COULMAS - Sociolinguistics. The study of speakers’ choice.

Chapter 2

Advice: Use a map to read this chapter. Write down a list of all the languages or dialects
mentioned. Locate them on the map.

Standard and dialect: social stratification as a factor of linguistic choice.

“The standard language was the possession only of the well-born and the well-educated.” J.H.
Dobson

A samurai speaks his mind.

1. Read the quotation at the opening, who is/was Dobson and where did he write this?
2. Find the meaning of the term ‘dialect.’ It is also synonymous with linguistic or language
variety. What is, to Coulmas, one of the central concerns of sociolinguistics?
Dialect: a linguistic variety of a language.

A central concern of sociolinguistics is to account for the function dialects fulfil and how
speakers choose their dialects, which also correlate with social stratification.

3. Read the narrative about the Samurai by Yukichi Fukuzawa (Japanese thinker). What is
the Samurai’s finding after his walk?

He found that:

-Dialects show a speaker’s regional origin, but also that dialects were not just specific to a
region, but also specific to social status.

-That speech was an overt marker of social inequality.

-Speakers adjust their speech behaviour to how they are spoken to.

-Dialects can be chosen: speakers adjust their speech behaviour to a particular social
circumstance.

4. Note the lessons to be learned from the story. Choose one of them and give an example of
your own to illustrate that point.
Sometimes people choose to change their accent and dialect for instance when they visit Buenos
Aires. I think people try to blend in with the dialect and accent spoken in that province,
especially the accent of the city.

5. Pay attention to the social organization in Japan in the 1872 (nineteenth century), what
was that organization, what socio-economic system was there in Japan at that time, how
different is it from now? (you may need to read about Japan’s socio-economic
organization today).

The social organization of Japan in 1872 was called Edo Society. It was a feudal society with a
strict social stratification, customs and regulations intended to promote political stability. The
feudal systems of social ranks were hereditary, involving four groups: Samurai, farmers, artisans
and lastly merchants.

Now, Japanese society is pretty homogeneous in which class differences were abolished at the
end of 20th C. There are relatively free linguistic differences between different parts of the
country. They believe they have strong sense of group and national identity and little or no ethnic
or racial diversity.

6. What sort of signal does a person’s own way of speaking project? Age, gender, social
status, education level.

7. ‘Language and inequality’ were observed by Fukuzawa in the nineteenth century. When
was sociolinguistics born in the west, according to what Coulmas hints at?

He hints that sociolinguistics was born in approximately 1972; almost one hundred years after
Fukazawa’s story took place, which was in 1872.

A Western science

8. To better understand this section read B. Bernstein’s biography. Why was he concerned
and how was the linguistic phenomenon involved in the issue (Britain)? Find out about
the difference between an elaborated and a restricted linguistic code.

Basil Bernstein made a significant contribution to the study of communication with his
Sociolinguistic theory of language codes. According to this theory there are two codes:
The restricted code: It refers to shorthand speech, short, simple sentences. It has an ‘assumed’
element to it, that is, meanings are implicit. Speech depends on gestures and expressions. It is
used mainly by the lower/middle class.

The elaborated code: It refers to detailed, explanatory, illustrative, analytical speech. Meanings
are explicit and speakers use a wide vocabulary. It is used by the middle to upper classes and it is
the one used in formal education.

Linguistic codes liked class, power and other aspects of social structure to varying patterns of
phonological and syntactic differentiation. Bernstein’s main concern was that codes not only
identified different social classes but they also were instrumental in class reproduction in Great
Britain.

9. According to Coulmas, what events in the US (1966) showed that Americans had similar
concern to those in Britain?

In the USA correlations between speech varieties and scholastic achievements were found. The
idea was that in a democratic society language should not contribute to perpetuating social
inequality. Linkages were made between social stratification and linguistic variation.

10. What is variationist sociolinguistics?

It is the study of social significance of dialect variation. It rests on the assumption that whenever
a choice exists among two or more alternatives in language performance, then it is appropriate to
evoke statistical techniques. This is a departure from the idea that grammar is a set of fixed rules.
So the possibility of a certain rule or feature occurring is not only assumed to be socially
meaningful but to affect the language system as well.

