MODULE 2 (LANGUAGE AND COMMUNITY)

What is Language?
- Language is a system of communication between humans, through written and vocal
symbols. It’s a distinct system of verbal expression through which human express
their inner thoughts and inner feelings, to describe what is seen or heard and explain
what is understood about the world around us. Languages refer to all languages used
for communication.
- It consists of sounds and symbols that convey meaning and are used by persons
within a particular community or territory.
- The study of language is known as, ‘Linguistics’.
- Two main languages exist in our society: English Creole and Trinidadian Standard
English.
What is A Language?
- A distinct system of verbal expression that is distinguishable from other languages
because of characteristics, namely structure and vocabulary. Spanish, French, Dutch,
Jamaican are examples of different languages and in expressing themselves verbally,
the speakers of these languages are using language.
N.B.
Sounds and symbols – alphabet
Alphabet – orthography/writing system
Dialectal Varieties – Standard English, non-standard English (Creole)
Dialect – any version or variety or type of language.
Purposes of Language
Humans use language for various purposes
- To Communicate: to have simple or complex conversations, comprehend new ideas,
to persuade, to question.
- To Direct (through commands or requests): to cause or prevent overt action.
- To Provide aesthetic pleasure through literary work or by evoking and expressing
certain feelings, includes storytelling, telling jokes, watching movies, etc.
- To Inform/Educate – convey information through various formats, e.g. news
broadcasts, bulletin boards, textbooks, television.
- To Reflect – to think and process past experiences.
- To Provide/reinforce a sense of identity
- To Create or enforce rules
- To Perform Rituals – used to pass on traditions, e.g. weddings, funerals.
- To Question – to raise concerns, seek answers, relies on ‘WH’ words: why, what,
when, where and how. E.g. asking for something, inquiring about something.
 - To Describe – provide detailed accounts of an event, occurrence or person, give in-
depth responses on a topic, relies heavily on the use of descriptive words, phrases
and synonyms, helps the reader/listener to visualise the information presented. E.g.
describing the effects of Covid 19 on the economy, the effects of a storm, describing
a character in a text.
- To Explain – give reasons, make a topic/issue clearer, justify actions based on facts,
e.g. teacher explaining how to write a CAPE essay.
- To Criticise – to cast judgement, to identify strengths or weaknesses, e.g. criticising a
person’s performance or presentation.
- To Persuade –to convince the receiver that one’s views, stance, assertion or claims
about a topic/good/service/person is valid, e.g. to convince an audience or a person
to: adopt a view, purchase an item, support a cause, promote a
brand/company/good.
- To Express – to portray one’s feelings/personal views/thoughts on a topic or one’s
personal experience. E.g. expressing one’s views on adoption, abortion, child
marriages, politics, etc.

Characteristics of Language
What are Characteristics of Language?
- Characteristics of language entails features or properties of language
- Hence they are also known as the properties or features of language.

The different Characteristics of Language:

- Human Trait: a uniquely human activity for the purpose of communication. It occurs
naturally, allowing humans to articulate in full sentences (something that other
species are unable to do, although some animals are capable of learning some
words). Humans are able to communicate without having to consciously convert
thoughts to speech. Conversations are conducted with a range of complexity that
other species are unable to produce.
- Naturally acquired: humans acquire and learn language as part of our normal
development; we learn to speak our mother language without structured lessons.
Babies babble as they imitate the words used by the adults around them until
eventually they start to form words and then construct simple sentences. Humans
are predisposed to language, learning it through socialisation within a language
community, it is acquired as a part of normal development but is culturally
determined.
- Maturational: language acquisition is maturational, as an individual grows older,
they will gain the use of more words and more complex sentences. Their ability to
understand and use language increases and gain a wider vocabulary.
- Verbal: language is first spoken and then written.
- Systematic: language consists of rules and conventions that determine its structure
and pronounciation. The framework of rules allows for infinite utterances to be
made, even those never uttered before. Language is rule governed.
- Symbolic: a word is a symbol representing something: a person, feeling, an action,
an abstract idea. A word has a meaning that is commonly understood and accepted
in a language community. There are nouns and verbs but also adjectives, adverbs,
conjunctions and other types of words, to which language gives meaning. E.g. saying
thank you in English, gracias in Spanish or Merci in French, they all have the same
meaning attached to different symbols.
- Dynamic: language is always changing as new words are always added to its lexicon
(system of words). Meanings of words change and sometimes some words are
considered archaic and are dropped from usage. Consider words such as, ‘menu’,
‘web’, ‘gay’ and ‘mouse’ and the recent change in their meanings. Language evolves
in response to changes and differences in societies or communities. Some factors
that can cause changes are: education, class, age, migration, popular culture,
commerce, technology.
- Arbitrary: all languages across the world are arbitrary, this essentially means that
words do not resemble the object they represent. Words and their assigned
meanings are culturally determined and must be learnt. Each culture uses different
words for the same object, e.g. book(English), libro(Spanish), livre(French).
- Systematic: language is based on certain structural conventions or rules that govern
its production. Different languages have different structural conventions, these
include rules for each level of language, e.g. sound, grammar, word formation. This
provides the frame-work for producing new and endless ideas.
- Symbolic: specific symbols are used to represent certain objects or concepts, in
some languages, a system of symbols for written communication is created – the
alphabet. There is no direct correlation between words and the object they signify;
the speakers learn symbols. Symbols used in different languages are all culturally
determined.
- Cultural Transmission: every speaker is a part of a specific cultural group where a
type of language is used in a certain way. The use of language is transmitted across
one generation to another, in this way language is preserved. Language preservation
and sustenance depends on the number of persons who frequently speak it.
- Non-Instinctive: language is naturally acquired by humans; people are not born
possessing a language. They are born with a predisposition or innate ability to
acquire it and this is propelled through social interaction within the environment in
which they grow.
- Creativity and Productivity: language has the ability to produce an infinite number
of messages that generate meaning. Therefore, novel/new ideas can be constructed,
it is innovative as the same utterances, sentences can be said in multiple ways. This
lends itself to the creation of new meanings and language is considered to be an
‘open-ended system’.
- Interchangeability: humans are able to transmit and receive messages at the same
time. In other words, they are both senders and receivers in communication.
 Humans can hear themselves when they speak so they can monitor and adjust their
speech accordingly.
- Semanticity : refers to the aspect of language where words carry meaning, it looks at
the relationship between objects and their arbitrarily assigned words/symbols –
meaning, as different words have different meanings in different cultures.
- Discreetness: although language has the ability to be produced in continuous and
flowing discourse or text (paragraphs, essays). It can be broken down into
constituent and meaningful posts. Sentences > phrases > individual words > letters
that present sound.
- Displacement: language has the ability to discuss things that are not immediately
present in time or space, it can include persons, events, objects, etc. it facilitates
reflection on the past and even discussion or thoughts of things in the future, e.g.
carnival last year, future carnival.
Language Variety
- Language variation is a form of a language. It may be a dialect, a standard language,
a register or another form of a language. Language variation refers to change in
language as a result of different influences, e.g. social, geographical, individual or
group factors. It is a speaker’s ability to use the different forms of language to suit
their communication needs, depending on the context they are in, for example,
whether they are in a social setting or in the work place, whether they are
communicating with a peer or someone from a different level in a hierarchal
situation (person in authority or someone below them). In the Caribbean, language
variations are based on Caribbean standard English or Creole. Variation also includes
the use of particular styles or different levels of formality.
Useful Terms in Language Variation
- Vernacular: the commonly spoken language of a particular people or place.
- Standard Language: the language or dialect that becomes accepted as the dominant
variety for formal or official purposes, it is usually given prestige over other varieties.
- Creole: a language formed when there is contact between people who speak
different languages. All creole languages begin as ‘pidgins’ (a grammatically
simplified form of a language). It is based on a combination of features of the original
languages, along with its own new features. The creole has influences from different
languages in its sounds, structure and vocabulary. It can be classified by what is
perceived as the dominant language ancestor.
- Accent: a variation in pronounciation or how words sound. Different accents across
the Caribbean result in the same word sounding different when spoken by people
from different countries, regions or backgrounds, e.g. the word written as ‘mother’
in Caribbean Standard English might be pronounced as, ‘mother’ ‘mudder’ or
‘mooder’ depending on where the speaker is from.
- Dialect: a variety of a language spoken by a particular social, geographical or cultural
group of people and the difference is noticeable. Dialects tend to differ in vocabulary
and pronounciation, rather than grammar. A dialect is not ‘bad’ English, Caribbean
 Standard English, British Standard English and American Standard English are all
dialects of English. There are also non-standard dialects, such as, Black
English/Ebonics in America or Cockney in England.
- Register: a style of speaking or writing used in particular situations, ranging from
very formal to very informal.
- Code switch: using more than one language variety during a conversation or even
within a sentence.
Language Variation of speakers occurs on three main levels:
Acrolect
- Standard English ONLY
- No Creole/ slang
- Prestigious
- High socio-economic status
- Formal contexts
Mesolect
- Mid varieties
- Use of BOTH Standard English and English Creole
- Formal and Informal contexts
- Highest number of speakers
Basilect
- Original Creole forms
- No standard English features
- Low prestige
- Informal contexts
Example:
Acrolect-------------------------------------Mesolect-------------------------------------Basilect

