Understanding Language Varieties and Grammatical Categories
Language and Speech
Language is the human faculty that allows us to communicate through shared symbols that express thought. Language is a structured system of verbal and combination rules common to a community of speakers. Speech is the concrete realization of language by speakers at a specific time and in a particular communicative situation. Standard language is the set of rules and practices accepted by speakers of a language as exemplary forms of speech.
Diaphasic Varieties
People adapt their
Read MoreMastering English Punctuation: A Comprehensive Look
There are 14 punctuation marks that are commonly used in English grammar. They are the period, question mark, exclamation point, comma, semicolon, colon, dash, hyphen, parentheses, brackets, braces, apostrophe, quotation marks, and ellipsis. Following their correct usage will make your writing easier to read and more appealing.
Sentence Endings
Three of the fourteen punctuation marks are appropriate for use as sentence endings. They are the period, question mark, and exclamation point.
The period (
Read MoreCode-Switching in Multilingual Societies: A Deep Dive
Code-Switching in Multilingual Societies
A further feature of multilingual societies is code-switching: the relatively rapid switching from one language (code) to another. Switching may occur in a number of guises, from the occasional lexical item inserted into a largely monolingual text (where the matrix text can be either L1 or L2) to alternating clauses. The attested incidence of switching is wide, but it is frequently derided by both speakers and listeners (when made aware of it) as indicative
Read MoreDialects and Accents of the British Isles: A Linguistic Journey
Late Modern and Contemporary English
British Isles = UK + Ireland, UK = Britain + Northern Ireland, Britain: England, Scotland & Wales. 4 major dialectal areas: EngEng, ScotEng, WalEng, IrEng (North & South).
English Dialects and Accents
Based on historical dialects (Northumbria, Mercia, Midlands, etc.). Dialect: grammatical and lexical variation. Accent: phonological variation. Most prestigious BrEng accent today: RP, also BBC English or Queen’s English.
Northern Dialects (Scotland)
- Rhotic