1 Introduction: What Is Language?
Cambridge University Press978-0-521-85257-9 - American English: History, Structure, and UsageJulie S. Amberg and Deborah J. VauseExcerptMore information1Introduction: What is language?Key termsIdiolectLanguage communityLanguageLanguage conventionsArbitrary signIconic signFluencyCommunicative competenceCritical periodUniversal grammarLinguisticsDescriptive linguisticsOverviewIn this chapter you’ll learn about the complex relationship betweenlanguage and identity. Language reflects both the individual characteristics ofa person, as well as the beliefs and practices of his or her community. You’llalso learn that languages are rule-governed systems made up of signs, so for anoutsider to learn the language of a community, he or she must learn which signsare meaningful and which are not. The chapter will introduce you to the study oflanguage and communication, as well as the methods of analysis used by thosewho work in this field. It also considers the complexity of language by examining various theories about how children acquire language. The fact that smallchildren learn language in a relatively short period of time indicates that peoplemay have innate language capabilities.IntroductionHow much time do you spend thinking about the language youspeak? If you’re like most people, you probably don’t consider it much at all.1 in this web service Cambridge University Presswww.cambridge.org
Cambridge University Press978-0-521-85257-9 - American English: History, Structure, and UsageJulie S. Amberg and Deborah J. VauseExcerptMore information2introductionBox 1.1 The power of language Former Russian satellite countries Estonia and Latvia have madefluency in Estonian and Latvian, respectively, a requirement ofcitizenship, thus creating a potential problem for millions ofRussian-speaking citizens who have lived in these countries foryears.An Amsterdam city councilor proposed a law mandating that Dutchbe spoken in Islamic mosques in his city, even though the traditionallanguage of Islam is Arabic.Members of the Israeli Parliament (Knesset) boycotted a speech givenin German by former German President Köhler, insisting that Germanshould not be spoken in the Knesset as long as there are Holocaustsurvivors living.The European Esperanto Union has indicated a new trend in theinternational labor market: advertisements for many jobs in Europe seekonly applicants whose mother tongue is English.The Executive Branch of the US government has directed all federaldepartments and agencies to use “plain language” to make thegovernment more accessible and understandable in its communicationswith the public.For many of us, speaking is as natural as waking up each day: it’s an unconscious action that we rarely notice we’re even doing. And as a result, we usuallydon’t imagine our language as something that might wield power, fuel debate,or even cause conflict. In truth, however, language can operate in all of theseways. The recent news stories in Box 1.1 above illustrate how language playsa significant role in people’s lives.As these stories illustrate, language affects many facets of human culture:religious, political, social, and economic. Many of these situations described areprovocative. The banning of certain languages or mandating the use of one overanother have produced tension and anxiety, charges of isolationism, and evenallegations of racism and discrimination. Why do these attempts to controllanguage produce such strong reactions? Throughout this textbook, as youexplore further the connections between people and their language, you’ll findanswers to this question.Language and communicationLanguage is foremost a means of communication, and communicationalmost always takes place within some sort of social context. This is whyeffective communication requires an understanding and recognition of theconnections between a language and the people who use it. These connections in this web service Cambridge University Presswww.cambridge.org
Cambridge University Press978-0-521-85257-9 - American English: History, Structure, and UsageJulie S. Amberg and Deborah J. VauseExcerptMore informationLanguage and identity3are complex: for example, they tell you when to use slang with a friend orformal language with a boss, how to judge a candidate’s campaign speeches,and whether to abbreviate an email. All of these acts require knowledge ofthe language, as well as the cultural and social forces acting on that language.As you work through this textbook, you will study these various forces, especially as they function within the United States.Social context is a major factor that drives our language choices. Forexample, consider the language you might have used in an interview situation,perhaps with a prospective employer or college admissions officer. If you arelike many other people, in the interview you probably were as much concernedwith how you spoke as with what you actually said. You may have evenpracticed sounding confident, for instance, or intelligent, so that you wouldmake a good impression during the interview. We make decisions everyday, or have decisions made about us by other people, based on the languagewe use. We frequently evaluate a person’s education, socioeconomic level,background, honesty, friendliness, and numerous other qualities by how thatperson speaks. And when we want to make a particular impression on someoneelse, we consciously choose our language, just as we choose our hair stylesor clothing.Exercise 1.1The term idiolect refers to a person’s use of language within a particular context. Thinkabout your own idiolect and consider the ways in which it changes