Pidginization –

1. The fact or process of producing a simplified or hybrid language; (concrete) a pidginized language.

https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/pidginization

2. is a linguistic process that occurs when people who do not speak the same language come into contact. It involves the simplification of the contacting language and the exploitation of linguistic common denominators. It is essentially an oral process and limited communication.

https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/annual-review-of-applied-linguistics/article/pidginization-and-creolization/090E6ED2AE887B994CCA6C63F462DE7D

Decreolisation–

1. is the process by which a vernacular loses its basilectal, or “creole,” features under the influence of the language from which it inherited most of its vocabulary. The basilect is the variety that is the most divergent from the local standard speech.

https://www.britannica.com/topic/decreolization

2. Decreolization- is typically viewed as the process through which a Creole language gradually merges with its lexifier language, i.e., the standard language of the community, as a result of Creole speakers’ increased access to, and ‘targeting’ of, the latter.

https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/progression-and-regression-in-language/language-change-in-a-creole-continuum-decreolization/1D64533B4A7FD947D7B5EFEAEB396361

Derivational Morphology–

1. Derivational morphology creates word stems, or lexemes. It builds and enlarges the lexicon so that concepts may find expression within a language.

https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/arabic/derivational-morphology-the-rootpattern-system/DBE7A3A92000E1F1AA40C23DD68B17EE

2. Derivational morphology is concerned with forming new lexemes, that is, words that differ either in syntactic category (part of speech) or in meaning from their bases.

http://www.oxfordbibliographies.com/view/document/obo-9780199772810/obo-9780199772810-0043.xml

 

The word that I had most trouble understanding has to be derivational morphology. Morphology is the study of forming words, however derivational morphology forms words with word stems or bases. Shebba says, “ derivational morphology affects world class membership, and meaning” (43). From this definition my understanding is that derivational morphology changes the meaning of the word completely and creates a new word with a new meaning. However, if you are only changing the word stem or bases shouldn’t the word still have a similar meaning.

Jargon

1. The term “jargon” refers to any in-group or specialized language used by small groups of like-minded individuals. This terminology is usually specialized to the function of the group, and will be used by and among group members as a sign of belonging, status, and for keeping out outsiders.

Source: https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/owlprint/608/

2. Jargon, in colonial history, an unstable rudimentary hybrid language used as a means of communication between persons having no other language in common. Although the term was long synonymous with pidgin—as can be seen by the use of jargon in the names of such pidgins as Chinook Jargon and Mobilian Jargon—in the 1980s some linguists began restricting its use to denote pre-pidgins, or early developmental forms of pidgins. No linguists more commonly define jargon as the technical or specialized parlance of a specific social or occupational group such as physicians or lawyers. Jargon has also historically been defined as gibberish or as an outlandish, unintelligible, barbarous, debased language; in this meaning it is similar to patois and carries negative connotations.

Source: https://www.britannica.com/topic/jargon-linguistics

Lingua franca

1. The original Lingua Franca was a stabilized pidgin, i.e., a contact language
developed spontaneously in order to bridge language barriers with a simple
grammar and a lexicon confined to the expression of only the notions needed for the communication goals of the participants, often merchants.

Source: On the Conceptual History of the Term Lingua Franca Cyril Brosch, Leipzig University.

2. A lingua franca is a language or mixture of languages used as a medium of communication by people whose native languages are different. Also known as a trade language, contact language, international language, and global language.

Source: https://www.thoughtco.com/what-is-a-lingua-franca-1691237

Inflectional morphology

1. Inflectional morphology is the study of the processes (such as affixation and vowel change) that distinguish the forms of words in certain grammatical categories.

Source: https://www.thoughtco.com/inflectional-morphology-words-1691065

2. In terms of both form and meaning, inflectional morphology occupies an unusual position in language, teetering on the margins between lexicon and syntax in apparent defiance of definition. In most languages inflectional morphology marks relations such as person, number, case, gender, possession, tense, aspect, and mood, serving as an essential grammatical glue holding the relationships of constructions together. Yet in some languages inflectional morphology is minimal or may not exist at all.

Source: https://www.inflectmorphjanda/topic/inflectional-morphology-words

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The term jargon is defined as a group of people who use a form of language and/or special words by a particular group of people. I found this term to be the most compelling amongst others because it allows a specific group of people to have a sense of belonging. As well as having a form of communication to call their own. Even though it may be portrayed as barbaric and a debased language it is their unique way in which they communicate. The term Lingua Franca is defined interestingly as well because it is commonly used in every day life. Lingua Franca surfaces when English may not be someone’s first language but they find a common language to speak , which I find to be interesting.

My name is Jamaar Adrian Watson. I’m a native of Trinidad and Tobago, and I was raised in both the Bronx and Brooklyn since the age of 7. I’ve lived in Brooklyn longer so its culture has claimed me and I have claimed it.

I am a former Posse Scholar who now attends York as an English and History Major with a Pre Law Minor. I am aspiring to go to law school to do a concentration in either civil rights law or corporate law.

I love books, swimming, basketball, running track, museums, movies, and binge watching like so many shows. But what captures my heart the most is my love for food and being outdoors where I tend to have random adventures.

This semester Im looking forward to having amazing class discussion with my classmates. Discussion is the main reason I come to class because it allows so many different perspectives to be discussed and allows me to gain different insight. Something about socratic dialect or anything along the lines of that gets my blood flowing.

Here’s to the start of an Amazing Semester !

P.S.: If you don’t watch GOT or House of Cards … start .. like today.

