CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background
The study of language which pays attention to the social aspects of language is
commonly called sociolinguistics. The term sociolinguistics is used to discuss the
relationship between language and society. It has been long known that there are many
approaches used to discuss the function of language in society. How people in certain
communities use their languages to communicate among them. As mentioned by
Southerland and Katamba (1996:540) the locus of all sociolinguistic investigations is the
speech community. The speech community where the language is used as a means of
communication can be a small town, village, or even a club or as large as nation or a
group of nations.

In order to avoid misunderstanding between speakers in the society whenever the

communication takes place is to understand the speech varieties. It means that speakers
must know the norms of language function. Language function is how the speakers use
their language which has already bound by the cultural or social norms. The
understanding of the social norms which relate to the way how people use the correct
language in certain communication domain by recognizing who involves in the
communication. In all communities in the world, people have standard language to be
developed as a guideline tocommunicate with each other.

All languages that we can observe today show variation; what is more, they vary in
identical ways, namely geographically and socially. These two parameters, along which
variation occurs, are in principle independent of each other. It is a universal characteristic
of human language that speakers of the ‘same’ language who live in different parts of a
continuous territory do not speak in the same way.

CHAPTER II
 DISCUSSION

2.1 Language Variety

The terms of variety language are emerged due to different systems reflecting
different varieties of the human condition. Variety is a specific set of ‘linguistic items’ or
‘human speech patterns’ (presumably, sounds, words, grammatical features, etc.) which we
can connect with some external factor apparently, a geographical area or a social group
(Hudson, 1996; Ferguson, 1972 and Wardhaugh, 2006). Languages can be at variance in
lexical, grammatical, phonological and other ways depends on different social, geographical
and other circumstances determine what elements will be needed and, therefore developed,
and for that reason sociolinguistics believe that such unique sets of items or patterns do exist.

The concept of language variation is central in sociolinguistics. The English language

varies on individual, regional, national and global levels. Unfortunately, some people are
unaware of various social and regional dialects, and different varieties of English in the
world. Understanding variation within a language is important for everyone, and especially
for those who receive a college education. Sociolinguistics investigates all these language
variations.

Different factors affect how a language is spoken within a country. They can be
regional (geographical), ethnic (national and racial), and social (class, age, gender,
socioeconomic status and education). All these factors are interconnected. They are reflected
in every language variety’s pronunciation, vocabulary, grammatical constructions and syntax.
All varieties of a language are systematic in their use, have a large number of speakers and
thus have their right for existence. The term dialect refers to any variety of a language, and
from the point of view of sociolinguistics, all dialects are equally correct, systematic, logical,
and meaningful.

The issue of standard vs. non-standard variety of a language is not a linguistic one,
but political. The standard dialect is associated with prestige in the society. That is why many
people prefer it to other varieties. Some people feel pressured to use the standard dialect to
conform to the rules of the society. However, some speakers of a non-standard dialect prefer
to use it to demonstrate their sense of belonging to their community or social/ethnic group.
 Besides all these variations, there are individual variations of language use that are
called idiolects. We all have unique ways of speaking that reflect our personal identities.
Through our linguistic choices we have an opportunity to express who we are and where we
are from. Our language changes over time as it gets into contact with various idiolects of
people who we interact with. It changes with our life experiences. There are no two speakers
who speak exactly the same way.

However, people are often unaware of their own dialects/accents, and sometimes they
negatively judge those whose ways of speaking differ from their own. Often, people who
speak non-standard dialects are erroneously marked as being uneducated, not knowing
English or having a speech pathology. This can lead to discrimination in professional and
educational settings, and irreversible personal tragedies.

These kinds of linguistic misperceptions are among the reasons why sociolinguistics
is important to everyone in our society. People need to know more about how dialects work
to avoid language prejudice. The English language varies not only on individual and national
levels but also even more on the global level. It is becoming the language of international
communication and is acquiring the status of a global language. Standard American and
standard British English are just two of many varieties of the language. Many other varieties
of English can be found in countries across the world, as well as within each country where it
is widely spoken.

Different varieties of English are used throughout the world. Kachru (1985) identified
three concentric circles: (1) the Inner Circle, which includes countries where English is used
as a primary language, such as the U.S. and Canada; (2) the Outer Circle, which consists of
countries where English is used as a second or official language, such as India or Singapore;
and (3) the Expanding Circle, which refers to countries where English is studied as a foreign
language, such as Russia or China. According to Crystal (2003), non-native speakers of
English outnumber native speakers of English.

