of
Englishes?
Electronic Corpora
The common core

= the set-theoretical
intersection of all
the varieties of a
language
(C. F. Hockett 1958)
The common core?...
Appalachian English: you was and y'all were
People dont be afraid any more.
Newfoundland English (regularly occurring
events): I bees, you bees; e.g., She bees
over here quite often
Somerset: I be
Birmingham (personal experience): youm
Dynamic approaches to language
Acknowledging the permanence of language change
and variation, and of the role time and geographic
space play in the evolution and structure of
language.
Looking upon language as a social phenomenon =>
The sociological, psychological, ethnological and even
politological perspectives to the study of language
are added.
Replacing the idea of an ideal speaker-listener
(Chomsky) by the idea of an idealised selection
process (pragmatic and sociological orientations).
Variation and varieties
Variety and variation are [] alternative ways of
seeing the same thing as, respectively, product and
process. (Pope 1998: 229)
Variation = the historical process of differentiation; it
embraces shifts and switches within the usage of an
individual even within a single speech as well as
large-scale change across whole language
communities. (Pope 1998: 229)
Varieties = the relatively stable and relatively
homogeneous entities resulting from variation.
Idiolect = a variety of a language unique to an
individual.
Variation - basic types
Diachronic variation =
variation in time, i.e., language change in progress

Synchronic variation, further subdivided into:

regional variation (in space),

social variation (along the social ladder) and

stylistic variation (determined by occasion of use).

Note
Some authors also speak of:
unconditioned / free / inherent variation.
Language change exemplified
Changes in pronunciation: a tendency
towards simplifying certain diphthongs and
triphthongs has been remarked even within
RP (Received Pronunciation).
Lexical change: gramophone, record player,
tape recorder
Changes in grammar

Q: Which type of change is slower?

Regional variation and social
variation
Regional variation goes hand in hand with social
variation. Trudgills rules:
(a) The higher a person is on the social scale,
the less regionally marked is his accent, and
the less it will differ from RP;
(b) The higher a person's position on the social
scale, the less his/her speech is regionally
marked and the less it will differ from
Standard English.
Illustration of (a): % aitches dropped in
hat
Upper middle class 12
Lower middle class 28
Upper working class 67
Middle working class 89
Lower working class 93
(the Bradford area of Yorkshire)
Illustration of (b): no s in the third
person singular

Class Norwich Class Detroit

UMC 0% UMC 1%

LMC 29% LMC 10%

UWC 75% UWC 57%

MWC 81% LWC 71%

LWC 97%
The spread of English throughout the
world and its contact with new realities
and local languages has contributed to
regional variation. Geopolitical and
ethnic factors impinge on the patterning
of the so-called new Englishes side by
side with social factors.
 Stylistic variation
= Variation in the pronunciation, lexical and
grammatical choices of an individual, which is
conditioned by the perception of the situation
in which he/she is speaking and by the
intended effect of his/her speech act; the
socially determined variation in the speech of
an individual.
In pronunciation, e.g., the forms of to be

In vocabulary and grammar, e.g., alcoholic

beverages, drinks, booze; The person to
whom I spoke vs. ? (Q)
Unconditioned variation
Within RP there are differences in
pronunciation which cannot be
explained in terms either of change or
of speech style (e.g., economic may be
pronounced with initial [i] or initial [e],
according to the speaker's preference.)
Whenever linguists have not identified a
plausible explanation of variation, they
use the label unconditioned or free.
Language varieties as products of
variation
Variety = A neutral term used to refer to
any kind of language a dialect, accent,
sociolect, style or register that a linguist
studies for some particular purpose. Such a
variety can be general (e.g., American
English) or very specific (e.g., the lower
working class dialect of the Lower East Side
of New York City). (Trudgill 1992: 77).
Types of varieties:
(1) variety in space;
(2) variety between the social-cultural
strata of the community; and
(3) variety of expressive purposes,
determined by the basic elements of
the concrete speech act subject
matter, addressee, circumstances.
(Coeriu 1994:142)
The homogeneity within heterogeneity
principle (Coseriu, Martinet, Kangiesser)
What do the prescriptivism of traditional grammar
and the transformational-generative approaches
have in common?
They look upon language as a monolithic,
homogeneous object of study. They are interested
in an idealised, psycholinguistic competence,
labelled as linguistic competence.
In contrast, sociolinguists are more concerned with
how and why speakers use the language they do,
and look upon Standard English itself as a social
variety, one among many, prestigious as it is.
Sociolinguists seek to correlate the linguistic
variables with the traditional demographic
units of the social sciences: age, sex,
socioeconomic class membership, regional
grouping, status and so forth. (Cf. Bell 1976:
24)
Dialectologists are mainly interested in the
homogeneity of language use in certain
areas that are ideally outlined by the
presence of (bundles of) isoglosses (q.v.).
One can also study:
the individuals linguistic behaviour against

