Language variation

Language variation

1. The existence of language varieties side by side (synchronic variability)

2. Language change = the constant change of language varieties along the dimension of time (diachronic variability

3. Language identity = a socio-psychological concept, one language is the sum of all the varieties that their users are culturally and politically conditioned to regard as one and the same language

4. Sociolinguistics = the study of language in relation to society

5. User-related language variation = dialect, sociolect, pidgin, creole, child language, gender differences

6. Isogloss = the line marking the limit of the distribution of a linguistic feature on a map

7. Standard variety (prestige variety) = when a regional variety gains social-political priority over the others and is no longer restricted to the geographical area where it was originally used

8. Double (or multiple) negation = having two (or more) negations in a sentence, a non-standard sociolectal feature used by uneducated speakers

9. Pidgin = a simplified version of a European language, containing features of one or more local languages, used for occasional communication between people with no common language

10. Creole = a pidgin that has become the native language of a community

11. Medium conditioned variation = a variety of language conditioned by the medium of language use (spoken and its subtypes, written and its subtypes

12. Neutral style = a style that does not show any obvious colouring brought about by relative social status or attitude

13. Stylistically appropriate = matching the stylistic requirements of the situation

14. Argot, a.k.a. cant criminals' jargon

15. Code switching = the ability to change from one language variety to another

16. Diglossia = the coexistence of a high and a low prestige language-variety in a community, used in different situations

17. Rigid style = very formal style