Language identityIf you talk to a man in a language he understands, that goes to his head. If you talk to him in his language, that goes to his heart.– Nelson Mandela

“A language is a set of sentences, each finite in length and constructed out of a finite set of elements.”_ Noam Chomsky

Functions of languageLanguage is a way of communicating thoughts and feelings. Language can unite people, language can divide people .it can also constitute a means of asserting one’s identity or one’s distinctiveness from others. A common language may be the ideal vehicle to express the unique character of a social group.

IdentityAccording to Joanna Thorn borrow “Identity, whether on an individual, social or interact ional level is something that we are constantly building and negotiating throughout our lives and through our interaction with each other”

Kinds of identityThere are four kinds of identity which are as follows;

1- Master identity2- Interact ional identity3- Personal identity4- Relational identity

Master identity is relatively stable and unchanging such as; gender, ethnicity, age, national and regional origins. The meanings of master identity change across time and space.

Interact ional identity refers to roles that people take on in a communicative content with specific other people.

Assignment: sociolinguisticsTopic: language identity, power and politics.Group no: 4Group members: Fareeha mumtaz roll#11Zara gull roll # 15Faiza anwar roll # 19Hira asim roll # 22Faiza gill roll # 46

Personal identity is the rational way in which people talk and behave with each other.

Rational identity refers to the kind of relationship that a person enacts. It may be with a particular conversational partner or in a specific situation; it negotiates from moment to moment and is highly variable.

Various studies show that a person’s national identity results directly from the presence of elements in people’s daily lives such as;

National symbols Language National colures The nation’s history Culture, music etc.

Linguistic identity how we talk, dress, behave is an important way of displaying who we are indicates our social identity.

identity is something we are constantly building and negotiating all our lives through our interaction with others.

identity is also multifaceted people switch into different roles at different times in different situations.

Language and National identity National –language may for instance represent the national identity of a nation I-e

Urdu in Pakistan and English language in America and Britain. There is often a particularly strong link between language and a sense of

belonging to a national group, a sense of national identity. In ‘simple’ cases, there is one ‘national language’ which is spoken by everyone with the same national identity. Most cases are however complex, and involve more than one language (e.g. Switzerland), and some languages are linked to more than one national identity (e.g. German).

‘National’ language(s) are taught in schools as subjects and are also used in schools to teach other subjects.

Language and thoughtThought processes and perceptions of reality differ from one culture to another. How people think and speak is ultimately determined largely by their culture. We call this Linguistic Relativity

Language and cultural identityCultural identity is the identity or feeling of belonging to a particular religion, social class, locality or any kind of social group that has its own culture.

Culture includes; language, dress, laws, customs, rituals, norms and rules and regulations.

“Cultural shock is a personal disorientation, a person may feel when experiences an unfamiliar way of life due to migration or visit to a new country” there are four phase in adjusting a new country;

Honeymoon phase (newly married couples go to new place)Negotiation phase (people experience homesickness or frustration in new country)Adjustment phase (often 6-12 months are required to adjust in new country)Reverse culture shock (after returning to homeland, it takes time to re-adjust)Conclusion: The relationship between language and identity will always involve a complex mix of individual , social and political factors which work to construct people as belonging to a social group, or to exclude them from it.

Power and politics

Power “the capability to influence others to continue a course of action, change what is being done, or refrain from acting”

It has three types1-Political power2-economic power3-military power“Politics is the exercise of power and resolution of conflicts”.Power is a notoriously difficult concept to use. It is generally used without an explanation by linguistic.

For instance , “ David crystal ” tells us that a “language become an international language for one chief reason :the political power of its people __especially their military power ; later he tells us that while a military powerful nation establishes a language world wide it takes an economically powerful one to maintain and expand it (crystal )

In short, power is something which includes both the means for giving pain, and the means for buying things, the means giving pleasure.

The language of power is not the spoken language of everyday life and therefore, has to be learned .this language has certain characteristics;

it is a standardized variety of a language , It is a print language. it is highly valued ; it is not spoken by common people , It is an elitist possession. Not only it is a standard language is the sense of

possessing fixed spellings, written grammar, dictionaries, but it is also used by the ruling elite in the domains of power.

The use of language in such domains by the modern state is a matter for the ruling elite to decide; in the case of English, for instance, it was standardized not because it was structurally any better than the non _ standardized varieties of language. it was standardized by complex processes in which powerful elites ,clerks of the chancellery , and the clergy had a hand as john homey .then the educated classes state bureaucracies ,clergymen ,publishers and writers spent money on teaching it, printing books and dictionaries and using it in the domains of power .

The non-standard varieties of language or languages are generally given less prestige than standardized ones even by their speakers .This is not because of the nature of language but because of its use in the domains of power.

The crucial factor is power politics not language.

The Language of politics: The language of politicians are mainly based upon:

Presupposition: the meaning of the word ‘presuppose’ is to ‘assume before hand involve; imply -represent some of the most powerful of language patterns. Presupposition may be ‘fair and uncontroversial’ based upon knowledge which is common to all parties privy to a communication ,or ‘unfair and controversial’-made upon the basis of covert knowledge by a communicator with a hidden agenda.

Implicative: It is a technical term in the pragmatic subfield of linguistics, coined by H.P Grice, which refers to what is suggested in an utterance, even though neither expressed nor strictly implied the utterance.

Paul Grice : identified four types of general conversational implicative : Maxim of Manner: Aroid ambiguity, be brief, be orderly. Maxim of Relation: relevance is relevant. Maxim of Quantity Information: Make your contribution as informative as is required for the purposes of the exchange. Do not make your contribution more informative then required. Maxim of Quality : Truth

Do not say what you believe to be false.

Metaphors:It is a figure of speech comparing two unlike things.

Euphemism: It is an inoffensive expression that is substituted for one that is considered offensive. In other words, the communication of painful or hurtful concepts using softer words is known as euphemism.

Rule of Three: It is a powerful speech writing technique. For example, Abraham Lincoln’s “Government of the people, by the people, for the people.”

Parallelism: It is when elements of a sentence “have the same weight and are often the same part of speech Noun. It’s all about equality

Language PowerPower is exercised in many ways and language .is one of the way. Kashrus observes that the power of language is closely connected with societal power. It can be manifested by

using Persuasion, Regulation, Inducement, or force to add a code to a speech community or by the suppression of a particular language variety and the elevation of another.

In 18th and 19th century, Britain ruled and controlled the sub-continent commercially, politically and of course linguistically. Under the imperil rule in India, on this basis, English started to emerge as the language of political and cultural power. Over a period of time, with the advancement of technology and media it became the pre-eminent language of the globe.

Another aspect of power of language has been defined by Talisman quoted in Redman, he says, “language is a new means of propagating ideology,”

Referenceswww.slideshare.comwww.broadyesl.htmwww.slideshare.net/aherswww.wikipedia.com

(Book of sociolinguistic by Prof. Mukhtar Pares)Language identity: Byram, Council of EuropePower politics by : T. Rehman