“I gave one to her” “ah gave her one” “ah gi she wan”
- Most speakers dialect/code switch their use of language from one language variety
to another along the continuum depending on the context/situation.
- There are no definite boundaries between/among languages in the continuum.
- Language/dialect varieties co-exist and use any freely dependant on the context.

Diagram of the Creole Continuum for Trinidad

Acrolect-----------------------------------------------------------------Mesolectal Varieties-------------
Standard English Only upper mesolect lower mesolect
“I saw her the other day”. More standard English More Creole than
than creole features standard English
“I see him the other day”. “ah d see him d
other day”.
- Many territories DO NOT have a Basilect anymore.
- Territories advanced and lost original creole forms.
- Original creoles decreolised: lost their creole features, acquired more standard
English features.
Standard English

- Second language of Caribbean speakers.

- Official language used to conduct business and in formal situations, e.g. law,
education, governance, business, etc.
- It has a written orthography/writing system of its own.
- Typically associated with HIGH education, occupation and social class.
The (Post) Creole Continuum
- Theoretical construct
- Describes use of speech or dialect variation as used by speakers within the
Caribbean.
- Certain factors affect speakers’ use of language in situations: social, political,
education, geographical, etc. and will impact on one’s range of use along the
continuum.
English Creole
- First/native language of Caribbean speakers.
- National language – main language of the majority of the population.
- Vernacular: (the language of everyday casual interaction) informal situations.
- Has no written orthography/writing system/alphabet of its own.
- Typically associated with LOW education, occupation and social class.
English Creole spread across the Caribbean
- Creole spread via slavery across the Caribbean.
- Creole takes MOST of its vocabulary from the more dominant or
superstrate/superstratum language – English.
- English is termed as the lexifier language – providing the lexicon/vocabulary to the
development of Creole = English Creole.
 - West African languages and other spoken in the Caribbean – substrate/substratum
languages: less dominant languages that do contribute some vocabulary/lexicon to
the Creole.
- Although both Standard English and Creole share a vocabulary, they are two distinct
languages.
Attitudes to Language
- People adopt various attitudes to language spoken by others, as well as, towards the
dialects of the language they speak.
- These attitudes are motivated by many different factors, including pride or shame,
regarding one’s own language, confidence or embarrassment about how one
sounds, nationalism and a sense of personal dignity, one’s status and values, as well
as, the prestige some languages are given in international interaction.
- Given the international scope and prominence of English, for example, it is regarded
as a valuable acquisition by many who are not native speakers.
- Influential attitudes towards language and dialects of a language are determined by
powerful groups, within a society, who wish to promote a particular ideology of a
language.
- There are major attitudes towards Standard English and English Creole.
- There are no major attitudes to other languages that are spoken in our society, e.g.
Spanish, patois, hindi, bhajpuri, Amerindian.
Positive Attitude words: acceptance, appreciation, admiration.
Negative Attitude words: contempt, disregard, scorn, distaste, dislike,
Positive Attitudes towards Standard English
- Regarded as superior
- Prestigious
- Reflects high education
- Reflects high occupation
- Reflects high social status
- A higher level of respect is expected for Standard speakers.
Negative Attitudes towards Standard English
- Language inspired by the British
- The product of European exploitation
- Because of the existence of Standard English, Creole and its speakers are regarded as
inferior.
Positive Attitudes to Creole
- Reflects one’s identity
- Represents one’s culture
- Shows social solidarity/a bond among speakers
- Used as a source of comfort/ to express one’s deepest emotions
 - It is a uniquely distinct language in its own right from Standard English or terms of
linguistic makeup.
- Carries out all functions of language (communication, expression and emotions).