11. What does it mean that a linguistic rule comes “with a probabilistic index” (p.19)?

It means that there are a number of alternatives a speaker can choose from and the occurrence of
a linguistic feature can be predicted by probabilities.

12. Explain the apparent paradox. Why is sociolinguistics not original - but it is original in
the West.

Sociolinguistics is not original because sociolinguistic studies were developed in Asia long
before than in the west. But for western culture the studies carried out later by western
sociolinguists were new and original given that their theories and methods originated in the west
are more likely to be noticed in other parts of the world that those originated in eastern countries.

13. Mention events in Japan and India that point at the origin of sociolinguistics in those
countries.
Japan 1933: Japanese dialectologist Kindaichi proposed that sociology and linguistics should
join forces to analyze the social nature of language. Years later, the Japanese linguist Juri Tanabe
published a book titled “Sociology of language”. Language standardization had been an issue for
some time in Japan. There was a general awareness among dialectologists that the investigation
of dialects could benefit and contribute to social analysis

In India, the social dimension between the relationship between standard language (Sankrit) and
dialects (Pankrits) has been known for centuries and speech varieties were long investigated. T.C
Hodson’s paper “Sociolinguistics in India” was published in 1939. Two and a half years ago
Indian scholars were already aware of the prestige of various languages and dialects.

14. Sociolinguistic, as any other science, has developed its own theories and research
methodologies. What is Coulmas warning in relation to those theories and methods?

He indicates that theories and methods developed in the west mostly apply to the western culture
in which they were conceived and not much to other cultures. So it is necessary to examine the
applicability of the concepts and categories of sociology to a given speech community.

Dialect variation

15. Sociolinguistics, dealing as it does with modern industrial societies, is in this sense a
Western Science.(p. 21). Explain why it is a “Western Science”.

It is a western science in the sense that its methods of analyzing the relationship between dialects
and social status are based on western countries social stratification, so these methods cannot be
applied to other regions where their social organization may differ from western social
organization.

16. Despite the various meanings assigned to the term “dialect” in the past, Coulmas attempts
to solve the issue by providing a definition. What is a language and what is a dialect?
Give examples of a language and one or more of its dialects.

According to Coulmas, Language consists of an assemble of dialects (L> D1-D2-D3, Dn…), and
can be separated by virtue of political rather than linguistic criteria. On the other hand, a dialect
identifies the regional background of its users. E.g: Language: English, dialects: standard
English, Devonshire dialect, Yorkshire dialect.

17. What is dialectology or dialect geography?

It is the scientific study of how dialects relate to each other.

18. Explain the possible reasons why an original language (e.g. Spanish) splits into a number
of dialects as time goes by.
Languages may split into a number of dialects because of political separation, geographical
separation (rivers, mountains, islands) or because of affiliations with other languages or dialects.

19. What is a dialect continuum or dialect chain? Mention one example.

A dialect chain is a series of dialects that are so similar that it is hard to pin point where people
stop speaking one dialect and the other starts.

20. Is D3 the same as D| or D5 in Figure 2.2 on page 22. Think of one example to illustrate
D3.They are not the same, even though they are so similar that speakers can understand each
other well.

21. What type of language is Latin (now dead) in relation to Spanish, French, or Italian? To
help yourself, consult a language family diagram (IndoEuropean).

Latin is the language from which Romance languages such as Spanish or French originated.

22. According to Coulmas, two linguistic varieties are perceived as different phenomena due
to historical contingency or human volition. Which of these two reasons account for the
distinction between Arabic (Emirates) and Maltese (Malta).

The distinction between Arabic and Maltese could be originated from historical contingency.
Maltese is a Semitic language that descended from the now extinct Sicilian –Arabic dialect
(southern Italy) that developed during the Emirate of Sicily. This dialect went through a
gradual process of Latinization which gave Maltese a significant Romance superstrate
influence.

23. In the case of the Republic of China, how many dialects are there? Are they all mutually
intelligible? If mutual intelligibility is the key to identify two dialects or varieties of a
language, are the Chinese dialects so?

