A Dictionary of Linguistics and Phonetics David Crystal

cognate 83
and communication theory rather than linguistics. Such notions as ‘encoding’
and ‘decoding’ are sometimes encountered in phonetics and linguistics,
but the view of language as a ‘code’ is not one which figures greatly in these
subjects. The term has come to the fore in sociolinguistics, where it is mainly
used as a neutral label for any system of communication involving language –
and which avoids sociolinguists having to commit themselves to such terms as
dialect, language or variety, which have a special status in their theories.
The linguistic behaviour referred to as code-switching (sometimes code-shifting
or, within a language, style-shifting), for example, can be illustrated by the
switch bilingual or bidialectal speakers may make (depending on who they
are talking to, or where they are) between standard and regional forms of
English, between Welsh and English in parts of Wales, or between occupational
and domestic varieties. Code-mixing involves the transfer of linguistic elements
from one language into another: a sentence begins in one language, then makes
use of words or grammatical features belonging to another. Such mixed forms
of language are often labelled with a hybrid name, such as (in the case of
English) Spanglish, Franglais and Singlish (Singaporean English), and attract
attitudes ranging from enthusiastic community support (as an expression of
local identity) to outright condemnation (from some speakers of the related
standard languages).
Several sociologists and sociolinguists have given ‘code’ a more restricted definition.
For example, codes are sometimes defined in terms of mutual intelligibility
(e.g. the language of a private or professional group). But the most widespread
special use of the term was in the theory of communication codes propounded
by the British sociologist Basil Bernstein (1924–2000). His distinction between
elaborated and restricted codes was part of a theory of the nature of social
systems, concerned in particular with the kinds of meanings people communicate,
and how explicitly they do this, using the range of resources provided by
the language.
code-mixing, code-switching (n.)
see code
codification (n.) A term used in language planning (corpus planning), referring
to the compilation of a systematic statement of the rules and conventions
governing the use of a language variety, typically the standard language of a
community. When a language has been codified, its products include spelling
and pronunciation guides, grammars, dictionaries, style manuals, and guides to
correct usage.
codify (v.)
see codification
cognate (adj./n.) (1) A language or a linguistic form which is historically
derived from the same source as another language/form, e.g. Spanish/Italian/
French/Portuguese are ‘cognate languages’ (or ‘cognates’); père/padre, etc.
(‘father’) are ‘cognate words’ or cognates.
(2) The term is also applied to the description of some kinds of syntactic
relations: a ‘cognate object’ is one which has the same historical derivation
as the verb which governs it (or, more loosely, is semantically dependent
upon the action of the verb), e.g. to run a race, live a good life, ask a question;