A Concise Guide to English Grammar

Glossary 3.6 Glossary

AAVE (African American Vernacular English).

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A variety of English with systematic grammatical features, developed from the historical experience of African Americans; also called African American English or Black English.

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Code-switching.

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Shifting between languages, dialects, or registers depending on social context; a sign of linguistic competence and social awareness.

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Dialect.

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A variety of a language associated with a particular region, social group, or community; everyone speaks at least one dialect.

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Discourse community.

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A group of people who share ways of using language for particular purposes, typically in writing; membership is usually based on shared activities, goals, or expertise.

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Linguistic discrimination (linguicism).

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Negative judgments or actions directed at people based on how they speak; often unconscious and based on social associations rather than linguistic quality.

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Linguistic variable.

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A feature that varies across speakers or contexts (e.g., the pronunciation of -ing as “-ing” or “-in’”).

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Prestige variety.

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A dialect that is associated with education, power, and social status and is typically used as the standard.

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Speech community.

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A group of people who share linguistic norms and expectations; membership is usually based on shared culture, identity, or geographic proximity.

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Standard language ideology.

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The belief that one variety of a language is inherently superior to others; often the variety associated with powerful social groups.

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Standard variety.

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A dialect that is used in formal and institutional contexts, taught in schools, and associated with education and social prestige; typically the variety of socially dominant groups.

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Stigmatized variety.

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A dialect that is negatively judged and associated with lower social status; the stigma reflects social attitudes, not linguistic quality.

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