the speech habits of the elected group with a

view to evidencing the indices of antagonism
or affiliation to that group;
the way ones linguistic choices depend on

subject matter, channel of communication,

context of situation.
In other words
Language varieties function as indicators of
social identity, hence language varieties have
social meaning.
People speak the way they do not only
because they observe the structure of the
language code but also because of the role
played by each of the following factors:
1. type of speaker 5. medium (TV, Internet)
(regional and ethnic 6. Mode (spoken, written,
origin, socioeconomic multimedia)
status, education, sex, 7. situation / setting
age) (classroom, bar, a walk
2. type of addressee in the fields)
(same as in 1) 8. degree of formality
3. topic of speech (politics, (informal, formal)
sex, linguistics) 9. type of speech act
4. genre (religious (statement, command,
sermon, academic question).
writing)
Concepts:
system, rules and constraints;
correctness, acceptability, appropriateness;
language dynamism, centrifugal and centripetal
forces;
standardization, Standard English;
idiolect;
the common core, Potential English, language
corpora;
pidgins and creoles;
the homogeneity within heterogeneity principle.
Language and dialect
Dialects = mutually intelligible versions of
one language.
When mutual intelligibility is lost, then the
two versions are separate languages.
A dialect comes to be called language for
purely linguistic reasons or for social,
cultural and political reasons.
Language
A historical language is a language whose
limits are established in the course of history
and is recognized as such by its own speakers
and by the speakers of other languages. It
does not necessarily coincide with
a national language, the latter label being
also a matter of political decision.
The spread of English
A four-phase model for the overseas development of
English:
(1) Transportation to overseas coasts by
explorers, traders, settlers. The English language
establishes its dominant position.
(2) Spread inland through conquest, prepared by
geographical surveys, supported by railroad
building; treks and goldrush; romantic legends (the
American Dream, the Australian Legend) of
frontiersmen (Davy Crockett, Paul Bunyan),
slaughter of the aboriginal population (except in
South Africa).
 australia

(3) National Consciousness. Political

independence from the Mother Country,
democratic ideology; attempts to set up a 'national
language' different from (British) 'English' (Noah
Webster, Sidney J Baker); cult of regional slang
(witness the reception of Salinger's novel Catcher
in the Rye).
(4) International Prestige The overseas varieties
of English influence usage in Europe, e.g.,
Australian English black tea 'tea without milk',
American English square 'old fashioned'.
Technically, we say that the FOCAL AREA (i.e. the
area whence innovations spread) shifts overseas
from London.
1. A variety of accents
A. (Minicontest) Identifiy six capital cities of
English-speaking countries. Listen!
1. ............ 3. ............ 5. .............
2. ............ 4. ............ 6. .............

