B. Review of Related Theories
1. Theory of Language Varieties and Varieties of English
Bauer defines variety as “an academic term used for any kind of language
production, whether we are viewing it as being determined by region, gender, social class, age or by our own inimitable individual characteristics” Bauer, 2002: 4.
Wardaugh offers another definition of variety that is “a specific set of „linguistics items‟ or „human speech patterns‟ sounds, words, grammatical features, etc. which
can uniquely associated with some external factors a geographical area or social group” Wardaugh, 1992: 22.
Meanwhile, Mihalicek and Wilson define language varieties as a term to cover any form of language characterized by systematic features. It may be used to refer a
distinctive language such as French or Italian, to refer a particular form of a language spoken by a specific group of people such as Appalachian English or New York
English, and to refer the speech of a single person or refers to the way a single person speaks in a particular contexts Mihalicek and Wilson, 2011: 409.
In the context of English Varieties, Quirk defines “varieties” of English with
reference to the descr iption of “standards” worldwide. He states that
“English is not the prerogative or “possession” of the English… Acknowledging this must - as a corollary - involve our questioning the
propriety of claiming that the English of one area is more “correct” than the English of another. Certainly, we must realise that there is n
o single “correct” English and no single standard
of correctness” Quirk, 1962: 17-18. At the same time, Halliday, McIntosh, and Strevens also discuss the varieties
of English in a range of decolonizing contexts, they mention that
“English is no longer the possession of the British, or even the British and the Americans, but… exists in an increasingly large by number of different
varieties…But the most important development of all seen in the emergence of varieties that are identified with and are specific to particular countries
from among the former British colonies. In West Africa, in the West Indies,
and In Pakistan and India…It is no longer accepted by the majority that the English of England, with RP as its accent, are the only possible models of
Eng lish to be set before the young” Halliday, McIntosh, and Strevens, 1964:
293-294. Based on their definition, English is not only a variety of British and
American, but also a variety of particular countries of British colonies such as India, Pakistan, Africa, West Indies, etc.
2. Theory of Dialect
Mihalicek and Wilson define dialect as “a variety of language spoken by a
group of people that is characterized by systematic differences from other varieties of the same language in terms of structural or lexical features Grammar and
Vocabulary” Mihalicek and Wilson, 2011: 409. In fact, many people misunderstand that “dialect” is a term to refer the differences in pronunciation or
slang usage. This happens because of the differences of pronunciation or vocabularies accompanied by variation in other areas.
Haugen defines dialect as local varieties of English, and for various types of informal, lower-class, or rural speech. In general usage, it remains quite undefined
whether a dialect is part of “language” or not. The dialect is often thought of as
standing outside the language as a social norm and a language that is exclude from polite society Haugen, 1966: 924-925.
Dialect is often associated with nonstandard or substandard, depending on the using or applying the terms. It can connote various degrees of inferiority which are
carried over to those who speak a dialect.
3. Theory of Caribbean Englishes
English languages in Caribbean reveal several socio-historical factors in the emergence of creole language. The main factor is the disproportional of social or
power relationship in speakers of one language or more dominated socially, economically, military, and politically by powerful speakers of another language. In
this situation, the European colonization and the institution of slavery brought immigrants from the west coast of Africa to America to work on a sugar plantation.
As a result, they made a new language because of the domination of powerful language. They reshaped their speaking by trying to make sense of and reorganized
the data Aceto, 2006: 204. Every former British colonial territory in the Caribbean reveals English as a
language variety spoken today, such as Trinidad and Tobago, Grenada, Barbados, St. Vincent, St. Lucia, Dominica, Montserrat, St. Kitts and Nevis, Antigua and Barbuda,
Anguila, the Turks and Caicos Islands, and the various islands of the Bahamas, Jamaica, and the Cayman Islands. In many locations, some speakers may call their
language pidgin or creole, or most simply call their native language dialect whether the qualifiers are bad, raw, or flat, they may simply call it English Aceto, 2006: 206.
