Language and Culture

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Language and Culture
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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 ones own language

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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)

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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

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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.

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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 Dialects- Northeastern accent, Southern
  accent, Midwestern accent, Cajun accent, accents
  based on age.

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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- youuns a group of people
• Ex South- Yall a group of people
• The boundary for all of these is determine by an
  isogloss.

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Isogloss of Dialects
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Another isogloss map showing dialects
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What do you call these products?

• http//popvssoda.com2998/

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Dialects Continued

• Northeastern- elimination of letter r when a
  short a precedes it.
• Ex Party becomes Pahty

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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

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Hawaiian Pidgin

• 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

• 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

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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.
• (Dont 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)

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What happens to languages when a dominant culture
interacts with a less dominant culture?
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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

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What is AAVE or Ebonics?

• Ebonics Notes and Discussion
• John R. RickfordDecember, 1996
• (1) Some sample sentences in AAVE/Ebonics, with
  discussion of the ways in which they show the
  systematicity of AAVE
• 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.)