B. A joke told by a boy (local English accent )

C. Scottish doctor (local Scottish accent

audio/video) in Stornoway, Lewis and Harris
 D. An Arranged Marriage Listen to the
recorded interview. In the following
summary of the interview there are
some factual mistakes and some gaps..
Correct the mistakes and complete the
gaps.
 Raj's father arranged her marriage when she was still
at school. He chose her husband by . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . In Raj's case, this didn't take long, but
sometimes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Two men were
introduced to Raj and her family, and together they
decided . . . . . . . . . . . The men were of similar
background, but one of them . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ,
and this was the one . . . . . . . . . Raj didn't agree with
her father, but she had no choice. She has now been
married for twenty-two years, and in fact . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . Most marriages in India are still . . . . . . . . .
. . and the usual age . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
2. International vocabulary local
vocabularies
A. British, American or International/
World/ Global English?
The psittacosis group of organisms, including the
agents of trachoma and lymphogranuloma
venereum are obligate intercellular parasites.
The infectious particles or elementary bodies
measure about 0.3 diameter. They are
commonly described as viruses though such
classification is not easily reconciled with
available evidence on their chemical composition
and biological properties.
 B. An example of modern Glasgow dialect (a Glasgow
woman is talking about the use of Scots words)

Aye - what was it now - Ah heard the wuman saying, an

Ah was laughin, see. What did she say for "rinsin'"? She
had this soapy water aw left, see. An she went, "Au, that's
a shame tae waste thon..." - an what did she say? It was a
right auld-fashiont word. Au, Ah canne remember. An, Ah
mean - "sapple'" ? "That's a shaame tae waste thon
sapple." It was aw this lovely soapy waater, see, an she'd
only washed wan wee thing in it, an she went, "Anything
else tae get washed? That's a shame tae waste thon
sapple." Ah thought that was dead funny!
3. Dialect grammar vs. standard
grammar
A. A passage in Berkshire dialect:
Yes, we often has a drink in there, but I
haven't got a lot of money, and I has to be
careful about how much I spends. They don't
pay much at my sort of work at the moment,
though I dos a lot of overtime when I gets a
chance. Do you find you has much left over
these days? - you always have worked as
many hours as you could. But they don't
seem to be a lot to show for it, do there? Well,
 I'd better be off. My children always has their
meal about now, and they haven't got much
patience when it comes to waiting for me. My
wife dos the best she can, but she [].
You done plenty of that in your time, didn't
you? I wouldn't have done it myself, but my
sister done the same sort of work, and she
never did regret it. What did you think when
you heard about it? I bet you didn't think it
was him what done it.
B. More regional grammar rules. Here are
some sentences in Somerset dialect. Work
out what the rule is for using the two different
types of past-tense verb forms. (Ignore the
other dialect features!)
I did go there every day. I went there last
night.
I seen 'im last Thursday. I did see 'im regular.

We did play football when we was kids. We

played football yesterday afternoon.
4. Eye dialect in literature
Text A (St. Lucian English):

A Noble Prize
Mooma what a fete! Dem St. Lucians
dance an prance till the back door tumble down
De boys say, Charlie, have you heard the news?
He turn on the radio an ah hear a Loshan win a Nobel prize
You hear how he say Nobel Speakey-spokey like the
Queen?
All the pickney know dat de word is Noble
He say is de second Nobel a Looshan win
Dey say he win it for potery and play
He never know dem uses to give price for dat
(Min you, me doesn play much) but me got nuff potery in my
yard
Mus can give dis Walcott competition
Ah goin aks de boss to write up my petition
All you tink dis is fete? When ah get de tird Noble
Mama it go be pure bacchanal till nex year carnival.

Hazel Simmons McDonald

Text B: Hiberno-English

NORA [In a low voice.] Where is she?

