scholarly journals Reconstructing sociolinguistic variation

2017 ◽  
Vol 2 ◽  
pp. 27
Author(s):  
Jessica Kantarovich ◽  
Lenore A. Grenoble
Keyword(s):  
Language Contact ◽  
Social Roles ◽  
Social Groups ◽  
Literary Texts ◽  
Sociolinguistic Variation ◽  
Lexical Borrowing ◽  
Fictional Narrative ◽  
Linguistic Material

In this paper we illustrate a methodology for reconstructing language ininteraction from literary texts, demonstrating how they can serve as documentation ofspeech when primary linguistic material is unavailable. A careful incorporation offacts from literary dialect not only informs grammatical reconstruction in situationswith little to no documentation, but also allows for the reconstruction of thesociolinguistic use of a language, an oft-overlooked aspect of linguisticreconstruction. Literary dialogue is often one of the only attestations of regionalvarieties of a language with a very salient standard dialect, where no primary sourcesare available. Odessan Russian (OdR), a moribund dialect of Russian, serves as a casestudy. OdR grew out of intensive language contact and differs from most othervarieties of Russian, with substrate influences from Yiddish, Ukrainian, and Polish,and lexical borrowing from other languages. The only records of "spoken" OdR arefound in fictional narrative. An analysis of works from several prominent Odessanwriters, including Isaak Babel and Ze'ev Jabotinsky, reveals considerable variationamong speakers of OdR; careful tracking of this variation shows how it wasdistributed among different social groups, and suggests how it may have beendeployed to index and acknowledge different social roles.

‘Pignoris arrabonisve nomine’ in TPSulp. 51 (TPN 43) A case of diglossia?

2012 ◽  
Vol 80 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 311-328
Author(s):  
Barbara Abatino
Keyword(s):  
Language Contact ◽  
Technical Term ◽  
Lexical Borrowing ◽  
Loan Words ◽  
Latin Language ◽  
Model Contract ◽  
Lexical Interference

Despite the fact that the term arrabo has not been attested by legal sources as nomen iuris or as a technical term, the syntagm ‘pignoris arrabonisve nomine’ occurs in a chirograph documented by TPSulp. 51, from the age of Tiberius. This article shows, first, that the loans model contract of the TPSulp. 51 contained the hendiadys ‘pignus arrabove’ to denote the pledge. Second, it concludes that the mention of arrabo is related to precautionary reasons and that it may be explained by the use of a colloquial term introduced in Latin language by way of Greek lexical borrowing. Finally, this implies some considerations on language contact, lexical interference and integration of loan-words in Latin.

Cross-dialectal variation in Arabic: Competing prestigious forms

1987 ◽  
Vol 16 (3) ◽  
pp. 359-367 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hassan R. Abd-El-Jawad
Keyword(s):  
Social Groups ◽  
Standard Variety ◽  
Adequate Description ◽  
Sociolinguistic Variation ◽  
Dialectal Variation ◽  
Standard Arabic ◽  
Arabic Sociolinguistics ◽  
Informal Settings ◽  
Spoken Arabic ◽  
Modern Standard

ABSTRACTMost researchers of Arabic sociolinguistics assume the existence of a sociolinguistic continuum with a local vernacular at the bottom and the standard variety at the top. Those researchers seem to equate the terms “prestige” and “standard”; consequently, they tend to consider Modern Standard Arabic (MSA) as the only prestige variety in all settings. This article presents evidence showing that if an adequate description of sociolinguistic variation of spoken Arabic is to be met, it is necessary to posit not only one standard speech variety, MSA, but also other prestigious local or regional varieties which act as local spoken standards competing with MSA in informal settings. It will be shown in the reported cases that in certain contexts speakers tend to switch from their local forms – though these latter may be identical to MSA – to other local features characteristic of other dominant social groups and that happen to be marked [–MSA], These local prestigious norms act like the standard spoken norms in informal settings. (Diglossic model, prestigious varieties, stereotypes, dominant social groups, competing standards, spoken Arabic).