Negative Attitudes towards Creole

- Considered to be inferior, broken, corrupt and improper form of communication
- Considered to not be prestigious
- Reflects low education
- Associated with low occupation
- Associated with low social status
- Considered comical or jocular (language of comedy)
- Is given the lowest respect
- The speakers and their culture also tend to be given the lowest respect as well.
Registers
- The type of language used in various contexts/situations
- The choice of Register is affected by:
1) Level of formality
2) Topic
3) Speakers
4) Physical/environment
- Register are used to describe different levels of formality in language
- There are two basic registers: Formal and Informal
- Registers differ based on two main factors:
1) The situational context – where the interaction is taking place and what is about
2) The social context – who is involved in the interaction and their relationship to
each other.
- Although Formal and Informal Registers are the basic forms, these can be further
categorised into levels, each with specific characteristics:
Formal Register:
- The use of a Standard variety/Standard English
- Topic of discussion is professional/impersonal
- Unfamiliar persons, no close bond between speakers
- It uses complete sentences, does not contain slang, does not contain contractions,
e.g. “don’t” for “do not”.
- It uses elevated/technical/academic vocabulary
Examples: Teacher-student, employer-employee, entrepreneur-consumer, sermons,
addresses to the nation, journal publications, etc.
Informal/Casual Register:
- Characterised by the use of English Creole/ any form of informal variety
 - It is personal, conversational, may contain slang/colloquialisms, e.g. “monkey know
what tree to climb”.
- Speakers are usually familiar and close to each other
- Topic of discussion is casual and spontaneous
- It carries a friendly tone.
Examples: friends, family members, classmates, colleagues, it includes the language of
online chats, text messages, letters to friends, social media posts.
Consultative Register:
- This can be either formal or informal, depending on situation or context
- Either Standard English or Creole can be used (N.B. more often than not, the formal
is used)
- It involves two-way communication
- It involves one participant seeking advice from someone who is more knowledgeable
and willingly responds.
- Discourse between two individuals, sharing the relationship between expert and
non-expert.
Examples of using Creole/Non-standard in Consultative Register – going for a regular
check-up at a Doctor, you have ben going to for years, your regular practitioner, you will
develop an acquaintance and bond with them and therefore, become more relaxed in how
you speak to them, using more informal/creole variety of language.
Examples of Consultative Register – lawyer-client, doctor-patient, teacher student, judge-
lawyer, superior-subordinate, etc.
Frozen Register:
- Language that is almost ‘frozen’ within a form, context and time.
- Use of language that does not change
- Learned by repetition and repeated by rote
- No direct response is required.
Example of Frozen Register – constitution, Lord’s prayer, National Anthem, Pledges, oaths,
Miranda rights.
Private Register:
- Use of personal and native language
- Reflects the inner thoughts and desires of an individual
- Not usually shared with others
Examples of Private Registers – thinking to oneself, talking to oneself,
reminiscing/reflecting.
Intimate Register:
- Highly informal but private language
 - Topic of discussion is reserved between these individuals, not usually shared with
others
- Can use incomplete sentences
- Uses terms of endearment, e.g. honey, sweetheart, home/pet names
- Persons share a close and special bond.
Examples of Intimate Register – spouses, boyfriend-girlfriend, family members, best
friends.
Registers and Appropriateness
- The appropriate Register is determined by the four W’s:
Who – who is the audience and the relationship between the participants, (factors
that are important include: age and social status).
What – what is the topic
Why – what is the purpose of the interaction
Where – where is the interaction taking place
Dialects
- In the Caribbean, there are two dialects of a language, the Standard and the Non-
standard.
- Use of a dialect is connected with register because people may vary their dialect
based on the situational and social context of the communicative event.
Dialectal Variation
- This refers to the spoken and written difference in the use of language within a
speech community, in our case, it is English. An individual doesn’t have to look far to
realise that bias towards one dialect of English over another is a reality, e.g. some
persons may regard American English or British English as more superior to Trinidad
English.
- To identify dialectal variation. Look for differences in pronounciation, vocabulary and
grammar, as different dialects have different characteristics.
Code-switching
- Moving between one variety of language to another in the same utterance or
conversation.
- This is also dialectal variation.
Factors Affecting an Individual’s Choice of Dialect
- Education: how much or how little education the speaker has received, does the
speaker have the capability to speak Caribbean (Trinidad) Standard English.
- Familiarity: how familiar is the speaker with the different forms of the language,
how exposed have they been to either or both forms.
- Economic: does the speaker have the means to travel?
 - Status: how does the speaker see him/herself? How do others see them? How does
the speaker want to be seen?
- Media: what forms of media does the speaker encounter or gravitate to? What
forms of language are used in these medias?
- Attitude: does the speaker accept the difference forms of language and social
conventions? Or rebel against them?
Factors Affecting an Author’s choice of Dialect
- The community in the piece may use both forms of language (Trinidad Standard and
Trinidad Creole) in everyday life, so both may be used to accurately represent the
situation.
- Some or exclusively all Trinidad Creole may be used to appeal to persons who are
more comfortable using Creole rather than Standard English.
- Some Creole may be used to celebrate the use of Creole to a predominantly
Caribbean Standard English-speaking readership.
- May use Creole to promote it as an acceptable language form and a language in its
own right.
- May use Creole to exemplify it as a literary tool
- May use a mixture of Creole and Caribbean Standard English in an attempt to
eliminate the stereotype that one language is superior to the other and show that
both languages can accomplish the purpose of communication.
- May use Creole to create a comedic effect and Caribbean Standard English to create
a sombre effect.
- May feel more comfortable using Creole because it is his/her mother tongue.
Historical Development of Language in the Caribbean
- The first peoples of the Caribbean
- First inhabitants: (Amerindians) Tairos and Kalinagos.
- Amerindian words: cassava, hammock, barbecue, caiman, iguana, hurricane
- Place names: Oropouche, Caura, Arima, Tamana.
The Spanish
- Christopher Columbus’ voyages
- Development of the Hispanophone or Spanish Caribbean
- Spanish is the main/official language of: Cuba, Puerto Rico, Venezuela, etc.
- Place names in Trinidad: San Fernando, San Juan, Eldorado.
The French
- In 1777 settled according to the population treaty.
- Francophone Caribbean – Guadeloupe, Martinique, St. Lucia.
- Place names in Trinidad: Champ Fleur, Blanchisseuse, Paramin
- Development of French Creole/Patois: mixing of French and Creole, e.g. jouvert,
macomere, la diablese.
The British
- Britain seized Trinidad in 1797
- Anglophone Caribbean: Trinidad, Guyana, Jamaica, Barbados
- Standard English became the official language of Trinidad in 1823.

