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Summary soc 1 - Samenvatting An Introduction to

Sociolinguistics
Engels (Hogeschool Inholland)

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Full summary an_introduction_to_sociolinguistics

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 Full summary an_introduction_to_sociolinguistics

1. 1. An Introduction to Sociolinguistics (Janet Holmes) Chapter One:

What do sociolinguists study?- Sociolinguistics: a term that refers to
the study of the relationship betweenlanguage and society, and how
language is used in multilingual speechcommunities.Q what aspects
of language are Sociolinguists interested in?Sociolinguists are
interested in explaining why people speak differently indifferent
social contexts. And the effect of social factors such as
(socialdistance, social status, age, gender, class) on language
varieties (dialects,registers, genres, etc), and they are concerned

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with identifying the socialfunctions of language and the way they

are used to convey social meanings.Q what do sociolinguists mean
by the term variety?A variety is a set of linguistic forms used under
specific social circumstances,with a distinctive social distribution.*
Formality increases between participants (speaker and hearer)
when thesocial distance is greater. Informality (Solidarity) increases
when the socialdistance is little between participants (speaker and
hearer).* Social status depends on a number of factors such as
social rank, wealth, age,gender and so on; therefore the person with
the higher social status has thechoice of using formality or
informality (solidarity) when addressing otherpersons of lower social
status. But the person with the lower social status usesonly
formality when addressing a person of higher social status.
2. 2. Chapter Two: Multilingual speech communities- Domains:
domains of language use, a term popularised by an
Americansociolinguist, Joshua Fishman. A domain of language
involves typicalinteractions between typical participants in typical
settings about a typical topic.Examples of these domains are family,
friendship, religion, education andemployment.- Setting: the
physical situation or the typical place where speech
interactionsoccur (code choice), settings such as home, church,
mosque, school, office, etc.- Diglossia: communities rather in which
two languages or language varietiesare used with one being a high
variety for formal situations and prestige, and alow variety for
informal situations (everyday conversation). Diglossia has
threecrucial features; two distinct varieties of the same language
are used in thecommunity, with one regarded as high (H) variety
and the other as low (L)variety. Each variety is used for quite
distinct functions; H & L complementeach other. No one uses the H
variety in everyday conversation.Example: the standard classical
Arabic language is the high variety in Arabcountries, and it is used
for writing and for formal functions, but vernacular(colloquial) Arabic
is the low variety used for informal speech situations.- Polyglossia:
basically polyglossia situations involve two contrasting
varieties(high and low) but in general it refers to communities that
regularly use morethan two languages.- Code-switching: it is to
move from one code (language, dialect, or style) toanother during
speech for a number of reasons such, to signal solidarity, toreflect
ones ethnic identity, to show off, to hide some information from a
thirdparty, to achieve better explanation of a certain concept, to
converge or reducesocial distance with the hearer, to diverge or
increase social distance or toimpress and persuade the audience
(metaphorical code-switching)- Lexical borrowing: it results from the
lack of vocabulary and it involvesborrowing single words – mainly
nouns. When speaking a second language,people will often use a
term from their first language because they dont knowthe
appropriate word in their second language. They also my borrow
wordsfrom another language to express a concept or describe an

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object for whichthere is no obvious word available in the language

