Microsoft Word Revised Syllabus Ver doc

 

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11 
The In –Group Language: 
The In-group language is the one used in any society for the basic face-to-face 
relationships with other speakers with whom the individual in question fully identifies. In so-
called primitive societies this would quite naturally be an indigenous or tribal language. In 
certain large language communities such a face-to face language might be the regional 
dialect, as for example, in the case of Swiss-German. 
The Out – group language:
 
Almost all people living in a face-to-face speech community have some need for 
contacting people of groups outside their own community. In many parts of the world, a trade 
language serves the purpose of out-group communication. 
It is important to recognize, however that there are certain very essential differences 
between a pidgin language and a koine language. The form tends to have its vocabulary and 
grammar derived from a foreign source, that to be very heavily influenced by the structures of 
the local languages. As long as such a form of language is only a second language for people 
and used under relatively restricted circumstances, it may continue to have a rather restricted 
vocabulary and limited grammatical structures. However, just as soon as such a pidgin 
become the only language of a sizeable constituency of interacting persons, for example, a 
hundred thousand or more, it develops very rapidly and becomes known as a Creole 
language. A koine language on the other hand, is a form of language which preserves in very 
large measure the basic vocabulary and structures of its source, but is considerably simplified 
as it spread over ‘foreign’ territory. It quite naturally tends to pick up vocabulary from local 
languages in the area, and it may also acquire certain of their grammatical devices. The 
genual simplification of classical Greek as it spread throughout the eastern Mediterranean in 
post-classical times is the typical example of a koine.