LING 432-532 – Sociolinguistics – Spring 2011
Slide 1
Wardhaugh Ch 4
Ch 4 - Codes
Instead of language, dialect, style, pidgin, etc. - the term code
Diglossia = distinct codes used for different and distinct functions
“famous” diglossic situations: Arabic, Swiss German, Haitian and Greek
High (H) versus Low (L) varieties - H has more power/prestige and used
for govt/education
Haeri (1996) - She shows that Cairene Arabic spoken in Egypt is
developing a new phonological feature and that women are adopting it
more than men - If Classical Arabic (H code) is the standard, then women
are LESS standard than men - but reconsider what is the standard since
women do not have equal access to H variety - why would they choose the
L variety over the H one? Covert prestige?
LING 432-532 – Sociolinguistics – Spring 2011
Slide 2
Wardhaugh Ch 4
Ch 4 - Codes
Haeri (1996) - She shows that Cairene Arabic spoken in Egypt is
developing a new phonological feature and that women are adopting it
more than men - If Classical Arabic (H code) is the standard, then women
are LESS standard than men - but reconsider what is the standard since
women do not have equal access to H variety - why would they choose the
L variety over the H one? Covert prestige?
Also Ketih Walters has found in Tunisia that women prefer French while
the men prefer Arabic. Why would you guess?
LING 432-532 – Sociolinguistics – Spring 2011
Slide 3
Wardhaugh Ch 4
Ch 4 - Codes
Bilingualism/Multilingualism - a chance for codes to take on different
meanings/identities for the users
Code-switching - (code-mixing) - the switching of codes during a
conversation/turn (Spanglish)
Complicated situation of Singapore (p. 99)
2 kinds of code-switching:
Situational - speaker switches codes in response to situation
Metaphorical - speaker switches codes as the topic changes (often
adding extra flavor by the selection of 1 code over the other)
Relates to theories of style?
LING 432-532 – Sociolinguistics – Spring 2011
Slide 4
Wardhaugh Ch 4
Ch 4 - Codes
Not only is which code to select an identity issue, but also how you do
code-switching (how often you use 1 code over the other, what words you
choose to add from one code or the other, what loan words you adopt,
etc).
Matched guise experiments - how the same person is judged when using
different codes
Bell’s audience design model for style
Accommodation again - convergence and divergence
“speaking is not merely a social act that involves others; it is also a
personal act in that it helps create the identity one wishes to be seen as
having in a particular set of circumstances.” (p. 113)