Linguistic Terms

Some Linguistic Terms

Dialects 

Dialect is a specific form of a given language, spoken in a certain locality or geographic area, showing sufficient differences from the standard literary form of that language, in pronunciation, grammatical construction and idiomatic use of words ,yet not sufficiently distinct from the other dialects of the language to be regarded as a different language 

Difference between language and dialect

A language is spoken in a large area .It has its own phonology, syntax and morphology. But a dialect is one of the varieties under the language community. It does not have its own syntax and formal form. It does not have the prestige the language enjoys. A language contains more items than that of a dialect .the English spoken in England is different from Scotland.

Dialects may be classified into two varieties: Regional and Social

Regional dialect is a variety of a language community which is spoken with in a large geographical area. Regional dialect is based on the geographical isogloss. An isogloss is a boundary line where one dialect area ends and another begins.

Social dialect is based on geographical mobility and social class. The geographical mobility means people moving from one place to another, taking their dialects with them .On the other hand people of area use varieties of the same dialect based on the class they belong.

Idiolect

Idiolect is the way that a particular person uses language. In other words, in a speech community different individuals have variations in the way they pronounce words, construct sentences etc. Each individual has his own characteristic speech habits that distinguish his/her speech from that of others. This individual difference is called Idiolect. A number of idiolects become a dialect.

Register.

Variations in language are found based on the specific area of human activity in which a language is used. For example take  English, the vocabulary and manner of use  etc., of  this language  is different  when  is used  in different fields  such as law, religion, science , sports etc.,. We call it as legal language; scientific language etc., thus the variety of language according to its use can be called as register. The main difference between dialect and register is that the former is user oriented while the latter is use oriented.

Bilingualism

The term bilingualism refers to the use of more than one language in a society.   The   individuals  in that society  have a tendency to    use  one or more languages. A bilingual may  or may not have good command over the languages but he/she may be capable of communicating in a number of tongues. Most societies in the world  are either bilingual or multilingual(using a number of languages).

  

Proto-language

A language from which other languages have developed is called a proto-language .For example , an earlier language called Proto-Indo-European was the parent language,from which languages such as Latin,Greek,Sanskrit,German etc developed .

Cognates

A proto-language can never be reconstructed completely. However, historical and comparative linguists search for cognates by making lists of words from different languages and compare the sound similarities and the occurrence of sounds in particular position in these words.A cognate is a word which is related genetically to other words which together form a set of cognates descended from a proto-language.For example,there is a set of words;

Frater(Latin)

Brother(English)

Bhrata(Sanskrit)

These are cognates belonging to a set relating to a word which may have existed in Proto-Indo-European.

Polyglot

A polyglot is a person who can use  a number of languages.

Pidgin

It is a special language with a very limited vocabulary and limited structures, used for purposes like trade and commerce, by those people  who do not have a common language between themselves. When speakers of two different languages meet for specific purposes pidgin language is used. Pidgin language is also called as trade language or contact vernacular. For example, a trade language, Tukano, is used by twenty odd tribes in the north-west Amazon area.

Pidgin is not used for communicating within the community. It is very simple that learners acquire it easily. For example, the migrant workers speak the language of the place they reach and began to communicate with the native people using a pidgin evolved with their tongue and the tongue of the new place. Its vocabulary is based on that of the dominant group. A pidgin cannot be treated as a language as it has heavy borrowings from one type of language. A pidgin does not have native speakers.

Creole

When a pidgin language comes to be used for a long period by a community as a whole it develops its own vocabulary and structures, it becomes a Creole. It is a product of two different languages originally used by the speakers. A Creole may develop when a pidgin becomes the first language of the community. Jamaican Creole, Haitian creole etc, are examples of this sort.

Esperanto

Esperanto is a theoretical language to be used by all people all over the world. Though some people continue to make an attempt to evolve such a world language, based on the vocabulary and codes of important languages in the world, it has not been successful so far.

Umlaut

Vowels are often assimilated to vowels that precede or follow in the next syllable.During the early Middle Ages, changes of this kind occurred in several Germanic dialects. These changes in the Germanic languages are known by the name of umlaut. It is a type of sound change in Old English, especially in vowels.

Ablaut

Ablaut is a linguistic term which means ‘of sound’. It was first used by Jacob Grimm. The use of vowels and their variations has got the nuclear position in the formation of words. Ablaut variations in the vowels are more significant in the case of verbs which are known as strong verb ablaut. The vowel gradation has become the chief means of expressing the distinctions of time (Tense) Eg. Sing – sang -sung