ENG510 Final Term Preparation 2020 by Paragon

ENG510 spring 2020

Q. Name the discipline that should be related to sociolinguistics or Issues of language identity in Pakistan( Topic#005) Two basic perspectives on the study of language are the following:

1. Anatomy of Language (Structure)
2. Physiology of Language (Functioning)

Sociolinguistics is the descriptive study of the effect of any and all aspects of society, including cultural norms, expectations and context, on the way language is used, and society's effect on language. Ishares the general goal with a lot of other disciplines. In its broad goal of describing language and its relationship to society, social behavior, and culture, it overlaps with numerous other disciplines, such as Sociology, Philosophy, Linguistic Anthropology, Psychology, Dialectology, etc. Within Linguistics, it overlaps with Historical linguistics, Geographical linguistics, Descriptive linguistics, Comparative and Contrastive linguistics, Psycholinguistics, and Ethnolinguistics. Sociology of language studies society in relation to language, whereas sociolinguistics studies language in relation to society.

Q. Language contact. Topic#21

We need to consider certain concepts: What is language contact? How does it happen?What are the consequences? As a general observation and experience we know that different groups of speakers using different languages come into contact. Language contact occurs when speakers of two or more languages or varieties interact and influence each other. The study of language contact is called contact linguistics. Sometimes unrelated languages that are typical of creole language formation come in contact. We also look at a variable spreading due to contact between different varieties of English. A new variant is introduced into a relatively stable and elaborate system. The question that arises is whether variation is free or structured. Before the 1960s, the general feeling in Western linguistics was that some of the variation observed in language was “free” and “unconstrained”. There are some constraints on the outcomes of language contact other than the principle of localization. A constraint relates to the aspect of space. Another constraint is concerned with speaker’s attitudes. Another constraint is of social factors. Yet another is social rigidity in which an innovation is being introduced. So, language contact occurs in a variety of phenomena, including language convergence, borrowing and relexification. The most common products are pidgins, creoles, codeswitching, and mixed languages. So, language contact is not as free as it seems to be.

Q. Three types of code switching. Topic#66

1 Intra-sentential Switching: This takes place within the boundaries of a sentence or a clause. This is limited to the mixing of words or phrases of one language into the other. 2 Inter-sentential Switching: This takes place at the boundary of sentences or clauses. So, the speaker switches from one language to the other as he or he moves from one sentence/ clause to the other. 3Tag Switching: This kind of switching involves the use of a tag or a tag question from language B while speaking in language A

Q. Social networks. Topic#75

The social networks model offers a far less abstract framework than that of the speech community. It focuses on the social ties that specific speakers have with each other, and examines how these ties affect speakers’ linguistic usage. A key component of the social network model is measuring its strength, calculated by classifying whether networks are ‘dense’ or ‘loose’, as well as whether they are ‘uniplex’ or ‘multiplex’ (Milroy, 2001, p. 550). A network is dense if members that you interact with each other otherwise, it is loose. If members know each other in more than one way, for example, they work together and are members of the same family, and then the links are multiplex as opposed to uniplex. Dense and multiplex social networks tend to support localized linguistic norms, and they function as a method of norm reinforcement, whereby linguistic and other social norms are maintained by members of the network. In contrast, in loose and uniplex social networks, language change will be more likely to occur, owing to the lack of norm reinforcement. Milroy and Gordon (2003) argue that migration, war, industrialization and urbanization have caused disruption of close-knit, localized networks. The social network model is most commonly associated with the Milroy’s in Belfast (Milroy and Milroy, 1978; Milroy, 1987). Instead of using the method of social stratification, the Milroy’s focused solely on working-class speakers. They gave each speaker a network strength score designed to measure the density and multiplexity of a network, focusing on social factors including kinship ties and whether individuals socialized with their workmates. Milroy (1980) found that those with the highest network strength scores maintained local vernacular norms the most. In the three different locations she examined (Ballymacarrett, the Hammer and the Clonard), she found that males in Ballymacarrett had the strongest dense and multiplex social networks and used vernacular norms most frequently, a consequence of their close social ties, resulting from good levels of male employment in the shipyard industry. This contrasted with the other two locations where male unemployment was high. Females in the Clonard also had high frequency of vernacular norms owing to employment in the linen industry, contrasting again with high levels of unemployment in the other two locations. The close social networks of the men and women in these different locations can therefore be seen to be acting as norm reinforcement mechanisms.

Define language change Topic#91

Answer: Language change is the phenomenon by which permanent alterations are made in the features and the

use of a language over time. All-natural languages change, and language change affects all areas of language use.

Q. What is language desertion Topic#93

Answer: Ans. Language desertion is the act of deserting, or willful abandonment. Language desertion or code desertion is a term that refers to the phenomenon of abandoning the use of one language in favor of another which may ultimately result in the death of the deserted language. Language alternation and hybridization generate desertion. Attitude of the speakers towards the mixed variety correlates with the attitude towards the language they desert. There are various linguistic and sociocultural reasons for this. Sometimes due to the influence of a stronger language in a bi/ multilingual society, there is a shift from the weak language towards the strong language, but sometimes the weak language is gradually completely left or disowned by the speakers. This process of language desertion is very much evident in South Asian countries. Due to the spread of English the local and regional languages are gradually losing their identity as they are being abandoned by the speakers. To get a better position in this hierarchy every language strives hard to extend the range of its total functional roles. The more is the number of the total functional roles the greater is the power of the language.

Q. Name three gesture Topic#103

1. pointing gestures,
2. gestures that convey or reveal emotions
3. emphatic gestures

Spontaneous gestures in four groups. Topic#103

Answer: Ans. Spontaneous gestures are divided into four groups:

1. pointing gestures,
2. gestures that convey or reveal emotions
3. emphatic gestures,
4. Rhythmical gestures

Gestures are not universal and are unique to a given language group. For example, sticking out tongue stands for teasing by Europeans, a threat among the Chinese, anger in India and wisdom in Ancient Maya. Nonlinguistic means of communication may accompany ordinary speech

Q. Three types of non-linguistics communication. Topic#103

Answer: Types of Nonlinguistic Communication

• Gaze
• Non-sign gestures
• Facial expressions
• Pictures
• Proximity
• Posture
• Objects
• Jewelry
• Clothes
• Symbols

Q. Para-linguistic Communication. Topic#104

Answer: Paralinguistic communication is the study of voice and how words are said. Paralinguistic signals and cues

refer to every element and nuance of your speech. It is the study of vocal and sometimes non-vocal signals beyond the basic verbal message or speech. It also known as vocalics. Paralinguistic sets great store on how something is said, not on what is said. It includes speech characteristics falling outside of the spoken word. It can modify the meaning behind words. It includes:

• accent
• pitch
• volume
• speech rate,
• modulation
• fluency

" The boundaries of paralanguage," says Peter Matthews, "are (unavoidably) imprecise" (Concise Oxford Dictionary of Linguistics, 2007). We speak with our vocal organs, but we converse with our entire bodies. Paralinguistic phenomena occur alongside spoken language, interact with it, and produce together with it a total