over the course of your day,depending on the needs of your communication contexts. Have you talked on the phone?Helped a friend study? Ordered in a restaurant? Participated in class discussion? Note in writingthe similarities and the differences among several moments of communication you have hadin the past four hours. Then imagine that you couldn’t vary your language from one context tothe next, from informal to formal, from personal to impersonal, from home to chemistry class,and so on. Would this hinder your communication or not? Be prepared to share your thoughtswith the class.Language is integrally intertwined with our notions of who we are on both thepersonal and the broader, societal levels. When we use language, we communicate our individual thoughts, as well as the cultural beliefs and practices ofthe communities of which we are a part: our families, social groups, and otherassociations.Language and identityEach community, just like each individual, has its own language thatexpresses the ideas, values, and attitudes of its members. A particular group in this web service Cambridge University Presswww.cambridge.org
Cambridge University Press978-0-521-85257-9 - American English: History, Structure, and UsageJulie S. Amberg and Deborah J. VauseExcerptMore information4introductionFigure 1.1 A language community at workof language users who share the use of a specificlanguage adapted to fit their needs is called a languagecommunity. Your language communities may becreated by your interests, say a sports team or a schoolclub you belong to, by your age group, by your gender,and so on (see Figure 1.1).Language communities are often identified by geographical region as well. In the southwestern UnitedStates, for example, in some towns along the Mexicanborder, Spanish is the dominant language, not English.In other towns in this region, English dominates.In each geographical area, the relationship betweenthe two languages reflects the history, politics, andunique identity of its population. Study of diverselanguage communities across the United States contributes to our understanding of what it means tobe American, a complex notion. Awareness of thenature of language communities provides insight intoa population and will help you be more effective inusing language and in understanding the language usedby others.The work of New York conceptualartist Nikki S. Lee illustrates thefundamental human ability toconsciously transform one’s self.Lee’s acclaimed projects documenther successful transformation andassimilation into a wide range ofsubcultures and social and ethnicgroups, from sophisticated yuppies totrailer park residents, a hip-hop crowd,skateboarders, swingers, and tourists.Lee fits into these various groups byputting on the characteristics of thatgroup’s identity: its fashions, itsgestures, and, of course, its language.Her project reveals the variability ofindividual identity – we can slip in andout of various identities, if we choose,by simply changing our language anddress. If you want to see photographs ofLee’s transformations, visit the websiteof the Museum of ContemporaryPhotography: www.mocp.org/collections/permanent/lee nikki s.phpExercise 1.2Work with two or three peers to identify a particular language community you all recognize, suchas restaurant servers, college professors, parents, etc. Then write a dialogue for two or more of you in this web service Cambridge University Presswww.cambridge.org
Cambridge University Press978-0-521-85257-9 - American English: History, Structure, and UsageJulie S. Amberg and Deborah J. VauseExcerptMore informationLanguage signs5to read to your classmates illustrating the language of this community. Do not identify thecommunity by name for the other students in the class but instead focus on the vocabulary,pronunciation, sentence structure, and style of dialogue to convey the community’s identity. Afteryou’ve written the dialogue, list its distinctive characteristics and speculate on how this particularlanguage community might have acquired these characteristics. Be prepared to discuss how theselanguage characteristics differ from the language of your classmates’ dialogues.How we define languageAlthough those who study language may Conventions are the unspoken,disagree over a precise definition because they dispute unofficial rules within a particularsome concepts, such as whether or not language must community that are accepted andhave a written and/or oral component, they agree that followed by members who may noteven be aware of them. The wordlanguage is a rule-based system of signs. Saying thatconvention originated in the Latin verblanguage is rule-based usually makes people think convenı̄re, meaning to come together,of other kinds of situations where rules are enforced a meaning still reflected in usageby a particular authority. For example, think about today. If we look at the individualsclassroom behavior. Students are expected to sit still, following a particular convention,be quiet, pay attention, and so on; typically, there we see a community coming togetherthrough making the same choices inare consequences if they don’t follow these rules. their actions, which includes theirLanguage rules, however, are not enforced by any use of language. If you drink a soda,authority figure; language police do not exist. Instead, you probably live in a differentlanguage rules are conventions. This means that they geographical region of the Unitedcome into existence through common practice by users States from someone who drinks pop.And if you drink a coke, you live in yetof the language rather than through the imposition ofanother