West Africans
- West African labour sourced as reliable labour
- Africans or ‘Creoles’ came from 1600’s – 1836
- West Africans spoke tribal/ethnic languages
- Language situation impacted due to mutual unintelligibility (inability to understand
each other) between British plantocracy and West African workforce – this led to the
formation of the ‘Pidgin’.
West African Pidgin
- Pidginization: the process of a naturally emerging makeshift/simplified language.
Characteristics of Pidgin
- No native speakers
- Only lexical items/words and sounds created, e.g. ‘massa’
- Little to no word formation morphological features
- Little to no grammar, i.e. no sentences
- Little to no context of use
West Africans: The Creole
- Years of contact between Africans and British resulted in the Pidgin being developed
into a Creole via creolisation.
- A Creole is a highly mixed language that developed out of contact between Africans
and Europeans.
- It became the first language of the children in the community.
Characteristics of a Creole
- Native speakers
- Has ALL linguistic levels of language
- Has sound/phonology
- Has morphology: word formation
- Has syntax: grammar
- Has vocabulary: semantics
- Multiple contexts of use
East Indians
- Came as indentured workers in 1845
- Bhojpuri Hindi: informal variety used in casual interactions, e.g. talkaari, chunkay,
poohar, jhanjaat.
- Standard Hindi: formal language found in religious books/texts, e.g. Namaste.
Chinese
- Immigration to the Caribbean occurred between 1853 and 1866
- Not suitable labour force for plantations
- Petty traders called, ‘hucksters’ or ‘higglers’
- They did not impact on the language situation in the Caribbean
N.B: Current language situation
- Multi-linguistic society
- two main languages: Standard English and Creole
Levels of Language
Phonetics and Phonology:
- Production of speech sounds
- Phonetics: new sounds are produced and transmitted
- Phonology: the organisation of sounds in particular languages.
Morphology:
- Word formations/word buildings
- Morphemes are individual units that cannot be further broken down, e.g. root words
like (govern).
- Includes prefixes and suffixes
- Free morpheme: a unit/word that can stand on its own, e.g. sad.
- Bound morpheme: cannot stand on its own, e.g. ly.
Syntax:
- The arrangement of words to produce sentences.
- Incudes rules, principles and processes that govern language production.
- Includes grammatical structure of language.
Examples of Syntax:
- Subject- verb agreement
- Tense (present, past, future)
- Parts of speech
- Punctuation
Semantics:
 - The vocabulary (lexicon) and its related meaning
- Vocabulary similarities and differences across regional territories are important.
Pragmatics:
- The use of language in a given context
- Context affects one’s interpretations of various words
- Context can be physical, based on environment
- Context can be what is written; preceding sentences.
Factors Affecting Pragmatics:
- Speaker, receiver and their relationship
- Message
- Location
- Principles of behaviour
- The intention of the interaction

