New Terms:

register: A variety of English limited to a particular context

pidgin: a language formed from contact between two different languages; a limited language, one of opportunity

Creole: a full-fledged langauge that evolves as children learn a pidgin as their native (or early) language. It retains features of both contributing langauges but becomes a langauge in its own right.

What is English?

We discussed the sample texts in ch. 1, looking at which ones might be excluded from our notion of "English." Everyone wished to exclude the Tok Pisin sample; some wanted to exclude the Geordie sample. Discussion focused on written v. oral language, vocabulary variation, pronunciation variation, spelling variation.

How does English sound?

We plunged into a discussion of the International Phonetic Alphabet; see the review materials on reserve for more a more detailed discussion. Today we covered the bilabial, interdental, and alveolar sounds, and learned the difference between voiced/voiceless sounds, and the difference between oral/nasal sounds.