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Introduction toA LINGUISTICS ATLAS OF THE PHILIPPINES

(1980. Curtis D. McFarland)

Language / WIKA

Dialect / Diyalekto

Idiolect / Idyolek

Bloomfield concept of mutual intelligibility

Every language changes at a rate which leaves contemporary persons freeto communicate without disturbances.

Among persons, linguistic change is uniform in ratio with the amount ofcommunication between them.

If linguistic change results in groups between which communication isdisturbed, these groups speak dialects of the language.

If linguistic change results in groups of persons between whichcommunication is impossible, these groups speak related languages.

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LANGUAGE CHANGE / Pagbabago ng wika

How does language change? Why does language change?

Paano nagbabago ang isang wika? Bakit nagbabago ang wika?

Result of deterioration ( due to lack of education or carelessness) Corruption (contact with other languages) Language is so vast that no one ever learns his language completely

linguistic innovation aspects of language (sounds, words,

grammatical rules)

idiolects - - tend o be similar to each other in proportion to the amount ofcommunication between the various speakers. American English

southerners vs. northerner (yankee)

If communication is very easy such as in coastal plains, along rivers, on the

shores of easily navigated seas, the communities of a very large area may

maintain a high level of similarity in their speech varieties e.g. large

Philippine languages are spoken over extensive areas.

If communication is difficult, such as in mountainous areas, e.g. northern

Luzon, even neighboring communities may have low levels of contact andthus diversify very rapidly.

Speech habits dialects

Level of communication in two communities - -- - high

- --- dropDifferences between the 2 speech varieties become large enough to be

noticeable, we now have dialectal differences or different dialects.

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Dialectal differences between 2 communities

(1)Dialectal variation within a geographical area(2)Discrete dialects(3)Social dialects

Dialects becoming languages

*If speakers of 2 speech varieties can communicate easily with each other and

observe no noticeable differences between their respective speech, then the 2

speech varieties are considered TO BE PART OF THE SAME DIALECT, and of

course, the SAME LANGUAGE.

*If speakers of 2 speech varieties can observe noticeable differences between

their respective speech, but can nonetheless communicate with each other,

perhaps with difficulty dialectal differences between the 2 speech varieties,

and considered DISCRETE DIALECTS; nonetheless part of same language.

*If speakers of 2 speech varieties cannot communicate with each other at all,

then the 2 speech varieties are considered to BELONG TO DIFFERENT

LANGUAGES.