Generic Language
- Language is universal
- The average individual possesses the ability to acquire and communicate using a
language
- Different individuals will communicate using different languages
Language of the Individual
- The average individual uses language in their own way
- No two persons speak the exact same way in the world
- This is called one’s Idiolect.
Language of Society: Sociolect
- Study of language in society – Sociolinguistics
- The use of language by a certain social group/class
- Produced based on one’s level of education, occupation and status.
- This is called one’s Sociolect.
Functions of Language
- Michael Halliday (1975) came up with seven functions of language that looks at the
social nature of language, also known as the roles of language.
- Competency in the use of any language hinges on one’s ability to utilise the different
functions of language when conveying messages.
1) Informative Function
- the main role of language is to communicate information, thoughts and ideas.
- It conveys factual statements
- It is essential for one’s survival.
Examples of Informative language function
- Statistics showing number of teens who have diabetes
- Facts concerning occurrence of hurricanes
- Inform citizens of rise in cost of living

2) Imaginative Function
- Language can be used to delve into the creative and imaginary world.
- Used to create one’s dreams, fantasies and future aspirations.
Examples of Imaginative Language Function
- a Skit
- a character in an extract talks about their dreams of a better life.

3) Interactional/Phatic Function
- Language is used to forge and maintain social relationships with others.
- Includes: negations
Encouragements
Maintenance of relationships
N.B – these three form the basis of interaction.
Examples of Interactional Language Function
- Greeting someone: “Good day! How are you?”
- Expressing feelings to someone
- Negotiation: If you do well in test you will get a new phone.

4) Expressive Function
- Language is used as a means of expressing oneself.
- One’s views on a topic/issue
- One’s emotions/desires
- One’s attitudes towards someone/a concept
- Helps to evolve feelings/initiate a reaction on the audience
Examples of Expressive Language Function
- Writing in one’s diary
- Telling someone how you feel about them

5) Reflective Function
- Language can be used to recapture past events/persons
- Recalling the past helps with understanding the present and planning for the future
by avoiding previous mistakes.
- Language allows one to think of ways to self-improve.
Examples of Reflective Language Function
- Reminisce on Christmas
- Reflect on your performance in an exam
- Reflect on a presentation made some time before
- Reflect on persons in the past.

6) Regulatory Function
- Language is used to control/direct the behaviour of others
- Causes a reaction in people
- It can get persons to perform a task
Examples of Regulatory Language Function
- Be quiet!
- Do the dishes!
- Be home by 10 pm
- Getting a speeding ticket
- Join the line please

7) Instrumental Function
- Language is used to express one’s needs or desires
- Using language to acquire the things you want
Examples of Instrumental Language Function
- I want rest
- I want food

8) Personal Function
- Language is used to express one’s identity
- Making statements about who you are as an individual, your personality and
personal preferences.
Examples of Personal Language Function
- I love dogs!
- I am proud to be Trini

9) Heuristic Function
- Language is often used to investigate or explore and acquire information about the
environment
- Used to formulate an understanding of the world
Examples of Heuristic Language Function
- Conducting labs
- Doing experiments
- Writing research papers/essays
10) Social Function
- Language is used to express social solidarity with someone or a group
- Used as a marker of social and cultural identity and awareness
- Used to make social linkages
- Used to discriminate against others: alienate, ridicule, make threats, make social
biases.
- Assert authority
Examples of Social Language Function
- I am a member of the Red Cross Society
- I am West Indian
- I do not like her and I do not want to be around her.

11) Ritual Function

- Language is used as a medium for expression of rites and customs in human society
- Rituals/rites are an inherent aspect of Caribbean Society
- Language is used to fulfil and celebrate rituals such as: occasions of life,
accomplishments.
- It is usually involved in the use of repetition of a prescribed language, e.g. Lord’s
prayer, rosary, mantras, etc.
Examples of Ritual Language Function
- Weddings
- Funerals
- Birth
- Signifying achievements

12) Metalinguistic Function

- Language is used to comment on/give feedback on aspects of language itself.
Examples of Metalinguistic Language Function
- Teacher provides feedback on student’s work
- Discussing format of language: verbs, grammar, pronunciation, etc.
PLEASE NOTE:
It is important to know the differences among: Purposes, Functions and Characteristics of
Language.
- Purposes: to do something (intention) written as a verb e.g. To Inform, to
persuade.
- Functions: roles of language, e.g. Ritual Function, Social Function.
- Characteristics: properties, e.g. Human Trait, maturational.