Therefore, it is important to understand that no variety is superior over another

variety, and develop an increased tolerance for all varieties of English. The study of
sociolinguistics can build people’s awareness of different varieties of English and help us
become more respectful to all other languages and their dialects.
2.2 Dialect

Edward (2009) define dialect as a variety of a language that differs from others along
three dimensions: vocabulary, grammar and pronunciation (accent) because they are forms of
the same language. In other definition, dialect is the language used by the people of a specific
area, class, district, or any other group people. Dialect divided into two, social dialect and
regional dialect. Regional dialect refers to a place and Social dialect refers to social groups
and classes.

The term dialect involves speeling, grammar, pronunciation and vocabulary.

Spelling is a set of conventions that regulate the way of using graphemes to represent a
language in its written form. In other words, spelling is the rendering of speech sound
(phoneme) into writing (grapheme). Grammar is the system of a language. Pronunciation is
the way in which a word or a language is spoken. A vocabulary is a set of
familiar words within a person's language. A vocabulary, usually developed with age, serves
as a useful and fundamental tool for communication and acquiring knowledge.

2.3 Sociolect

A sociolect or social dialect is a variety of language (a register) associated with a

social group such as a socioeconomic class, an ethnic group (precisely termed ethnolect), an
age group, etc. Holmes (2001:134) states that social dialects are the language that reflects the
groupings of people that based on similar social and economic factors.

Sociolect, defined by Peter Trudgill, a leading sociolinguist and philosopher, is “a

variety which is thought of as being related to its speakers’ social background rather than
geographical background”. This idea of sociolect began with the commencement of
Dialectology, the study of different dialects in relation to social society, which has been
established in countries such as England for many years, but only recently has the field
garnered more attention. However, as opposed to dialect, the basic concept of a sociolect is
that a person speaks in accordance with their social group whether it is with regard to one’s
ethnicity, age, gender, etc. As William Labov once said, “the sociolinguistic view…is that we
are programmed to learn to speak in ways that fit the general pattern of our communities”.
Therefore, what we are surrounded with in unison with our environment determines how we
speak; hence, our actions and associations.
 Like geographical barriers, social divisions affect the language of groups. The
language of high class members differ from that of lower class members. High class members
tend to use more standard forms than members of low classes.

Factors Affecting Social Dialect:

Socio-economic status

The relationship between language and social class has been the subject of many
investigations. There is much evidence to confirm that members of different social
classes use language in different ways. In Britain for example, there is a higher incidence
of regional features in the speech of people from a lower social class. In other words,
speakers from higher social classes are more likely to use Standard English, and their
speech will tend to be closer to Received Pronunciation.

Age

Probably the most notable difference here is between the speech of teenagers and the
speech of older members of the same community. Teenagers have a large and ever-
changing lexicon of slang words and expressions. This vocabulary serves to strengthen
their identity as a social group and separates them from older generations. There will
often be a marked difference between the vocabulary of young and old speakers from
within a markedly similar community.

Occupation

Any trade or profession - second-hand car dealers, lawyers, accountants, doctors,

builders, estate agents, etc. - will have its own specialist semantic field and vocabulary.
In part, this will be made up of technical terms associated with the pragmatics of a
particular occupation (jargon), but it will probably also include some slang - informal
vocabulary developed and used between members of the same occupation, either because
it is humorous or because it is shorter and more economical than its Standard English
equivalent. As with the language of teenagers, the effect of having such a distinctive
sociolect is to reinforce the exclusivity of the group.
Gender

Men and Women speak differently in all speech communities. The degree of difference
varies from a community to another.

The difference occur in two level:

◦ The linguistic forms.

◦ The linguistic behavior.

In any speech community of the world, using certain linguistic structure may be odd
because it the language of either men or women. Generaly women tend to use more
polite forms than man do.

2.4 Idiolect

“Idiolect” refers to an individual’s unique variety and/or use of language, from

the level of the phoneme to the level of discourse. This meaning is reflected in the
etymology of the word: the two morphemes idio- and -lect. Idio- is of Greek origin, and
means “own, personal, private, peculiar, separate and distinct,” while -lect refers to a
“social variety of a language.” The theory holds, therefore, that no two people who share
a common language have exactly the same linguistic repertoire. In the same way that the
variation exhibited in a person’s language production is influenced by their dialect(s),
sociolect(s) and by register, so too is it influenced by their personal, idiosyncratic, often
habitual linguistic preferences—their idiolect. A person’s idiolect is all encompassing in
that it includes linguistic features related to dialect and sociolect, for example, while also
being influenced by a wide range of other sources of variation, such as their life
experiences; language encounters; what they have read and listened to; where they have
been schooled; jobs they have had; their favorite hobbies and pastimes; and their parents,
friends, and teachers. An idiolect, therefore, is not stable in its entirety.

