Sociolinguistics: Variation, Pidgins and Creoles, Multilingualism and Language Policy

Practice questions (17)

Attempt each one before opening the answer. Every explanation names the tempting wrong option as well as the right one, because that is where marks are lost.

1. In sociolinguistics, which term names a language variety defined by the situation of use rather than by the speaker, for example the special language of legal documents or sports commentary?

   1. Register, a functional variety tied to a particular situation or activity of use
   2. Dialect, a regional variety tied to where a speaker comes from geographically
   3. Sociolect, a variety tied to the social class or group that a speaker belongs to
   4. Idiolect, the distinctive speech pattern characteristic of a single individual person
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   Answer: A — Register, a functional variety tied to a particular situation or activity of use

   A variety defined by the situation of use is a register. Dialect, sociolect and idiolect are all varieties defined by the user (where they are from, their social group, or the individual), not by the activity, which is exactly the contrast the question draws.

2. A community uses a prestigious High variety for sermons, writing and formal speeches, and a Low variety for home and the market, each kept to its own domains. Ferguson called this stable arrangement:

   1. Decreolization, where a whole speech community drifts toward its lexifier language
   2. Diglossia, a stable division of labour between a High and a Low variety by domain
   3. Hypercorrection, where speakers overshoot a prestige target in their careful speech
   4. Code-mixing, the intra-sentential blending of material drawn from two codes
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   Answer: B — Diglossia, a stable division of labour between a High and a Low variety by domain

   A stable High/Low split by domain is diglossia, Ferguson's term. Decreolization is a creole drifting toward its lexifier; hypercorrection is overshooting a prestige norm; code-mixing is blending two codes within a sentence. Only diglossia describes two varieties with complementary functional domains.

3. On a dialect map, the line drawn to separate the places that use one variant of a feature from the places that use another is called:

   1. A basilect, marking the variety that lies furthest from the recognised standard
   2. A matrix language, which is the language that supplies the main grammatical frame in an instance of code-switching
   3. An isogloss, a line separating areas that differ in the chosen linguistic feature
   4. A speech community, the group of people who share norms for using a language
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   Answer: C — An isogloss, a line separating areas that differ in the chosen linguistic feature

   An isogloss is the map line dividing areas by a linguistic variant, and a bundle of isoglosses marks a dialect boundary. A basilect is a point on a creole continuum, a matrix language is a code-switching notion, and a speech community is a group of speakers, none of them a map line.

4. Two neighbouring varieties are fully mutually intelligible, yet across a national border each is officially called a separate 'language'. Which statement best reflects how linguists understand the language-versus-dialect distinction here?

   1. The one with more speakers must be the language and the other must be its dialect
   2. Whichever variety has a writing system is the language and the spoken-only one is a dialect
   3. Mutual intelligibility by itself proves beyond any doubt that they are one and the same language, so the official labels must simply be an error
   4. The distinction is often social and political; political status can override the linguistic criterion of intelligibility
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   Answer: D — The distinction is often social and political; political status can override the linguistic criterion of intelligibility

   Linguists hold that the language/dialect line is largely social and political: mutually intelligible varieties can count as separate languages for political reasons (the 'army and navy' point). Speaker numbers and the presence of writing are not the defining criteria, and calling the official labels a mere error ignores that the distinction is not purely linguistic in the first place.

5. Which of the following statements about language varieties are correct?

   1. An accent is a difference of pronunciation alone, narrower than a dialect
   2. A standard variety is a codified dialect, not one that is linguistically superior to others
   3. In a dialect continuum, adjacent varieties are intelligible but the two far ends may not be
   4. A dialect differs from other varieties only in pronunciation, never in words or grammar
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   Answer: A — An accent is a difference of pronunciation alone, narrower than a dialect; B — A standard variety is a codified dialect, not one that is linguistically superior to others; C — In a dialect continuum, adjacent varieties are intelligible but the two far ends may not be

   An accent is pronunciation only; the standard is a codified variety with official backing, not an inherently better one; and a continuum has intelligible neighbours with unintelligible ends. The last claim is false: a dialect differs in pronunciation and also in vocabulary and grammar, which is exactly what distinguishes it from a mere accent.

6. Which feature is the defining characteristic of a pidgin, as opposed to a creole?

   1. It has no native speakers and is used only for limited purposes
   2. It is always written in the script of its lexifier language
   3. It takes its grammar entirely from a single prestige language
   4. It is spoken natively by the children growing up in a settled, established community
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   Answer: A — It has no native speakers and is used only for limited purposes

   A pidgin has no native speakers and serves limited, usually practical, functions; this is the sharpest line between it and a creole. Pidgins need not be written at all; their grammar is shaped by the substrate languages, not taken wholesale from one language; and being spoken natively by children describes a creole, not a pidgin.

