Variation in English
Language Variation
- Regional Variation (different pronunciation, different words) e.g. He‘s a great guy - He‘s a good lad
- lexical choices (choice of words, you cannot be understood everywhere)
- social differences (manifest on different levels, grammatical constructions and accent)
- historical variation (e.g. Shakespearen English vs. todays english)
e.g. nu scylan hergan - now we shall praise
- CMC = Computer Medicated Communication (differences in spelling, lexical differences = slangs
(using words ins a way its not mainstream)
- L1 countries: ex. Australia, USA, Great Britain
- L2 countries: ex. India, Nigeria, Pakistan, Ghana, Jamaica
English as the world language -> people from all over the world use english differently
Different kinds of english which are shared by the same community but its depending on the situation
which one you use (example: do not use online gaming english in an academic presentation or in a
dinner conversation)
Interlocutors tell when which Variation is appropriate
Speech community tends to have unspoken or written laws about whats appropriate in which context
and users who don’t comply with the norm usually get negative feedback
Individual and Social Variation
Element of change -> what was appropriate in the past and what’s appropriate today
Example: in the 1850s you were not allowed to write an academic essay in first person singular
E.g. Gimme the pen! - Could you give me the pencil, please?
Historical variation
Synchronic Variation: at a given point of time. Diachronic Variation: variation over time
Depending on who the interlocutor Key differences linguistically:
is different kinds of elements are - Contraction, speech
considered to be appropriate abbreviation
- Interrogative with a modal ve
The person is shifting from an informal style to an formal style politeness formularies
with the change of interlocutor
grammatical difference
lexical difference
Differences are manifest o
Childress
Accents
Morphosyntax
Lexis
it
ending ing Semantics
'
bewerbt ing r; ie
'
ja
- -
"
at Verb "
go
Language Variation
- Regional Variation (different pronunciation, different words) e.g. He‘s a great guy - He‘s a good lad
- lexical choices (choice of words, you cannot be understood everywhere)
- social differences (manifest on different levels, grammatical constructions and accent)
- historical variation (e.g. Shakespearen English vs. todays english)
e.g. nu scylan hergan - now we shall praise
- CMC = Computer Medicated Communication (differences in spelling, lexical differences = slangs
(using words ins a way its not mainstream)
- L1 countries: ex. Australia, USA, Great Britain
- L2 countries: ex. India, Nigeria, Pakistan, Ghana, Jamaica
English as the world language -> people from all over the world use english differently
Different kinds of english which are shared by the same community but its depending on the situation
which one you use (example: do not use online gaming english in an academic presentation or in a
dinner conversation)
Interlocutors tell when which Variation is appropriate
Speech community tends to have unspoken or written laws about whats appropriate in which context
and users who don’t comply with the norm usually get negative feedback
Individual and Social Variation
Element of change -> what was appropriate in the past and what’s appropriate today
Example: in the 1850s you were not allowed to write an academic essay in first person singular
E.g. Gimme the pen! - Could you give me the pencil, please?
Historical variation
Synchronic Variation: at a given point of time. Diachronic Variation: variation over time
Depending on who the interlocutor Key differences linguistically:
is different kinds of elements are - Contraction, speech
considered to be appropriate abbreviation
- Interrogative with a modal ve
The person is shifting from an informal style to an formal style politeness formularies
with the change of interlocutor
grammatical difference
lexical difference
Differences are manifest o
Childress
Accents
Morphosyntax
Lexis
it
ending ing Semantics
'
bewerbt ing r; ie
'
ja
- -
"
at Verb "
go
