Phatic communication

The term comes from the Greek phatos (meaning spoken) and refers to a type of communication,
where the social function of the utterance is more important than the information itself. In other
words, the focus in on the channel of communication and not on the information conveyed. For
example when we say Youre welcome it does not mean that the hearer is welcome; it is a
response to being thanked.

Urbanov, Ludmila, Some thoughts on the phatic communion and small talk in fictional
dialogues, Faculty of Arts, Masaryk University, Brno.
Online article: http://www.phil.muni.cz/angl/thepes/thepes_01_03.pdf
Zegarac, Vladimir, Phatic communication
Online article: http://vladimirzegarac.info/PHATIC%20COMMUNICATION%20encylopedia
%20article.pdf
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phatic_expression

Pidgin
The term refers to a simplified language which is used for communication between groups of
people who speak different languages and have no common language. Pidgins are reduced in
structure with simple grammar and vocabulary. For example the West African Pidgin English is
used between groups of people along the West African coast.

Mufwene, Salikoko, Pidgin and creole languages, International Encyclopedia of the Social and
Behavioral Sciences, 2002.
Online article: http://mufwene.uchicago.edu/pidginCreoleLanguage.html
Crystal, David, English As a Global Language. Cambridge University Press, 2003.
http://www.thefreedictionary.com/Pidgin+language

Pidginisation
The term refers to the process of creating a pidgin language by using the elements of two or more
other languages. Most pidginisations involve Indo-European languages (English, French,
Portuguese, Spanish).

http://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/pidginisation
Estermann, Beat, The Formation of Pidgin Languages, Current Social Issues in English
Language, April 1999.
Online article: http://archiv.soziologie.ch/texts/docs/PIDGIN.pdf

Politeness

In linguistics, the term refers to a speech act that expresses concern for others, intending to avoid
giving offense. In other words, it is the way people use language to interact with the social world
that surrounds them. It depends on various factors: age, social status, context, etc. For example
Shut up! is considered to be impolite, even rude, whereas Do you think you would mind keeping
quiet? is much more polite.

Beeching, Kate, Politeness

Online article: https://www.llas.ac.uk/resources/gpg/695
Language in conflict: Politeness
Online article: http://www.languageinconflict.org/how-people-interact/politeness.html
Politeness strategies: http://grammar.about.com/od/pq/g/Politeness-Strategies.htm

Political correctness
The term refers to the attitude of avoiding the usage of a language which could offend a certain
group of people (for example racial, cultural or other identity groups). It is an attempt to insist on
good manners and the use of euphemisms to avoid offence. For example the terms Negro and
colored used for Black Americans are considered to be offensive. The terms Afro-American,
Black, African-American and people of color are used instead as politically correct ones.

Chuan Lin, Hsien, A Study of the Use of Politically Correct Language on the Campus of A U. S.
Midwestern University, Department of Foreign Languages, Fooyin University of Technology
Online article:
http://ir.fy.edu.tw/ir/bitstream/987654321/1746/1/A+Study+of+the+Use+of+Politically+Correct+
Language+in+the+Campus+of+One+U.S.+Midwestern+university+1.pdf
Online article: http://www.conservapedia.com/Politically_correct
Merriam-Webster Dictionary: http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/politically%20correct

Popular culture
The term refers to those ideas, attitudes, perspectives, images, etc. that reflect the taste of the
mainstream in a certain culture. Also called pop culture, it is influenced by mass media, fashion,
sports, technology, etc. For example the American English pronunciation in British pop songs is
the effect of the popular culture.

