Language Language Contact and Bilingualism

Language Contact
and Bilingualism
g
Course Structure

Language Contact

Nigel Musk

Master’s Course: Language & Culture in Europe
Individual Bilingualism



diglossia, language maintenance, language shift &
language death (obsolescence)
Language Policy and Language Planning

Language Contact 1
code-switching & code-mixing
Societal Bilingualism
g
http://www.liu.se/ikk/ffu/ske/Masterutbildning/courses/language-and-culture-in-europe?l=en

language change
national languages,
g g , the EU and multilingualism
g
& bilingual
g
education
Language Contact 2 (Matras)
(Matras)
Languages do not come into contact with each other, people do!
System 1
System 2

Group
G
1
Group
p2
G
Groups
off people
l come together
t
th with
ith a complex
l repertoire
t i off
language(s) & language varieties → change

Exploitation
E
l it ti off
full expressive
potential of
repertoire
Context-bound
selection of forms
of repertoire
The challenge is to not to use their whole repertoire
Reduction of
hurdles
h
dl in
i the
th
way of efficient
communication
Standard National Language(s)
Definition: an idealised language variety, most often accepted as
the official language of a community or country. (Yule 2006: 194)


the emergence
g
of many
y modern European
p
nation states by
y
Monolingualism vs Bilingualism
Bilingualism
g
has rarely
y been absent from
important levels of the intellectual and
the end of 19th century accompanied by the spread of
cultural life of Europe and nearly all
g
one nation, one language
g g
nationalist ideologies:
European languages have had long, and, in
Codification of vernacular (spoken) languages was
some instances, several successive periods
influenced by traditions of unified written standard of
Classical Latin, i.e. grammars prescribed a regulated and
of language contact. (Lewis 1977: 23)
refined language (akin to the language of the gentry)
‘refined’
(Barber 1993: 203-4)
Language, Accent & Dialect 1
The Dialect Continuum (Yule 2006: 198)
accent refers more specifically to regional or social variation in
pronunciation. (Yule: 195)
dialect refers to regional or social variation in grammar, vocabulary and
dialect continuum: rather than
sharp breaks (dialect &
pronunciation. (Yule: 195)
language boundaries) between
e.g. Welsh English: Goin’ down the mine ’e is, bach.
language varieties and dialects,
language “a dialect with an army and navy”
Distinguishing between dialect/language on grounds of linguistic features:

a written standard?

mutual intelligibility?

linguistic similarity?
th
there
may b
be more gradual
d l
differences even across
national boundaries (if the
languages are related)
Language, Accent & Dialect 2 (FGD2, FG5, 04:20)
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
Emyr:
I think the majority of pupil:s at [our school] just (0.4)
could speak english better than welsh (.6) a ┌lot of them┐
Siân:
└yeah
┘
Emyr:
couldn’t speak wel┌sh anyway┐ so,
Siân:
└yeah
┘
Siân:
┌yeah┐
Rhian: └yeah┘ a lot of pupils
Emyr:
well maybe they could SPEAK it to the tea┌chers they
Siân:
└they weren’t
Emyr:
just weren’t┐ very good ┌at it┐
Siân:
confident
┘
│
│
Rhian:
└no
┘ ’cause ┌a few pupils┐
Siân:
└yeah
┘
Rhian: were really not confident speaking welsh in eith:er ┌(xx) ┐
Emyr:
└
└’cause┘
┘
every- let’s face it everyone can speak english really didn’t
they
Pause: (.)
Emyr:
┌comfortably you don’t:┐
Siân:
└yeah comfortably yeah ┘
Some Societal Language Contact
Scenarios
Language contact is the norm rather than the exception
(
(even
for
f geographically
h ll isolated
l d and
d ethnically
h
ll
homogeneous countries, e.g. Iceland)

Languages with official status


Languages without official recognition


e.g. in France (e.g. Breton), Turkey (e.g. Kurdish)
Community Languages (immigrant languages)

European Languages
e g in Switzerland,
e.g.
Switzerland Belgium,
Belgium Finland,
Finland Ireland
e.g. UK (e.g. Bengali), Germany (e.g. Turkish)
Linguistic Outcomes of Language
Contact
Three-way division
1.
Contact-induced language change

2
2.
e.g. allll European languages
l
Extreme language mixture

3.
(Thomason 2001: 10):
e.g. Anglo-Romany
Language death (obsolescence)

e.g. Gothic,
G hi Cornish,
C i h Manx
M
1. ContactContact-Induced Language
Change

Phonology


Lexis (loanwords)


e.g. all European languages
Morphology


e.g. Welsh English, Irish English
e.g. English under Norse influence
Syntax

e.g. Finnish (word order: SOV > SVO)
Lexis 2: The Monolingual Norm &
Language Purism
Example: French
The movement for the purification of French gained
momentum in 16th century France as a backlash to
the heavy borrowing in literary French from Greek
and Latin as well as provincial terms and idioms
(Cooper 1989: 8)
The success of this movement is immortalised in statute
24 of the Académie française, whereby French
should be rendered “pure, éloquente et capable de
traiter [‘treating/dealing with’] les arts et les sciences.”
Lexis 1
Example: English
The history
Th
hi t
off English
E li h vocabulary
b l
is
i characterised
h
t i d by
b many waves
of borrowings (loanwords).

