Sociolinguistics

• Tuesday 6/8
• Holmes Chapter 1
• Presentation Topics

Sociolinguistics 1
 Discussion Questions
• Have you ever been in a situation
where you said something and then
realized you should have said it another
way (because of who was listening)?
• Within your own culture?
• In another culture?

Sociolinguistics 2
 Discussion Questions (2)
• Do you know someone you avoid
addressing directly because you don't
know what to call them?
• What “rules” guide you in determining how
to address someone you've just met?

Sociolinguistics 3
 Discussion Questions (3)
• Among your friends and family, what
different ways of speaking are you
aware of (grammar, pronunciation,
personal idiosyncrasies, etc.)?
• Are there settings in which you are
embarrassed to be with a particular friend or
family member because of the way they
speak?

Sociolinguistics 4
 What is Sociolinguistics?
• What do these questions have to do
with each other?
• In a speech community there are many ways
to say the same thing
• We are often guided by social (not linguistic)
factors in choosing which way to say
something
• When studying others' use of language, we
can't expect to understand their choices
without considering social (in addition to
linguistic) factors

Sociolinguistics 5
 Four “Dimensions”

Social Status
Distance

Formalit Referential / Affective

y Function

Sociolinguistics 6
 Concepts Introduced
• Style
• Dialect
• Variety / code
• Linguistic repetoire
• Speech function

Sociolinguistics 7
 Presentation Topics
• Diglossia and Code Switching
• Language Shift
• Pidgins and Creoles
• Language Planning
• Regional and Social Variation
• Gender and Age
• Language Change
• Speech Functions
• Language and Culture
• Gender and Politeness

Sociolinguistics 8