region (see Figure 1.2). Allan authority figure. As a result, members who use the three words refer to the same thing,language conventions of their particular community a sugary, carbonated drink, but usersare influenced in their word choice bymay not even be conscious of following them.We talk about language as a system of rules or the preference of their community.conventions because a single language convention, forexample, a single word, a pause, or an alphabet letter, does not tell us muchbeyond its immediate meaning. Thus, we usually combine these conventionstogether to convey larger meanings.Language signsThe most basic convention of any language community is theacceptance of a set of signs that convey meaning. These signs could be soundsor words or punctuation marks on a page or even silence in a conversation; anyof these things is able to carry meaning. To be successful, signs work on twodifferent levels. First, signs indicate the phonic or graphic or visual elements,the physical medium that gives a language form, and then on the second level in this web service Cambridge University Presswww.cambridge.org
Cambridge University Press978-0-521-85257-9 - American English: History, Structure, and UsageJulie S. Amberg and Deborah J. VauseExcerptMore information6introductionGeneric names for soft drinksPopCokeSoda002505002507501000 km500 milesFigure 1.2 Do you use pop or soda or . . . ? (After M.T. Campbell 2003, Generic Names forSoft Drinks by County, .html)the signs portray the message itself, which indicates a Ferdinand de Saussure (1857–1913)particular meaning. To give a quick illustration of this was a Swiss linguist. His theories wereduality inherent in language signs, consider the word fundamental in defining the study ofgoose. The alphabet letters represent particular sounds language as a science. Saussure’swithin the American English language system. Then, work led to the twentieth-centurydevelopment of the importantfor the second level, the letters work together to create linguistic subfield of semiotics, or thethe word goose, which represents the meaning the study of signs. We’ll explore the fieldsign conveys, the concept of a certain kind of bird. of semiotics in Chapter 7.The signs of language can come through almost anysensory channel: sounds, like words or music; sights, like a page of text; or evenphysical movements, like dance. Braille provides an example of signs conveyedthrough touch.Types of signsThe signs within a language that convey meaning can be eitherarbitrary or iconic. An arbitrary sign doesn’t possess any inherent con
Box 1.1 The power of language Former Russian satellite countries Estonia and Latvia have made fluency in Estonian and Latvian, respectively, a requirement of citizenship, thus creating a potential problem for millions of Russian-speaking citizens who have lived in these countries for years. An Amsterdam city councilor proposed a law mandating that Dutch be spoken in Islamic mosques in his city .
The Group met four times in Brussels to complete its work: on 12 December 2013, on 14/15 January 2014, on 13/14 March 2014 and on 24/25 April 2014. During the term of the Group Mr Pierre Collin was appointed as member of the cabinet of Mr Moscovici, Minister of Finance in France. He continued participating in
pile resistances or pile resistances calculated from profiles of test results into characteristic resistances. Pile load capacity – calculation methods 85 Case (c) is referred to as the alternative procedure in the Note to EN 1997-1 §7.6.2.3(8), even though it is the most common method in some countries. Characteristic pile resistance from profiles of ground test results Part 2 of EN 1997 .
Automotive EMC is a growing challenge / opportunity Today’s cars are 4-wheel vehicles with dozens of computer systems Tomorrow’s cars will be computer systems with 4 wheels This is a great time to be an automotive electronics engineer!
beverages, the ad valorem tax is applied to 6.5 per cent of special grade sake, 8.7 per cent of wine and 9.2 per cent of special grade whisky, respectively in volume terms. 2.6 An overall review of the tax system has recently been made in Japan and bills for reforming the tax system have been submitted to the Diet. The proposed reforms of the liquor tax include, inter alia: introduction of a .
Search ‘NHS careers’ online Search ‘NHS careers’ online Call handlers and emergency medical dispatchers work in ambulance control rooms as part of a team. Most trusts ask for a good general education and provide in-service training. A level 3 apprenticeship may be available in your area. You need to remain calm in pressurised situations so you can get essential information from a .
Talking to children about illness Adults have a key role in helping children understand what is going on, providing information and reassurance, limiting media overload for children, and being aware of how their own reactions might impact on children. We’ve written this short leaflet to give health professionals, educational professionals, parents and early years providers an informed .
Climate change is already affecting communities across the United States. The most recent National Climate Assessment (NCA) clearly established the sweeping effects of climate change, many of which are already evident in the lives of Americans. Fifteen of the sixteen warmest years on record globally have
This cookbook supports the activities under Objective 1, and showcases the results of research on how to implement sustainable and institutionalised CBDRM activities. It presents a set of common ingredients found in successful examples across the globe, as well as
