Table Of ContentМИНИСТЕРСТВО ТРАНСПОРТА
РОССИЙСКОЙ ФЕДЕРАЦИИ
ФЕДЕРАЛЬНОЕ ГОСУДАРСТВЕННОЕ АВТОНОМНОЕ
ОБРАЗОВАТЕЛЬНОЕ УЧРЕЖДЕНИЕ
ВЫСШЕГО ОБРАЗОВАНИЯ
«РОССИЙСКИЙ УНИВЕРСИТЕТ ТРАНСПОРТА»
Институт экономики и финансов
Кафедра «Лингвистика»
С.В. Юрова
Seminars in Sociolinguistics
Практикум
МОСКВА - 2019
МИНИСТЕРСТВО ТРАНСПОРТА
РОССИЙСКОЙ ФЕДЕРАЦИИ
ФЕДЕРАЛЬНОЕ ГОСУДАРСТВЕННОЕ АВТОНОМНОЕ
ОБРАЗОВАТЕЛЬНОЕ УЧРЕЖДЕНИЕ
ВЫСШЕГО ОБРАЗОВАНИЯ
«РОССИЙСКИЙ УНИВЕРСИТЕТ ТРАНСПОРТА»
Институт экономики и финансов
Кафедра «Лингвистика»
С.В. Юрова
Seminars in Sociolinguistics
Практикум
для студентов-бакалавров
направления «Лингвистика»
МОСКВА - 2019
УДК 42
Ю 78
Юрова С.В. Seminars in Sociolinguistics: Практикум.
Для студентов-бакалавров направления «Лингвистика».
– М.: РУТ (МИИТ), 2019. - 31 с.
Настоящий практикум предназначен для студентов-
бакалавров направления «Лингвистика».
Цель практикума - ознакомление студентов с
возможностью практического применения
социолингвистических знаний. Практикум представляет
собой сборник актуальных текстов по различным аспектам
социолингвистики с вопросами для контроля понимания
прочитанного. Сборник рекомендован к использованию
при подготовке к семинарским занятиям по дисциплине
"Социолингвистика".
©РУТ (МИИТ), 2019
The evolution of the past tense –
how verbs change over time
By Ed Yong, first published by the Discovermagazine
For decades, scientists have realised that languages evolve in
strikingly similar ways to genes and living things. Their words
and grammars change and mutate over time, and new versions
slowly rise to dominance while other face extinction.
In this evolutionary analogy, old texts like the Canterbury
Tales are the English language’s version of the fossil record.
They preserve the existence of words that used to be
commonplace before they lost a linguistic Darwinian conflict
with other, more popular forms.
Now, Erez Lieberman, Martin Nowak and colleagues
from Harvard University are looking at this record to
mathematically model how our verbs evolved and how they
will change in the future.
Today, the majority of English verbs take the suffix ‘-ed’ in
their past tense versions. Sitting alongside these regular verbs
like ‘talked’ or ‘typed’ are irregular ones that obey more
antiquated rules (like ‘sang/sung’ or ‘drank/drunk’) or obey no
rules at all (like ‘went’ and ‘had’).
In the Old English of Beowulf, seven different rules competed
for governance of English verbs, and only about 75% followed
the “-ed” rule. As the centuries ticked by, the irregular verbs
became fewer and far between. With new additions to the
lexicon taking on the standard regular form (‘googled’ and
’emailed’), the irregulars face massive pressure to regularise
and conform.
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Today, less than 3% of verbs are irregular but they wield a
disproportionate power. The ten most commonly used English
verbs – be, have, do, go say, can, will, see, take and get – are all
irregular. Lieberman found that this is because irregular verbs
are weeded out much more slowly if they are commonly used.
To get by, speakers have to use common verbs correctly. More
obscure irregular verbs, however, are less readily learned and
more easily forgotten, and their misuse is less frequently
corrected. That creates a situation where ‘mutant’ versions that
obey the regular “-ed” rule can creep in and start taking over.
Lieberman charted the progress of 177 irregular verbs from the
9th century Old English of Beowulf, to the 13th century Middle
English of Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales, to the modern
21st century English of Harry Potter. Today, only 98 of these are
still irregular; many formerly irregular verbs such as ‘laugh’
and ‘help’ have put on new regular guises.
He used the CELEX corpus – a massive online database of
modern texts – to work out the frequency of these verbs in
modern English. Amazingly, he found that this frequency
affects the way that irregular verbs disappear according to a
very simple and mathematical formula.
They regularise in a way that is ‘inversely proportional to the
square root of their frequency’. This means that if they are used
100 times less frequently, they will regularise 10 times as fast
and if they are used 10,000 times less frequently, they will
regularise 100 times as fast.
As Lieberman says, “We measured something no one really
thought could be measured, and got a striking and beautiful
result.” Using this model, the team managed to estimate how
much staying power the remaining irregular verbs have and
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assigned them ‘half-lives’ just as they would to radioactive
isotopes that decay over time.
The two most common irregulars – ‘be’ and ‘have’ – crop up
once or more in every ten words and have half-lives of over
38,000 years. That’s such a long time that they are effectively
immune to regularity and are unlikely to change.
Less common verbs like ‘dive’ and ‘tread’ only turn up once in
every 10,000-100,000 words. They have much shorter half-
lives of 700 years and for them, regularisation is a more
imminent prospect. Out of the 98 remaining irregular verbs
examined in the study, a further 16 will probably have adopted
the ‘-ed’ ending by 2500.
