Definition of diglosia ad polyglossia

Diglosia                       : In sociolinguistics, a situation in which two distinct varieties of a language are spoken within the same speech community.

Example                    : "In the classic diglossic situation, two varieties of a language, such as standard French and Haitian creole French, exist alongside each other in a single society. Each variety has its own fixed functions--one a 'high,' prestigious variety, and one a 'low,' or colloquial, one. Using the wrong variety in the wrong situation would be socially inappropriate, almost on the level of delivering the BBC's nightly news in broad Scots.

Polyglossia                  : Is a term that refers to a person's ability to communicate in two or more languages.

Example             : The Netherlands and Switzerland are especially well-known examples. In the Netherlands, children characteristically have instruction in Dutch as a first language, begin a second, third, and fourth (English, French, or German) within a few years of each other, and, if they plan to go to university, add several years of Latin and perhaps some Greek. Most high-school graduates can manage to communicate in two foreign languages; fluency in three or four is common among university graduates.

The definition of code switching and code mixing in sosiolinguistic

1. Code Switching

Definition          : The practice of moving back and forth between two languages or between two dialects or   registers of the same language.

Example         : Students who are bilingual or who come from different cultural backgrounds are noted for their ability to code switch. Since standard English is not their primary language, it takes these students added efforts to speak according to the standard Some are able to code switch fluently from one language to another, while some are unable to switch back and forth with ease.

2. Code Mixing

Definition          : The mixing of two or more languages or language varieties in speech.

Example          : In northern Norway there is village which has become famous among sociolinguists because the language used by the villagers was described in great detail by two sociolinguists, Blom and Gumperz, in the late 1960s. It is called Hemnesberget and all the villagers know and use two distinct kinds of Norwegian. There is the local dialect which is called Ranamal (mal is the Norwegian word for ‘language’), and then there is the standard dialect or standard Norwegian, Bokmal (literally ‘book-language’). Bokmal is used by the teachers in school, it is the language of the textbooks and after a little exposure it is the variety of Norwegian that the pupils use to discuss school topics in school too. Bokmal is used in church services and sermons. It is used when people go into the local government offices to transact official business.And it is used to strangers and visitors from outside. So what does that does that leave for Ranamal?

Ranamal is what people speak to their family, friends and neighbors most of the time. People use Ranamal to each other at breakfast, to local shopkeepers when buying newspaper and vegetables, to the local people they meet the street. (Janet Holmes, 2001: 5)