Moody, Andrew, Language Ideology in the Discourse of Popular Culture, The Encyclopedia of
Applied Linguistics, First Edition. Edited by Carol A. Chapelle. 2013 Blackwell Publishing
Ltd. Published 2013 by Blackwell Publishing Ltd.
Online article:
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/store/10.1002/9781405198431/asset/homepages/5_Language_Ideol
ogy_in_the_Discourse_of_Popular_Culture.pdf;jsessionid=9CD5D383DFF0160CCFA77FF2B01
1F2E8.f04t04?v=1&s=8344a7b91a20ceea92a0ed6fe0aaa4eda66f7037

Dictionary.com: http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/popular+culture

Positive face
It is a component of the Face Theory along with the negative face. Closely related to the term
politeness, it reflects the need of people to be accepted or appreciated by the other members of a
group. For example if A wants to borrow some money from B, then B will think that it would be
better to give A that money because he wants A to like him and to appear as a reliable person and
a good friend in front of him.

Barouni, Athenia, Linguistic Approaches to Politeness

Online article:
http://www.socsci.uci.edu/~lpearl/CoLaLab/presentations/Barouni2013_PolitenessComputing.pdf
Face Theory by Erving Goffman, 1967.
Online article: http://www.situatedgaming.com/CISTheoryPrimary/face.html
Online article: http://www.languageinconflict.org/how-people-interact/face.html

Post-Creole continuum
The term refers to a range of dialectal variations that occur in a creole language. This continuum
has two limits: the upper limit which is the closest to the standard form is called acrolect,
whereas the lower limit, the basilect is the most distant. The mesolect is situated between the
two. For example the Jamaican post-creole continuum has as its lower limit the Jamaican creole
proper, and its upper limit the Jamaican Standard English.

Siegel, Jeff, The Emergence of Pidgin and Creole Languages. Oxford Univ. Press, 2008
Leimgruber, Jakob R. E., From Post-Creole Continuum to Diglossia: The Case of Singapore
English, University of Oxford
Online article: http://www.ling-phil.ox.ac.uk/events/lingo/papers/jakob.leimgruber.pdf
http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O29-POSTCREOLECONTINUUM.html

Power
From a linguistic point of view, the term refers to the influence a speech has upon a certain
audience. Therefore, we talk about powerful or powerless speech. A powerful speech has more
influence, control and it is more persuasive, whereas a powerless speech lacks these qualities.
For example during a political campaign the party which presents a powerful speech is more
likely to persuade the audience to vote for them.

Pullum, Geoffrey K, Ideology, Power and Linguistic Theory, University of California, Santa Cruz
Online article: http://people.ucsc.edu/~pullum/MLA2004.pdf
Fairclough, Norman, Language and power, Longman, UK, 1989.

Bradac, James J, Power in Language: Verbal Communication and Social Influence

Online article: http://www.cjc-online.ca/index.php/journal/article/view/874/780

Pragmatics
It is a branch of linguistics that focuses on the social context in which the language occurs. Its
main concern is how we interpret a certain utterance. For example the following short dialogue
What are you going to be when you graduate? An old man. demonstrates that due to the
ambiguity of the question, it can be interpreted in different ways.

Finch, Geoffrey, Linguistic Terms and Concepts. Palgrave Macmillan, 2000.

Trask, R.,L., Language and Linguistics: The Key Concepts, 2nd ed., ed. by Peter Stockwell.
Routledge, 2007.

Purism
In linguistics, the term refers to the tendency of eliminating all those features that may have a
negative effect on language (neologisms, loanwords, grammatical mistakes, jargon, etc.).
Language purists try to keep the purity of the standard language from outside influences. For
example the use of the term sfrit de sptmn instead of the English term weekend in the
Romanian language, shows a tendency towards purism.

Cser, Andrs, English Purist Tendencies in a Comparative Perspective, Pzmny Pter Catholic
University, 2009
Online article: http://www.lingref.com/cpp/hel-lex/2008/paper2164.pdf
http://www.yourdictionary.com/purism
Allan, Keith, Burridge, Kate, Forbidden Words: Taboo and the Censoring of Language.
Cambridge University Press, 2006.

Race
The term refers to a group of people having similar physical or genetic traits, common history,
nationality and geographic distribution. For example the African Americans are considered to be
one race, whereas the European Americans another one. Sociologists claim that this concept is
unstable, highly influenced by political struggle, and symbolizes social conflicts and interests. In
sociolinguistics, the term may be invoked to explain different social behavior.

