Sociolinguistics

1. Sociolinguistics

2. How to capture variety in language as a multifaceted social phenomenon Approaches of Theoretical Linguistics: • idiolect studied under carefully controlled circumstances • idealised competence rather than observable performance (Chomsky) • biased data (educated speakers on formal occasions)

3. Problems with the Chomskyan approach • Language is represented in the variable performances of individuals • Individual variation in adjusting speech to context ↓ • “Variable probabilistic knowledge”(Hymes, 1974) - systemic potential - appropriateness - occurrence - feasibility

4. Approaches to sociolinguistics • Social as well as linguistics • Socially realistic linguistics • Socially constituted linguistics

5. Biber, Conrad & Leech, 2002: A corpus-based approach to linguistic description

6. The scope of sociolinguistics • Relation between language and society, uses of language and social structures. • Synchronic and diachronic variation • Dialectal variation • Social variation • Age-related variation • Gender-based variation

7. Language and speech community • Speech community: shared language values verbal repertoire • “third floor” (UK) = “fourth floor” (US) • „God bless you” vs. „See you later” • „Pá” vs. „szevasz”

8. How to measure variety Central questions: • Who make up a representative sample of a region? • What linguistic items are to be studied? • How to analyse this data?

9. Requires methods different from those of TL • sampling by questionnaires – demographic data • involving historians, anthropologists, etc. to identify target region • field research, ethnographic observation • sociolinguistic interview • non-intrusive responses (Labov) • participant research – the observer’s paradox • results on maps - isogloss

10. The line on the map of southern England separates the area where the vowel in a word such as cut is [A] (black circles) from the area where the vowel is [U] (crosses).

11. Dialectal variation • Language • Dialect • Accent • Vernacular • Language = nation? - different nations, similar language (Norway, Denmark, Sweden) - blends (Spanish-Portugese in Galicia) - Chinese - Pidgin phenomenon - Creole (Indian English)

12. Australian Pidgin „Harim” Indon: Gavman welkam long askim blong AustraliaOctober 2009 Indonesia i welkam long askim blong Australia Praim Minista Kevin Rudd long sapos oli ken halvim Australia long lukluk long wanpla bot i pulap long 260 pipal blong Sri Lanka husat i laik kam long Australia, em oli painim ol insait long Indonesia solwara.

13. Social variation • Example 1: -ing/ -in’ “Learned” verbs (criticise, propose)Informal verbs (take, chew) Place names: –ing (Cushing, Flushing) Typical of men Example 2: Labov’s study of New York City department stores • Problems: Identifying categories such as social class or levels of formality Data collection procedures quality of linguistic material

14. Age-dependent variation • Language development is age-graded, violations cause embarrassment or laughter („Pá”) • Child language and motherese (potty, nappy, kitty, sweetpea) • Pig Latin, Playing dozens • Early adolescence: peer group influence, slang (rap, house, hip-hop)

15. Gender differences • Women Men Higher-pitched voice More: - careful speech (-ing) - conscious of socially - preferred forms - appeal tags (is it? will you?) - tentative (Would you mind..) - colour namesAvoid emotional (beige, levander, lilac)words, etc. adorable, - intensifiers heavenly, divine (She’s so quite.)

16. Gender bias in languages English – a male language • Mankind and fatherland • “He” as general reference • He is a professional. vs She is a professional. • Master vs. mistress • Diminishing value of female words (She is out with the girls.) • Smith, Jones vs. Miss Smith, Mrs Jones or Mary • Policeman, doctor, poet

17. Ethnicity Ethnic groups in the mainstream society may introduce a special ethnic dialect • Pennsylvanian Dutch • Jewish American I need it like a hole in my head. He asked me for it yet, Jerk schmerk! • Hungarian Romas (csávó, lácsó)

18. Black English • According to US experiments, people are able to distinguish between black and white speakers on the phone in over 80% of cases.

19. reduced final consonant groups (test-tess, mask-mass) • interchangeable then-den, three-tree • forward shifted stress (Détroit, pólice, hótel) • syntax: I done told him about it. He (be) waitin’ for me every night. Shedon’t/ain’t say nothing. • rhetoric: - exaggeration, - wide intonation range, falsetto voice, - listener and participant encouragement (Amen, Right on), - verbal displays (rapping, playing dozens).

20. Playing the dozens „Yo mama” Yo mama’s so fat, her school picture was an aerial photograph.Yo mama's so fat, she doesn't have a doctor, she has a grounds keeper. Yo mama's so ugly, her birth certificate was an apology letter from the condom factory. Yo mama's so old, she DJ'd at the Boston Tea Party. Yo mama's so old, when God said "Let there be light" she was there to flick the switch. Yo mama's so skinny, she swallowed a meatball and thought she was pregnant.

21. Register variety Different languages offer different sets of registerchoice (formality-informality) • Javanese- rich system of register according to gender, kinship, occupation wealth, education, religion or family • Indonesian - more democratic, offering fewer distinctions • Cross-cultural communication problems

22. Martin Jooz (1962): Five styles based on interactivity amount of background knowledge formality of vocabulary clarity of articulation complexity of syntax Frozen Formal Consultative Casual Intimate

23. Areas of sociolinguistic study • Focus on function: the organisation of speech and speech acts • Competence as personal ability (idiolect) • Performance as variable, individual- and context-dependent acomplishment • Language as a social tool • Speech communities as organisations of ways of speaking • Variation according to regional origin, social class, age and gender