Page 189 - DENG504_LINGUISTICS

Unit 13: Branches in Linguistics: Socio-Linguistics

13.2.6 Diglossia Notes
Where we do find two or more dialects or languages in regular use in a community we have a
situation which Fergusson has called ‘diglossia.’ He has observed that in diglossic communities there
is a strong tendency to give one of the dialects or languages a higher status or prestige, and to reserve
it for certain functions in society, such as government, education, the law, religion, literature, press,
radio and television. The ‘prestige dialect’ is often called the standard dialect (= the language).
The use of two widely divergent forms of the same language by all members of the community under
different conditions is called diglossia. In such a situation, a ‘high’ or a ‘classical’ literary language is
used for formal occasions and in written texts, and a ‘low’ or vernacular form is used in colloquial
conversation. Thus within the same speech community, one form is used for specialised activities—
official work, religion, education, law, press, radio, television, literature, etc. The other form is used
for non-specialized daily activities. Perhaps the most familiar example is the standard language and
regional dialect as used, say, in Italian or Persian, where many speakers speak their local dialect at
home or among family or friends of the same dialect area but use the standard language in
communicating with speakers of other dialects or on public occasions. A similar situation exists in
the Arab world, where classical Arabic is used for specialised purposes by speakers of all dialects of
Arabic. An example from India would be ‘high’ and ‘low’ Tamil. These forms vary considerably at all
levels of language—sounds, words, grammar and meaning.
13.2.7 Pidgin

A pidgin is a contract language, a mixture of elements from different natural languages. Its use is
usually restricted to certain groups, e.g. traders and seamen. Pidgins are used in some parts of South-
West Asia. Chinese pidgin, a combination of items from Chinese and English to serve the limited
purpose of trade, is another well-known example. An alternative term used for the pidgin is contact
vernacular.
13.2.8 Creole
When a pidgin becomes a lingua franca, it is called a creole. Thus a pidgin may extend beyond its
limited function and permeate through various other activities. Then it may acquire a standardized
grammar, vocabulary and sound-system; and it may then be spoken by an increasing number of
people as their first language. It has no such history, nor much prestige either. But on account of its
wider application and first-language status, it has to be distinguished from a pidgin. A creole or a
creolized language is a mixed natural language composed of elements of different languages in areas
of intensive contact. Well-known examples are the creoles of the islands of Mauritius and Haiti.
An example of Creole English from Jamaica is quoted here from Randolph Quirk’s The English Language
and Images of Matter (London, 1972:48):
Hin sed den, ‘Ma, a we in lid?’ Him sie, ‘Mi nc nuo, wi pikini, bot duon lukfi him niem hahd, or eni
wie in a di wohld an yu kal diniem, him hie unu.’ Him sed, ‘Wel Ma, min want im hie me an nuo mi.’
‘Lahd nuo masa’. Duo no kal di niem, hin we kom kil yu.’ ‘Him sie, ‘Wei Ma, hin wi haf fi kil mi.
The following is the ‘translation’ of the sample quoted above: He said then, ‘And where does he live,
mother?’ ‘I don’t know, my child’ she said, ‘but don’t look hard for his name, or anywhere in all the
world that you call the name, he will hear you.’ ‘Well, mother,’ he said, ‘I want him to hear me and
know me.’ ‘Heavens, no sir,’ ‘Don’t call the name: he’ll come and kill you.’ ‘Well, mother,’ he said
‘he’ll have to kill me.’
13.3 Varieties of English

There are many varieties of English which can be classified according to the following six criteria:
1. Region, 2. Education and Social Standing,
3. Subject Matter, 4. Medium,
5. Attitude, and 6. Interference.

LOVELY PROFESSIONAL UNIVERSITY 183