“It is evident that there is the belief that education is not a past time or hobby for the apathetic; education is for the quick witted and enduring. Knowledge through education is a craft that yields the rarest gems, that are to be paralleled with the seven wonders of the world. In its existence humanity should offer provisions for its rectification, where it should serve as the first and most regarded wonder, possessing the most desirable and conspicuous distinctions.” (Jamaar Watson)

Terms used in Linguistics

 Diglossia

1. Diglossia is a relatively stable language situation in which, in addition to the primary dialects of the language (which may include a standard or regional standards), there is a very divergent, highly codified (often grammatically more complex) superposed variety, the vehicle of a large and respected body of written literature, either of an earlier period or in another speech community, which is learned largely by formal education and is used for most written and formal spoken purposes but is not used by any sector of the community for ordinary conversation. In other words, diglossia is a language situation in which a standard language fulfils the so-called ‘high’ functions that are appropriate for formal contexts, while the ‘low’ functions are ascribed to dialectal forms employed in the privacy of one’s home. For example, a diglossia exists in Haiti where the ‘high’ variety language is considered to be French, and a ‘low’ variety is considered to be a French-based creole language called Haitian Creole.

See: Stepkowska, A. (2012). DIGLOSSIA: A CRITICAL OVERVIEW OF THE SWISS EXAMPLE. Studia Linguistica Universitatis Iagellonicae Cracoviensis, (129), 199-209. Retrieved from http://york.ezproxy.cuny.edu:2048/login?url=https://search-proquest-com.york.ezproxy.cuny.edu/docview/1312506508?accountid=15180

 

2. The side-by-side existence of two structurally and historically related language varieties (a High variety and a Low variety, referred to as H and L) throughout a community, each of which has a distinct role to play (examples found in Greece, Egypt, Haiti, and Switzerland).

See: http://faculty.wwu.edu/sngynan/slx4.html

 

Lingua Franca

1. The term lingua franca (Italian: “Frankish language”) refers to a language used as a means of communication between populations speaking vernaculars that are not mutually intelligible. The term was first used during the Middle Ages to describe a French- and Italian-based jargon, or pidgin, that was developed by Crusaders and traders in the eastern Mediterranean and characterized by the invariant forms of its nouns, verbs, and adjectives.

An example of a lingua franca is English

See: “Lingua franca.” Britannica Academic, Encyclopædia Britannica, 3 Feb. 2018. academic.eb.com.york.ezproxy.cuny.edu/levels/collegiate/article/lingua-franca/48392.

 

2. A lingua franca is any language used for communication between groups who have no other language in common: e.g. Swahili in much of East and Central Africa where it is not native.

See: Matthews, P. H. “lingua franca.” The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Linguistics. : Oxford University Press, 2014. Oxford Reference. 2014. Date Accessed 5 Feb. 2018 http://www.oxfordreference.com.york.ezproxy.cuny.edu/view/10.1093/acref/9780199675128.001.0001/acref-9780199675128-e-1897

 

Copula

1. A copula is a verb that links a subject with a subject-related predicative complement, especially the verb be. The term is often used interchangeably with “linking verb” or “copular verb.”

See: Aarts, Bas. “copula.” The Oxford Dictionary of English Grammar. : Oxford University Press, 2014. Oxford Reference. 2014. Date Accessed 5 Feb. 2018 http://www.oxfordreference.com.york.ezproxy.cuny.edu/view/10.1093/acref/9780199658237.001.0001/acref-9780199658237-e-329

 

2. A copula is a type of verb, of which the most common is “be,” that joins the subject of the verb with a complement. For example, in the sentence “You smell nice”, “smell” is a copula.

See: https://dictionary.cambridge.org/us/dictionary/english/copula

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The definitions of the term diglossia suggest that some languages carry more prestige than others, even if those “others” are merely variants of the “prestige” or “high” variety languages. I do believe that this term reinforces the idea that languages are more than just means of communication, but rather are inextricably linked to the political and social ideologies of societies in which they are used.

I find the definitions of the term lingua franca to be good explanations for why so many individuals who migrate to the US and elsewhere, for whom English is not a first language, endeavor to learn English. This is so as English is a lingua franca which acts a medium that facilitates effective communication among individuals who do not all speak a common language.

Finally, the definitions for the term copula appear to be very technical and somewhat reinforces the notion that many people have that the prescribed rules in a language tends to add difficulty to one’s study of the language’s grammatical structures.

 

Hi everyone ! ,

My name is Sanjida Khatun and I am currently a senior at York College. My major is English with a minor in Education. I hope to get my masters in Special Education in the near future. I have always wanted to work with children that have learning disabilities because I believe they have so much to offer to the world and just need motivation and guidance. I was born in Bangladesh, but moved to New York City at the age of four.

The languages I speak are Bengali and English. Since, I am from the village part of Bangladesh, I speak a different dialect of Bengali, which is Sylheti ( i believe that’s how you spell it). Many people from Bangladesh consider this dialect to be broken Bengali or slang. Sometimes, we are even judged upon for speaking improperly. I grew up speaking this at home , and eventually learned to speak English through school and cartoons. I have taken language courses such as French and Spanish but I can’t seem to remember it.  

Hey guys it’s Sheba! I’ll start off by giving you all a little background information on myself. I was born and raised in San Diego, California. I lived there for 9 years, then moved to longisland in ’03. I began college in Queensborough, and will be finishing at York College. Being that I will be a graduate this year I plan on traveling for a few months, then head on to receive my masters. My first language is English, therefore in my household everyone speaks English. However, I do speak a tad bit of Spanish here and there.

Hello my name is Jasmine Allen and my major is English with an emphasis on writing and my minor is Health Education. My passion is creative writing and I would love to do anything involving it.  After college I plan  to join an internship that involve this area whether it’s a magazine company, publishing company etc. I also enjoy reading and jamming to KPop. I was born and raised in Brooklyn, still there and sadly the only language I know is English.