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glossary
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| AAVE / AAE (African American Vernacular English / African American English) | A systematic, rule-governed variety of English associated with African American communities. It features distinct phonology and syntax, such as copula deletion, and is a legitimate linguistic system rather than a deficient form. |
| Accent | The pronunciation features of a speaker's language that signal regional, social, or ethnic identity, distinct from grammar or vocabulary. |
| Accommodation | The process by which speakers adjust their speech depending on their interlocutor or context. It includes convergence (becoming more similar) and divergence (emphasizing differences to mark identity). |
| Address forms | Words and expressions used to address others (names, titles, pronouns), which signal relationships such as status, politeness, intimacy, and social distance. |
| Age-grading | A pattern where individuals change their linguistic behavior across their lifespan (e.g., adolescents using more slang), representing stable variation rather than long-term change. |
| Apparent time | A method for studying language change by comparing speakers of different ages at a single moment, assuming younger speakers reflect newer linguistic forms. |
| Real time | The study of language change by comparing linguistic data from different historical periods or from the same speakers/community over time. |
| Audience design | The idea that speakers shape their language according to their audience, adjusting style in response to participants or even imagined reference groups. |
| Baby-talk / Child-directed speech / Motherese (Parentese) | A speech style used with children characterized by simplified grammar, exaggerated intonation, and repetition to facilitate comprehension and acquisition. |
| Basilect, mesolect, acrolect | Levels in a post-creole continuum. The basilect is most divergent from the standard, the acrolect is closest to the standard, and the mesolect lies in between. |
| Bilingualism | The ability of an individual or community to use two languages, with varying degrees of proficiency and functional distribution. |
| Asymmetrical bilingualism | A situation where one group (often a minority) must learn the dominant language, while the dominant group remains largely monolingual. |
| Borrowing | The adoption of words, structures, or features from one language into another, typically becoming integrated into the recipient language's system. |
| Change from below | Language change that originates unconsciously within everyday speech, often below speakers' awareness and not initially associated with prestige. |
| Class stratification | The division of society into hierarchical social classes, often correlated with differences in language use and access to prestige varieties. |
| Cockney | A traditional working-class dialect of London English with distinctive phonological features like dropping /h/ and using glottal stops. |
| Code-switching | The alternation between two or more languages or varieties within a conversation, often reflecting identity, context, or communicative goals. |
| Communicative competence | The ability to use language appropriately in different social contexts, including grammatical knowledge and sociocultural norms. |
| Community of practice | A group of people who engage in shared activities and develop common linguistic practices and norms through regular interaction. |
| Convergence and divergence | Strategies within accommodation where speakers either align their speech with others (convergence) or differentiate themselves (divergence). |
| Cooperation | The principle that speakers generally aim to communicate effectively and collaboratively, often associated with conversational maxims like relevance and clarity. |
| Creaky voice | A type of phonation with low, irregular vocal fold vibration, often used as a sociolinguistic variable. |
| Creole | A fully developed natural language that arises from a pidgin when it becomes the first language of a community. |
| Cross over effect | A pattern where lower-middle-class speakers use prestige forms more frequently than higher-status groups in careful speech, often due to linguistic insecurity. |
| Cross-sectional studies and longitudinal studies | Research methods where cross-sectional studies compare different groups at one time, while longitudinal studies follow the same individuals over time. |
| Dialect | A variety of a language distinguished by systematic differences in pronunciation, grammar, and vocabulary. |
| Dialect levelling (levelling) | The reduction or elimination of regional differences, often due to increased mobility, contact, and urbanization. |
| Dialectologist / Dialectology | A dialectologist is a researcher who studies dialects; dialectology is the field concerned with their distribution and features. |
| Difference model | An approach to language and gender suggesting that men and women have different but equally valid communicative styles shaped by socialization. |
| Diglossia | A situation where two varieties of a language coexist in a community with distinct functions: a high (formal) variety and a low (informal) variety. |
| Domain | A specific social context or setting (e.g., home, school, workplace) associated with particular language choices. |
| Dominance model | An approach to language and gender arguing that differences in speech reflect power imbalances and male dominance. |
| Elaborated and restricted code | Bernstein's distinction between explicit, context-independent codes (middle class) and codes relying on shared context (working class). |
| Encoding | The process of producing linguistic messages from thoughts into speech or writing. |
