European Languages & Cultures
Year 1 Bloc 1
Language &
Society
2018-2019
R. Dekker
, Language & Society | R. Dekker
TABLE OF CONTENTS
1. Introduction: studying language and society in Europe
a. Deutscher – Does your language shape how you think?
b. Pulinx, van Avermaet & Agirdag – Silencing linguistic diversity: the extent, the
determinants and consequences of the monolingual beliefs of Flemish teachers
2. Languages in Europe: multilingualism, minority languages, and nations
a. Philipson – English as a threat or opportunity in higher education
3. Meaning in European cultures and contexts: semantics and pragmatics
a. Norrby and Warren – Address practices and social relationships in European
languages
4. The history of European language families
a. Hock & Joseph – Language history, language change and language relationship
b. Campbell – Models of linguistic chance
5. The sounds of Europe
a. Roach – Phonetics
b. Yule – The sound patterns of language
6. The forms of Europe
a. Blake – Forming new words
7. The structures of Europe
a. Blake – The simple sentence
b. Blake – Word classes
➢ Review sheet
, Language & Society | R. Dekker
WEEK 1
INTRODUCTION: STUDYING LANGUAGE AND SOCIETY IN
EUROPE
Deutscher - Does Your Language Shape How You Think?
Pulinx, Van Avermaet & Agirdag - Silencing linguistic
diversity: the extent, the determinants and consequences of
the monolingual beliefs of Flemish teachers.
, Language & Society | R. Dekker
Lecture notes
• Features of true language:
Arbitrariness (willekeur) Arbitrary connection between form and meaning. Evidence:
synonyms (couch, sofa), cross-linguistic comparisons.
Discreteness “He is fast” → Independent words: he,is,fast. Words are composed
of sounds. These discrete units can be combined to make
meaningful utterances (uitingen/woorden).
Displacement We can communicate about things, actions and ideas that are not
present in the current space or time: Yesterday I went to the park,
I love unicorns.
Productivity Discrete units can be combined in an infinite number of ways.
Humans are able to both produce and understand novel (nieuwe)
utterances. Can combine words in novel ways: “Funky potato
farmers dissolve glass”.
• Competence → underlying knowledge of a language’s structure.
• Performance → the actual use of a language.
• Communicative competence → knowledge beyond the grammar of a language; knowing the
socially appropriate rules for using a language.
• Prescriptive grammar → rules about how you should speak. For example: “never end a
sentence with a preposition. To whom did you gave the book?
• Descriptive grammar → rules which describe how people speak a language. Who did you
give the book to? Linguistic is concerned with descriptive grammar.
• Prescriptivism → ideas about certain forms being correct. Usually, relies on the idea that
there is one correct way of speaking. Innovations in language, or dialect features, are
considered incorrect.
• Language ideologies → ideas about language structure and use. Really about politics and
society, not linguistic features.
• Standard language ideology → the idea that there is one dialect which is superior to all
others. Naturalized: the idea of the standard dialect being better is often thought of as an
undisputed truth instead of an arbitrary cultural value. The standard is often perceived as
more easily understood; but if this is true, it is not for linguistic reasons but because it is
more widely spoken an taught. The standard is also often talked about as more logical. There
is nothing linguistically superior about a standard variety. It is considered standard and
better because people with power speak that way. It is usually associated with the history of
a country or territory, although in reality it is usually one of the many dialects that has been
spoken in this area. Non-standard dialects are dismissed as linguistically inferior, when the
real problem with the is that they are associated with low social status.
• Hypercorrection → Often, people who do not speak the standard as their native tongue, or
have some features in their speech that are considered non-standard, will monitor their
speech and correct the features they feel are non-standard. In some cases, they over-shoot
the target and correct too much: this is called hypercorrection. Example: ‘between you and
I.’ Because the use of me in sentences such as ‘Me and him went to the store’ is non-
standard, some speakers avoid using ‘me’ altogether.
• Monoglot ideologies/normative monolingualism → Part 1: the idea that the ‘natural’ state
for a political territory is to be monolingual. Multilingualism is considered to be disruptive to
national unity. Part 2: If individuals are multilingual, they should keep their languages strictly
separate. Caveat: Elite bilingualism (Dutch students studying in English).