Factors Affecting the Use of Language

1) Social
- Background: native language (creole) or second language (Standard English).
- Age: are speakers young or elderly (mostly uses creole), middle aged (tends to use
more standard English).
- Who are the participants within the interaction: familiarity (uses more creole),
unfamiliarity (uses more standard)
- The occasion: is the occasion formal or informal, will determine language.
- Location/environment: rural (creole), urban (standard), informality (creole),
formality (standard)
- Social Class: lower (creole), upper (standard), middle (both).
- Topic of discussion: informal chat (creole), formal chat (standard).
- Places of Religion: readings and sermons (standard), interactions and storytelling
(creole)
- Historical: Colonisation by the British – Standard English as the official language.
Slavery – West Africans – Creole as native language.
Immigration – French – French Creole/patois
Indentureship – East Indians – Bhojpuri and Standard Hindi

2) Educational
- Educational background: low education (Creole), high education (Standard)
- Access to education: high formal schooling, materials (books etc.) that foster
language development tends to lead to using more Standard language, low formal
schooling uses more Creole.
- Interaction with peers: informal discussions (creole), formal discussions (standard)
- Teacher input: good model for the target language (standard), poor models (creole).

3) Economic
- Ability to afford formal education impacts on one’s access of education: financially
stable (standard), financially unstable (creole).
 - Ability to afford travel: local and international travel; greater exposure to standard
English (formal contexts – standard).
- Inability to afford travel: limited access to formal contexts (creole).

4) Political
- Implementation of law’s that sanction language use.
- Official language is used in highly formal situations like: education, law, governance,
business etc. (standard).
- National language/unofficial language: used by the majority of the population in
informal contexts (creole).
Semanticity
- Refers to the aspect of language where words carry meaning.
- It looks at the relationship between objects and their arbitrarily assigned
words/symbols – meaning.
- Different words have different meanings in different cultures.

Questioning
- In Standard English there is inversion of subject and auxiliary in question formation
that occurs with rising intonation, e.g. “have you finished eating the food?”
- In Creole there is a subject-verb word order questioning that occurs with rising
intonation, e.g. “you done eat the food?”
Tags
- Words such as ‘na’, ‘wi’, ‘boy’, ‘eh’, used at the end of sentences, e.g. “It making hot
wi”, “I eh feelin so good na”, “they taking long eh”.
Front Focusing/Preposing/Fronting
- The movement of a word/phrase which usually follows a verb is moved closer to the
front of a sentence or clause for emphasis, e.g. “Jim eat the donut yesterday”, “is Jim
eat the donut yesterday”, “he tile the house”, “is tile he tile de house”.

Characteristics of English Creole

(Phonology)
Consonant Cluster Reduction:
- Consonant clusters refer to two or more consonant sounds consecutively. E.g. ‘ing’
endings. These are reduced in Creole to ‘in’, e.g. ‘walkin’, ‘talkin’, ‘jumpin’.
- ‘TH’ sounds: ‘TH’ sound words are realised as ‘d’, e.g. ‘this – dis’, ‘that – dat’, ‘them –
dem’, ‘these – dese’, ‘mother – moda’.
Palatization
- The consonants ‘c’ and ‘g’ in the English Creole are followed by ‘y’. the /y/ sound is
inserted in speech.
Standard English – girl, cat, card
English Creole – gyal, cyat, cyad
Inversion of Sounds
- Metathesis: sounds are inverted, changed or rearranged.
Standard English – film, ask
English Creole – flim, aks

