i have linguistics exam tomorrow.
it hit me like a bolt of lightning.
the Haitian from Heroes can speak. In English, as well as, surprisingly, French, to Angela Petrelli. Which is actually not that amusing or surprising. How?
Haitian Creole and Standard French are examples of how two languages in a community are specialised to formal and informal uses. No prizes for guessing which one is used for which.
In linguistic jargon, this is a form of Extended Diglossia, where there is a presence of two speech variants: a vernacular dialect of the lower variety, and a higher variety that is of a formal standard, divergent such that it needs to be learnt.
Now thats y the power negating botak is fluent in French! Aha!!
good luck to me. good luck to all of us. oh and watch Heroes!!!
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