they are using.* Code switching involves a choice between the
words of two languages orvarieties, but Lexical borrowing is resulted
from the lack of vocabulary.
3. 3. Chapter Three: Language maintenance and shift- Language shift:
it happens when the language of the wider society
(majority)displaces the minority mother tongue language over time
in migrantcommunities or in communities under military occupation.
Therefore whenlanguage shift occurs, it shifts most of the time
towards the language of thedominant group, and the result could be
the eradication of the local languageQ What factors lead to
language shift?Economic, social and political factor1-The dominant
language is associated with social status and prestige2-Obtaining
work is the obvious economic reason for learning another
language3-The pressure of institutional domains such as schools
and the mediaDemographic factors1-Language shift is faster in
urban areas than rural2-The size of the group is some times a
critical factor3-Intermarriage between groups can accelerate
language shiftAttitudes and values1-Language shift is slower among
communities where the minority language ishighly valued, therefore
when the language is seen as an important symbol ofethnic identity
its generally maintained longer, and visa versa.
…………………………………………………………………………………………
……………… Language death and Language loss:When all the people
who speak a language die, the language dies with them.With the
spread of a majority group language into more and more domains,
thenumber of contexts in which individuals use the ethnic language
diminishes.The language usually retreats till it is used only in the
home, and finally it isrestricted to such personal activities as
counting, praying and dreaming.
4. 4. Q How can a minority language be maintained?1- A language can
be maintained and preserved, when its highly valued as
animportant symbol of ethnic identity for the minority group.2- If
families from a minority group live near each other and see each
otherfrequently, their interactions will help to maintain the
language.3- For emigrate individuals from a minority group, the
degree and frequency ofcontact with the homeland can contribute
to language maintenance.4- Intermarriage within the same minority
group is helpful to maintain thenative language.5- Ensuring that the
minority group language is used at formal settings such asschools or
worship places will increases language maintenance.6- An extended
normal family in which parents, children and grandchildren
livetogether and use the same minority language can help to
maintain it.7- Institutional support from domains such as education,
law, administration,religion and the media can make a difference
between the success and failure ofmaintaining a minority group
language.
…………………………………………………………………………………………

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………………- Language revival: some times a community becomes

aware that its languageis in danger of disappearing and takes steps
to revitalises it.Example:In 1840, two thirds of the Welsh people
spoke Welsh, but by 1980, only 20% ofthe population spoke Welsh,
therefore the Welsh people began a revival processof Welsh
language by using a Welsh-language TV channel and
bilingualeducation programs that used Welsh as medium of
instruction at schools.
5. 5. Chapter Four: Linguistic varieties and multilingual nations-
Vernacular language: It generally refers to a language which has not
beenstandardised or codified and which does not have official status
(uncodified orstandardised variety). It generally refers to the most
colloquial variety in apersons linguistic repertoire.- Standard
Language: a standard variety is generally one which is written,
andwhich has undergone some degree of regulation or codification
(in a grammarand a dictionary).* The development of Standard
English illustrates the three essential criteriawhich characterise a
standard: It emerged in the 15th as a delicate of the Londonarea
and it was influential or prestigious variety (it was used by the
merchantsof London, it was codified and stabilised (the introduction
of the first printingpress by Caxton accelerated its codification), and
it served H functions in that itwas used for communication at Court,
for literature and for administration.- World Englishes: world English
languages are classified into, inner circleEnglishes as in the UK, USA
(English as a native or first language); Outercircle Englishes as in
India, Malaysia, Tanzania (English as a second languagewith an
official status), and Expanding circle Englishes as China, Japan,
Russia(English as a foreign language).
…………………………………………………………………………………………
………………- Lingua franca: a language used for communication
between differentlanguage users, for people whose first languages
differ, such as pidgin betweenEuropean colonizers and African
slaves (Swahili).- Pidgin: it is a language which has no native
speakers. Pidgins develop as ameans of communication between
people who dont have a common language.- Creole: when a pidgin
becomes the language of newly-born generations as amother-
tongue or first language, and acquires additional vocabulary
andgrammatical structures to serve their various necessary
communicative needs(referential and social functions) it becomes a
Creole.
6. 6. Chapter Five: National languages and language planning-
National language: it is the main language of political, social and
culturalpractices, where people use it as a symbol of their national
unity / Officiallanguage is the language used by governments for
formal functions / In amonolingual community, a national language
is usually also the officiallanguage, but in bilingual or multilingual
communities, it may or may not bethe official language. For
example: English and French are both officiallanguages in Canada.

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Planning for a national official language:1- Selection: selecting the

