Variation and Language Contact

Variation and Language Contact

What is Language Contact?

Two languages being used in the same location

What can happen?

1. Maintained Bilingualism

2. Language Death

What is Variation?

Results of Language Contact

Where can you find variation?

Phonological: "wash" vs. "warsh"

Morphological: "you" vs. "youse"

Lexical: "hat" vs. "cap"

Syntactic: "I'm fixin' to..." vs. "I'm getting ready to..."

Pidgin

A pidgin is formed when people using two different languages come together and need a way to communicate. They create a new system with features from each of their languages. Pidgins are generally very simple communication systems with little grammar.

Creole

A creole happens as a result of a pidgin being used for so long that children are born into the situation and acquire the pidgin as their first language. The creole becomes altered from the pidgin their parents use, becoming more complex with rich grammatical structures.

Variation means different ways of saying the same thing:

English = coke/soda/pop

ASL = BIRTHDAY

Contact Signing

Language Contact Between Signed and Spoken Language

More Results of Language Contact

• Sometimes called PSE (Pidgin Signed English). This is not a true pidgin.
• Used by deaf and hearing people, as well as when deaf are in contact with other deaf people.
• Linguistic features include varying use of:
• English word order
• Prepositions
• Constructions with THAT
• English idioms
• English mouthing along with ASL NMS, such as body and eye gaze shifting, and ASL use of space. (Think Transliterating…)

Note that the aforementioned features are included in varying degrees.

This means that there are no stead-fast rules about when and how to use them. No rules = not a natural language

Lexical Borrowing: taco, rouge, feng-shui

Code-switching: full phrases/sentences in one language, then switching to the other

Code-mixing: one language being peppered with words/signs from another language

Foreigner Talk: simplifying language when interacting with new users on the language

Interference: linguistic features of one language appearing in the other language

Lexical "Borrowing"

HOME-SICK, BOY-FRIEND, HOME-WORK, etc.

These are only really “half” borrowed. The concept of putting BOY and FRIEND together was borrowed from English. However, the result is a sign and not a spoken word, therefore it is not truly an instance of borrowing.

Fingerspelling

English has been an influence on the type of fingerspelling used, such as fingerspeling “style” in LIFE-#STYLE. But remember, fingerspelling is NOT English!

Mouthing

Often you will see signers use full English mouthing (with no signs or voice) a spoken word or words such as “okay”, “really”, “no” OR use lexicalized mouthing (with no signs) that usually belongs to a specific sign, such as “fsh” for FINISH or “af” for HAVE

Why do people have different ways of saying the same thing?

Why don't we all have the same word for "couch"? Why do some people say "sofa" instead?