A Germanic language (< Angles,
Angles Saxons & Jutes)

Latin (church & learning)

Norse (typically everyday language) e.g.
e g take, get, sky, same

e.g. mass, master, school
(Norman) French (government, law & administration, but also
everyday language)
e.g. parliament, judge, age
Early Middle English (beginning of 12th century) about 90% words
of English
g
origin
g
by end of Middle English period (mid 15th century) about 75%.
Lexis 3: Loanwords (Weinreich 1953)
Simple Words in Icelandic 1
= Direct loanwords & native simple words

Simple Words in Icelandic 2

induced
Loan creation by derivation

Extension
New word derived from existing native word

e.g. þota ‘jet plane’ (<þotinn past part. of þjóta ‘to rush’)

e.g. pera ‘light bulb; pear’
(< Da pære ‘light
light bulb; pear
pear’))
Reintroduction

Old word revived with new but related meaning
spontaneous
e.g. sími ‘telephone’
telephone (< OI “cord”)
cord )


Transference

Native word undergoes an extension in meaning as a
result
lt off similar
i il development
d
l
t in
i a foreign
f i language
l
Native word undergoes an extension in meaning without a
foreign model
e.g. iðnaður ‘industry;
industry; occupation
occupation’
Foreign word is adopted
e.g. bíll ‘car’ (< Da bil c.f. automobile)
Compound Words in Icelandic 1
= where a prefix and/or more words are combined
according
d
to native patterns off word
d formation
f

Compound Words in Icelandic 2

Reproduction

A foreign model is reproduced using native material
Compounding of transferred elements

Two or more loanwords are combined
e.g. gírkassi ‘gear box’
(gír Da/Eng ‘gear’ + kassi Da kasse ‘box’)
(< Da gearkasse)
Loan translation

Morphemes of foreign model translated and combined
e.g. ritvél ‘typewriter’
(< rit(a) Da skrift (skrive) ‘writing (write)’
+ vél Da maskine ‘machine’)
machine )
(< Da skrivemaskine)
Compound Words in Icelandic 3
Reproduction (cont.)
Compound Words in Icelandic 4

L
Loan
rendition
diti

Loan creation


One or more morphemes of foreign model reproduced but
more freely
e.g. myndband ‘video tape’
(< mynd ‘picture’
picture + band ‘tape’
tape c.f. Da videobånd)

Phonology


e.g. upptaka
k ‘recording;
‘
di
taking
ki up’’ (<
( Da
D optagelse
l )
(< upp Da op ‘up’ + taka Da tage/tagelse ‘take/taking’)
e.g. all European languages
Morphology


spontaneous
t
e.g. rannsókn ‘research; ransacking’
Morphology 1: Old English vs Old
Norse
Example: English

Lexis (loanwords)


e.g. Welsh English, Irish English
e.g. English under Norse influence


Syntax

e.g. Finnish (word order: SOV > SVO)
Extension
induced
e.g.
g g
gervitungl
g ‘satellite’
(< gervi ‘artificial’ + tungl ‘moon’)

Loanword and native prefix and/or one or more native
words are combined to form a loan blend
e.g. boddíhlutur
b ddíhl t ‘b
‘body
d partt ((off a car)’
)’
(< boddí > Eng ‘body (of a car)’ + hlutur ‘part’)
Compound morphemically independent of foreign model
although stimulated by it
1. ContactContact-Induced Language
Change
Transference + reproduction

