OUTLINE

1- INTRODUCTION

2- BILINGUALISM

 DEFINITION
 TYPES OF BILINGUALISM
3- LANGUAGE
● DEFINITION
4- DIALECT

5- CODE-SWITCHING

6- CODE-MIXING

7- DIGLOSSIA

8- BORROWING

9- REGISTER

10-CONCLUSION

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 Ramzi MAAMRI

1- INTRODUCTION

Sociolinguistics is a field that studies the relationship between

language and society, between the users of language and the social

structures in which the users of language live. Sociolinguistics is concerned

with who can say, what, how, using what means, to whom, where, when,

and why?

If we know all these factors we should know a great deal about social

problems. Since bilingualism is considered as a social problem then, this

paper will investigate an important question which is whether the linguistic

concepts: language, dialect, code switching, code mixing, diglossia,

borrowing, and register have a relationship with bilingualism.

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 2- BINLINGUALISM

Bilingualism means the ability to communicate in two languages.

According to Betty Birner "A bilingual person is someone who

speaks two languages. Multilingualism is not unusual (…) it is possible for

a person to know and use three, four, or even more languages fluently. "

One of the bilingual's two languages is the native tongue and the

other one second language.

There are two types of bilingualism:

●Compound bilingualism: where two languages are acquired

at the same time in common context in childhood. It is the case when you

have a mother speaking Arabic and father speaking French.

●Co-ordinate bilingualism: where the two languages are

acquired in separate contexts, one as the first language, and the other as

subordinate which means secondary.

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 There some countries which are officially bilingual or multilingual as

Canada, and Switzerland.

3- LANGUAGE:

Language is considered as an idealized variety by most people in

particular country or speech community. It is used in printing, books,

newspapers, and taught in schools. It is related with education in public

context, and is more easily described in terms of written system

(vocabulary, spelling, and grammar) than the spoken language.

The study of language is called linguistics.

According to Richard Nordquist "language is a human system of

communication that uses arbitrary signals, such as voice sounds, gestures,

or written symbols."

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 4- DIALECT:

A dialect is a variety or a version of language that characterizes a

particular group of language speakers. This variety of language is

distinguished by pronunciation, grammar and vocabulary. Dialect is not

written and not standardized.

Ellis gave an example: "if one person utters the sentence:

‘John is a farmer’, and another says the same thing except pronounces the

word 'Farmer' as 'Fuhmuh', the difference is one of accent. But if someone

says something like:

'You should not do that’ and someone else says:

'Ya hadn't oughta do that.'(…), then we can say that some dialects

are very different from one another, but some others are very near.

In our case Arabic is the standard language, and Algerian Arabic,

Moroccan Arabic, Syrian Arabic are all dialects of our language.

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 5- CODE-SWITCHING:

Code-switching means the use of two languages or more in

conversation. People may use code-switching when they are not fluent in

the second language.

There are two types of code-switching:

●Intersentential Switching: This is found between sentences.

●Intrasentential Switching: This is found within a single sentence.

For example, 'I am shuxi-ing with you ' means: I am joking.

There are two kinds of code-switching:

Situational Code-Switching and Metaphorical Code-Switching.

●.Situational Code-Switching: the speaker changes the language

because of a change in situation.

For example: language A used within the family, and language B in

government offices.

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 ●Metaphorical Code-Switching: This is found when a change of the

topic discourse needs a change in the language used.

For example: the language used at home is sometimes heard in a

government office, because the topic is associated with home.

6-CODE-MIXING:

Code-mixing means the mixing of two languages in the same

conversation.

For example:

Hello, Ali, how are you? Wech akhbarik?

Al-hamdou lilah.Fine. Thank you. Ween kounti el-barah?

Went to the movies with Karim. Ya reetik kount maana. Kan el-

film fantastic.

Conversational Code-Switching is often called code-mixing. It is

used among bilinguals who switch from one language to another.

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 7-DIGLOSSIA:

Diglossia is a language that has two forms: one is prestigious and

associated with Islam, the Holy Koran, and the language of law and

government. The other form is a colloquial one that is widely used, but less

prestigious and used in radio, and TV series.

The best example is in the Arab World: in each Arabic community

there are Standard Arabic which is the high variety, and Colloquial Arabic

which is the low variety.

8-BORROWING:

The speaker borrows when he does not know the appropriate

equivalent for the borrowed item in the first language. In most cases the

borrowed items are single words, and there are changes in pronunciation

and morphology.

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 Here are two examples: in Arabic, the word "casse-croûte" has been

borrowed from the French word "casse-croute", and the word "mgrippi"

derived from the French word "grippe".

9- REGISTER:

According to J.Aitchison "Register is one of many styles or varieties

of language determined by such factors as social factors, purpose, and

audience (…). Every native speaker is normally in command of several

different language styles, sometimes called registers, which vary according

to the topic under discussion, the formality of the occasion, and the

medium used (speech, writing, or sign)(…).Adapting language to suit the

topic is not a complicated matter. "

Consider the following example:

"Cheers! Here's to your good health! "

"I should be grateful if you would make less noise. "

"Please be quiet. "

"Shut up. "

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 10-CONCLUSION:

Language does not exist separately from people. Because language is

a social fact which is not understood, it is clear to accept without proof that

the structure of the society has an influence on the language of the speaker

of that society. The study of both this relationship and other linguistic

factors is the field of sociolinguistics. This linguistic variety has an impact

on speech communities.

The result from this paper is that the linguistic concepts: standard

language, dialect, code-switching, code-mixing and diglossia do have

a relationship with bilingualism, whereas borrowing and register have

none.

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 REFERENCES

Aitchison ,J. .Teach Yourself Linguistics. Oxford:

Oxford University Press , 2003.

Birner , Betty. .Bilingualism. Washington DC :

Newbury House , 1986.

Ellis , Douald G. .From Language to Communication.

Molden MA: Blackwell , 2000.

Nordquist , Richard. .Issential Introductory linguistics.

Wiley , 2001.

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