Mufwene, Salikoko, Race, Racialism and the Study of Language Evolution in America, LAVIS III
Language Variety in the South: Historical and Contemporary Perspectives, ed. by Michael
Picone & Katherine Davis. Tuscaloosa: University of Alabama Press, Apr. 2006.
Online article:
http://mufwene.uchicago.edu/publications/RACE_RACIALISM_LANGUAGE_EVOLUTION.p
df
http://www.thefreedictionary.com/race

Reduplication
The term refers to a word-formation process in which one part of the word (or the whole word) is
repeated exactly, or with minor changes. Reduplication can occur at different levels
(phonological, morphological) and has different roles: to imitate sounds (ding-dong), to suggest
movements (ping-pong), to intensify meaning: for example, in the Nama language the verb go
means look, and go-go means examine with attention. In English, this means of creating new
lexemes is not the major one, however it is productive in almost every non-Indo-European
languages.

Inkelas, Sharon, The Dual Theory of Reduplication, Linguistics 462 (2008), 351401.
Online article: http://linguistics.berkeley.edu/~inkelas/Papers/InkelasLinguisticsOffprint.pdf
Oxford Bibliographies: http://www.oxfordbibliographies.com/view/document/obo9780199772810/obo-9780199772810-0036.xml
David Crystal, The Cambridge Encyclopaedia of the English Language, 2nd ed. Cambridge Univ.
Press, 2003.
Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reduplication

Reference

It is the relationship that an expression has with the one it represents. In other words, it is when a
grammatical unit refers to another grammatical unit. For example, in the sentences Peter bought
a pen. His pen was blue. the pronoun his in the second sentence refers to Peter in the first one.
The word comes from the Latin referre which means to carry back.
When we make a reference to an earlier part of the discourse we call it anaphora, and when we
refer to a later part, we call it cataphora.

David Crystal, Dictionary of Linguistics. Blackwell, 1997.

Glossary of linguistic terms: http://www01.sil.org/linguistics/glossaryoflinguisticterms/WhatIsReference.htm
Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reference

Referent
Closely related to the previous term, the referent is a person, a thing or an idea that a word refers
to. In the example Peter bought a pen. His pen was blue. the referent is Peter because the
pronoun his refers to this person.

David Crystal, Dictionary of Linguistics. Blackwell, 1997.

Glossary of linguistic terms: http://www01.sil.org/linguistics/glossaryoflinguisticterms/WhatIsReference.htm
Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reference

Register
Also called stylistic variation, it refers to the style or language variety we use in different
situations. In certain contexts, people use different language (different vocabulary, mode and
tenor). For example at school, pupils greet the teacher like this: Good morning Miss Teacher. At
home they might greet their mother like this: Hi mum.

Montgomery, Martin, An Introduction to Language and Society, Psychology Press, 1995.

Frank Parker and Kathryn Riley, Linguistics for Non-Linguists, 3rd ed. Allyn & Bacon, 1999.

Relexification

It is one of the major processes of new language formation. It refers to the substitution of one
languages vocabulary with words drawn from another language, without changing (or slightly
changing) its grammar. The language from which the words are taken is called the lexifier. This
process plays a central role in the formation of pidgin and creole languages. For example the
Lanc-Patu creole spoken in Brazil is a relexified language, its lexifier being the French
language.

