Diglossia Quiz
SAQ 4
Using your knowledge of diglossia, decide whether the blank spaces in this text should be filled in with
H
(for
h
igh variety) or
L
(for
l
ow variety). On clicking, you will receive immediate feedback.
Haiti has been described as another diglossic situation by some linguists, with French as the
variety and Haitian Creole as the
variety. Attitudes towards the two codes in a diglossia situation are complicated. People generally admire the
variety even when they can¡¯t understand it. Attitudes to it are usually very respectful. It has prestige in the sense of high status. These attitudes are reinforced by the fact that the
variety is the one which is described and ¡®fixed¡¯, or standardised, in grammar books and dictionaries. People generally do not think of the
variety as worth describing. However, attitudes to the
variety are varied and often ambivalent. In many part of Swiss Germany people are quite comfortable with the
variety and use it all the time - even to strangers. In other countries where the
variety is a language used in another country as a normal means of communication, and the
variety is used only locally, people may rate the
very low indeed. In Haiti, although both French and the Creole were declared national languages in the l983 constitution, many people still regard French, the
variety, as the only real language of the country. They ignore the existence of Haitian Creole, which in fact everyone uses at home and with friends for all their everyday interactions. On the other hand, even here the
variety is highly valued by some speakers. So while its very existence is denied by some, other may regard the
variety as the best way of expressing their real feelings.
(Adapted from Holmes 1992:37)