USC LING 115 UNIT 1 - 4 STUDY GUIDE
varieties of speech - Correct Answers -neutral term for all the ways of speaking
The Invariant System Hypothesis - Correct Answers -Suggests that a language must
consist in:
(a) a set of words (a vocabulary)
(b) a set of rules of grammar and pronunciation
And these words and rules of grammar and pronunciation must be used in the same
way by a population of speakers.
However, there is a problem with this hypothesis: no two individuals make use of an
identical set of rules and vocabulary when they speak.
American Linguistic Atlas Project - Correct Answers -mid 20th century, found out that no
two speakers answered in exactly same way
idiolect - Correct Answers -the unique, personalized way that each individual uses
language
The Mutual Intelligibility Hypothesis - Correct Answers -(a) if two speakers can
understand each other when they speak, we can say these are two varieties of the
same language
(b) if two speakers CANNOT understand each other when they speak, then we can say
these are varieties of different languages
Cannot account for real-world language - dialect divisions
Hindi & Urdu: socio-political factors - Correct Answers -For a long time, the term "Hindi"
and "Urdu" were both used for the same way of speaking in north India
"Hindi" used by Hindu parties, "Urdu" used by main Muslim party
Pakistan declares Urdu its national language as a symbol of its Islamic identity
Hindi & Urdu are now both recognized as separate official languages of India
When spoken colloquially, the two languages are very close
Hindi gets its "high end" vocab from Sanskrit words
Urdu gets its "high end" vocab from Arabic & Persian
, Hindi is written in the Devanagari script
Urdu is written in Arabic
Serbian, Croatian, Bosnian, & Montenegrin: socio-political factors - Correct Answers -
1946 unification of Balkan states as the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia
General Tito declares that Serbs, Croats, inhabitants of Bosnia and Montenegro all
speak a single language: "Serbo-Croatian'
1991 disintegration of Yugoslavia into separate states
Each state declares that its population speaks its own language
Four languages are declared in place of one language (nothing changed linguistically)
Chinese: socio-political factors - Correct Answers -Many mutually unintelligible
(regional) varieties of speech, classed as dialects of a single language - "Chinese"
Han Chinese people feel united by a long, shared cultural history, literature, and the
same single writing system
There was political pressure from leadership not to class different varieties of "Chinese"
as separate languages (attempt to keep Chinese united)
Trying to keep 1 identity (no independence)
Ryuukyuan: socio-politcal factor - Correct Answers -Ryuukuan is mutually unintelligible
with Japanese
The Japanese leadership emphasized that Japan is a mono-ethnic, mono-cultural,
mono-lingual nation
For this, Ryuukuan was declared to be a dialect of Japanese
Natural Selection - Correct Answers -When a particular group becomes more
economically/militarily powerful over time, their variety is considered to have a higher
statues than other varieties - regarded as a language, people shift over
national-official language - Correct Answers -when a single language serves both NL
and OL functions
Deliberate Selection - Correct Answers -Sometimes a particular variety is deliberately
selected for a special role, like a national official language, forced by the government
The variety is further developed via standardization
varieties of speech - Correct Answers -neutral term for all the ways of speaking
The Invariant System Hypothesis - Correct Answers -Suggests that a language must
consist in:
(a) a set of words (a vocabulary)
(b) a set of rules of grammar and pronunciation
And these words and rules of grammar and pronunciation must be used in the same
way by a population of speakers.
However, there is a problem with this hypothesis: no two individuals make use of an
identical set of rules and vocabulary when they speak.
American Linguistic Atlas Project - Correct Answers -mid 20th century, found out that no
two speakers answered in exactly same way
idiolect - Correct Answers -the unique, personalized way that each individual uses
language
The Mutual Intelligibility Hypothesis - Correct Answers -(a) if two speakers can
understand each other when they speak, we can say these are two varieties of the
same language
(b) if two speakers CANNOT understand each other when they speak, then we can say
these are varieties of different languages
Cannot account for real-world language - dialect divisions
Hindi & Urdu: socio-political factors - Correct Answers -For a long time, the term "Hindi"
and "Urdu" were both used for the same way of speaking in north India
"Hindi" used by Hindu parties, "Urdu" used by main Muslim party
Pakistan declares Urdu its national language as a symbol of its Islamic identity
Hindi & Urdu are now both recognized as separate official languages of India
When spoken colloquially, the two languages are very close
Hindi gets its "high end" vocab from Sanskrit words
Urdu gets its "high end" vocab from Arabic & Persian
, Hindi is written in the Devanagari script
Urdu is written in Arabic
Serbian, Croatian, Bosnian, & Montenegrin: socio-political factors - Correct Answers -
1946 unification of Balkan states as the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia
General Tito declares that Serbs, Croats, inhabitants of Bosnia and Montenegro all
speak a single language: "Serbo-Croatian'
1991 disintegration of Yugoslavia into separate states
Each state declares that its population speaks its own language
Four languages are declared in place of one language (nothing changed linguistically)
Chinese: socio-political factors - Correct Answers -Many mutually unintelligible
(regional) varieties of speech, classed as dialects of a single language - "Chinese"
Han Chinese people feel united by a long, shared cultural history, literature, and the
same single writing system
There was political pressure from leadership not to class different varieties of "Chinese"
as separate languages (attempt to keep Chinese united)
Trying to keep 1 identity (no independence)
Ryuukyuan: socio-politcal factor - Correct Answers -Ryuukuan is mutually unintelligible
with Japanese
The Japanese leadership emphasized that Japan is a mono-ethnic, mono-cultural,
mono-lingual nation
For this, Ryuukuan was declared to be a dialect of Japanese
Natural Selection - Correct Answers -When a particular group becomes more
economically/militarily powerful over time, their variety is considered to have a higher
statues than other varieties - regarded as a language, people shift over
national-official language - Correct Answers -when a single language serves both NL
and OL functions
Deliberate Selection - Correct Answers -Sometimes a particular variety is deliberately
selected for a special role, like a national official language, forced by the government
The variety is further developed via standardization