variety or code to by developed.2- Codification: standardising its
structural or linguistic features.3- Elaboration: extending its
functions for use in new domains.4- Securing its acceptance:
acceptance by people in terms of attitude & prestige.
…………………………………………………………………………………………
………………* Linguists have played an important role at the micro
level of languageplanning activates. Many of them work as
members of communities with a lotof influence on language
planning, and especially on the standardization orcodification of a
particular variety. Example: Samuel Johnsons 40,000-worddictionary
was a landmark in the codification of English.- Acquisition planning:
sociolinguists can make a contribution to organizedefforts to spread
a language by increasing the number of its users, by using it inthe
education system (language-in- Education planning) or in the
mediadomains such as news papers, radio, etc.
7. 7. Chapter Six: Regional and social dialects- Accent: accents are
distinguished from each other by pronunciation.- Dialects: linguistic
varieties which are distinguishable by their vocabulary,grammar and
pronunciation.* Examples of different regional dialects:Example one:
in British English: pavement, boot, bonnet, petrol, baggage. Butin
American English: sidewalk, trunk, hood, gas, luggage.Example two:
the word tog in English refers to clothes one wears in formaldinner,
but in New Zealand, it refers to clothes one wears to swim in.
…………………………………………………………………………………………
………………- Social dialects: a variety of language that reflects
social variation in languageuse, according to certain factors related
to the social group of the speaker suchas education, occupation,
income level (upper-class English, middle-classEnglish and lower-
class English. For example: Standard English can beclassified as a
type of social English spoken by the well-educated Englishspeakers
throughout the world.* Received Pronunciation (the Queens English)
or BBC English (the accent ofthe beast educated and most
prestigious members of English society) isclassified as a social
accent.Q Is there a relationship between ones language and ones
social identity?The language one uses often reflects ones social
identity and education, forexample: dropping the initial h in words
like house can indicate a lowersocioeconomic background. On the
other hand, pronouncing the letter r in thecity of New York is
considered as a prestigious feature, but the opposite is truein
London.- Isogloss: a term that refers to the boundary lines that mark
the areas in whichcertain dialect words are used.- Sharp
Stratification: it refers to the pattern that certain
pronunciationfeatures such as h-dropping and grammatical features
such as mutable negationdivide speaking communities sharply
between the middle class and the lowerclasses.
8. 8. Chapter Seven: Gender and age* It is claimed that women are
linguistically more polite than menQ How are the language forms

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used by men and women different inwestern societies, give

examples? (just read)In western societies, women and men whose
social roles are similar do not useforms that are completely
different, but they use different quantities orfrequencies of the same
form. For example: women use more standard formsthan men, and
men use more vernacular forms than women / women use moreing-
forms than men and fewer ing-forms in words like coming or
running. Butin western communities, such differences are also found
in the speech ofdifferent social classes, therefore the language of
women in the lower andhigher classes is more similar to that of men
in the same group.
…………………………………………………………………………………………
………………Q Explain womens linguistic behavior (using forms that
are more standard):1- Social status: women generally have a lower
social status in society;therefore they try to acquire social status by
using Standard English.2- Womens role as guardian of societys
values: women use more standardforms than men, because society
tends to expect better behavior from womenthan from men (women
serve as modals for their childrens speech).3- Subordinate groups
must be polite: women use more standard forms thanmen, because
children and women are subordinate groups and they must
avoidoffending men, therefore they must speak carefully and
politely.4- Vernacular forms express machismo: men prefer
vernacular forms becausethey carry macho connotations of
masculinity and toughness. Therefore womenmight not want to use
such form, and use standard forms that associated withfemale
values or femininity5- womens categories: Not all women marry
men from the same social class,however it is perfectly possible for a
women to be more educated then the manshe marry, or even to
have a more prestigious job than him.6- The influence of the
interviewer and the context: women tend to becomemore
cooperative conversationalists than men.
9. 9. Chapter Eight: Ethnicity and social networks* It is often possible
for individuals to signal their ethnicity by the languagethey choose
to use. Even when a complete conversation in an ethnic language
isnot possible, people may use short phrases, verbal filers or
linguistic tags,which signal ethnicity. For Example: In New Zealand
many Maori peopleroutinely use Maori greetings such as kia and
ora, while speaking in English, tosignal their ethnicity.- African
American Vernacular English: a distinct variety or dialect that
wasdeveloped by African Americans as a symbolic way of
differentiatingthemselves from the majority group.Some of AAVE
linguistic features (pp186-187)- Complete absence of the copula
verb be in some social & linguistic contexts- The use of invariant be
to signal recurring or repeated actions- Mutable negation- Constant
cluster
simplifications………………………………………………………………………
………………………………… British Black English1-Patois: a Jamaican