When the Construction Is Axla, Everything Is Axla: A Case of Combined Lexical and Structural Borrowing from Arabic to Hebrew

2015 ◽  
Vol 3 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 337-348 ◽  
Author(s):  
Roey J. Gafter ◽  
Uri Horesh
Keyword(s):  
Language Contact ◽  
Syntactic Structure ◽  
Lexical Borrowing ◽  
Syntactic Structures ◽  
Modern Hebrew ◽  
Specific Contact ◽  
Theory Of Language ◽  
Contact Situation

This article examines a borrowing from Arabic into Hebrew, which is a combination of a lexical borrowing and a structural one. The Arabic superlativeaħla‘sweetest, most beautiful,’ pronounced by most Modern Hebrew speakers [axla], has shifted semantically to mean ‘great, awesome.’ Yet, as our corpus-based study illustrates, it was borrowed into Hebrew—for the most part—with a very particular syntactic structure that, in Arabic, denotes the superlative. In Arabic itself,aħlamay also denote a comparative adjective, though in different syntactic structures. We discuss the significance of this borrowing and the manner in which it is borrowed both to the specific contact situation between Arabic and Hebrew and to the theory of language contact in general.

Conclusion

2020 ◽  
pp. 243-247
Author(s):  
James Pickett
Keyword(s):  
Knowledge Base ◽  
Social Group ◽  
Islamic Law ◽  
Social Roles ◽  
Social Groups ◽  
Social Functions ◽  
Regional Networks ◽  
Mix And Match ◽  
Forms Of Knowledge ◽  
Integrated Knowledge

This concluding chapter explains that for all of their eclecticism, and for all their seeming paradoxes, the polymaths of Islam were united by a common madrasa education, mastery of a canon of texts, and shared regional networks. Their curriculum went far beyond the grammar and logic emphasized in the madrasa. Even mastering substantive Islamic law from medieval Arabic texts was necessary, but not sufficient, to distinguish a high Persianate intellectual from his many, many competitors. Most of the ulama — especially those who rose to the top — studied a plethora of collateral disciplines: poetry, mysticism, astronomy, calligraphy, medicine, trade, and more. Secondary scholarship often pairs these forms of knowledge with discrete communities, differentiating scholars, poets, sufis, and physicians into distinct social groups, with the sufi-ulama dichotomy especially pronounced. However, these were not separate groups with separate corporate identities. Rather, they were discrete social roles performed by a single social group. Their integrated knowledge base allowed them to mix and match social functions with impunity.

scholarly journals Non-native English Varieties: Thainess in English Narratives

2016 ◽  
Vol 9 (4) ◽  
pp. 128 ◽  
Author(s):  
Piyahathai Singhasak ◽  
Phongsakorn Methitham
Keyword(s):  
Language Learning ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
World Englishes ◽  
Literary Texts ◽  
Lexical Borrowing ◽  
New Variety ◽  
Second Languages ◽  
Code Mixing ◽  
Research Findings ◽  
Thai English

<p>This study aims at examining Thainess as a writing strategy used in non-literary texts written by non-professional bilingual writers. These writers are advanced language learners who are pursuing their Master’s degree in English. Seven English narratives of their language learning experiences were analyzed based on Kachruvian’s framework of bilingual’s creativity and contact literatures. The findings showed that four out of six contextualization processes - transfer, translation, code-mixing, and reduplication - were utilized when conveying the writers’ experiences in acquiring their first and second languages. Unlike the findings in previous studies of Thainess in literary genre, lexical borrowing and shift process were not found in narratives. Although Thai English as a new variety in World Englishes has been debated for years and remains in an obscure status, it cannot be denied that the research findings in this study show the uniqueness of Thai English writing strategies.</p>

Language sources and the reconstruction of early languages

Diachronica ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 37 (3) ◽  
pp. 273-317
Author(s):  
Brigitte L. M. Bauer
Keyword(s):  
Language Evolution ◽  
Old French ◽  
Literary Texts ◽  
Sociolinguistic Variation ◽  
Dialectal Variation ◽  
Social Variation ◽  
Original Emphasis ◽  
French Grammar ◽  
Incomplete Picture

Abstract This article argues that with the original emphasis on dialectal variation, using primarily literary texts from various regions, analysis of Old French has routinely neglected social variation, providing an incomplete picture of its grammar. Accordingly, Old French has been identified as typically featuring e.g. “pro-drop”, brace constructions, and single negation. Yet examination of these features in informal texts, as opposed to the formal texts typically dealt with, demonstrates that these documents do not corroborate the picture of Old French that is commonly presented in the linguistic literature. Our reconstruction of Old French grammar therefore needs adjustment and further refinement, in particular by implementing sociolinguistic data. With a broader scope, the call for inclusion of sociolinguistic variation may resonate in the investigation of other early languages, resulting in the reassessment of the sources used, and reopening the debate about social variation in dead languages and its role in language evolution.

scholarly journals Code-switching and dialogism: Verbal practices among Catalan Jews in the Middle Ages

