Language of Regional Variation

 Introduction: Every language has a lot of variation, especially in the way it is spoken.  If we just look at English, we find widespread variation in the way it is spoken in different countries such as Australia, Britain and the USA. We can also find a range of varieties in different parts of those countries.

Standard Language: It is the variety associated with administrative, commercial and educational centres, regardless of region. If we think of Standard English, it is the version we believe is found in printed English in newspapers and books, is widely used in the mass media and is taught in most schools. It is the variety we normally try to teach to those who want to learn English as a second or foreign language. It is clearly associated with education and broadcasting in public contexts and is more easily described in terms of the written language. Even in Standard English, there are American Standard English, British Standard English, Australian Standard English and Canadian Standard English and so on.

Accent and Dialect:  Every language-user speaks with an accent.  The description of aspects of pronunciation that identify where an individual speaker is regionally or socially from. Dialect is used to describe features of grammar and vocabulary as well as aspects of pronunciation.

Dialectology: Dialectology means the study of dialects. Each dialect is simply different and none of them is better than any other.  Some varieties do become more prestigious. The variety that develops as the standard language has usually been one socially prestigious dialect, originally connected with a political or cultural centre (e.g. London for British English and Paris for French). Yet, there always continue to be other varieties of a language spoken in different regions.

Regional Dialects: The existence of different regional dialects is widely recognized. Going beyond stereotypes, those involved in the serious investigation of regional dialects have devoted a lot of survey research to the identification of consistent features of speech found in one geographical area compared to another.

Isoglosses and Dialect Boundaries: Isogloss is a line that represents a boundary between areas with regard to that one particular linguistic item. For example: that the vast majority of informants in one area say they carry things home from the store in a paper bag while the majority in another area say they use a paper sack, then it is usually possible to draw a line across a map separating the two areas, as shown on the accompanying illustration. If a very similar distribution is found for another two items, such as a preference for pail to the north and bucket to the south, then another isogloss, probably overlapping the first, can be drawn on the map. When a number of isoglosses come together in this way, a more solid line, indicating a dialect boundary, can be drawn.

Dialect Continuum: Dialect continuum means one dialect or language variety merges into another.  We can view regional variation as existing along a rather than as having sharp breaks from one region to the next.  For Example: As you travel from Holland into Germany, you will find concentrations of Dutch speakers giving way to areas near the border where ‘Dutch’ may sound more like ‘Deutsch’ because the Dutch dialects and the German dialects are less clearly differentiated. Then, as you travel into Germany, greater concentrations of distinctly German speakers occur.

Bidialectal: It means speaking two dialects. Speakers who move back and forth across this border area, using different varieties with some ease. Most of us grow up with some form of bidialectalism, speaking one dialect ‘in the street’ among family and friends, and having to learn another dialect ‘in school’

Bilingualism: When we talk about people knowing two distinct languages, we describe them as bilingual. In many countries, regional variation can involve two (or more) quite distinct and different languages. For example: Canada is an officially bilingual country, with both French and English as official languages. Individual bilingualism, however,can simply be the result of having two parents who speak different languages. However, even in this type of bilingualism, one language tends eventually to become the dominant one, with the other in a subordinate role.

Diglossia: It means two distinct varieties of a language exists in some countries. In diglossia, there is a ‘low’ variety, acquired locally and used for everyday affairs, and a ‘high’ or special variety, learned in school and used for important matters.  For Example:  A type of diglossia exists in Arabic speaking countries where the high variety (Classical Arabic) is used in formal lectures, serious political events and especially in religious discussions. The low variety is the local version of the language, such as Egyptian Arabic or Lebanese Arabic. The low variety is called ‘vernacular.’

Language Planning:  Government, legal and educational organizations in many countries have to plan which variety or varieties of the languages spoken in the country are to be used for official business. For Example: ! In Israel, despite the fact that it was not the most widely used language among the population, Hebrew was chosen as the official government language.  In India, the choice was Hindi. There were ‘National Language Wars’ in the Philippines before different groups could agree on the name of the national language (Filipino).

The Process of Developing a National Language:

1.     Selection: The process of ‘selection’ (choosing an official language)

2.     Codification: ‘Codification’, in which basic grammars, dictionaries and written models are used to establish the standard variety.

3.     Elaboration: ‘Elaboration’ with the standard variety being developed for use in all aspects of social life, and the appearance of a body of literary work written in the standard form.

4.     Implementation: ‘Implementation’ is largely a matter of government attempts to encourage use of the standard language.

5.     Acceptance: ‘Acceptance’ is the final stage when a substantial majority of the population has come to use the standard one and to think of it as the national language, playing a part in not only social, but also national identity.

Pidgin:  A pidgin is a variety of a language (e.g. English) that developed for some practical purpose, such as trading, among groups of people who had a lot of contact, but who did not know each other’s languages. The origin of the term ‘pidgin’ is thought to be from a Chinese version of the English word ‘business.’ For example, in Papua New Guinea, a lot of official business is conducted in Tok Pisin. There are believed to be between six and twelve million people still using pidgin languages and between ten and seventeen million using descendants from pidgins called ‘creoles’.

Creole: When a pidgin develops beyond its role as a trade or contact language and becomes the first language of a social community, it is described as a creole. A creole develops as the first language of the children of pidgin speakers. Thus, unlike pidgins, creoles have large numbers of native speakers and are not restricted at all in their uses. Tok Pisin is now a creole.  For Example Hawai’i Creole English. A French creole is spoken by the majority of the population in Haiti. English creoles are used in Jamaica and Sierra Leone.