7. A contact language that began as a simplified trade jargon is now the first language of a whole community of children, with a full and expanded grammar. This language is best described as:

   1. A pidgin, because its original source lies in an earlier simplified trade jargon
   2. A creole, because a pidgin has become the native language of a community
   3. A register, because it is used for the special purpose of trade
   4. An isogloss, because it marks a boundary between two trading regions
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   Answer: B — A creole, because a pidgin has become the native language of a community

   A pidgin that gains native speakers and expands into a full language is a creole; that is precisely creolization. Its trade origin does not keep it a pidgin now that it has native speakers. A register is a situational variety, and an isogloss is a line on a map, so neither fits a nativized contact language.

8. In the formation of a pidgin, which description of the lexifier (superstrate) and the substrate is correct?

   1. The lexifier supplies most of the grammar, while the substrate supplies most of the vocabulary
   2. Both the vocabulary and the grammar come equally from the substrate languages only
   3. The lexifier supplies most of the vocabulary, while the substrate languages shape the grammar
   4. Both the vocabulary and the grammar come equally from the lexifier language only
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   Answer: C — The lexifier supplies most of the vocabulary, while the substrate languages shape the grammar

   By definition the lexifier (usually the socially dominant language) provides most of the words, while the speakers' own substrate languages influence the grammar and phonology. Accounts that reverse these roles, or attribute everything to one side, misstate the standard account of how a pidgin is built.

9. In Labovian variationist sociolinguistics, a 'linguistic variable' is best defined as:

   1. A grammatical rule that is held to apply without any exception to every single word in the language
   2. A word that has been borrowed and fully integrated from a prestige language
   3. A single fixed pronunciation shared by every speaker of the standard variety
   4. A feature with two or more variants whose use correlates with social and stylistic factors
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   Answer: D — A feature with two or more variants whose use correlates with social and stylistic factors

   A linguistic variable is a feature with alternating variants (such as -ing versus -in') whose distribution correlates with class, age, sex and style. An exceptionless rule is a sound law; an integrated loanword is borrowing; and a single fixed pronunciation is the opposite of a variable, which by definition varies.

10. Dell Hymes introduced 'communicative competence' mainly to argue that knowing a language involves:

    1. Knowing not only its grammar but also how to use it appropriately for the context
    2. Mastering only the formal rules that generate all and only the grammatical sentences of it
    3. Memorising the complete vocabulary and spelling of the standard written form
    4. Reconstructing the proto-language from which the modern language descends
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    Answer: A — Knowing not only its grammar but also how to use it appropriately for the context

    Communicative competence adds knowledge of appropriate use (to whom, when, where, how) to grammatical knowledge, a response to Chomsky's purely grammatical competence. Grammatical rules alone are what Hymes found too narrow; vocabulary memorisation and proto-language reconstruction are unrelated to his concept.

11. Which of the following statements about Labov's variationist findings and methods are correct?

    1. Speakers tend to use more of the overt-prestige variant as they pay more attention to their speech
    2. Hypercorrection can lead a lower-status group to exceed higher-status speakers on a prestige variant in careful styles
    3. The observer's paradox is the difficulty of recording how people speak when they are not being observed
    4. A non-standard form can never carry prestige, because prestige belongs only to standard forms
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    Answer: A — Speakers tend to use more of the overt-prestige variant as they pay more attention to their speech; B — Hypercorrection can lead a lower-status group to exceed higher-status speakers on a prestige variant in careful styles; C — The observer's paradox is the difficulty of recording how people speak when they are not being observed

    The first three are standard results of variationist work: prestige variants rise with attention to speech; lower-middle-class hypercorrection can overshoot higher-status usage in formal styles; and the observer's paradox names the recording problem. The last claim is false: covert prestige shows that a non-standard form can be valued within a group even without open approval, which is why such forms persist.

12. A bilingual speaker inserts an English noun phrase into the middle of a Hindi clause, keeping the clause otherwise in Hindi. This within-clause alternation is best described as:

    1. Inter-sentential code-switching, because the switch happens between two full sentences
    2. Intra-sentential code-switching (code-mixing), because the switch happens within one clause
    3. Decreolization, because the speaker is moving toward a more prestigious lexifier
    4. Diglossia, because the two languages are assigned to separate functional domains
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    Answer: B — Intra-sentential code-switching (code-mixing), because the switch happens within one clause

    A switch inside a single clause is intra-sentential code-switching, often called code-mixing. Inter-sentential switching occurs at sentence boundaries, not within a clause. Decreolization is a creole drifting toward its lexifier, and diglossia is a domain-based split of two varieties, neither of which is a single within-clause switch.

