Kate Burridge

A Handbook of Varieties of English

Compared with the regional synopses, it is in this chapter that we shall adopt a truly bird’s-eye, or even satellite, view at morphosyntactic variation across the non-standard varieties in the English-speaking world. Relevant questions that will be addressed include the following: Which are the least and, more interestingly, most frequent morphosyntactic features in non-standard varieties of Englishes worldwide, and thus true candidates for what Chambers (2001, 2003, 2004) has called vernacular universals (section 4)? What in this respect can be said and which distinctive patterns and correlations can be identifi ed for the seven world regions investigated in this Handbook (section 5), for fi rst (L1) and second (L2) language varieties and Pidgins/Creoles within and across the seven world regions (section 6), and for individual areas of morphosyntax (section 7)? It will turn out that the patterns identifi ed in section 6 are a crucial key to understanding the patterns in sections 5 and 7. The primary source for the answers to these and other questions addressed in this global synopsis is a catalogue of 76 morphosyntactic features from 11 domains of grammar which was sent to the authors of the morphosyntax chapters of this Handbook (see section 2). For each of these 76 features the authors were asked to specify into which of the following three categories the relevant feature in the relevant variety (or set of closely related varieties) falls:The Handbook is by far the most thorough reference work on phonology and the first-ever comprehensive overview of the morphology and syntax of varieties of English in the world. The Handbook consists of a two volume book accompanied by an interactive CD-ROM. The genuine speech samples and interactive maps of the CD-ROM not only supplement the printed articles by offering lively illustrations of the varieties of English around the world, but the material offered can also be used for linguistic research. The multimedia material is now also available online. Survey Articles The books feature descriptive survey articles that are authored by widely acclaimed specialists in the field and that cover all main national standard varieties, distinctive regional, ethnic, and social varieties, major contact varieties, as well as major ESL varieties; share a common core, which makes them invaluable research tools for cross-linguistic comparisons; provide information on the historical and cultural backgrounds as well as the current sociolinguistic situations in the respective regions; serve as state-of-the-art reports on major issues in current research. CD-ROM The CD-ROM not only supplements the printed volumes through interactive access to the varieties but also provides a comprehensive database with: a unique collection of speech recordings of English from around the world; sound samples that open new perspectives on the varieties of English, as speech recordings also constitute the central aspect of research - students as well as professional academics will feel encouraged to use the material for new investigations; interactive and synchronized maps that allow either phonological or morphosyntactic (grammatical) comparisons; extensive bibliographies on the relevant research literature; links to pertinent websites. Online Version The online version provides departments of English and Linguistics with the opportunity to make the multimedia tools simultaneously available to a wider number of faculty members and students. instructors can deploy the sound samples and interactive maps to enhance their classroom presentations and to highlight important language features; researchers are provided with a database of multimedia material for further study; students can employ the data when working on classroom assignments. Together, the books and the CD-ROM are an indispensable reference work and research tool for sociolinguists, dialectologists, phonologists, grammarians, typologists, and specialists in contact languages and varieties of English around the world. Given its accessible style and its rich auditory and visual support, this Handbook is also ideally suited not only for professional academics but also for undergraduate and graduate students. The editors are responsible for the following topics: Kate Burridge/ Bernd Kortmann: Australia / Pacific Archipelagos Bernd Kortmann: British Isles: Morphology and Syntax Rajend Mesthrie: Africa / South and Southeast Asia Edgar W. Schneider: The Americas / Caribbean Clive Upton: British Isles: Phonology System requirements for the CD-ROM:Hardware: Pentium 500 MHz or AMD K6-III+ 500 MHz, PowerPC G3, 64 MB RAM, 16-bit SoundcardOperating Systems: Windows 98, NT, Me, 2000, XP/ Mac OS 9.x, X 10.x/ Linux (any distribution with Kernel 2.0)Supported Browsers: Internet Explorer 5.5 or 6 (Mac OS: Internet Explorer 5.1)/ Netscape 7.x/ Mozilla 1.0/ Mozilla Firefox 0.8Plugins: Macromedia Flash Player 6/ Acrobat Reader

Linguistic cleanliness is next to godliness: taboo and purism

This paper explores popular perceptions of language, in particular linguistic prescription. It focuses not on formal acts of censorship such as might be carried out by a language academy, but on the attitudes and activities of ordinary people in, say, letters to newspapers or comments on radio. In these contexts, language users act as self-appointed censors and take it upon themselves to condemn those words and constructions that they feel do not measure up to the standards they perceive should hold sway. Peoples concerns about language and the kind of linguistic censorship and puristic activities that accompany them belong to our tabooing behaviour generally. Prescriptive practices are part of the human struggle to control unruly nature – in this case, to define language and to force the reality of ‘the boundless chaos of a living speech’ (as Samuel Johnson put it in his Preface) into neat classificatory systems. As with tabooing practices generally, linguistic purists see a very clear distinction between what is clean and what is dirty – in this case, what is desirable and undesirable in a language. Linguists who challenge these prescriptions are challenging their ‘cherished classifications’. Small wonder there is often such a schism between linguistics and the wider community.