Year 1 Bloc 1
Language &
Society
2018-2019
R. Dekker
, Language & Society | R. Dekker
TABLE OF CONTENTS
1. Introduction: studying language and society in Europe
a. Deutscher – Does your language shape how you think?
b. Pulinx, van Avermaet & Agirdag – Silencing linguistic diversity: the extent, the
determinants and consequences of the monolingual beliefs of Flemish teachers
2. Languages in Europe: multilingualism, minority languages, and nations
a. Philipson – English as a threat or opportunity in higher education
3. Meaning in European cultures and contexts: semantics and pragmatics
a. Norrby and Warren – Address practices and social relationships in European
languages
4. The history of European language families
a. Hock & Joseph – Language history, language change and language relationship
b. Campbell – Models of linguistic chance
5. The sounds of Europe
a. Roach – Phonetics
b. Yule – The sound patterns of language
6. The forms of Europe
a. Blake – Forming new words
7. The structures of Europe
a. Blake – The simple sentence
b. Blake – Word classes
➢ Review sheet
, Language & Society | R. Dekker
WEEK 1
INTRODUCTION: STUDYING LANGUAGE AND SOCIETY IN
EUROPE
Deutscher - Does Your Language Shape How You Think?
Pulinx, Van Avermaet & Agirdag - Silencing linguistic
diversity: the extent, the determinants and consequences of
the monolingual beliefs of Flemish teachers.
, Language & Society | R. Dekker
Lecture notes
• Features of true language:
Arbitrariness (willekeur) Arbitrary connection between form and meaning. Evidence:
synonyms (couch, sofa), cross-linguistic comparisons.
Discreteness “He is fast” → Independent words: he,is,fast. Words are composed
of sounds. These discrete units can be combined to make
meaningful utterances (uitingen/woorden).
Displacement We can communicate about things, actions and ideas that are not
present in the current space or time: Yesterday I went to the park,
I love unicorns.
Productivity Discrete units can be combined in an infinite number of ways.
Humans are able to both produce and understand novel (nieuwe)
utterances. Can combine words in novel ways: “Funky potato
farmers dissolve glass”.
• Competence → underlying knowledge of a language’s structure.
• Performance → the actual use of a language.
• Communicative competence → knowledge beyond the grammar of a language; knowing the
socially appropriate rules for using a language.
• Prescriptive grammar → rules about how you should speak. For example: “never end a
sentence with a preposition. To whom did you gave the book?
• Descriptive grammar → rules which describe how people speak a language. Who did you
give the book to? Linguistic is concerned with descriptive grammar.
• Prescriptivism → ideas about certain forms being correct. Usually, relies on the idea that
there is one correct way of speaking. Innovations in language, or dialect features, are
considered incorrect.
• Language ideologies → ideas about language structure and use. Really about politics and
society, not linguistic features.
• Standard language ideology → the idea that there is one dialect which is superior to all
others. Naturalized: the idea of the standard dialect being better is often thought of as an
undisputed truth instead of an arbitrary cultural value. The standard is often perceived as
more easily understood; but if this is true, it is not for linguistic reasons but because it is
more widely spoken an taught. The standard is also often talked about as more logical. There
is nothing linguistically superior about a standard variety. It is considered standard and
better because people with power speak that way. It is usually associated with the history of
a country or territory, although in reality it is usually one of the many dialects that has been
spoken in this area. Non-standard dialects are dismissed as linguistically inferior, when the
real problem with the is that they are associated with low social status.
• Hypercorrection → Often, people who do not speak the standard as their native tongue, or
have some features in their speech that are considered non-standard, will monitor their
speech and correct the features they feel are non-standard. In some cases, they over-shoot
the target and correct too much: this is called hypercorrection. Example: ‘between you and
I.’ Because the use of me in sentences such as ‘Me and him went to the store’ is non-
standard, some speakers avoid using ‘me’ altogether.
• Monoglot ideologies/normative monolingualism → Part 1: the idea that the ‘natural’ state
for a political territory is to be monolingual. Multilingualism is considered to be disruptive to
national unity. Part 2: If individuals are multilingual, they should keep their languages strictly
separate. Caveat: Elite bilingualism (Dutch students studying in English).