In China there are five major varieties of Chinese: Mandarin, Wu, Min, Yue and Hakka.
These five dialects are not mutually intelligible. If we take mutual intelligibility as key to
identify dialects, these variations would not be considered dialects but separate languages.

24. What sort of varieties of a language are the so-called standard and vernacular. Are they
the same?

Vernacular language refers to the everyday language used by ordinary people, including
slang and informal expressions. It differs from literary or official laanguage.
 Standard language refers to that variety of language used in print, taught in schools and to
non-natives speakers learning a language. It has undergone some degree of regularization or
codification and is used in public discourse.

25. What are emic terms? How are these terms to be understood? (for example in the case of
the French variety called Patois or the German variety called Mundart).

Emic terms are terms that are not universally applicable but are dependent in their
interpretation on a particular linguistic (or cultural) system. For the French “Patois” and for
the German “Mundart” are not the same as dialects or Regional variations. The need to
employ emic terms shows that the relation between standard languages and dialects can take
on various forms which defy universal definitions because both linguistics and extra
linguistic factors are involved.

Social stratification

26. Compare the social organization of Japan and India as described in the text. You may
want to do further research in this respect. Which one is described as stable and which one as
transitional?

The Japanese feudal system was changing as¡nd therefore unstable since an emerging
bourgeoisie group was becoming wealthier and more powerful. There was a tendency
towards status inconsistency as meritocracy was becoming stronger with time. On the other
hand, in India, Caste tradition is described as stable. The author indicates that caste is an
integral part of the cosmic odder of traditional Hinduism and that Caste consciousness is still
strong.

27. Is the term social class (or social classes) an emic term? (think about the social
organization of Japan in the 19th Century, in India in the early 20th Century, and in Argentina
today).

The term class can be considered an emic term. Taking into account Japanese point of view,
class differentiation is no longer prevalent in their culture, so the term class cannot be readily
applied there. At the same time, neither does Indian culture recognize class differentiation as
the Caste social organization, which is hereditary, prevails. In Argentina, however, a highly
meritocratic society, some patterns of social stratification are still common.

28. What was Rickford's problem when carrying out scientific social studies in Guyana?
How did he cope with that trouble? Consider the two prevailing classifications of societies in
the 1980´: Weberian versus Marxist models to account for social organization.
 The problem was that traditional ways of class analysis where not applicable in Guyana, so
he had to come up with a different classification. He sorted people into two groups, which he
labelled “building on local usage”, Estate and Non-estate class.

29. Some sociologists have suggested that it would be better to describe a society in terms of
its social mobility and or social deprivation, why have they quit the attempts to describe
social groups or strata?

Because they think that the classification of social strata does not represent socially relevant
divisions or characteristics such as gender, ethnicity, race, acquired education, professional
accomplishment, age and immigrant status. They think these characteristics are better
predictors of an individual’s social position.

30. Why is social stratification a topic which is relevant to sociolinguists?

Social stratification is still relevant in Sociolinguistics because inequality still remains present in
the majority of societies. Besides, the sociolinguistic project strives to explain how social
stratification and movement up and down the social scale are reflected in language behaviour.

31. Do members of different social groups (estate—nonestate, upper-class-lower class,

Brahim-Kasharia, priest-warrior) speak the same way? Give an example that is closest to
your experience.

I think that in strongly differentiated groups people do not speak the same way. For example,
the way people from the upper-classes of Tucuman tend to imitate a more neutral way of
speaking or even similar to the Buenos Aires accent; this may differentiate them from people
of lower classes, apart from the differences in wealth.

A simplest model and its limitations

32. Which two aspects are to be related, or correlated, by sociolinguistic studies?

Sociolinguistic studies relate independent social variables and dependent linguistic variables

33. Does the way a social group speak depend on their position in society or does their
position in society depend on the linguistic variety they use? In sociolinguistic research, what
is the dependent and what is the independent variable?

According to the studies, the way a group speaks depends on their position in society. The
independent variety is Social Variation and the dependent is Regional variation, so dialect
depends on social position.

