Sociolinguistics (C)

Sindhy Sintya Mianani / 134214136

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

1. What is language variety according to

a. Hudson
A set of linguistic items with similar distribution
b. Ferguson
Any body of human speech patterns which is sufficiently homogeneus to be
analyzed by available techniques of synchronic description and which has a
sufficiently large repertory of elements and their arrangements or processes with
broad enough semantics cope to function in all formal context of communication.
c. Wardaugh
A specific set of linguistic items or human speech patterns which can be associated
with some external factor.
2. How does Bell differentiate between language, dialects, vernacular, pidgin and creole?
Bell has listed seven criteria that may be useful in discussing different kinds of language.
The criteria used are standardization, vitality, historicity, autonomy, reduction, mixture
and de facto norms.
3. What is dialect geography?
Dialect geography is a terms used to describe attempts made to map the distributions of
various linguistic features so as to show their geographical provenance.
4. What is regional dialect?
A regional dialect is a distinct form of a language spoken in a particular geographical
area.
5. What is social dialect?
 A social dialect is a distinct form of a language spoken by a particular social class,
religion and ethnic group.
6. What is style?
Style is a range of stylistic varieties that speakers adopt while they are speaking.
7. What is registers?
Registers are sets of vocabulary items associated with discrete occupational social
groups.

Chapter 3

1. What is lingua franca?

Lingua franca is a language which is used habitually by people whose mother tongues
are different in order to facilitate communication between them. For example, we have
Bahasa Indonesia used as “bahasa persatuan”
2. a. What is pidgin?
Pidgin is a grammatically simplified form of a language, used for communication
between people not sharing a common language.
b. What conditioned the birth of a pidgin?
It happens when there is a contact between group of people with no language in
common and need some verbal means of communication.
c. What is a creole?
A creole is a pidgin that has become the first language of a new generation of speakers.
3. Who are the speakers of creoles and where are they located?
The speakers of pidgins are the people with no language in common and need some
verbal means of communication. They can be found mainly in Caribbean and around
north and east coast of South America, around coast of Africa and across Indian and
Pacific Oceans.
4. Pidgins and creoles are said to be reduced and a mixture. Explain!
Pidgins and creoles are said to be reduced because they underdid some simplification of
a language like in morphological, syntactical and phonological reduction thus made the
vocabulary less rich than the original languages.
 Pidgin and creole are said to be a mixture because it is a simplification form of different
languages.
5. What is polygenesis theory?
It is a theory which suggests that pidgins and creoles have a variety of origins and any
similarities between them arise from the shared circumstances of their origins.
6. What is relexification theory?
Relexification theory is a theory which says that all the present European-language-
based pidgins and creoles derive from a single source, a lingua franca called Sabir used
in Mediterranean in the Middle Ages.
7. What is bioprogram theory
It is a theory arguing that the structural similarities between different creole languages
cannot be solely attributed to their dominant and dominated languages.

Chapter 4

1. What is diglossia?
Diglossia is a situation in which two distinct varieties of a language are spoken within the
same speech community.
2. What are the H variety and L variety in the 4 diaglossis coutries?
In Arabic the two varieties are Classical Arabic (H) and regional colloquial varieties (L), in
Switzerland they are Standard German (H) and Swiss German (L), In Haiti theya re
Standard French (H) and Haitian Creole (L). in Greece the varieties are the Katharevousa
(H) and Dhimotiki (L)
3. What are the functions of H and L variety?
The H variety is used in formal occasion and can be attained only by literate people,
while the L variety is used in less formal occasions as in daily conversation without
seeing the literate or illiterate ability of the speakers.
4. Why do you think L variety is not as rich as H?
Because the L variety words are often borrowed by H variety to richen its terms, so that
the L variety words are not exclusively used only in L variety and this, resulting the
decreasing amount of L words in use.
 5. What is monolingualism, bilingualism and multilingualism?
Monolingualism is the ability to only use a single language code
Bilingualism is the ability to use two different language codes
Multilingualism is the ability to use more than two language codes.
6. What is code switching? What is situational code switching and metaphorical code
switching?
Code switching is the practice of alternating between two or more languages or
varieties of language in conversation.
Situational code switching is the tendency in a bilingual or multilingual community to
use different languages or language varieties in different social situations, or to switch
varieties in order to mark a change in situation.
Metaphorical code switching is the alternation from a language into another language
which happens when a change in the language use needed.
7. What is the meaning of code switching?
Code switching is the practice of alternating between two or more languages or
varieties of language in conversation.

