Showing papers in "Language in Society in 1973"
TL;DR: This article investigated the process of speech accommodation between bilinguals from two ethnolinguistic groups and found that the greater the effort in accommodation that a bilingual speaker of one group was perceived to put into his message, the more favourably he would be perceived by listeners from another ethnic group, and also the more effort they in turn would put into accommodating back to him.
Abstract: The study was designed to investigate the process of speech accommodation between bilinguals from two ethnolinguistic groups. It was hypothesized that the greater the amount of effort in accommodation that a bilingual speaker of one group was perceived to put into his message, the more favourably he would be perceived by listeners from another ethnic group, and also the more effort they in turn would put into accommodating back to him. Eighty bilingual English-Canadians were divided into four groups and individually tested. Ss heard on tape a French-Canadian describe a picture and they were required to sketch this while listening. Ss were made fully aware that their speaker had a choice of language for his description. The four groups heard the same male speaker describe the drawing but each
433 citations
TL;DR: A review of language planning and other-than-language planning can be found in this paper, where a number of concepts, questions and dimensions which have not yet found their way there from planning theory and planning research in other than-language fields are introduced.
Abstract: The purpose of this review is two-fold. First of all, to move toward greater clarity with respect to a number of basic terms revealing less consensus in the language planning literature (e.g. planning, traditional, development, modernization, Westernization) than in the social sciences more generally. Secondly, but more importantly, to introduce into the language planning field a large number of concepts, questions and dimensions which have not yet found their way there from planning theory and planning research in other-than-language fields. In many (but not all) respects it would seem, on logical and impressionistic grounds, that language planning and other- than-language planning face similar burdens and benefit from related social and organizational circumstances.
117 citations
TL;DR: The most uniform and characteristic variety of Black English is the grammar used by members of the vernacular culture in pre-adolescent and adolescent years: the ‘Black English Vernacular’ as discussed by the authors.
Abstract: The most uniform and characteristic variety of Black English is the grammar used by members of the vernacular culture in pre-adolescent and adolescent years: the ‘Black English Vernacular’. Less regular varieties which show the influence of other dialects, are used by isolated individuals within the community (‘lames’) who are less familiar with vernacular norms. Rules that are categorical for the vernacular are often variable for lames. Within the vernacular peer groups, core members show the most regular or frequent use of characteristic rules such as the deletion of is. Since most linguists grow up relatively isolated individuals within their own communities, it is important that they become aware of the linguistic consequences of being lame, and apply this knowledge in their methodology.Who's the lame who says he knows the gameAnd where did he learn to play?– The Fall
101 citations
TL;DR: The pointed lip gesture is a facial gesture in use among the Cuna Indians of San Blas, Panama as mentioned in this paper, which occurs in various contexts with meanings which at first appear to be unrelated.
Abstract: The pointed lip gesture is a facial gesture in use among the Cuna Indians of San Blas, Panama. It occurs in various contexts with meanings which at first appear to be unrelated. An analysis of the contexts reveals, however, that the meaning ‘pointing’ is always present and that further meanings are derived from the discourse structures in which the pointed lip gesture is found.
89 citations
TL;DR: In this article, three different Creoles spoken in Surinam are examined for their Creole origins and compared on basic vocabulary and other linguistic features and analyzed in conjunction with historical evidence.
Abstract: Three different Creoles spoken in Surinam are examined for their Creole origins. Saramaccan (SM) and Sranan (SN) are compared on basic vocabulary and other linguistic features and analyzed in conjunction with historical evidence. It is suggested that SN and SM speakers came to Surinam plantations with a basic knowledge of Portuguese-Creole. SN completely relexified in the direction of English, whereas SM only partly relexified toward English. Evidence suggests that Ndjuka (ND) is not a product of relexification, but developed from an eighteenth-century English pidgin. It is concluded that both ‘normal’ genetic developments and relexification may have similar results and that comparative evidence alone is not a sufficient basis for historical conclusions (comparative linguistics, creoles, relexification).
88 citations
TL;DR: The Ilongots of the northern Philippines traditionally value a speech style, "crooked language", rich in art, wit, and indirection, in certain situations as discussed by the authors, in which a brideprice meeting is recounted and examined in detail.
