1. The scope of sociolinguistics. 2. Varieties of language. 3. Standard dialect. 4. Pidgin and Creole. 5. Bilingualism a

1. 1. The scope of sociolinguistics.2. Varieties of language.3. Standard dialect.4. Pidgin and Creole.5. Bilingualism and diglossia. Lecture 8. Language and society

2. 1. The scope of sociolinguistics 1.1. The relatedeness between language and society Sociolinguistics is the sub-field of linguistics that studies the relation between language and society, between the uses of language and the social structures in which the users of language live.

3. Inter-relationship between language and society Language is used to establish and maintain social relationship: �How is your family?�. Users of the same language speak differently. Language reveals information about its speaker. Language reveals physical and social environments of a society. There is only one word for �snow� in English and several in Eskimo.

4. Inter-relationship between language and society (continue) Judgments concerning the correctness and purity of linguistic varieties are social rather than linguistics. E.g. Compare the use of postvocalic [r] in BE (absence of postvocalic [r] is considered to be more correct; in AE it is on the contrary).

5. 1.2. Speech community and speech variety Speech community is the special group that is singled out for any special study. Speech community is a group of people who form a community and share the same language or a particular variety of a language.

6. Social groups Within a speech community there exist various social groups. A social group may distinguish itself from the rest of the community by the educational background, the occupation, the gender, the age, or the ethnic affiliation of its members.

7. Speech variety/language variety Speech variety refers to any distinguishable form of speech used by a speaker or a group of speakers. Linguistic features of a speech variety can be found at the lexical, the phonological, or the syntactical level of the language. Three types of variety are of special interest: regional dialects, sociolects, and registers.

8. Two approaches to sociolinguistic studies To consider how language functions in the society and how it reflects the social differentiations (a bird�s eye view). To look at society from the point of view of an individual member within it (a worm�s eye view).

9. 2. Varieties of language All native speakers of English do not speak the language in the same way. On the other hand, the language used by the same individual varies as the circumstance of communication varies.

10. Varieties of language (continue) Varieties of language are the actual manifestations of the general notion of the language. They (manifestations)are assumed to be related both to the language user and to the use to which the language is put.

11. 2. Varieties of language 2.1. Dialectal varieties 2.2. Register 2.3. Degree of formality

12. 2.1. Dialectal varieties Regional dialect Sociolect Language and gender Language and age Idiolect Ethnic dialect

13. 2.1.1. Regional dialect Regional dialect is a linguistic variety used by people living in the same geographical region. Geographical barriers are the major sources of regional variation of language. Loyalty to one�s native speech and physical and psychological resistance to change are among other reasons of such variations.

14. Regional dialect (continue) In the present day, the stability of local dialects seems to be decreasing. Young people are less likely to speak their local dialect all the time and are more likely to be influenced by the language spoken in town and on radio and TV.

15. 2.1.2. Sociolect Social dialect has to do with separation brought about by different social conditions. Social-class dialect refers to the linguistic variety characteristic of a particular social class.

16. Speaker A I did it yesterday. He hasn�t got it. It was she that said it. Speaker B I done it yesterday. He ain�t got it. It was her what said it. Sociolect (continue)

17. Sociolect (continue) Many sociolinguists have made investigations to obtain evidence for the correlation between certain phonetic features and social variables. E.g., a study of the percentage of �n as opposed to �ing was once made among speakers of social classes in Norwich in England.

18. Percentage of speakers using [n] for [?]

19. RP (received pronunciation) RP in British English had become characteristic of upper class throughout the country by the 19th century. In the 20th c. RP was the indicator of a public school education and thus a high social status on the part of the speaker.

20. 2.1.3. Language and gender Women are usually more status-conscious than men in the English-speaking world; Women�s speech more closely approaches the standard variety than the speech of men. E.g., the investigation in Norwich (England) shows that women have a lower frequency of using �n for �ng than men do.

21. Male and female speeches The female tend to have a wider range in their intonation; this makes their speech somewhat affected. Female speakers are heard to use the low-rise intonation with statements much more frequently than male speakers.

22. Use of lexical items The word girls is commonly used by females to females as an address form regardless to the age of the adressee. Men would mainly use ladies. Some adjectives of evaluation are used more frequently by females than by males, such as nice, cute, fantastic. Female speech is less assertive and thus sounds to be more polite than male speech.

23. 2.1.4. Language and age Language used by the older generation differs from that used by the younger generation. Lexical variation is more noticeable across three-generation time span than two-generation time span.

24. Elderly people vs teenagers Icebox; wireless Fridge; boombox

25. The causes of language differentiations The society is changing. This causes difference in social attitudes, value judgments, etc. between the two generation. Old people tend to be more conservative than the younger generation in their speech habits.

26. 2.1.5. Idiolect Idiolect is a personal dialect of an individual speaker that combines elements regarding regional, social, gender, and age variations. The language he/she uses bears distinctive features of his/her own and is his/her idiolect. In a narrower sense, what makes up a person�s idiolect also includes such facts as voice quality, pitch and speech tempo and rhythm.

27. 2.1.6. Ethnic dialect An ethnic dialect is a social dialect of a language that cuts across regional differences; It is mainly spoken by a less privileged population that has experienced some form of social isolation such as racial discrimination or segregation.