2001 ◽  
Vol 30 (3) ◽  
pp. 377-402 ◽  
Author(s):  
JOAN A. ARGENTER
Keyword(s):  
Middle Ages ◽  
Language Contact ◽  
Code Switching ◽  
Cultural Tradition ◽  
Lexical Borrowing ◽  
Diverse Range ◽  
Communicative Practices ◽  
Linguistic Resources ◽  
Left Behind ◽  
Everyday Talk

From a strict linguistic viewpoint, code-switching intertwines with a diverse range of language contact phenomena, from strict interference to several kinds of language mixture. Code-switching has also been addressed as an interactional phenomenon in everyday talk, an approach that implies a synchronic perspective. In this article, however, data are drawn from the records of communicative practices left behind by Catalan Jewish communities of the 14th and 15th centuries. These communities lived under well-defined cultural, political, and social conditions and displayed a rather complex linguistic repertoire of both linguistic resources and verbal genres. I analyze two of these verbal genres, which themselves must be viewed in the context of a broader Hispano-Arabic cultural tradition; they draw on a heteroglot background in which Semitic and Romance languages merged. In this analysis of the functions that code-switching played in these verbal practices, a contrast emerges between the use of code-switching and lexical borrowing (or alternation vs. insertional types of code-switching) in both verbal genres. This has implications for a much debated issue – the alleged existence of a medieval Catalan Jewish language – and challenges the idea that forms of linguistic practice must always be reduced to a bounded code.

Dame un hamburger plain con ketchup y papitas

English Today ◽  
2005 ◽  
Vol 21 (2) ◽  
pp. 35-42 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ileana Cortés ◽  
Jesús Ramírez ◽  
María Rivera ◽  
Marta Viada ◽  
Joan Fayer
Keyword(s):  
Puerto Rico ◽  
Puerto Rican ◽  
Fast Food ◽  
Language Contact ◽  
Participant Observation ◽  
Lexical Borrowing ◽  
Puerto Rican Spanish ◽  
Fast Food Restaurants ◽  
Political Economic ◽  
The Impact

English/Spanish contact in Puerto Rico.ONE OUTCOME of language contact is lexical borrowing. Borrowing in Puerto Rico (for political, economic, and social reasons) is evident in the influence English has had on Spanish, especially in lexical terms. This paper explores the impact of American English on the lexicon of Puerto Rican Spanish, specifically on vocabulary relating to food. Data were collected through participant observation in selected fast food restaurants from different regions in P.R. An analysis of the corpus provides the basis for five categories useful in understanding the influence of English on Spanish in this domain. The study indicates that English borrowings have had a tremendous influence on the Puerto Rican lexicon, and predicts that, even though Spanish will continue to be the dominant Puerto Rican language, it will continue to change under the influence of English.

scholarly journals LANGUAGE CONTACT: LEXICAL BORROWING IN SPEECH OF THE RUSSIAN GERMANS OF THE KIROV REGION

2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (SEPT) ◽  
pp. 1065-1073
Author(s):  
Olga Vladimirovna BAYKOVA ◽  
Galina Vasilyevna PORCHESKU ◽  
Vyacheslav Nikolayevich ONOSHKO ◽  
Irina Sergeevna SHISHKINA ◽  
Olga Vitalyevna SKURIKHINA ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Language Contact ◽  
Lexical Borrowing ◽  
Russian Germans

Native American Signed Languages

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeffrey Davis
Keyword(s):  
Native American ◽  
Sign Language ◽  
Language Contact ◽  
The United States ◽  
Lexical Borrowing ◽  
Language Varieties ◽  
Endangered Language ◽  
Northern Cheyenne ◽  
Signed Language ◽  
Indian Sign Language

This chapter highlights the linguistic study of Native American signed language varieties, which are broadly referred to as American Indian Sign Language (AISL). It describes how indigenous sign language serves as an alternative to spoken language, how it is acquired as a first or second language, and how it is used both among deaf and hearing tribal members and internationally as a type of signed lingua franca. It discusses the first fieldwork carried out in over fifty years to focus on the linguistic status of AISL, which is considered an endangered language variety but is still used and learned natively by some members of various Indian nations across Canada and the United States (e.g. Assiniboine, Blackfeet/Blackfoot, Cherokee, Crow, Northern Cheyenne, Nakoda/Lakȟóta, and Mandan-Hidatsa). The chapter also addresses questions of language contact and spread, including code-switching and lexical borrowing, as well as historical linguistic questions.

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