Linguistic Varieties and Multilingual Nations

Vernacular Languages
Vernacular refers to a language which has not been standardised and which does not have official
status. There are three components of the meaning of the term vernacular, the mosst basic refers to the
fact that a vernacular is an uncodified or unstandardisef variety. The second refers to the way it is
acquired (in the home) as a first variety. The third is the fact that it is used for relatively cicumscribed
functions. So, vernaculars are usually the first languages learned by people in multilingual communities
and they are often used for a relatively narrow range or informal functions. There arw hundreds of
vernacular languages, such as Buang in Papua New Guinea, Hindustani in India and Bumbar in Vanuatu,
many of wich have never been written down or described. Some have extended the term to refer to any
language which is not the official anguage of a country. For example, in countries such as USA where
English is the language of the dominant group, a language like Spanish is referred to as a Chicano child's
vernacular. But Spanish would not be regarded as a vernacular language in Spain, Uruguay or Chile,
where it is an official language.

Standard Language
Standard variety is generally one which is written, and which has undergone some degree of
regularisation or codification (for example, in a grammar and a dictionary); it is recognised as a
prestigious variety or code by a community, and it is used for H functions alongside a diversity of L
varieties. Standard varieties are codified varieties. Codification is usually achieved through grammars
and dictionaries which record, and sometimes prescribe, the standard forms of the language. Dictionary
writers (or lexicographers) have to decide which words to include in the dictionary as part of the
standard variety, which forms to mark as dialectal, and which to omit altogether. They generally take
the usage of educated and socially prestigious members of the community as their criterion. A standard
dialect has no particular linguistic merits. whether in vocabulary, grammar or pronunciation. It is simply
the dialect of those who are politically powerful and socially prestigious. Once it begins to serve as a
norm or standard for a wider group. however, it is likely to develop the wider vocabulary needed to
express the new functions it is required to serve. Standard languages developed in a similar way in many
other European countries during the fifteenth, sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. In Italy, Spain,
France and Romania, for example, there were a variety of dialects of the vernacular languages (which all
derived from varieties of colloqui al Latin) which served the L functions of their communities, alongside
classical Latin, the H language. From these dialects there gradually emerged a standard, generally based
on the dialect of the political, economic and social centre of the country.

World Englishes
The terms 'World Englishes' and 'New Englishes' have been used to emphasise the range of different
varieties of English that have developed since the nineteenth century. In contexts where multilingualism
is the norm, relatively standard varieties, such as formal Singapore English, expressing global concepts
shared across nations, co-exist alongside more 'nativised' varieties of English, influenced by local
languages. Singlish, a very informal, colloquial variety of Singapore English, is a well-described example.
These nativised varieties may express the local aspirations and identities of a wide range of
communities, and this is reflected in linguistic characteristics such as stress patterns, vocabulary from
local languages, grammatical features which indicate the influence of local languages, and semantic
concepts drawn from the other languages spoken in the communities where they are used. Singlish has
a frequently occurring ethnic final tag 'lah', for example, as well as distinctive intonation patterns,
grammar and vocabulary. 'Chin chye lah' in answer to a query means something like 'it's up to you, I
don't mind'. The local varieties of English which have developed in New Zealand, Australia, Canada and
the USA, where most of the populations are monolingual English speakers, are examples of inner-circle
English varieties. Kachru also identified an expanding circle of those who were learning English as an
additional, adjunct or foreign language for a wide range of reasons such as trade or access to higher
education, as in China or Japan. English is a foreign language in the expanding circle, serving no crucial
communication functions within a country. However, globalisation means there are now many more
speakers of English in the outer and expanding circles than in the inner circle, and with English as the
global language of the internet, and computer-mediated communication, it seems likely that variation in
old and new Englishes, both written and spoken, is likely to continue to develop.

Lingua Francas
The term lingua francas describes a language serving as a regular means of communication between
different linguistic groups in a multilingual speech community. A lingual franca is a language used for
comnunication between people whose first languages differ. In multilingual communities lingua francas
are so useful they may eventually displace the vernaculars. Maintaining linguistic distinctiveness is
important in multilingual community. If linguistic distinctiveness is an important identifying value for a
group, then ethnic languages and vernaculars tend to survive, often for a considerable time. But there
are many factors which may contribute to replacement, and the usefulness of lingua francas in
multilingual areas is certainly one relevant factor.

Pidgins and Creoles

Pidgins
A pidgins is a language which has no native speakers. Pidgins develop as a meanns of communication
between people who do not have a common language. Pidgins seem particularly likely to arise when
two groups with different languages are communicating in a situation where there is also a third
dominant language. Pidgin languages do not have high status or prestige and, to those who are not
speak them, they often seem ridiculous languages. Pidgins often have a short life. If they develip for a
restricted function, they dissapear when the function dissapear. In some cases, however, pidgins go on
to develip into fully-fl edged languages or creoles.
Creoles
A creole is a pidgin which has acqui red native speakers. Many of the languages which are called pidgins
are in fact now creole languages. They are learned by children as their first language and used in a wide
range of domains. As a result of their status as some group's first language, creoles also differ from
pidgins in their range of functions, in their structure and in some cases in the attitudes expressed
towards them. A creole is a pidgin which has expanded in structure and vocabulary to express the range
of meanings and serve the range of functions required of a first language. Pidgin languages do not use
affixes to signal meanings such as tense of a verb or the number of a noun. Creole langiages do develop
ways of systematically signalling meanings such as verb tenses, and these may develop into inflections
or affixes over time. Once a creole has developed it can be used for all the functions of any language -
politcs, education, administration, originial literature, and so on. Through outsiders' attitudes to creoles
are often as negative as their attitudes to pidgins, this is not always the case for those who speak the
language. Tok Pisin has status and prestigr for people in Papua New Guinea aho recognise its usefulness
as a means of communication with a wide range of influential people as well as in getting a decent job.