Cos—A New Discourse Marker for Australian English?

A number of studies of clausal linkage in Modern English have suggested the causal marker because/cos is showing a change in progress from prototypical subordinator to discourse marker (via the semantic bleaching of because and its phonological reduction to [kəz]). In this paper, I dispute the idea that paratactic because/cos is innovative. Drawing on various spoken language collections, including those from the Australian National Corpus (AusNC), and on historical examples from a number of Old and Middle English texts, I suggest that the different grammatical behaviour of because/cos is not the consequence of on-going grammaticalization, but a direct result of the complexity of causal relations and the different communicative needs of speakers versus writers.

Cultural Linguistics and Ageing: What Naming Practices in Australian English Can Reveal About Underlying Cultural Conceptualisations

One of the most evolving areas of euphemisms in present-day society is ageing. As baby boomers are reaching retirement age and wish to remain active for many more decades, they are redefining the concept of ageing considerably. This redefinition is all the more relevant in Australia, which has the third highest proportion of people aged over 65 in the world. Our main hypothesis is that this reconceptualisation of ageing is manifested in: (1) the emergence of novel cultural categories (the degree of entrenchment of successful ageing as compared to healthy ageing in Australian English; (2) category extension (analysis of the phrase older Australians, which is producing dynamic growth rates in the media as compared to the more established seniors); and (3) novel metaphors and cultural schemas (as evidenced in the naming practices of aged care facilities). Overall, the findings of the present study reveal that the analytical framework of Cultural Linguistics provides fruitful tools for the study of culturally sensitive topics such as ageing.

The Pacific and Australasia

This volume gives a detailed overview of the varieties of English spoken in the Pacific and Australasia, including regional, social and ethnic dicalects (such as New Zealand, Australian Vernacular, or Maori English) as well as pidgins and creoles (such as Tok Pisin, Hawaii Creole, or Kriol in Australia). The chapters, written by widely acclaimed specialists, provide concise and comprehensive information on the phonological, morphological and syntactic characteristics of each variety discussed. The articles are followed by exercises and study questions. The exercises are geared towards students and can be used for classroom assignments as well as for self study in preparation for exams. Instructors can use the exercises, sound samples and interactive maps to enhance their classroom presentations and to highlight important language features. The accompanying CD-ROM contains interactive maps and speech samples that supplement the printed articles and offer material and data for further research. The rich detail found in the chapters as well as the valuable tools on the CD-Rom make this survey of English Varieties a mainstay for researchers and teachers. Key features indispensable textbook for students of English linguistics exercises and study questions interactive CD-ROM

Forbidden Words: Taboos and their origins

This is a book about taboo and the way in which people censor the language that they speak and write. Taboo is a proscription of behaviour that affects everyday life. Taboos that we consider in the course of the book include bodies and their effluvia (sweat, snot, faeces, menstrual fluid, etc.); the organs and acts of sex, micturition and defecation; diseases, death and killing (including hunting and fishing); naming, addressing, touching and viewing persons and sacred beings, objects and places; food gathering, preparation and consumption. Taboos arise out of social constraints on the individuals behaviour where it can cause discomfort, harm or injury. People are at metaphysical risk when dealing with sacred persons, objects and places; they are at physical risk from powerful earthly persons, dangerous creatures and disease. A persons soul or bodily effluvia may put him/her at metaphysical, moral or physical risk, and may contaminate others; a social act may breach constraints on polite behaviour. Infractions of taboos can lead to illness or death, as well as to the lesser penalties of corporal punishment, incarceration, social ostracism or mere disapproval. Even an unintended contravention of taboo risks condemnation and censure; generally, people can and do avoid tabooed behaviour unless they intend to violate a taboo. People constantly censor the language they use (we differentiate this from the institutionalized imposition of censorship). We examine politeness and impoliteness as they interact with orthophemism (straight talking), euphemism (sweet talking) and dysphemism (speaking offensively).

