Language variation

Ling 2000H

Review• Garden-path effectBecause Kate cooks the vegetables in the fridge were

gone in a couple of days.

DO-bias verb: e.g., hearThe staff heard dogs/snails were in the swimming

pool.

Clause-bias verb: e.g., realizeThe committee realized the error/reception had been

planned for months.

Linguistic ‘varieties’ include:• Typological/historical divisions of languages

Romance, Germanic, Balto-Slavic, Ural-Altaic

• Different ‘languages’Indonesian, Swahili, Portuguese, Urdu, Cantonese, Shona, Greek, Bengali, Jamaican Creole,

• Different ‘dialects’ of the same languageAustralian/Canadian/Indian/American/British/Indian/Filipino English

Recognition of varieties

The way that those people speak:

What are the things that affect our conscious/subconscious distinctions?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QhQeWhqs1bAhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dDY89LYxK0w

Angel’s Share (2012)

Glaswegian English:Glaswegian dialect of Scots

connotations of working-class and hooliganism

e.g. gizza "give me” hame, "home”

The best exotic marigold hotel

• British English• Indian English

• Do all British actors sound the same?• Do all Indian actors sound the same?Can you put on British accent?http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vSPlrIHplTAhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zRnuZlyWXI8

Dialects

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3UgpfSp2t6k

In groups of 3, • Try to list variations of English in the world• Try to list dialects of American English• In your words, try to define the concept ‘dialect’