28. Black English An ethnic dialect of English is Black English, the kind of English spoken mostly by a large section of non-middle-class American Blacks. Black English is another non-standard variety of English, which differs from standard English Black English has its own feature sat the phonological, morphological, syntactic and lexical level.

29. Examples of Black English

30. 2.2. Register A competent native speaker of a language is in possession of a variety of ways in using the language. The totality of linguistic varieties possessed by an individual constitutes his linguistic repertoire.

31. Halliday�s register theory �Language varies as it function varies; it differs in different situations�. The type of language which is selected as appropriate to the type of situation is a register. Halliday distinguishes three social variables that determine the register: field of discourse, tenor of discourse, and mode of discourse.

32. Field of discourse Field of discourse refers to what is going on: to the area of operation of the language activity. It is concerned with the subject-matter of communication. It answers the questions of �why� and �what about� communication takes place.

33. Field of discourse (continue) Field of discourse may be technical or non-technical. Shopping, game playing, and a personal letter are instances of non-technical fields. The field of a register determines the vocabulary to be used in communication as well as phonological and grammatical features of language.

34. Tenor of discourse Tenor of discourse refers to the role of relationship in the situation in question: who the participants in the communication groups are and in what relationship they stand to each other.

35. Mode of discourse Mode of discourse refers to the means of communication. It is concerned with �how� communication is carried out. Fundamental here is the distinction between speaking and writing.

36. Example:

37. 2.3. Degree of formality Language used on different occasion differs in the degree of formality, which is determined by the social variables, e.g. who we are talking with and what we are talking about.

38. Martin Joos proposes 5 stages of formality: (1) intimate, (2) casual, (3) consultative, (4) formal, (5) frozen.

39. Examples of 5 styles by Steven:

40. Examples of lexical variation

41. Use of address forms It shows the correlation between the choice of a certain lexical item and the social constraints. E.g. Sir, Mr. Smith, Professor Smith, Smith, Frederick, Fred, Mate, Uncle Fred, Dad, each of which has a different social implication.

42. 3. Standard dialect The standard variety is superimposed, socially prestigious dialect of a language. It is the language employed by the government and the judiciary system, used by the mass media, and taught in educational institutions.

43. Standard dialect (continue) The standard dialect is a particular variety of a language in that it is not related to any particular group of language users. It is the variety which any member of a speech community can possibly use regardless of his social and geographical backgrounds, his gender and age.

44. Features of standard variety Standard dialect is based on a selected variety of the language. Usually it is the local speech of an area which is considered the nation�s political and commercial center. E.g. Standard English developed out of the English dialects used in and around London.

45. Features of standard variety (continue) Standard dialect is not a dialect a child acquires naturally like his regional dialect. It is a superimposed variety. It is a variety imposed from above over the range of regional dialects. It has a widely accepted codified grammar and vocabulary.

46. Features of standard variety (continue) Standard dialect is the variety which is taught and learnt in school. Designated as the official language of a country, standard dialect is used for such official purposes as government documents, education, news reporting, etc.

47. 4. Pidgin and Creole A pidgin is a special language variety that mixes or blends languages and it is used by people who speak different languages for restricted purposes such as trading.

48. The history of Pidgin Pidgins arose from a blending of several languages such as Chinese dialects and English, African dialects and French, African dialects and Portuguese. Usually a European language serves as the basis of the pidgin in the sense that some of its grammar and vocabulary is derived from the European language used by traders in order to communicate with people whose languages they did not know.

49. The history of Pidgin (continue) Pidgins typically have a limited vocabulary and a much reduced grammatical structure characterized by the loss of inflections, gender and case. The �simplified� variety performs such functions as trading and employment.

50. Creole When a pidgin has become the primary language of a speech community, and is acquired by the children of that speech community as their native language, it is said to have become a creole.

51. Creole (continue) The structure of the original pidgin is expanded to enable it to fulfill its new functions. The vocabulary is enriched, and new syntactic-semantic concepts developed. Examples of creole are English-based creole of Jamaica, and the French-based creole of Haiti.

52. 5. Bilingualism and diglossia When two languages are used side by side with each having a different role to play and language switching occurs when the situation changes it constitutes the situation of bilingualism.

53. Bilingualism (continue) A typical example of a bilingual community is an ethnic ghetto where most of the inhabitants are either immigrants. Bilingualism also occurs in countries and regions with substantial populations speaking different languages and with the need for more than one standard language.

54. Bilingual countries Canada, where French and English are recognized as official languages. Belgium, where French and Flemish Dutch are both recognized as official languages. Australia, Singapore, Switzerland, Pakistan, Uganda, and part of U.S.A.

55. Diglossia The term diglossia, first used by Ferguson in 1959, refers to a sociolinguistic situation similar to bilingualism. But, instead of two different languages, in a diglossic situation two varieties of a language exist side by side throughout the community, with each having a definite role to play.

56. Two varieties of one language

57. Revision exercises: How is language related to society? Explain with an example that the evaluation of language is social rather than linguistic. What are the main social dialects? How do they jointly determine idiolect? In what sense is the standard dialect a special variety of language? What is register as used by Halliday?

58. Revision exercises: What linguistic features of Black English do you know? Do you think Black English is illogical and an inferior variety of English? Why (not)? What peculiar features does pidgin have? How do bilingualism and diglossia differ, and what do they have in common?