Which will be next? Lieberman has his speculative sights set on
‘wed’. It is one of the least commonly used of modern irregular
verbs and the past form ‘wed’ will soon be replaced with
‘wedded’. As he jokes, “Now is your last chance to be a ‘newly
wed’. The married couples of the future can only hope for
‘wedded’ bliss.
Questions.
1) Do Englisn words and grammar remain unchangeable or
do they mutate over time?
2) Does the number of irregular verbs increase or decrease
over time?
3) Are the most commonly used English verbs regular or
irregular?
4) Why do less commonly used irregular verbs tend to
become regular over time?
5) How long does it take for an irregular verb to become a
regular one?
6) Is there any prospect of the verbs „to be“ and „to have“
becoming regular verbs?
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Do You Sound Right for the Job?
By Dan Woog, first published by Monster Jobs
Everyone knows it's illegal for an employer to discriminate on
the basis of race, ethnicity and national origin. But what about
an English-speaking candidate with a foreign accent?
The answer is no. Well, maybe un poco.
Dianne Markley, a professor at the University of North Texas at
Denton (UNT) whose graduate research focused on how
accents affect the hiring process, says it is "almost impossible
to speak any language acquired later in life without an accent."
A UNT study showed "an incredibly strong statistical
correlation between judging someone as cultured, intelligent,
competent, etc., and placing them into prestigious jobs," based
on the lack of a readily identified accent.
Accents Trigger Emotional Responses
"A professional tries not to let an accent get in the way of hiring
decisions," says Victor Arias, co-managing partner of the
diversity practice at executive search firm Heidrick &
Struggles. "But subtle emotions can come into play, and they
may make a difference. Clearly, people make judgments based
on accents."
Arias notes that assumptions work two ways: "Not only may
someone with a Hispanic accent be deemed ‘less educated,' but
someone with a British accent may be seen as ‘more
intelligent,' again with no basis." By the same token, Markley
says, an Asian accent could be viewed as a plus by a scientific
or engineering company. "It's all very situational," she adds.
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Worldly or Unrefined?
Someone with a slight accent of any kind might be viewed as
more educated or worldly than someone with a thick accent.
"I've fallen for that," Arias admits. "I've heard a thick accent
and thought, ‘Boy, he hasn't left the neighborhood.' And I've
been completely wrong. I've had to slap myself."
An accent, Markley notes, is "a pattern of pronunciation." That
is not the same as whether a person uses language well and
forms sentences correctly. "A person can speak flawless
English, but an accent causes him or her to be seen as someone
who can't do the job," she says.
Strong Accents Can Affect Hiring Chances
Candidates should be hired on their qualifications alone,
Markley says -- provided their verbal abilities are appropriate
for the job. Unfortunately, "sometimes an accent leads to the
perception that that person can't perform this job," she adds. In
fact, it is legal to not hire someone whose accent materially
affects his ability to perform key aspects of a job.
Markley cites the example of a customer service representative:
"That position requires excellent communication skills, and
someone who could not be understood well would honestly
interrupt the flow of business."
However, Markley emphasizes, "It's not OK to use an accent as
a proxy for discrimination based on national origin." For
example, a company can't claim a person with a thick Hispanic
accent can't communicate with English-speaking customers,
while someone with an equally heavy French accent can.
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Focus on Clear Speaking Skills
Arias says that while most companies understand
the importance of diversity, he knows of no company that
addresses the effect of accents on hiring. As a result, every
person with hiring responsibility should be aware of the
possibility of unconscious bias against speakers with accents.
Markley's advice for job seekers with accents:
Relax: "An accent is part of who you are," she says.
"It connects you with your family and a particular part of the
world. An accent is not a bad thing."
Watch Your Language: "Be sure to use good
grammar," she says. "Speak slowly. Don't get frustrated if
you have to repeat yourself. There's plenty of stress in job
seeking. Don't add more by worrying about your accent."
Carlos Soto, president of the National Hispanic Corporate
Council, adds this hint: "Prepare more than anyone
else. Practice your answers in English. An accent shouldn't
matter, but it does. That's life."
Questions
1) Is it generally considered possible to speak an aquired
language without any accent?
2) Do recruits tend to make judjements on condidates`
competence based on the way they speak?
3) Can you think of several jobs where an accent can be an
obstacle to performing them?
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Do Men and Women Talk Differently?
First published by Successfully speaking USA
What are the challenges of women in the workplace? How can
they be perceived as a powerful and successful professional?
Their communication style may be impacting their success.
Mike and Michele started working at a new company at the
same time. They had comparable work experience and were
hired for similar positions. Could there be a difference between
their communication styles? Absolutely! With an increased
awareness of some of these differences, communication may be
becoming more gender neutral. However, there are some
inherent patterns that exist and one should be mindful of them.
The workplace and professional environment dictates what
communication style is preferred. Power and professionalism
may require different skillsets in the corporate or sales setting
compared to the non-profit, healthcare, or academic world. We
also may “code switch” our style depending on our
conversational partner. For example, a public defender in
downtown Baltimore may speak differently to her clients than
to her colleagues.
Communication is comprised of three V’s-Visual, how you
look; Vocal, how you sound; Verbal, what you say.
Visually, women tend to smile more, which can establish
rapport, but may undermine authority when used in excess.
Women also tend to show more active listening by their smiles,
head nods, and vocal encouragement. Look around the room at
a boardroom meeting. Women do not always take up as much
physical space at the table. Keeping elbows close to the body,
or crossing arms and legs makes one smaller and diminishes
confidence and power. While standing, crossing ankles and
shifting weight compromises your posture. Stand tall, hold your
ground, and face your heart outwards!
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