Forbidden Words: Sweet talking and offensive language

Discussion of taboo and the censoring of language naturally leads to a consideration of politeness and impoliteness, and their interaction with euphemism (sweet talking), dysphemism (speaking offensively) and orthophemism (straight talking). The term euphemism (Greek eu ‘good, well’ and phēmē ‘speaking’) is well known; but its counterpart dysphemism (Greek dys - ‘bad, unfavourable’) rarely appears in ordinary language. Orthophemism (Greek ortho - ‘proper, straight, normal’, cf. orthodox ) is a term we have coined in order to account for direct or neutral expressions that are not sweet-sounding, evasive or overly polite (euphemistic), nor harsh, blunt or offensive (dysphemistic). For convenience, we have also created the collective term X-phemism to refer to the union set of euphemisms, orthophemisms and dysphemisms. Important to this discussion is the concept of cross-varietal synonymy , i.e. words that have the same meaning as other words used in different contexts. For instance, the X-phemisms poo , shit and faeces are cross-varietal synonyms because they denote the same thing but have different connotations, which mark different styles used in different circumstances. We also examine the criteria for words being labelled ‘dirty’ and explain why it is that, where a word has a taboo homonym, the polite sense is usually censored out. Although we focus on English, other languages behave in a similar way. Politeness Every polite tongue has its own rules. (Murray 1824: 174) To broach the subject of polite terms for impolite topics we need to establish some ground rules on politeness.

Forbidden Words: Bad language? Jargon, slang, swearing and insult

Towards the end of Chapter 2, we remarked that the use of jargon is sometimes judged dysphemistic. This chapter reviews the reason for the denigration of jargon that leads some people to censor it; we seek to rehabilitate jargon. There are people for whom slang is taboo. We discuss the similarities and differences between jargon and slang, and X-phemistic evaluations of both. We also look at where swearing fits in the picture. Both slang and profane swearing are found only in colloquial styles – which leads us to the discussion of styles as varieties of English. From swearing and cursing, we proceed to insults and maledictions. Except for style, all these topics have at some time been referred to as ‘bad’ language. Jargon Readers of the previous chapter may well regard terms like orthophemism and cross-varietal synonymy as unwelcome jargon. Most people use the term jargon pejoratively, as does the author of the following quotation: At a conference of sociologists in America in 1977, love was defined as ‘the cognitive-affective state characterized by intrusive and obsessive fantasizing concerning the reciprocity of amorant feelings by the object of the amorance’. That is jargon – the practice of never calling a spade a spade when you might instead call it a manual earth-restructuring implement. (Bryson 1984: 85) So, should jargon be censored? Many people think it should. However, close examination of jargon shows that, although some of it is vacuous pretentiousness, and therefore dysphemistic, its proper use is both necessary and unobjectionable.

Forbidden Words: Taboo, naming and addressing

Ones name is an inalienable part of ones identity; it is the essence of self and it is a means by which one is known to ones fellows. An assault on ones name is treated as comparable with, or even worse than, an assault on ones body. So names are tabooed in many communities. Calling a name risks malevolence falling on the name-bearer and the caller. Proper names are chosen with care and many communities have constraints on giving names, such that they render the individual identifiable with the community. Consequently, a person is stigmatized by their name, a fact that has both positive and negative consequences. We discuss styles of naming and addressing as they are affected by the speakers attitude and by the perceived role and status, within the context of the talk exchange, of the speaker and the person addressed or named. Inappropriate naming, name-calling and addressing is subject to censoring and censorship. Why names are tabooed Personal names are (or have been) taboo among some peoples on all the inhabited continents, and on many of the islands between them. The taboo on names is a fear-based taboo. In the same way that malevolent magic can be wrought with ones person, bodily effluvia or shadow, so can it be wrought when another person is in possession of ones true name. ‘The name of a person … is associated with the “essence” ( to ʔofungana ) of that person.

Forbidden Words: Taboo, censoring and the human brain

Forbidden words are the most emotionally evocative of all language stimuli. Research in psychology, physiology and neurology corroborate that they are processed differently from ordinary language and are subject to more acute recognition and recall. Taboo language has a special place in our neural anatomy. Before reviewing the evidence for these claims, we look back at what has been said about taboo and censoring. Revisiting taboo, censoring and X-phemism The word taboo refers to forbidden behaviour, and tabooed behaviour is subject to censoring. We have discussed constraints on the use of jargon, slang, swearing and insult; censoring the way we talk about people who may be perceived or perceive themselves to be disadvantaged or oppressed; notions about correct and incorrect grammar; taboos on naming and addressing people and dangerous animals; injunctions on speaking about the organs of sex, micturition and defecation, their functions and effluvia; censoring the language for foods, and language dealing with diseases, death and killing. The most serious taboos apply to things thought to be ominous, evil or offensive to supernatural powers; to violate such taboos automatically causes harm (even death) to the violator and perhaps his/her fellows. In this context, euphemism can be quite literally a matter of life or death. However, taboos do not always risk physical or metaphysical injury; Old Polynesia had taboos on bad manners such as readers of this book may experience in their everyday lives – taboos that are merely social sanctions placed on behaviour that is regarded as distasteful or impolite within a certain social context.