The relexification account of creole genesis The case of Haitian Creole

Online article: http://www.archipel.uqam.ca/260/1/Haitian_Creole.pdf
Degraff, Michel, Relexification: A Reevaluation, Vol. 44, nr. 4, 2002.
Online article: http://web.mit.edu/linguistics/people/faculty/degraff/degraff-anthling-44-04.pdf
Dictionary.com: http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/relexification
Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Relexification

Restricted code
The term was introduced by Basil Bernstein (1960) and it is the opposite of the elaborated code.
It is mainly used in informal situations, relies on context and lacks stylistic range. Speakers of a
restricted code share common knowledge, and their language reflects the group they belong to.
An example for restricted code: If youre going to town, get Rupert a new April from you-knowwhere.1
The same utterance in elaborated code: If you are going into Bedford, please get a new toy for
Rupert the dog from the pet-shop (which we can't name because if the dog hears it he will go
mad), to replace the one which we have come to call "April", which he has almost chewed to
bits.2

Steensland, Brian, Restricted and Elaborated Modes in the Cultural Analysis of Politics,
Sociological Forum, Vol. 24, No. 4, December 2009.
Online article: http://www.indiana.edu/~soc/pdf/Steensland_2009ab.pdf
Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O29ELABORATEDANDRESTRICTEDCD.html
Dictionary.com: http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/restricted+code

Rheme
1 http://www.doceo.co.uk/background/language_codes.htm
2 http://www.doceo.co.uk/background/language_codes.htm

In linguistics the term refers to that part of a sentence which describes the topic or the theme. It
adds new information to what has already been said. For example, in the following sentence The
dog barks in the garden. the topic or the theme is the dog and the rheme (that tells something
about the topic) is barks in the garden.

Alonso Belmonte, Isabel, Theme-Rheme patterns in L2 writing, Universidad Autonoma de

Madrid.
Online article:
http://www.researchgate.net/profile/Maria_Isabel_Belmonte/publication/27571982_ThemeRheme_patterns_in_L2_writing/links/00b7d52cb11c0c0e3c000000.pdf
Dictionary.com: http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/rheme

Rhetoric/al
The term refers to the art of communication. It is the use of language in such a way as to produce
an impression upon the hearer. A rhetorical speech can occur in a very formal context but also in
a very familiar one. For example a salesman may use a rhetorical speech to persuade the people
to buy his products. On the other hand, a politician may also use a rhetorical speech to influence
the audience.

William A. Covino, The Art of Wondering: A Revisionist Return to the History of Rhetoric.
Boynton/Cook, 1988.
Sam Leith, Words Like Loaded Pistols: Rhetoric From Aristotle to Obama. Basic Books, 2012.
Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhetoric

Rhyming slang
The term refers to a form a slang, where the lexical items in a construction are replaced with
words that rhyme with them. It is often associated with the Cockney dialect, also called Cockney
Rhyming Slang. For example: Would you Adam and Eve it? the rhyming slang Adam and Eve
stands for the word believe: Would you believe it? It evolved as a secret language usually related
to business dealings.

Cockney Rhyming Slang: http://www.fun-with-words.com/crs_example.html

Francis Katamba, English Words, 2nd ed. Routledge, 2004.
http://www.cockneyrhymingslang.co.uk/

S
Sapir-Whorf hypothesis
The term refers to a linguistic theory named after Edward Sapir and Benjamin Lee Whorf which
claims that the structures of a language limit the speakers thought or his concept of the world. In
other words, the language he speaks, influences the way he perceives the world. Whorfs
example to support this theory was the case of the Inuit people who have several words for snow.
Being part of their everyday life, they perceive it differently than someone who lives in another
area where there is little or no snow at all.

Benjamin Whorf, Science and Linguistics, 1956.

Edward Sapir, The Status of Linguistics as a Science, 1929.
Chandler, Daniel, The Sapir-Whorf hypothesis
Online article: http://visual-memory.co.uk/daniel/Documents/short/whorf.html
Introduction to the Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis, Linguistics 3430, 2007
Online article: http://www.colorado.edu/linguistics/courses/LAM3430/Whorflecture.pdf
http://www.thefreedictionary.com/Sapir-Whorf+hypothesis

Second-language acquisition
The term refers to the process by which somebody learns a language other than his mother
tongue. A second language is any other language that a speaker uses besides his native or first
language. For example, a person whose mother tongue (L1) is Romanian, decides to learn
English, this is going to be his second language (L2). This process can be non-conscious and it
may develop invariantly.