There are brief generalized features of English-derived creoles and dialects in the Caribbean. All of Anglophone creoles spoken in the Caribbean have synchronic
differences in terms of lexicon, morphology, and syntax, even they also have similarities. The aim is to highlight basic features found in a range of Anglophone
Caribbean.
a. Syntax
i. Copula
Copula be is a linking element that carries tense which can be marked only on verbs and subject-verb agreement. The copula links nonverbal predicates nouns,
adjectives, and adverbials and reflects the person and the number of the subject of noun as well in the present tense such as I am, he is, and you are, and so on Celce
and Larsen, 1999: 53. According to Aceto, there are three functions of copula that are attributive,
locative, and nominal. In attributive, the verb is is often no overt at all, for example she all right, and she good. In locative, the inversion between the copula and noun is
not required for question. In nominal, the form a, is, and be are no overt realization at all, for example she my sister Aceto, 2006: 212.
ii. Subject-verb agreement
Fromkin states that agreement is a property of grammatical organization found in a pair of words. According to the rule, a verb has to agree with its subject
Fromkin, 2000: 237.
Roberts, in Nero‟s article “ESL or ESD? Teaching English to Caribbean English Speakers
”, said that “there is no inflection for subject-verb agreement.” For example:
„My brother live in New York,‟ „He go to work by train‟ Nero, 1997: 8.
iii. Past Tense
According to Mc Arthur, the past tense of would and could is common in the CE where the SE has will and can, for example I would do it, and I could swim. The
CE has past historic while in SE has simple past, for example the committee had decided
http:www.encyclopedia.comdoc1O29-CARIBBE ANENGLISH ; 1998:
September 11, 2013. Aceto also said that the past tense in the CE is common for unmarked
dynamic verbs to have a past interpretation. Depending on the context, an utterance may be interpreted as in simple past or sometimes called past perfect. For example,
t he utterance „I ate‟ or „I have eaten‟ is close to „I already ate‟ „I have already eaten‟
or „I‟m done eating‟, „I done ate already‟ in other varieties of English Aceto, 2006: 212.
According to Nero, in “The Changing Faces of English: A Caribbean
Perspe ctive,” based on adaptation of Allsopp, Rickford, and Roberts information, she
points out that in the past tense, verbs are left for tense although other signals adverbs of time, such as yesterday, last week, etc. often give linguistic clues about
the t iming of event. For example, „yesterday I wash the clothes‟, and „I work on that
job for a few months‟ Nero, 2000: 488.
iv. Future Tense
According to Aceto, the preverbal of future tense marker is go, a go, goin or sometimes wi „will‟. In Standard English, „they will dance‟ or „they are going to
dance‟ or „they are going to dance‟ will be variously translated as dem go dans, and dem wan dans Aceto, 2006: 212.
v. Subject and Object Pronouns and Possessive
Singular Plural
mi, a, ai s wi, aawi
me yu
unu, aayu, yaal you him „he, she, it
de, dem hi he, she, it
ʃi, ar obj om, am
he, she, it obj it
Based on the list above , ai, a „I‟ is only for subject pronouns; ar „her‟ is an
object pronoun referring to females; om may refer to „him, her, it‟ in object position.
him indicates males or females or even non-human referring to either a subject or an object. The second plural pronoun unu is one pronoun that seems not to be
derived from a superstrate source Aceto, 2006: 213. According to Roberts, in Nero‟s article, he said that possession or personal
pronoun is shown by possessing or juxtaposition of possessor and possessed, not by the genitive marker of English grammar Nero, 1997: 8.
vi. Pluralization
According to Mc Arthur, there are marking noun plurals by postponed particles not
–s. For example, „the three dogs‟ become „the three dog‟ http:www.encyclopedia.comdoc1O29-CARIBBEANENGLISH.html
; 1998:
September, 11, 2013.
vii. Negation
In most Anglophone Caribbean creole negation, it is designated by a single preverbal negator. This negator is usually some reflex of “no”, “not”, or “never.” It is
also possible to find a nega tor based on auxiliary “don‟t” or “ain‟t.” For example,
„she never sing‟ and „she ain‟t eat.‟ Aceto, 2006: 214.
viii. Question Formation Inversion
In contrast, the question-formation between the Standard English and English- based creoles is absolutely different. In the SE forms, a question is formed by
inverting the subject NP and the auxiliary verb Huddleston and Pullum, 2002: 95. Meanwhile, in English based on creoles, there is no difference in the syntactic
structure between questions and statements. It distinguishes only by rising intonation Bickerton, 1981: 70. Rising intonation also indicates interrogatives, for example
where she is? You are coming? Aceto, 2006: 212.