Reduplication:
- The process of doubling a sound or word/aspect of a word.
- Complete reduplication: ‘maga maga’ – very thin.
- Partial reduplication: “dilly dally, razzle dazzle”.
Unmarked Verbs as Adjectives:
- Verbs left unchanged in their natural forms and used as an adjective to describe a
noun, e.g. fry bake, curry chicken, fried rice, boil corn, condense milk.
Pluralisation:
- Nouns remained unmarked/unchanged to represent an indefinite quantity, e.g. “it
have mosquito in dis place”, “de orange real sweet”.
- Nouns remained unmarked/unchanged. Markers such as, ‘dem’/’an dem’,
‘rel/plenty’, e.g. “rel people in de fete”, “de boys an dem was playing”.
Copula:
- The main form of the verb ‘to be’ in Standard English is not usually present in Creole:
Standard English – I am, you are, he/she/it is, we are, they are.
Creole – “he happy”, “ah feelin tired”.
Zero Copula: in Standard English the verb is obligatory in all sentences. This isn’t always so
in English Creole, sentence construction in the past tense omit the form of the verb ‘to be’.
Standard English – “the girl is pretty”, “the boy is in the garden”
English Creole – “the girl pretty”, “the boy in the garden”.
Serial Verbs:
- Also known as Verb Stacking is when two or more verbs are placed consecutively
Standard English – “look quickly at what he is doing”, “bring it here”.
“run come see what he doing”, “come see quick”, “walk bring it come”.
Tenses
 - In the English Creole, the various tenses are either unmarked or are indicated by
specific markers that differ from the Standard English.
Tenses: Past Tense
- Past time is marked through context, not on the verb OR by inserting did before the
verb.
Standard English – “I walked to school”
English Creole – “ah walk to school” (in English Creole past tense is unmarked)
Tenses: Future Tense
- In English Creole, the future tense is denoted by the future tense marker of ‘go’.
Standard English – “I will walk”, “Lisa will eat”
English Creole – “ah go walk”, “Lisa go eat”.
Tenses: Habitual
- The use of ‘does’ plus the verb, e.g. “Vernon does eat whole day”, “Sonya does sleep
all de time”.
Tenses: Present Continuous
- The use of verb with the suffix ‘in’ not ‘ing’, e.g. “we havin a good time”, “Mark
cookin lunch”.
Adjectives
- In Standard English adjectives are inflected for comparative and superlative by
adding ‘er’ and ‘est’, e.g. big, bigger, biggest, the same rule applies for English Creole,
however, ‘more’ and ‘most’ are frequently used with the adjectives and occasionally
the comparatives and superlatives are double marked, e.g. ‘louder – louder –
loudest’, ‘more pretty – prettier – prettiest’.
- In Standard English, Adjectives form Adverbs by adding ‘ly’, e.g. ‘quick – quickly’. In
English Creole this doesn’t occur, the adjectives appear in the adverbial position
without magnification.
Example: Standard English – “I ran quickly” English Creole – “I does run quick”
Comparative Forms
- The single forms for adverbs and adjectives are maintained, double comparatives
and superlatives are used.
Standard English – “she is bigger than he”, “his voice is rough”
English Creole – “she more bigger than he”, “he voice rough rough”
Negation
- The use of words placed before the verb ‘doh’ / ‘doesn’ / ‘eh’.
Standard English – “I do not have any food”, “I don’t like them”
English Creole – “I doh have any food”, “ah doh like dem”
 - Double/multiple Negation: The use of more than one negative form in a sentence.
Standard English – “I don’t have any money”
English Creole – “I eh have no money”
Possession
- The possessed comes after the possessor, the meaning is determined by intonation.
Example - Mammy Apple (fruit) vs Mammy Apple (mom’s apple)
Julie mango (fruit) vs Julie mango (Julie’s mango)
Pronouns
- Subject Pronouns: I, me, you, he, she, it, we, alyuh, dem, dey.
N.B – He is used as subject only in negative sentences, e.g. “he eh like what going
on”.
- English Creole has a plural form for the second person pronoun, such as: ‘alyuh’ (Trinidad
Creole), ‘allyu’ (Guyanese Creole) e.g. “alyuh eh easy na”.
- Object pronouns: Me, you, he/him, she/her, it, we/us, alyuh, dem, e.g. “well ah pass he
straight”, “doh hit she, you know!”, “dem foolin we”.
Possessive Pronouns: Standard English – my, your, his/hers, ours, theirs
English Creole – my, your, he/she, we, alyuh, dey/dem
Examples: Standard English – “his book”, “my shirt”, “their house”
English Creole – “he book”, “my shirt”, “alyuh house”
Active vs Passive Voice
- In Standard English, the ACTIVE VOICE – the subject performs the action, e.g. “Nalini
ate the food”.
- In Standard English, the PASSIVE VOICE – the subject is acted upon/receives the
action, e.g. “the food was eaten by Nalini”.
- In English Creole the verb form is either the same for active voice OR ‘get’ is placed
in front of it for the passive voice.
Example: Active Voice in English Creole – “Nalini eat de food”
Passive Voice in English Creole – “de food get eat by Nalini”