13. Which of the following statements about bilingualism and code-switching are correct?

    1. Additive bilingualism adds a second language without loss of the first, unlike subtractive bilingualism
    2. Code-switching is random and follows no grammatical constraints whatsoever
    3. Borrowing integrates a word into the recipient language, whereas a switch keeps its own grammar
    4. Societal bilingualism refers to two languages being used within a single community
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    Answer: A — Additive bilingualism adds a second language without loss of the first, unlike subtractive bilingualism; C — Borrowing integrates a word into the recipient language, whereas a switch keeps its own grammar; D — Societal bilingualism refers to two languages being used within a single community

    Additive bilingualism keeps the first language while adding a second; borrowing integrates a word whereas switching preserves each language's grammar; and societal bilingualism is community-level. The claim that code-switching is random is false: it is rule-governed, as the Matrix Language Frame and other constraint models show.

14. Blom and Gumperz distinguished two kinds of switching. A speaker who switches languages purely to signal solidarity or a shift in attitude, without any change in setting or addressee, is performing:

    1. Situational switching, because it is triggered by a change in the external situation
    2. Decreolization, because the speaker is abandoning a basilect for an acrolect
    3. Metaphorical switching, because it is used to convey social meaning within one setting
    4. Corpus planning, because the speaker is standardising the grammar of the two codes
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    Answer: C — Metaphorical switching, because it is used to convey social meaning within one setting

    Switching to signal attitude or solidarity with no change of setting is metaphorical switching; situational switching, by contrast, is driven by a change in setting or addressee. Decreolization is a creole phenomenon and corpus planning is a policy activity, so neither describes this discourse move.

15. On the EGIDS and in Fishman's framework, which single factor is treated as the most decisive warning sign that a language is becoming endangered?

    1. The absence of a standardised spelling system or a long written literary tradition
    2. The borrowing of a large number of words from a neighbouring majority language
    3. The existence of several regional dialects that differ noticeably within the language
    4. A break in intergenerational transmission, where children no longer acquire it at home
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    Answer: D — A break in intergenerational transmission, where children no longer acquire it at home

    Fishman's work and the EGIDS both make intergenerational transmission the pivotal indicator: a language survives if children learn it at home. Lacking a standard spelling or written tradition, borrowing words, or having internal dialects are not themselves signs of endangerment, since many vigorous languages show all three.

16. Which of the following statements about language policy, endangerment and documentation are correct?

    1. Status planning concerns the official roles of a language, while corpus planning fixes its forms such as spelling and grammar
    2. Documentation aims to record a language, whereas revitalization aims to restore its living everyday use
    3. Minority and majority status is purely a matter of speaker numbers, with power and prestige playing no part
    4. A language can be thoroughly documented and yet still die if no new generation learns to speak it
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    Answer: A — Status planning concerns the official roles of a language, while corpus planning fixes its forms such as spelling and grammar; B — Documentation aims to record a language, whereas revitalization aims to restore its living everyday use; D — A language can be thoroughly documented and yet still die if no new generation learns to speak it

    Status and corpus planning are correctly distinguished; documentation and revitalization differ in aim; and documentation alone cannot keep a language alive without new speakers. The minority/majority claim is false: these statuses reflect power and prestige, not numbers alone, so a numerically small group can be socially dominant.

17. In an EGIDS-style grading, the parent (child-bearing) generation speaks a language among themselves, but that generation no longer passes it on to its children. Which level fits this description?

    1. Level 6a (vigorous), because all generations use it and children still acquire it at home
    2. Level 6b (threatened), because some but not all of the child-bearing generation still transmit it
    3. Level 7 (shifting), because the parent generation uses it but does not transmit it to children
    4. Level 8a (moribund), because only the grandparent generation and older still use it
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    Answer: C — Level 7 (shifting), because the parent generation uses it but does not transmit it to children

    Parents who use the language among themselves but stop transmitting it to their children is the defining mark of level 7, shifting. Level 6a means children still acquire it; 6b means some of the child-bearing generation still transmit it, whereas here none do; and 8a means the parent generation no longer uses it at all, so only the grandparent generation and older remain, which contradicts the parents' continuing use.