b. Lexicon
According to Schneider, there are some loan words from African languages Bajan and Jamaican. For example, in Bajan, there are pia b bah
„kind of herb,‟ pampalan
„fuss, confusion‟; new coinages of the expected types include calques eye-
water „tears‟, sweet mouth „flatterer,‟ big-eye „greedy,‟ and have words „quarrel,‟ all
of which are Caribbean phrases; idioms to bad talk „malign,‟ be own-way
„headstrong, disobedient,‟ like somebody bad „ like somebody very much‟; compounds golden-apple, increase-peas, slave-lizard; semantic modifications talk
„have personal or sexual relations,‟ improvement „offspring of livestock reared by a neighbor,‟ skipper „boss, respectful form of address‟; and newly coined phrasal verbs
dark up „turn dark,‟ drunk up „become intoxicated,‟ hug up „embrace
enthusiastically,‟ wet up „soak‟ Schneider, 2007: 224. In Jamaica, indigenous covering to a considerable extent the domains of
fauna, flora, food, and other cultural practices ackee , the „national fruit,‟ fufu
„mashed starch-vegetables,‟ nyam „food,‟ susu „whisper,‟ mumu „mute person, idiot,‟ chaka-chaka
„disorderly,‟ anancy „spider,‟ obeah „black magic,‟ dopi „spirit,‟ doti „earth,‟ bammy „cassava bread,‟ backra „white man,‟ busha „overseer,‟ yaba „clay
pot,‟ John Canoe „masked dancer,‟ nana „grandmother‟; compounds includes some calques, garden egg
„eggplant, or aubergine,‟ bush man, brown rat, galley-wasp „lizard-like animal,‟ hard-back „beetles,‟ hand-middle „palm,‟ fresh fish vs. salt fish,
fine voice „high-pitched voice,‟ dead stranger „perfect stranger,‟ tall hair „long hair‟;
hybrid formations,
macca-fat, obeah
man, ground-anancy;
derivations, grudgefulness, stupidness, upliftment; semantic modifications, dandelion, cherry,
pear, apple, robin, crow, dumpling – all used for different objects than their European
counterparts; brass „penny,‟ hand „hand and arm,‟ foot „foot and leg,‟ etc. Schneider,
2007: 234.
There are some loan words from French Creole, local Spanish, and Old English. For example, in French Creole, lagniappe is
„something extra given by a vendor to a buyer for
the sake of goodwill, a bonus,‟ macafouchette „leftovers,‟ ramajay
„to warble, twitter, make an extravagant display‟; local Spanish, alpargata
„a sandal with uppers made of woven rope-like material, canvas, or of intertwined leather thongs,‟ parang „a term for a number of different musical
rhythms, song types, and festivities associated with Christmas in Trinidad and parts of Venezuela from paranda, fruutapang
„breadfruit‟ from fruta „fruit‟ and pan „bread‟, mampala „an effeminate man‟ from mampolón „ a common cock, not a
fighting cock, scaveeched fish from escabeche „pickled fish‟; Old English and to
usage in Scotland, favor fieba„to resemble‟ as in ʃi fieba you „she resembles you‟,
vex beks „to anger‟ as in wamek yu beks so „why are you so angry?,‟ beg „to ask‟
as in a wan beg yu wan tinŋ „I want to ask you something‟ Mc Arthur, 2013; Aceto, 2006: 214-215.
c. Repetition
Wales defines repetition as an ordinary conversation that can be seen as a problem of redundancy, also as a powerful resource of interpersonal involvement that
emphasizes the context of conversation. It may also be used to intense our feeling. In literary language, it is not difficult to appreciate the significant of repetition on all
linguistic levels since lexical repetition is very obviously drawn to the attention. Therefore, it is often to avoid in favor of variation by synonymy, or substation by
pronouns, important means of cohesion Wales, 2001: 341.
There are some various strategies involving the repetitions elements such as repetition of elements or structures in texts, and word repetitions.
i. Repetitions of Elements or Structure in Clauses
According to Wales, there are some elements or structure repetitions in clauses such as anaphora, epistrophe, and symploce.
Anaphora is “a popular figure of speech involving repetition of the same word
at the beginning of successive clauses, sentences or verses also known as epanaphora. It is found in verse and prose of all periods, and can be effectively
deployed to underline descriptive and emotional effects. For example, the sentence „the rain heavily on the roof, and pattered on the ground….The rain fell, heavily,
drearily. It was a night of tears ” Wales, 2001: 19.