Contact between Old English & Old Norse could have
led to a pidgin-like variety and even a creole (as a
lingua franca)
Typically
yp
y pidgins
p g
lose complex
p
inflectional endings
g
and they become more reliant upon word order
Vowels of endings in unstressed syllables converged,
converged
e.g. -en, -on, -an > [ən]
During the Middle English period all endings with a
vowel or vowel + nasal disappeared
Morphology 2: Old English vs Old
Norse
Morphology 3: Old English vs Old
Norse
Nouns: ‘dog (hound)’
‘ship’
Verbs:
‘be’, ‘live’
Sing.
OE
ON
OE
ON
sing. OE
bēon libban
ON
vera
lifa
Nom.
hund
hundr
scip
skip
Acc.
hund
hund
scip
skip
1st
ic
eom
libbe
ek
em
lifi
Dat.
hunde
hundi
scipe
skipi
2nd
þū
eart
lifast
þú
ert
lifir
Gen.
hundes
hunds
scipes
skips
3rd
hē
is
lifaþ
hann er
Nom.
hundas
hundar
scipu
skip
1st
wē
Acc.
hundas
hunda
scipu
skip
Dat.
hundum
hundum
scipum
skipum
2nd
ʒʒē
Gen.
hunda
hunda
scipa
skipa
3rd
hīe
Linguistic Outcomes of Language
Contact
Three-way division
e.g. allll European languages
l
Extreme language mixture

3.
(Thomason 2001: 10):

þér
þ
eruð lifið
þeir
eru
lifa
Pidgins – develop as a secondary language for


e.g.
g Russenorsk
Creoles – develop as the first language of a
community, typically with the vocabulary of the
community
dominant social group (lexifier).
e.g. Anglo-Romany
e.g. Gothic,
G hi Cornish,
C i h Manx
M
erum lifum
limited purposes such as for trade.

Language death (obsolescence)

sindon libbaþ
þ
vér
2. Extreme Language Mixtures
Contact-induced language change

2
2.
lifir
plural
Plural
1.
‘be’, ‘live’

e.g. Jamaican English,
l h Haitian French
h
Bilingual
g
mixed languages
g g

e.g. Anglo-Romany
Bilingual Mixed Languages:
Anglo--Romany 1 (Winford 2003: 5)
Anglo
Pidgins & Creoles
[…] the grammars of pidgins and creoles that
arise in multilingual contexts are not derived
from the grammar of any single language,
but appear instead to be a combination of
features shared by the languages in contact
and features that are universally preferred,
perhaps because they are relatively easy to
a
((Thomason 2001: 12))
learn.
Once apré a chairus a Rommany chal chored a rāni chillico
Once upon a time a
Gypsy
and then
a prastraméngro ‘pré the drum.
jālled atut
and then met (went on) a
stole
policeman
a turkey (lit. lady bird)
on the road.
“Where did tute chore adovo rāni?” putchered the prastraméngro.
“Where did you steal that turkey?” asked
t s kek
e rāni;
ā ; it’s
tsa
“It’s
pauno
pau
o rāni
ā
the
policeman.
tthat
at I kinned
ed ‘drée
d ée tthe
e
“It’s no turkey; it’s a goose (lit. white lady) that I bought
gav
in the
to del tute.
tute ”
village to give you.”
Anglo--Romany 2
Anglo
Bibliography 1
“Tácho, penned the prastraméngro, it’s the kushtiest
“Really,
said the
policeman,
it’s the
finest
pauno rāni mandy ever dickdus. Ki did tute kin it?”
goose
I
ever
saw. Where did you buy it?”
Barber, C. (1997 [1993]) The English language: a historical
introduction. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
Cooper, R. L. (1996 [1989]) Language Planning and Social Change.
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Crystal, D. (2005) The Cambridge Encyclopedia of the English
Language, 2nd edn. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
Lewis, G. (1977) “Bilingualism and Bilingual Education – The Ancient
World to the Renaissance.” Frontiers of Bilingual Education. Eds.
B. Spolski & R. Cooper. Rowley, Massachusetts: Newbury House
P bli h
Publishers,
IInc., 22
22-93.
93 Th
Thomason, S.
S G.
G (2001) Language
L
Contact. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.
Reading for Next Class: Individual
Bilingualism
Bibliography 2
Weinreich, U. (1953) Languages in Contact. The Hague: Mouton.
Winford, D. (2003) An Introduction to Contact Linguistics. Oxford:
fused lects: Toward a dynamic typology of bilingual speech.”
International Journal of Bilingualism 3.4: 309-332.
Blackwell Publishing.
Yule, G. (2006) The Study of Language,
Cambridge University Press.
Auer, J. C. P. (1999) “From codeswitching via language mixing to
3rd
edn. Cambridge, UK:
Musk, N. (2006) “Code-Switching.” Performing Bilingualism in Wales
with the Spotlight on Welsh. A Study of Language Policy and the
L
Language
P
Practices
ti
off Y
Young P
People
l iin Bili
Bilinguall Ed
Education.
ti
Linköping: LiU-Tryck, 47-57. <http://liu.divaportal org/smash/record jsf?pid=diva2:22924>
portal.org/smash/record.jsf?pid=diva2:22924>