| Enregisterment | The process through which particular linguistic features become recognized as belonging to a socially meaningful register or identity. |
| Ethnic crossing | The use of linguistic features associated with an ethnic group by speakers who are not members of that group. |
| Ethnic enclave | A geographically or socially concentrated area where members of an ethnic group maintain linguistic and cultural practices. |
| Ethnolect | A variety of a language associated with a specific ethnic group. |
| Ethnolinguistic vitality | The strength of a language within a community, influenced by status, institutional support, and demographic presence. |
| Face | A person's public self-image in interaction, which speakers seek to maintain or protect. |
| Foreigner talk | A simplified and modified speech style used when addressing non-native speakers. |
| Free variation | Variation between linguistic forms that appears to occur without clear social or linguistic conditioning. |
| Gender | A social and cultural construct influencing language use, distinct from biological sex. |
| Gliding | A phonological process in which vowels shift toward glide sounds (e.g., /ar/ becoming /a/). |
| Historical linguistics | The study of language change over time, including sound change, grammatical change, and language evolution. |
| Honorifics | Linguistic forms used to express respect, politeness, or social hierarchy. |
| Hypercorrection | The overapplication of prestige forms, often by speakers seeking to conform to standard norms but overshooting them. |
| Indirectness | Communicating meaning implicitly rather than explicitly, often as a politeness strategy. |
| Interference | The influence of one language on another, often seen in bilingual speakers' pronunciation, grammar, or vocabulary. |
| Language contact | The interaction between speakers of different languages, often leading to borrowing, code-switching, or new varieties. |
| Language diversity | The existence of multiple languages and varieties within a region or globally. |
| Language maintenance | The continued use of a language by a community despite external pressures. |
| Language shift | The gradual replacement of one language by another within a community. |
| Language spread | The expansion of a language in terms of number of speakers or functions. |
| Language variation | Differences in language use across speakers, contexts, or regions. |
| Lingua franca | A language used as a common means of communication between speakers of different native languages. |
| Linguistic awareness | Conscious knowledge about language structure and use. |
| Linguistic constraint | Rules or patterns that limit how variation can occur. |
| Linguistic isolation | Lack of contact with other language varieties, often preserving distinct features. |
| Linguistic market | The idea that linguistic forms have social value depending on context, such as prestige in job markets. |
| Markedness theory | The idea that some linguistic forms are neutral (unmarked) while others are specialized or less common (marked). |
| Migration | Movement of people across regions, influencing language contact and change. |
| Multilingualism | The use of more than two languages by individuals or communities. |
| Mutual intelligibility | The degree to which speakers of different varieties can understand each other. |
| Non-standard | Language forms that differ from the codified standard variety. |
| Pidgin | A simplified contact language that develops between speakers of different languages and has no native speakers. |
| Politeness | Strategies used to manage social relationships and protect face. |
| Prestige (overt and covert) | Overt prestige is associated with standard forms; covert prestige is linked to non-standard forms valued within specific groups. |
| Register | A variety of language associated with a particular context, purpose, or activity (e.g., formal, academic, casual). |
| Rhotic and non-rhotic | Varieties where /r/ is pronounced in all positions (rhotic) or only before vowels (non-rhotic). |
| Shibboleth | A linguistic feature that identifies membership in a particular group. |
| Slang | Informal vocabulary associated with particular groups, often innovative and rapidly changing. |
| Social distance | The degree of familiarity or solidarity between speakers. |
| Social networks | The patterns of relationships among individuals that influence language use and change. |
| Sociolect | A language variety associated with a particular social class or group. |
| Sociolinguistics | The study of the relationship between language and society, including variation and social factors. |
| Solidarity | Social closeness or shared identity expressed through language. |
| Speech community | A group of speakers who share norms and expectations about language use. |
| Standard | A codified, socially prestigious variety of a language used in formal contexts. |
| Standardization | The process of developing and codifying a standard language variety. |
| Status | The social standing or prestige of a language or variety. |
| Style | Variation in language use according to context, audience, or purpose. |
| T and V pronouns | Distinction between informal (T) and formal (V) second-person pronouns used to signal familiarity or respect. |
| Urbanization | The growth of cities, often leading to increased contact and dialect levelling. |
| Variable | A linguistic feature that can occur in different forms. |
| Variant | One specific realization of a variable. |
| Variety | Any form of language (dialect, register, style, etc.). |
| Vernacular | The informal, everyday speech style used in casual contexts, often considered the most natural and least monitored form of a language. |
Created by:
soumana
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