Epistrophe is a repetition that occurs in the last words in successive lines, clauses or sentences repeated. The repetition of this concept can be seen in the
sentence of Othello‟s ironic „A fine woman A fair woman A sweet woman‟ The word woman indicates the repetition in the last words of the clauses Wales, 2001:
132. Symploce is a repetition that involves of one set of words at the beginning of
the series of the sentences in the verse line and in another set of the end of the verse. It is also the combination of anaphora and epistrophe. As the example:
Son: How will my
mother of father‟s death take on with me and
ne‟er be satisfied
Father: How will my wife for slaughter of my son shed seas of tears and
ne‟er be satisfied.
King Henry: How will the country for this woeful chances
misthink the king and not be satisfied Wales, 2001:380
ii. Word Repetitions
In European languages, there are more permit word repetitions in contrast to lexical and inflectional reduplication as well as pleonastic constructions, for example
in the sentence „this was very, very good, grand-grandfather‟ Stolz, 2006: 105-132.
4. The Localized Forms of English
Localized forms of English are important for some countries which become independent. The aim of this process is looking for some cultural language to provide
a symbol of national identity. As Crystal said, there is a natural reaction for a country which becomes independent to leave behind the linguistic character spread by the
colonial in the past, and to look for indigenous languages to provide a symbol of a new nationhood Crystal, 2003: 145. When some countries adopt a language from
the local alternative culture, they immediately start adapting it as a communication need of the region Crystal, 2011: 17. According to Crystal, most adaptation refers to
vocabulary, such as borrowing words, word formation, word meaning, and idiomatic phrases, for example,
in the word „aardwolf‟, „wheelcup‟, „bakkie‟, and „bloedsappe ‟ Crystal, 2003: 146.
Crystal also said in his article, “the future of Englishes: going local,” “When a group of people in a country such as student, teachers, or businessman switches into
English, for whatever reason, the subject –matter of their conversation inevitably
incorporate s of their local environment” Crystal, 2011: 19. They used to talk about
society such as market, streets, suburbs, television programs, newspaper, social
media, minority groups, jokes, etc.. “All of this local knowledge is taken for granted and used in sentences without gloss” Crystal, 2011: 19.
Every English speaking nation in the world has the similar usage of English to use their distinctiveness for expressing their local identity; it means that the
localized English can integrate the English language between the local culture and ethnicity.
5. Theory of New Englishes
Crystal states that New Englishes are the emergence of new varieties of English in the different territories where the language has taken root and change
which become a major talking point since 1960‟s Crystal, 2003: 142.
He also identifies the Englishes of other countries of the inner circle such as Australian English, New Zealand English, Canadian English, South African English,
Caribbean English, and within Britain, Irish, Scots, and Welsh English. The countries of the outer circle, such as, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka, often called
South Asian English. Another group is in the former British colonies in West Africa, and East Africa. Other varieties have been emerged and noted in the Caribbean in
parts of South Asia, such as Singapore Crystal, 2003: 144. New Englishes are quite similar to the other dialects that are recognized in
other countries, except that they are on international scale to apply whole countries or regions
. “Dialect is emerging because they give identity to the groups which own them” Crystal, 2003: 144. This context means that dialect can show “identity” of
the language by speaking in a distinctive way.
Nordquist, in his sites, also gives a different definition of New English, that is “Regional and national varieties of the English language used in places where it is not
the mother tongue of the majority of the population. It has certain formal properties lexical, phonological, and grammatical that differ from those of British or American
Standard English” http:grammar.about. comodtzgWorldEnglishterm.htm
; 2006: September, 18, 2014.
Nordquist, also points out the characteristics of New English according to Platt, Weber, and Ho.
a. It has developed through the education system possibly even as a medium of
education at a certain level, rather than as a first language of the home.
b. It has developed in an area where a native variety of English was not spoken by a
majority of the population.
c. It is used for a range of functions for example, letter-writing, government
communications, literature, as a lingua Franca within a country and informal contexts.
d. It has become nativised by developing a subset of rules which mark it as different
from American
or British
English http:grammar.about.comod
tzgWorldEnglishterm.htm ; 2006: September, 18, 2014.
6. Theory of Three Circles
Braj. Kachru said that English has spread around the world into three circles; they are inner circle, outer circle, and expanding circle.
Inner circles refer to „the native English‟ areas, whereas it is a primary
language, such as UK, Ireland, USA, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. Outer circles involve
the spread of English in „non-native settings,‟ where the language has become English Commonwealth areas and plays as an important
„second language‟ role, such as Singapore, India, African, West Indies and over fifty other territories.
Expanding circles involve the nations which recognize the importance English as an International language, though they do not have a historical background of
colonization by British colonial. It includes China, Japan, Korean, Indonesia, Taiwan, Saudi Arabia, etc. In these areas, English is taught as a foreign language Crystal,
2003: 60.