Abstract: The Ilongots of the northern Philippines traditionally value a speech style, ‘crooked language,’ rich in art, wit, and indirection, in certain situations. Purun ‘oratory’, both as event and speech style, is one of these. A brideprice meeting is recounted and examined in detail. Unique features of oratory, in contrast to everyday verbal interaction, depend on its public character, as a scheduled event with large audience (rather than special setting, personnel or ritual), and as having the purpose of achieving explicit, formal understanding and agreement. The special features of oratory include body-motion; category labels for self-reference; degree of use of deferential, self-deprecating, and qualifying phrases and terms; degree of use of metalinguistic terms generally; and rhythms. Degree of use of these features may vary in the course of the event. Acculturation has brought about conflict with the preference of newly educated and missionized Ilongots for ‘straight speech’. In effect, the indirect ‘crooked’ speech style is linked with indigenous egalitarian norms, while the public use of ‘straight speech’ is linked with externally imposed authoritarian relationships. (Speech styles and social structure; public performance everyday interaction; discourse devices; metalinguistic concepts and devices; conflict of speech norms; social change; Northern Luzon, Philippines: Malayo-Polynesian.)
75 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, an analysis of the vowel/consonant patterns in a world sample of folk songs indicates that some speech sounds vary regularly with certain aspects of social structure, such as gender roles.
Abstract: Analysis of the vowel/consonant patterns in a world sample of folk songs indicates that some speech sounds vary regularly with certain aspects of social structure. Consonant frequencies shift in relation to technological level: mid stops, fricatives and laterals increase in relative frequency along a scale of productive range. Alteration in the vowel map, on the other hand, seems to be related to cross-cultural differences in sex role. Thus changes in phonology, familiar to the linguist, may be symbolic of and explained by familiar societal phenomena. These suppositions are, it is true, based on the analysis of sung languages and remain to be confirmed for speech. However, the power of expressive style as a general diagnostic of the layout of culture implies that they will be so confirmed, since expressive patterns often turn out to be a sort of heightened and extra-redundant version of everyday behavior. Moreover, collections of recorded song performances provide a world-wide resource of ‘unselfconscious’ and culturally validated language data that is simply unavailable for other kinds of speech activity. (Phonology; variation; expressive (stylistic) function; song style; mode of production and se role; cross-cultural sample.)
38 citations
TL;DR: In the plateau area of Madagascar, the rules for ceremonial speech (kabary), and skill in it, are sources of pride and topics of great interest as discussed by the authors, and the most elaborate use of kabary is in the public marriage request.
Abstract: On the plateau area of Madagascar, the rules for ceremonial speech (kabary), and skill in it, are sources of pride and topics of great interest. The most elaborate use of kabary is in the public marriage request. This event is intended to give honor to the girl's family and to evoke confidence in the boy's family, securing an alliance between them. Conceptions of the ground rules of proper kabary are diverse. There are discussions of them before, within, alongside, and after the event. The diversity includes a broad contrast between the ‘Ancestral Way’ and the ‘New Way’. Social change, but also the interests and strategies of the two parties (the boy's family and the girl's family) are involved in choice of one of these. Crucial to the conduct and success of the event is the notion of an ‘error’. What constitutes an ‘error’ is open to dispute and the significance of particular rules varies with both the strategies of the two parties, and the way in which the event is unfolding. An overriding constraint is that the alliance which the event is to ratify be accomplished. (Speech styles and social structure; ideal speech; conflict of speech norms; performance strategies; ‘error’ in performance; emergent qualities of performances; Madagascar; Malagasy (Malayo-Polynesian).)
34 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the introduction of Portuguese relationship terms into a system used by the Carib-speaking Kalapalo is explained in terms of internal social developments rather than language contact or acculturation.
Abstract: The introduction of Portuguese relationship terms into a system used by the Carib-speaking Kalapalo is explained in terms of internal social developments rather than language contact or acculturation. Upper Xingu Society is described as a linguistically diverse communications network that operates within two types of situations: ‘personal’ situations which emphasize verbal codes and focus on individual relationships and roles, and ‘non-personal’ situations which emphasize non-verbal ritualized performance in an intervillage context, focusing on local group identity rather than the qualities of individual ‘persons’. The adoption of Portuguese terms represents an elaboration of the system by which certain kinds of male relatives are designated as ‘persons’, and in the context of interaction between men speaking mutually unintelligible languages has circumvented the problem of language loyalty for intervillage communication. (Lexical borrowing, language loyalty, relationship terms, South American languages.)
10 citations
4 citations