34. Observe the diagram by Trudgill, what is the difference between the apex and the base?
The difference is that closer to the apex, dialect differences diminish and a speech form
closest to Standard English spoken with RP is used by a small upper class. The base shows
an unbroken chain of several regional dialects, so the lower the class, the more localized
speech forms emerge.

35. How efficient was Trudgill´s triangle to portray the society-language correlation? Is it
true that all members of the upper classes in England speak RP all the time?

36. Consider the three premises on which the triangle is based and give one example of one
of the premises.

37. If all the premises were true, all members of a society would speak (or at least would
attempt to speak) the Standard Variety of a nation, and so everyone would eventually speak
the same say (levelling): Is this the case in the early decades of the 21st century?

Actually, that is not the case. People generally do not give up their accents once they move to
the city and new dialects keep emerging.

38. The standard variety of a language tends to spread from the center (big cities, capital
cities like Buenos Aires) to the periphery; however Japan seems to have developed a
different sociolinguistic phenomenon. How did the so-called New Tokyo dialect come to
exist?

This new dialect disseminated into the Japanese speech community from below as an
informal style and it was originated outside Tokyo. Then this dialect moved to the capital
coming to integrate the city’s informal non-standard dialect, and then it was spread back out
to outer regions.

39. What is the regular linguistic behaviour of speakers who come into contact to
communicate? Do they accommodate or adjust their speech to that of the interlocutor? Or
not? Or either one direction?

The regular linguistic behaviour of speakers when they come into contact is to accommodate
and adjust their speech to each other, so the adjustment goes both ways.

40. Milroy and Milroy (1992) have proposed an approach to studying language and society.
What is that approach called? What is the focus of its attention?

Milroy and Milroy’ approach is called the Network analysis and it focuses on the nature and
dynamics of communication networks and on their function for the enforcement of norms
and group conformity. They think that the density and diversity of speaker’s communication
networks is a crucial variable that determines their dialect loyalty.
 41. What are the drawbacks of social network analysis?

One drawback is that it has nothing to say about the covariation of social stratification and
variability of language use.

42. Have sociolinguists abandoned the analysis of the social class-language covariation?
Why? Why not? They have not, because all societies are stratified and because social dialect
research has frequently revealed relation between social division and linguistic varieties.

Accommodation theory

43. In the linguistic glossary, look up the meaning of “accommodation.”

Accommodation: the phenomenon in which speakers change the manner in which they speak
depending upon who they are interacting with, the investigation of which is referred to as
Speech Accommodation Theory.

44. What is the difference between linguistic convergence and divergence?

Linguistic Convergence refers to the phenomenon pf speakers adopting the speech strategies of
their fellow interlocutors, often thought to signal solidarity. On the other hand, Divergence
refers to instances where speakers deliberately change features of their speech commonly
thought to act as a social distancing device.

45. Basil Bernstein favoured a sort of compensatory approach to help children succeed at
schools in Britain, what does this approach consist of?

It consists of having schools compensate for the perceived deficiencies in the child and the
home-the focus now is on the need for the institution of the school to acknowledge and take
responsibility for the language varieties and to ensure equality of access to all children. Its
root lays on the Higgins and Eliza Doolittle approach: change the way people speak and help
them get rid of their low esteem dialects and help them converge on the standard.

46. What is the sociolinguists´ view of dialectal differences? Criticize? Describe?

Sociolinguistics aims to describe dialectal variations and to explain the cause or processes by
which dialects come to exist.
 47. What is the general point to remember in this chapter? That regional variation lends itself
to social differentiation. How such differentiation is effectuated is contingent upon the social
system of the speech community in question.

48. How do you interpret Dobson´s quotation at the chapter opening?

I think that of the word 'possession' is significant. I think he means that lower classes could
imitate standard language, but they would never belong to that speech community or that they
would never really be entitled to speak standard E on their own right since it belonged to the
upper classes only.

To remember:

“A language is a dialect with an army and a navy.” Said by an attendee to Max Weinreich’s talk
(1943).

“The effect of occupational mobility blurs the class lines not only socially but also
linguistically.” Jack Chambers (1995).