Jrgen M. Meisel, "Age of Onset in Successive Acquisition of Bilingualism: Effects on

Grammatical Development." Language Acquisition Across Linguistic and Cognitive Systems, ed.
by Michle Kail and Maya Hickmann. John Benjamins, 2010.
Krashen, Stephen, Second Language Acquisition and Second Language Learning, Pergamon
Press, 1981.
Online: http://www.sdkrashen.com/content/books/sl_acquisition_and_learning.pdf

Semantic field
In linguistics, the term refers to a set of words which are grouped by meaning. In other words,
they all relate to the same subject. For example the words teacher, blackboard, catalogue, mark,
class are possible words in the semantic field of school.

Ronald Carter, Working With Texts: A Core Introduction to Language Analysis. Routledge, 2001.
Edward Finegan. Language: Its Structure and Use, 5th ed. Thomson Wadsworth, 2008.
Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Semantic_field

Semantics
Originating from the Ancient Greek word semantiks meaning `significant`, it is a branch of
linguistics that studies the meaning in language. It focuses on the relation between the significant
(which are words or phrases) and their meaning. For example the verb to create may have
several meanings depending on the context in which it is used: to build, to make, to construct, to
erect, to compose, to imagine.

David Crystal, How Language Works. Overlook, 2006.

Nick Riemer, Introducing Semantics. Cambridge University Press, 2010.
Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Semantics

Semiotics
The term refers to the study of signs and symbols and their role in everyday life. It was defined
by the Swiss linguist Ferdinand de Saussure who treated language as a sign system. He
distinguished two terms related to the study of signs: considering language, the signifier is a set
of speech sounds and the signified is the idea behind the signs.
The study of signs does not limit only to language. It is present everywhere around us. For
example if we see smoke (sign) than we know that there is fire.

Mario Klarer, An Introduction to Literary Studies, 2nd ed. Routledge, 2004.

Daniel Chandler, Semiotics: The Basics. Routledge, 2006.
Encyclopaedia Britannica: http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/534099/semiotics
Daniel Chandler, Semiotics for Beginners
Online article: http://visual-memory.co.uk/daniel/Documents/S4B/

Setting
In sociolinguistics, the term can be analyzed in connection with register. Register is the variety of
language we use in a particular social setting. For example if the social setting is formal we
choose the words more carefully, and if the setting is informal, we are not likely to use the
prescribed features of grammar. For example, in an informal setting (at home, with friends) we
may use cause instead of because, whereas in a formal setting (the directors speech at a
graduation ceremony) the form because is likely to be used.

Wikipedia: http://visual-memory.co.uk/daniel/Documents/S4B/

Nilep, Chad, Code Switching in Sociocultural Linguistics, University of Colorado, Colorado

Research in Linguistics. June 2006. Vol. 19. Boulder: University of Colorado. 2006 by Chad
Nilep.
Online article: http://www.colorado.edu/ling/CRIL/Volume19_Issue1/paper_NILEP.pdf?
q=sociocultural

Sexism
In language, the term refers to words or phrases that stereotype the speakers according to their
gender (male or female). These stereotypes sometimes disadvantage the males, other times the
females. For example in the following sentence the males are in disadvantage: After the nursing
student graduate, she must face a difficult state board examination. (Not all nursing students are
women). In the next example, the females are in disadvantage: Wives of senior government
officials are required to report any gifts they receive that are valued at more than $100. (Not all
senior government officials are men).

Diana Hacker, The Bedford Handbook, 6th ed. Bedford/St. Martin's, 2002.
Allyson Jule, A Beginner's Guide to Language and Gender. Multilingual Matters, 2008.
Lei, Xiaolan, Sexism in Language, Journal of Language and Linguistics Volume 5 Number 1 2006
ISSN 1475 8989
Online article: http://webspace.buckingham.ac.uk/kbernhardt/journal/5_1/5LingLei.pdf

Shibboleth
The term refers to a way of speaking which shows that a person belongs to a certain group. It can
be interpreted as a boarder sense of the jargon. For example, the sailors name the left side of the
vessel port and the right side starboard. These words show that the speakers belong to a close
group, that of the sailors.
The term also refers to pronunciation, style and customs that define a specific group.