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Creole in origin, which is used by Jamaican immigrants inLondon and

by young British Blacks in group talks as a sign of ethnic
identity.Some of Patois linguistic features (p190)- Lexical items such
as lick meaning hit and kenge meaning week, puny- Different
pronunciation like then and thin are pronounced den and tin.- Plural
forms dont have s on the end.- Tenses arent marked by suffixes on
verbs, so forms like walk and jump areused rather than walked,
walks, jumped, and jumps.- The form mi is used for I, me and my (mi
niem / my name).- The form dem is used for they, them and their
(dem car / their car).2- Midland Black English: a variety of Standard
English with a west midlandaccent which is an informal variety with
some Patois features.3- Multi-cultural London English: a variety used
by adolescents (teenagers)from a range of ethnic backgrounds,
including Jamaican & Asian backgrounds.Its features include using
monophthongs instead of diphthongs and a distinctivevocabulary,
for example: blood / mate and nang / good and yard / house.
10. 10. - Social networks: who we talk and listen to regularly is an
important influenceon the way we speak (regular patterns of
informal social relationships amongpeople.- Density: it refers to
whether members of a persons network are in touch witheach
other.- Plexity: is a measure of the range of different types of
transaction people areinvolved in with different individuals.- Uniplex
relationship: is one where the link with the other person is in
onlyone area.- Multiplex relationship: it involves interactions with
others along severaldimensions.- Community practice: the activities
that group members share, and theirshared objectives and attitudes
(one belongs to many communities of practicesuch as family,
workgroup, sports team, etc).
11. 11. Chapter Nine: Language change* Variation and Change: the
cause behind language change is the variation ofuse in the areas of
pronunciation and vocabulary. Post-vocal |r| its spread and its
status: In many parts of England andWales, Standard English has
lost the pronunciation post-vocal r. The loss of rbegan in the 17th
century in the south-east of England and is still spreading toother
areas. Accents with post-vocal |r| are called rhotict, and these
accents areregarded as rural and uneducated. On the other hand in
cities like New York,pronouncing the letter r is regarded as
prestigious. The spread of vernacular forms: some times a
vernacular feature in somecommunities as a reflection of ethnic or
social identity such as what happenedin Marthas Vineyard Island.
Labovs 1960 study showed: when the island wasinvaded by summer
tourists, the island community of fishermen changed
theirpronunciation of some word vowels to older forms from the past
as a reaction tothe language of tourists.
…………………………………………………………………………………………
………………Q How do language changes spread?1- from group to
group: changes spread like waves in different directions, andsocial
factors such as age, gender, status and social group affect the rates

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anddirections of change.2- from style to style: from more formal to

more casual, from one individual toanother, from one social group to
another, and from one word to another.- Lexical diffusion: the
change from one words vowel to another, the soundchange begins
in one word and later on in another, etc.Q How do we study
language change?A- Apparent-time studies of language change: it is
the study of comparingthe speech of people from different age
groups, to find out any differences thatcould indicate change
(whether increase or decrease).B- Studying language change in real
time: in this study, the researcherstudies the language in a
community and then comes back to it after a numberof years to
study it again, and find out any changes.
12. 12. Reasons for language change:1- Social status and language
change: members of the group with most socialstatus, for example,
tend to introduce changes into a speech community
fromneighboring communities which have greater status and
prestige in their eyes.2- Gender and change: differences in womens
and mens speech are a sourceof variation which can result in
linguistic change.3- Interaction and language change: interaction
and contact between people iscrucial in providing the channels for
linguistic change (social networks).4- The influence of the media:
some researcher belief that media has a greatinfluence on peoples
speech patterns and new forms. Chapter Ten: Style, context and
register* Language varies according to use and users and according
to where it is usedand to whom, as well as according to who is using
it. The addresses and thecontext affect our choice of code or
variety, whether language, dialect or style.1- Addressees influence
on style: many factors influence the addressees stylesuch as social
distance / solidarity / age / gender / social background.2-Formal
contexts and social roles: the formal setting where the social rolesof
participants override their personal relationship in determining
theappropriate linguistic form (style).3- Topic or function: style is
sometimes determined by the function whichlanguage is used for.-
Audience design: the influence of the audience (listeners) on a
speakersstyle, for example: the same news is read differently by
newsreaders ondifferent radio stations during the same day,
therefore producing different stylesfor each audience.
13. 13. Accommodation Theory- Speech converges: each persons
speech converges towards the speech of theperson they are talking
to. It tends to happen when the speakers like oneanother, or where
one speaker has a vested interest in pleasing the other orputting
them at ease.- Speech diverges: deliberately choosing a different
language style not used byones addressee, it tends to happen when
a person wants to show his culturaldistinctiveness, social status,
ethnic identity, etc.
…………………………………………………………………………………………
………………- Hypercorrection: it is the exaggeration of some lower
class speakers inimitating middle class standard speech. For

