1 Discuss how labeling a language as a vernacular inevitably leads to confusion RESPOND HERE vernacular can be used in a number of ways It usually refers to a nonstandardized language that does not have official status It is usually the first language a person will learn It has a limited scope of use that is informal Different definitions of vernacular place the emphasis on different criteria Vernacular has also been used to refer to any language that is not the official language or a language that is used for everyday interaction but not necessarily informally This variety of meanings will inevitably lead to confusion 2 Discuss the meaning of the vernacularization p 77 of Hebrew RESPOND HERE Originally Hebrew was a language of religion and ritual with no native speakers Its move from this specialization to the national language of Isreal has been termed vernacularization 3 In example 1 p 76 Mr Patel is described as knowing six languages Kathiawari a local variety of Gujarati that he uses at home with his family Marathi to buy his vegetables at the market Hindustani to buy a ticket at the railroad station Kacchi at work Standard Gujarati when reading the newspaper and English to follow a cricket commentary on the radio Using the information from the two lists on pp 9 and 10 what might be the variables that determine the use of these varieties RESPOND HERE who he is speaking to where they are speaking what they are speaking about why they are speaking where the participants fall on the solidarity social distance scale where both parties fall on the status scale and the difference between them where the conversation falls on the formality scale where the content of the conversation falls on the referential affective scales 4 Why is it that a given language can be described both as a vernacular and a standard language RESPOND HERE According to the not the official language definition of vernacular different languages will or will not be considered a vernacular based on the setting Spanish would be considered a vernacular language for native speakers who live in the US but not Spain Mexico or other countries where Spanish is an official language 5 To what extent can a case be made for the inherent superiority of Dialect A over others of the same language e g Dialects B C D when dialect A is chosen for codification and stabilization RESPOND HERE I don t think that an argument could be made for the inherent superiority of one language or dialect over another but one could certainly argue that the dialect that is the most commonly used or the one used at court or by the upper or ruling class or the one that is used in local schools The argument would be then not that one dialect is inherently better than another but rather that one dialect has a jump start on the foundation of codifying a dialect or a wider usage base than other dialects 6 What are the processes that codification and stabilization of a linguistic variety entail RESPOND HERE codification is achieved through grammars and dictionaries Writing down and distributing the rules of the language dialect make it more stable because people can look at what the rules are a speech patterns can begin to shift in the same direction 7 What factors contribute to the prestige associated with standard varieties of a languages RESPOND HERE standard varieties usually form around the political sovial and economic centers of a community and are initially used with an H function so they would have a fair bit of prestige attached to them before they became the standard language 8 In the context of World Englishes what is the meaning of nativization RESPOND HERE nativized varieties may express local aspirations or identities and will reflect that in stress pattern borrowed vocabulary and semantic concepts shared with other languages used in the community 9 According to Holmes what factors will likely lead to a homogenization of Kachru s concept of the Inner Outer and Expanding circles of English RESPOND HERE I don t see evidence of homogenization Although standard dialects of native speaking countries such as British English often serve as a template for the local dialect and can even be a sort of goal for more formal settings the culture and other languages of the community will always mingle with the native dialect to form something new The fact that these communities are so far removed from the native one and often from each other will mean that these varieties continue to diverge 10 On page 80 Holmes notes that some varieties of World English or New Englishes often simplify the English that serves as the substrate matrix lexifier language Examples in Singlish which uses only one tag question isn t it include You re American isn t it instead of You re American aren t you He s on time isn t it instead of He s on time isn t he However it is not only Singlish which is considered a simplified variety of standard English that shows no agreement between the main verb and the tag question Il est fran ais n est ce pas He s French isn t it italiano no He is Italian no as well as the more formal italiano non vero He is Italian is it not true Er ist deutsch nicht wahr He is German not true Es mexicano verdad He is Mexican true Given a the origin of Singlish and the role of English as the substrate matrix lexifier language and b the fact that these four languages cited above do not require agreement between the main verb and the tag question to what might you attribute the Singlish universal tag question of isn t it RESPOND HERE since the native language does not require agreement between the main verb and the tag question the Singaporean population is unlikely to make the distinction between isn t it and any other tag question They may not even realize that it s not technically grammatically correct in English and would likely be confused when faced with any other tag question 11 What is a lingua franca and what uses does it serve RESPOND HERE A lingua franca is a language of communication between people whose first languages differ It allows people who do not share a mother tongue to communicate by other means 12 What is a pidgin how does it develop and how does a pidgin becomes a creole RESPOND HERE Pidgin languages are lingua francas developed by groups that need to communicate but do not share a tongue and are a mix of other languages A creole is a pidgin that becomes a fully fledged language First a pidgin language aquires native speakers and
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