Traute Ewers, The Origin of American Black English: Be-Forms in the Hoodoo Texts. Walter de
Gruyter, 1995.
List of shibboleths: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_shibboleths
Merriam-Webster: http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/shibboleth

Sign language
The term refers to a language where hands and body movements and facial expressions are used
to convey meaning instead of sounds and words. It is also called signed language or signing. It is
the primary communication form of deaf people. Sign languages differ according to the country
where they are used. For example, we talk about American Sign Language, Indian Sign
Language, Danish Sign Language, Japanese Sing Language, etc.

Perlmutter, David, What is Sign Language? Linguistic Society of America

Online article: http://www.linguisticsociety.org/files/Sign_Language.pdf
Adam Frost and Valerie Sutton, American Sign Language
Online article:
http://www.signwriting.org/archive/docs9/sw0827_American_Sign_Language_Hand_Sy
mbols_Frost_Sutton_2013.pdf
Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sign_language

Slang
The term referred to the vocabulary of low, disreputable people (1756). Nowadays it is
associated with a language use that is below the standard level. To some extent, it has the role of
distinguishing group membership. Examples of slang words in English: dunno (dont know),
gonna (going to), bro (brother), karzy (toilet), kit (clothes), kooky (crazy), etc.

English slang and colloquialisms used in the UK: http://www.peevish.co.uk/slang/

The Online Slang Dictionary: http://onlineslangdictionary.com/
Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slang

Social class
The term refers to the classification of people in different social categories which have
hierarchical differences among them. The most common classes are the upper, middle and the
lower classes. The members of a particular social class have some common features according to
which they are classified: economy, culture, education, language, etc.

What is a social class?

Online article: http://study.com/academy/lesson/what-is-a-social-class-definition-lessonquiz.html

Dictionary.com: http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/social+class

Social group
The term refers to two or more people who share similar characteristics, share the sense of unity,
interact frequently and consider themselves as members of that group. Social groups may vary
according to number and function. For example two persons in a relationship may form a social
group, but also a family, a sport team, a church group, a college class or even a whole society can
be considered as being a social group.

Types of social groups: http://study.com/academy/lesson/types-of-social-groups-primarysecondary-and-reference-groups.html

Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_group

Sociolinguistics
It is the study of the relationship between language and society. It is a branch of both linguistics
and sociology. Its core idea is that social factors (age, education, groups, race, ethnicity, etc.)
influence the way we speak. For example, people at different ages speak differently. They also
speak differently if they dont share the same educational level, if they belong to different groups
(teachers, doctors, etc.), or have different ethnicity.

Ronald Wardhaugh, An Introduction to Sociolinguistics, 6th ed. Wiley, 2010.

Peter Trudgill, A Glossary of Sociolinguistics. Oxford University Press, 2003.
G. Hudson, Essential Introductory Linguistics. Blackwell, 2000.

Sociology of language
Closely related to the field of sociolinguistics, the term refers to the study of the effect of
language on society. Here, the focus is on society, whereas in sociolinguistics the focus is on the
language. It focuses for example on how a social group is formed according to the language they
use, what are their attitude towards language.

Fishman, Joshua A., The sociology of language: An interdisciplinary social science approach to
language in society.Newbury House Publishers, 1972.
Online article: http://mahimahi.uchicago.edu/media/faculty/vfriedm/128Friedman98.pdf
Ofelia Garcia and Harold Schiffman, Fishmanian Sociolinguistics (1949 to the Present)
Online article: https://ofeliagarciadotorg.files.wordpress.com/2011/02/fishmaniansociolinguistics.pdf
Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sociology_of_language