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example: the use of I rather thanme in constructions such as

between you and I.- Register: occupational style using specialized or
technical jargon, it describes thelanguage of groups of people with
common interests or jobs, or the languageused in situations
associated with such groups, such as the language of
doctors,engineers, journals, legalese, etc.Q in sports announcer talk;
what is the difference between ply-by-playcommentary and color
commentary?- Play-by-play commentary: it focuses on actions by
using telegraphic grammar.- Colour commentary: it focuses on
people, with heavy and long modificationsor descriptions of nouns.
Chapter Eleven: Speech functions, politeness & cross-cultural
communication
14. 14. Functions of Speech1- Referential function: to convey
information and this is done throughdifferent forms of speech, such
as declarative or interrogative statements.- Declarative statements
(After this semester, Im going to visit London)- Interrogative
statements using Wh-questions (what is your name?)- Interrogative
statements using yes/no questions (do like London?)- Alternative
questions with answer choices (do like tea or coffee?)2- Directive
function: giving orders or making requests by using
imperativestatements. An imperative statements may express a
strict demand such assaying (open the door) or it can seem less
demanding by using the politenessstrategy such as saying (open
the door, please) or through using question tags inthe case of
informality between mother and son (Max the TV is still on!)3-
Expressive function: to express personal feelings, thoughts, ideas
andopinions, with different choice words, intonation, etc. These
expressions aresubmissive to social factors and to the nature of the
expression as negative (Imvery gloomy tonight) or positive (Im
feeling very good today).4- Phatic or Social function: it is one of the
most common speech acts ineveryday interactions; it consists of
greetings, complements, gossip, etc. forgreeting a friend, a speaker
can say (hi/hello). As for greeting a stranger, thespeaker can use
(hello), but the more formal greetings between strangers are(good
morning/afternoon/evening).5- Metalinguistic Function: it is used to
describe parts of language such asgrammar, or words that describe
language itself (I is a personal pronoun)6- Poetic Function: using
poetic features such as rhyming words, alliteration orparonomasia
and antithesis (An apple a day keeps the doctor a way).7- Heuristic
Function: Halliday identified this function of language
whichconcerned with learning, the main concentration of
researching this function ofspeech is to identify the spoken
language of learning children.8- Commissives: it involves using
threats and promises (I will clean my room, Ipromise).
15. 15. Politeness: it is the consideration of social factors (social
distance in terms ofsolidarity or formality), social status, type of
situation or context, intonation, etcwhen communicating with
others.* One may ask somebody to sit down by using different

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utterances:Sit down / please sit down / I want you to sit down / wont
you sit down / you sitdown / why dont you make yourself more
comfortable?- Positive politeness: a type of politeness based on
solidarity between speakersand hearers who share values and
attitudes, and in which formal expressions inaddressing are
avoided.- Negative politeness: a type of politeness based on
formality between speakersand hearers in which formal expressions
in addressing are used in order toprotect hearers face and avoid
intruding on them.
16. 16. Chapter Twelve: Gender, politeness and stereotypes Womens
language and confidence- Lakoffs linguistic features of womens
speech:1- Lexical hedges or fillers (you know, sort of, well, you
see)2- Tag questions (shes very nice, isn’t she?)3- Rising intonation
on declaratives (its really good)4- Empty adjectives (divine,
charming, cute)5- Precise colour terms (magenta, aquamarine)6-
Intensifiers such as just and so (I like him so much)7- Hypercorrect
grammar (consistent use of standard verb forms)8- Super-polite
forms (indirect requests, euphemism)9- Avoidance of strong swear
words (fudge, my goodness)10- Emphatic stress (it was a BRILLIANT
performance)Q What are tag questions for Lakoff and what are their
functions?According to Lakoff, Tag questions are syntactic devices
that are used more bymen to express uncertainty (shes very nice,
isnt she) and they are used more bywomen to express positive
politeness (you will study for the exam, wont you?). InteractionQ
Who interrupts more, men or women? Why?Studies showed that
men, and even boys interrupt more, due to womens genderrather
than to their role or occupation.Q who gives more feedback during
conversation, men or women?Studies show that women are more
cooperative and give more feedback.Q What is gossip? What
functions does gossip have for women? What ismens equivalent
activity to womens gossip?Gossip is a social not a referential
function to affirm solidarity, and relievefeelings. The equivalent
activity for gossip to men is mock-insults and abuse,with the
function of expressing solidarity & maintaining social relationships.
17. 17. Chapter Thirteen: Language, cognition and culture Language
and perceptionQ What is verbal hygiene?It is a thought–provoking
term, used by Deborah Cameron describe how Peoplerespond to the
urge to meddle in matters of language. It covers a wide range
ofactivities, from writing letters to Editors complaining about the
deteriorationand abuse of language, through prescriptions and
proscriptions about whatconstitutes proper, correct and acceptable
usage in a range of contexts, tousing language as a political
weapon.- Euphemism: substituting unacceptable terms with nicer
words or terms, suchas disabled instead of crippled, cosmetically
different instead of ugly.- Dysphemism: using derogatory terms of
language to reflect societysperceptions of particular groups, such as
referring to a coloured person as anigger or a homosexual male as
gay or queer. Benjamin Lee WhorfIn his analysis of Native American