7. Style variation in English
According to Short, there is some style variation that can influence the language that is dialect, medium, tenor, and domain Short, 1996: 81.
a. Language Variation: Dialect
Dialectal variation is related to what part of the country of people comes from. There is a tendency for many people to equate dialect with an accent phonetic
variation. Dialect variation also involves variation at any linguistic level such as lexical variation, morphological variation, and grammatical variation Short, 1996:
81.
b. Language Variation: Medium
Dialect is a semi-permanent characteristic of our language behavior. The kind of language that we produce changes every single day in every moment depending on
what we are doing. The most distinction here is between speech and writing in kind of variation according to the medium that is being used. The spoken language is
spontaneous and is produced for the external consumption at a very high speed. Meanwhile, in writing, it normally takes place at more leisurely paces and with the
opportunity to rework what we say before it is exposed to others. These performance characteristics of speech are considered to be infelicitous and so ironed out. Writing,
on the other hand, does not involve short-term memory constraints. Therefore, written sentences are often considerably longer and more complex. Some speech can be more
like writing than ordinary conversation Short, 1996: 83.
c. Language Variation: Tenor
Our language can vary from one moment and context to another in relation to the tenor of discourse. Typically, we choose tenor to change our relationship with the
people we are talking to. We will use more technical vocabulary when talking to people in the same
understanding, and more accessible, also „common core‟ vocabulary. In other context, we use a direct or informal language with a friend or
close family members, and more formal, indirect language with those people who are not close to, or who feel are in a superior position Short, 1996: 84.
d. Language Variation: Domain
Domain is a language variation used depending on the subject matter and function of the speech. It is one of the easiest kinds of variation to perceive. Topic is
also the domain of the speech when we talk about something referring to some current issues Short, 1996: 85.
8. Diglossia
Ferguson defines diglossia as “a relatively stable language situation, in which,
in addition to the primary dialects of the language which may include standard or regional standard, there is a very divergent, highly codified often grammatically
more complex superposed variety, the vehicle of a large and respected body of written literature, either of an earlier period or in another speech community, which is
learned largely by formal education and is used for most written and formal spoken purposes but is not used by any sector of the community for ordinary conversation
” Wardaugh, 1992: 91.
Wardaugh explains that the phenomenon of diglossia is not ephemeral in nature, because in fact, the opposite of this phenomenon appears to be a persistent
social and linguistic phenomenon. A characteristic of diglossia is that two varieties are kept quite apart in their functions. One is used for a set of circumstances and the
other in an entirely different set Wardaugh, 1992: 91. Diglossia is widespread phenomenon in the world, well-attested in both
spaces Wardaugh, 1992: 93. According to Ferguson, this phenomenon is likely to come when the natural language of the community and a sizable of body literature are
closely related to and literacy in the community is limited which becomes a small elite and suitable for period time, of the order of several centuries Wardaugh, 1992:
93.
9. Post-Creole Continuum
Hudson said, “there may be a rather special relationship between creole and the variety which is the present-day representative of the dominant language on
which its parent pidgin was based, if the two coexist in the same country, as they often do” Hudson, 1980: 67. This situation is called post – creole continuum. A
post-creole continuum arises when there is decreolization, when a society has two languages, a creolized X and standard X, and that standard exerts considerable on the
creole. Many people start to improve their creole by using standard models and the whole range varieties which form a continuum, in which it is created with standard X
at the „top‟ and the original creole in the „bottom.‟ There are three terms of continuum that are acrolect, mesolect, and basilect. The three terms are used to refer the different
parts of range. Acrolect is a term that refers to variety that is standard, mesolect refers to variety that is close to standard language or intermediate, and basilect refers to
variety that would be least comprehensible to speak standard Wardaugh, 1992: 80. Hudson also claims that continuum has two different situations which mark
from other linguistic situations. The first is “there are profound differences between
the varieties which coexist in the community than one might expect in a community fragmented by the normal processes of dialect formation” Hudson, 1980: 68. The
aspect of syntax is concerned. The second is “only a single chain of varieties that
connects basilect and acrolect, allowing speakers only a single linguistic dimension on which to locate themselves with reference to the rest of society” Hudson, 1980:
82. A continuum can arise only if the two extreme varieties are varieties of the same language, as with standard X and creolized X Wardaugh, 1992: 83.
C. Theoretical Framework