Chapter 5

1. What is speech community according to:

a. Lyons : Speech community is all the people who use a given kanguage or dialect.
b. Labov : Speech community is participation in a set of shared norms; these norms
may be observed in overt types of evaluative behavior, and by the uniformity of
abstract patterns of variation which are invariant in respect to particular levels of
usage"
c. Gumperz : Speech community is a social group which may be either monolingual or
multilingual, held together by frequency of social interaction and set off from the
surrounding areas by weaknesses in the lines of communication"
d. Hymes : Speech community is a local unit, characterized for its members by common
locality and primary interaction.
2. What is meant by intersecting community?
 The intersecting of linguistic variations based on its members’ regional origin in a
community, thus its members have no similarities in the way they speak.
3. What is meant by :
a. Social network : the individual's place within a social network to seek to account for
the variability in individual linguistic behavior rather than large scale
characterization of the community. How do various individuals play a role in
linguistic change. For instance: someone with a lot of ties may spread a change by
coming into contact with a lot of people and someone who has ties outside the
community may initiate the change.
b. Individual repertoire of speech varieties : individual speech repertoire is the range of
linguistic varieties which the speaker has at his disposal and which he may
appropriately use as a member of his speech community. In this view each individual
has his or her own distinctive verbal repertoire and each speech community in which
that person participates has its distinctive speech repertoire. A speaker’s choice of a
particular sound, word, or expression marks that speaker in some way.

Chapter 6

1. What is dialect geography?

Dialect geography is the study of dialects with regard to their geographic distribution, as
well as how their distribution may be affected by geography,
2. What is isogloss?
Isogloss is the line showing the boundaries of the distribution of a particular linguistic
feature in the dialect atlas.
3. What is bundle of isoglosses?
Bundle of isoglosses is a set of isoglosses surrounding the same geographic region or
distinguishing the same group of speakers, marking a particular language variety.
4. What is isolect?
Isolect is a language or dialect which is coined as a neutral term between ‘language’ and
‘dialect.
5. What is idiolect?
 Idiolect is the speech characteristics and linguistic behavior of individuals.
6. What is language variation?
a. Regional : it is a variation of language based on geographic distribution and their
associated features.
b. Social : it is a variation of language based on social classes in society.
c. Gender : it is the variation of language used between male and female. Usually they
are different in the diction and pronunciation.
d. Age : it is the variation of language between young and old people, mainly it differs
in terms which are used and pronunciation.
7. Explain about Petyt’s research on 6.1 and 6.2!
The first table shows the quantity of means for the five social groups on h-dropping. The
first class is 96, second is 64, third 43, fourth 21 and the last group is 17. From the table,
it is shown that the higher the social class the less the quantity is. The second table
shows the score range of each class.

Chapter 7

1. Explain Labov’s finding on table 7.4

The table shows the indicence of [r] use among individuals employed in the three
stores; Saks, Mac’s and S. Klein. It shows that 32 and and 31 percent of the personnel
approached in Saks and Macy’s respectively used [r] in all possible but only 17 percent
did so in S. Klein. 79 percent of the 71 employees in S. Klein who were approached did
not use [r] at all, but only 38 percent of 68 employees approached in Saks and 49
percent of 125 employees approached in Macy’s were [r]-less.
2. What is the instrument and method used by Labov?
The instrument is the employees of Saks, Mac’s and S. Klein in New York and the
method used is by walking around in New York City Department stores.
3. Explain about Trudgill’s finding on 7.5
Table 7.5 shows that middle class speakers always avoid –in’ pronunciations in two most
formal styles but relax considerably more in casual style. Upper working class speakers
appear to show a very sharp differentiation between the two reading styles and two
 speaking styles. Lower working class speakers make no real distinction between the two
speaking styles and –in’ pronunciations exclusively. However, just like middle working
class speakers, they are conscious that –ing pronunciations are used in reading styles
and do manage them to introduce them in many occasions.
4. There are 2 types of language change. Explain about them
Sounds change is the shift from the use of long vowel into short vowel.
Grammatical constructions change is the change of the grammatical structure used as a
guideline in a language.

Chapter 8

1. What is the traditional view on language change?

It is the only changes that are important in a language which can be demonstrated to
have structural consequences.
2. What is meant by change in progress?
It is a change of a certain feature of a language throughout the time and place.
3. Who is the pioneer of observable change?
Gimson
4. What varieties that Labov, Trudgill, and Fischer have done?
Labov: the diphthongs used in Martha’s Vineyard, the diphthongs are centralized in the
first set of words
Trudgill: the use of [ŋ] between working-class male and working-class female. Males
tend to use [n] whereas females used [ŋ]
Fischer:

Chapter 9

1. What is the theory of Sapir and Whorf?

They stated that the structure, or in another word the grammar, of a language
influences how its speakers view the world.
2. What is meant by the strong and the weak theory?
 The strong theory suggests that the language we speak determines/constraints the way
we think and view the real world. However, according to the weak version, the
language does influence in some way the way we think and view the real world,
however, does not fully determine or constraint it.
3. What is taxonomy?
Taxonomy is classification of things in a certain group.
4. What is folk taxonomy?
It is a way to classify a certain part of reality by ordinary people which is not based on
scientific facts, but rather on common knowledge.
5. What is prototype?
An alternative way to the view that concepts are composed from sets of features which
necessarily and sufficiently defines instances of a concept.
6. What is taboo? Illustrate with example
A custom in society expressing a disapproval of certain kinds of behavior believed to be
harmful either for supernatural reasons or breaking a moral code. For example: in
Javanese, women are not allowed to sit in front of the door otherwise they will never
get married.
7. What is euphemism?
The substitution of a mild, indirect, or vague expression for one thought to be offensive,
harsh, or blunt. For example: the term “pass away” is a euphemism for “die”