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languages, Whorf noticed that the particularwords selected to

describe or label objects often influenced peoples perceptionsand
behavior.Q What is linguistic determinism?The medium is the
message, Sapir-Whorf hypothesis (linguistic determinism) isthat
people from different cultures think differently because of
differences intheir languages.* Testing Sapir-Whorf hypothesis: if
Whorf is right then it is difficult to identifycolours which your
language does not have a name for. But although peopleform the
Dani tribe in New Guinea, use only two colour terms
(correspondingto black and white or dark and light), it was found
that they could recognizeand distinguish between subtle shades of
colours that their language had nonames for (pale blue vs.
turquoise).* Different discourse patterns can reflect different
patterns of thinking or socio-cultural relationships, for example: a
similar news report can be representeddifferently from one
newspaper to another, in form and content.
18. 18. Chapter Fourteen: Analysing discourseQ What is discourse?For
sociolinguists, the term discourse is generally used to refer to
stretches ofspoken or written language which extend beyond an
utterance or a sentence.For philosophers, discourse is a broader
term; it is regarded as a means ofstructuring knowledge and social
practice, and language is just one symbolicform of discourse.Q How
is discourse viewed by pragmatics?Pragmatics are concerned with
the analysis of meaning in interaction, context iscrucial in
interpreting what is meant, and pragmatics extends the analysis
ofmeaning beyond grammar and word meaning to the relationship
between theparticipants and the background knowledge they bring
to a situation, which isanalysed in terms of conversation maxims
and politeness.Q What are conversation maxims?Paul Grice
formulated four maxims of cooperative talk:1- Quantity: say as
much as but no more than necessary2- Quality: do not say what you
believe to be false, or that for which you lackevidence3- Relation: be
relevant4- Manner: be clear, unambiguous, brief and orderlyQ What
are the politeness rules that Lakoff introduced?1- Dont impose: use
modals and hedges: I wonder if I might just open thewindow a
little.2- Give options: use interrogatives including tag questions: do
you mind if Iopen the window? It would be nice to have the window
open a little wouldnt it?3- Be friendly: use informal expressions
endearments: Be a honey and openthe window darling.
19. 19. Ethnography of speaking: or ethnography of communication, it is
anapproach developed by the sociolinguist Dell Hymes, for
analysing language,which has been designed to heighten awareness
of culture-bound assumptions.* The frame work that Hymes
developed for the analysis of communicativeevents involved the
following components:- Genre type of event: phone call,
conversation, business meeting, etc.- Topic of what people are
talking about: holidays, sports, politics, etc.- Purpose of function: the
reason (s) for the talk.- Setting: where the talk takes place.- Key of