CATHLEEN She's lying down, God help her, and may
be sleeping, if she's able.
[Nora comes in softly, and takes a bundle from under her shawl.]
CATHLEEN [Spinning the wheel rapidly.] What is it you
have?
NORA The young priest is after bringing them. It's a
shirt and a plain stocking were got off a drowned
man in Donegal.
Cathleen stops her wheel with a sudden movement, and leans out to listen.]
NORA We're to find out if it's Michael's they are, some time
herself will be down looking by the sea.
CATHLEEN How would they be Michael's, Nora. How would he go
the length of that way to the far north?
NORA The young priest says he's known the like of it. "If it's
Michael's they are," says he, "you can tell herself he's got a
clean burial by the grace of God, and if they're not his, let no
one say a word about them, for she'll be getting her death,"
says he, "with crying and lamenting."
[The door which Nora half closed is blown open by a gust of wind.]
CATHLEEN [Looking out anxiously.] Did you ask him would he
stop Bartley going this day with the horses to the Galway fair?
Riders to the Sea. A play in one act by John Millington Synge. First performed at the
Molesworth Hall, Dublin, February 25th, 1904.
Text C: Afro-American English
He beat me like he beat the children. Cept he
don't never hardly beat them. He say, Celie,
git the belt. The children be outside the room
peeking through the cracks. It all I can do not
to cry. I make myself wood. I say to myself,
Celie, you a tree. That's how come I know
trees fear man.
(Alice Walker, The Color Purple, New York, 1982)
Text F:
STOP AND THINK! What about the following? Does it
look closer to Standard English, to some non-
standard dialect, to a hybrid (pidgin/creole) variety,
or to none of these?
Whan that Aprill with his shoures soote
The droghte of March hath perced to the roote,
And bathed every veyne in swich licour,
Of which vertu engendered is the flour; [...]
5. Pidgins and Creoles
Pidgins = Simplified varieties adopted as
means of communication between speakers
of two mutually unintelligible languages
(Petyt 1980: 187). (See also Text E)
Creole languages = Pidgins that have acquired
native speakers (Trudgill 1983: 182). These
illustrate the human capacity to create
language (Mhlhausler 1991: 160).
 Summing up:
SYNCHRONIC VARIETIES

DIATOPIC
DIASTRATIC DIAPHASIC
(Coseriu, Rona)
(Coseriu, Rona) (Coseriu)
also called
local-regional also called also called
or social-cultural diatopic (Rona)
geographic dialect or
(Gregory) or
(variety according to) social dialect functional-stylistic
Region (Quirk et al.)
(Gregory)
(variety according to)
Education and Social Standing (Quirk (according to)
et al)

Halliday: Content Channel Participants

Quirk et al: Subject matter Medium Attitude
Halliday: Field Mode Tenor

the language of..." spoken written (See styles below)

 STYLES

(JOOS 1967) frozen formal consultative casual intimate

(QUIRK ET AL. 1972) (rigid) FORMAL normal INFORMAL (familiar)

Styles along the formality scale
illustrated:
Intimate Out!
Casual Run along, now!
Consultative Would you mind leaving room
a moment?
formal The audience is required to
kindly leave the room for a few moments.
Frozen The management respectfully
requests the conferees to vacate the
auditorium between sessions in order to
facilitate the operations of the custodial stuff.
Concepts:
System; rules and constraints;
correctness, acceptability, appropriateness;
language dynamism, centrifugal and centripetal
forces; variation and varieties; idiolect
standardization, Standard English(es);
the common core, Potential English, language
corpora;
pidgins and creoles;
the homogeneity within heterogeneity principle.
The English language whither now?
English todays global language and most
popular foreign language.
In its spoken form many shapes in private
conversation.
Public spoken forms are widely intercompre-
hensible and written forms are remarkably
homogeneous
For the EFL speakers (the expanding circle)
the recommended variety should be one of
the inner circle (a wide range of purposes).
Convergence or divergence?
Two scenarios two catastrophies:
- the Americanization catasptrophe;
- the disintegration catastrophe.
Phonology

Lexis

Grammar
Thank you!
See you in Iasi!
Test true or false?
1.Social variation correlates with regional
variation.
2. Multiple negation is the rule rather than the
exception in many varieties of English.
3. Accommodation is the term in
sociolinguistics for the influence that housing
has on the choice of a certain functional
variety.
4.There is far more regional variation in the
British Isles than there is in the United States.
5. RP is a social accent.
 6.More as well as more complex
subordination patterns are typical of spoken
in contrast to written language.
7. You cannot speak a standard dialect with a
regional accent.
8. Field, tenor and mode all relate to
functionally motivated variation in language
use.
9. More as well as more complex
subordination patterns are typical of written in
contrast to spoken language.