Readings

• Bastard Tongues, chapt. 2
• The Great Eskimo Vocabulary Hoax [0] by Geoff Pullum.

Linguistic Concepts

• Is English a Creole?
  
  

  Problems with the linguistic definition of creoles are legion and many of the central issues remain unresolved. The uninitiated reader will probably agree with Givon's (1979) characterization of creole studies as something like a 'mythological safari across the equally mythological African jungle of lore' and will find the 'literally strewn with boobytraps and quicksands of idiosyncratic linguistic features'. Still, it would seem that the numerous characterizations and definitions of creole can be reduced to three major types:
  

  1. creoles are regarded as mixed languages typically associated with cultural and often racial mixture;
  2. creoles are defined as pidgin languages (second languages) that have become the first language of a new generation of speakers;
  3. creoles are reflections of a natural biorprogram for human language which is activated in cases of imperfect language transmission (cf. Bickerton 1981).

  As in the case of the definition of 'pidgin', both social and linguistic aspects tend to be found in the above categories...In discussing the question whether English is a creole language, Bailey and Maroldt (1977) state: "by creolization the authors wish to indicate gradient mixture of two or more language; in a narrow sense, a creole is the result of mixing which is substantial enough to result in a new system, a system that is separate from its antecedent parent system.' A number of researchers, including Bailey and Maroldt, have concluded from their assessment of the role of mixing in the emergence of Middle English from Anglo=Saxon that English is indeed a creole.

  From Muehlhaeusler, Peter (1986), Pidgin and Creole Linguistics, Blackwell Press.

• Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis [1]
  
  

  In linguistics, the Sapir–Whorf hypothesis (SWH) (also known as the "linguistic relativity hypothesis") postulates a systematic relationship between the grammatical categories of the language a person speaks and how that person both understands the world and behaves in it. Although known as the Sapir–Whorf hypothesis, it was an underlying axiom of linguist and anthropologist Edward Sapir and his colleague and student Benjamin Whorf.
  
  The hypothesis postulates that a particular language's nature influences the habitual thought of its speakers: that different language patterns yield different patterns of thought. This idea challenges the possibility of perfectly representing the world with language, because it implies that the mechanisms of any language condition the thoughts of its speaker community. The hypothesis emerges in strong and weak formulations.

  
  
  
  Here's an interesting discussion about the SWH:
  
  

• More Background [2] on the SWH

• Language Variation [3]
  
  Sociolinguistics is the study of the effect of any and all aspects of society, including cultural norms, expectations, and context, on the way language is used. Sociolinguistics overlaps to a considerable degree with pragmatics.
  
  It also studies how lects differ between groups separated by certain social variables, e.g., ethnicity, religion, status, gender, level of education, age, etc., and how creation and adherence to these rules is used to categorize individuals in social class or socio-economic classes. As the usage of a language varies from place to place (dialect), language usage varies among social classes, and it is these sociolects that sociolinguistics studies.
  
  
  

• Code Switching [4]
  
  Code-switching is a term in linguistics referring to using more than one language or variety in conversation. Bilinguals, who can speak at least two languages, have the ability to use elements of both languages when conversing with another bilingual. Code-switching is the syntactically and phonologically appropriate use of multiple varieties.
  
  Code-switching can occur between sentences (intersentential) or within a single sentence (intrasentential).
  
  Although some commentators have seen code-switching as reflecting a lack of language ability, most contemporary scholars consider code-switching to be a normal and natural product of interaction between the bilingual (or multilingual) speaker's languages.
  
  Code-switching can be distinguished from other language contact phenomena such as loan translation (calques), borrowing, pidgins and creoles, and transfer or interference.
  
  

• English Verb Tense Overview with Examples
  
  

  Simple Present	Simple Past	Simple Future
  I study [5]English every day.	Two years ago, I studied [5]English in England.	If you are having problems, I will help [5] you study English. I am going [5] to study English next year.
  Present Continuous	Past Continuous	Future Continuous
  I am studying [5] English now.	I was studying [5] English when you called yesterday.	I will be studying [5] English when you arrive tonight. I am going to be studying [5] English when you arrive tonight.
  Present Perfect	Past Perfect	Future Perfect
  I have studied [5] English in several different countries.	I had studied [5] a little English before I moved to the U.S.	I will have studied [5] every tense by the time I finish this course. I am going to have studied [5] every tense by the time I finish this course.
  Present Perfect Continuous	Past Perfect Continuous	Future Perfect Continuous
  I have been studying [5] English for five years.	I had been studying [5] English for five years before I moved to the U.S.	I will have been studying [5] English for over two hours by the time you arrive. I am going to have been studying [5] English for over two hours by the time you arrive.