Origins of the Term “Idiolect”

The term “idiolect” is widely accepted to have been first used in Bloch 1948, to refer to
“the totality of the possible utterances of one speaker at one time in using language to
interact with one other speaker”. The article specifies that an idiolect is not merely what
a speaker says at one time: it is everything that he could say in a given language at that
specific time. Since Bloch 1948, definitions of idiolect have varied, as some refer to the
language system available to the individual and others to the samples of language
actually produced by the individual. Hockett 1958, for example, is similar to Bloch in
defining idiolect as “the totality of speech habits of a single person at a given time”,
distinguishing habits from observable behavior. On the other hand, Martinet 1961
defines idiolect as “the language as spoken by a single individual”.

2.5 Register

Register is defined as the way a speaker uses language differently in different

circumstances. Think about the words you choose, your tone of voice, even your body
language. You probably behave very differently chatting with a friend than you would at a
formal dinner party or during a job interview. These variations in formality, also called
stylistic variation, are known as registers in linguistics.

They are determined by such factors as social occasion, context, purpose, and
audience. Registers are marked by a variety of specialized vocabulary and turns of phrases,
colloquialisms, the use of jargon, and a difference in intonation and pace.

Registers are sets of language items associated with discrete occupational or social
groups. Surgeons, airline pilots, bank managers, sales clerks, jazz fans, and pimps employ
different registers. As Ferguson (1994, p. 20) says, ‘People participating in recurrent
communication situations tend to develop similar vocabularies, similar features of intonation,
and characteristic bits of syntax and phonology that they use in these situations.’ Registers
can simply be described as variations of the language according to its use, while the dialect as
a language variation based on users registers on this concept is not limited to the choice of
words (such as the notion registers in the traditional theory) but also includes the choice of
the use of text structure, and texture.

Types of Registers

 Formal Register: A type of register that incorporates Standard American English and
is used by professionals or in situations where people are not familiar with one
another.
  Informal Register: A type of register used with more familiar people in casual
conversation. In the informal style of register, contractions are used more often, rules
of negation and agreement may be altered, and slang or colloquialisms may be used.
Informal register also permits certain abbreviations and deletions, but they are rule
governed. For example, deleting the “you” subject and the auxiliary often shorten
questions. Instead of asking, “Are you running in the marathon,” a person might ask,
“Running the marathon?”

 Over-formal Register: A type of register that can be characterized by the use of a false
high-pitched nasal voice. For example, a woman might approach another woman
whom she does not really like and ask her cordially in a high-pitched voice, “How are
you doing?”

 Motherese: A type of register characterized by high-pitched, elongated sounds and

“sing-song” intonation. It is used when people speak to infants, young children, or
pets.

 Reporting Register: A type of register characterized by easily observable verbal and

non-verbal cues: flat intonation, rapid rate of speech, relatively low pitch, absence of
marked facial expressions, and gestures.

The most significant differences between British and American English are in their
pronunciations, their vocabularies, and their spelling. There are grammatical differences
too, but I just show the example of grammar differences between British and American
English.

Pronunciation

British English and American sound noticeably different. The most obvious difference is
the way the letter r is pronounced. In British English, when r comes after a vowel in the
same syllable (as in car, hard, or market), the r is not pronounced. In American English
the r is pronounced.

Vocabulary
There are many differences in American and British English vocabulary. Here are
10 common words in American English followed by their British English equivalents:
American / British

1. elevator / lift

2. garbage / rubbish

3. vacation / holiday

4. truck / lorry

5. sweater / jumper

6. cookie / biscuit

7. french fries / chips

8. line / queue

9. parking lot / car park

10. silverware / cutlery

Spelling
Finally, there are spelling differences. Below are three rules you can follow.

 Most words ending in - our in British English are spelled without the u in American
English (humour/humor, behaviour/behavior, etc.)

 Most words ending in -re in British English are spelled with -er in American
English (centre/center, litre/liter, etc.)

 Many British English verbs ending in -ise are spelled with -ize in American English
(realise/realize, organise/organize, etc.)
CHAPTER III

CONCLUSION