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emotional tongue: serious, jocular, sarcastic, etc.- Participants:

characteristics of those present and their relationship.- Message
form: code and/or channel (telephone, letter, email, etc).- Message
content: specific details of what the communication is about.- Act
sequence: ordering of speech acts.- Rules for interaction: prescribed
orders of speaking.- Norms for interpretation: what is going on?
…………………………………………………………………………………………
……………… Interactional sociolinguistics: Interactional sociolinguists
typically makeuse of the detailed tools of conversation analysis, by
paying careful attention toturn-taking behavior, hesitations, pauses,
and paralinguistic behavior (sights,laughter, in-breaths, etc) to
interpret what the speaker intended.Q What is Contextualisation
cause?In an interactional sociolinguistics perspective, features by
which the speakerssignal and listeners interpret what the activity is,
how the semantic content is tobe understood and how each
sentence relates to what precedes or follows. Conversational
analysis: CA researchers approach communication as ajointly
organized activity like dancing, or cooperative musical. Discourse
isconversation (talk) which has its own structure (openings, closings,
overlaps,turn-taking, interruptions, etc.) Critical Discourse Analysis:
it is concerned with investigating howlanguage is used to construct
and maintain power relationships in society; theaim is to show up
connections between language and power, and betweenlanguage
and ideology.
20. 20. Chapter Fifteen: Attitudes and applications Attitudes to
language* Language attitudes (positive or negative) towards a
language or a variety havemuch impact on language and
educationQ Explain overt prestige & covert prestige from a
sociolinguisticperspective?The meaning of overt prestige is
reasonably self-evident; it is associated withthe standard variety in
a community the best way of speaking in a community.In contrast
the term covert prestige refers to positive attitudes
towardsvernacular or non-standard speech varieties.Q What are the
methods of collecting attitude data?1- Direct observation2- Direct
questions3- Indirect measuresQ Why do working-class children fail
in schools more than middle-classchildren from a sociolinguistic
perspective?1- The criteria for success are middle-class criteria,
including middle-classlanguage and ways of interaction2- Many of
the children, recognizing that schools are essentially middle-
classinstitutions, deliberately and understandably rebel against all
that theyrepresent.

Summary of An Introduction to Sociolinguistics

Definition of language and social

Language is arbitrary vocal symbol that has meaning. The word "language" has two
meanings: language as a general concept, and "a language" (a specific linguistic system, e.g.
"French"). language is essentially a set of items, such as entities of sounds, words,

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grammatical structures, and so on. It is these items, their status, and their arrangements that
language theorist such as Chomsky concerns themselves with. On the other hand . Languages
other than English often have two separate words for these distinct concepts. French for
example uses the word langage for language as a concept and langue as the specific instance
of language.
Society is any groups of people who are drown together for a certain purpose or
purposes. A language is what the members of particular society speak. Speech in almost any
society can take many very different forms, and just what forms should be chosen to discuss
when it is described the language of a society may prove to be a contentious matter.
When two or more people communicate with each other in speech, we can call the
system of communication that they employ the code. In most cases that code will be
something we may also want to call a language. We should also note that two speakers who
are bilingual, that is, who have access to two codes, and who for one reason or another shift
back and forth between the two language as they converse by code-switching are actually
using a third code, one which draws on those two languages. The system (or the grammar to
use a well noun technical term) is something that each speaker know, but two very important
is use for linguist are just what that knowledge is knowledge of and how it may best be
characterized.
Relationship between language and social
There are several possible relationships between language and society. One is that
social structure may influence or determine linguistic structure and/or behavior. Certain
evidence may be adduced to support this view: age-grading phenomena whereby young
children speak differently from old children and, in turn, children speak differently from
mature adults: studio which show that the varieties of language that speakers use reflect such
matter as their regional, social, or ethnic origin and possibly even their gender: and other
studies which show that particular of speaking, choice of words and even rules for conversing
are in fact highly determined by certain socio requirements.
Second possible relationship is directly opposed to the first: linguistic structure and/or
behavior may either influence or determine social structure. This is the view that is behind the
Whorfian hypothesis, the claims on Bernstein, and many of those who argue that languages
rather than speakers of these languages can be sexist.
A third possible relationship is that the influence is bi-directional: language and
society may influence each other. One variant of this approach is that this influence is
dialectical in nature, a Marxist view argue that speech behavior and social behavior are in a
state of constant interaction and that material living conditions are an important factor in the
relationship.
A fourth possibility is to assume that there is no relationship between language
structure and social structure and that each is independent of the other. There might be so
much relationship; present attempts to characterize it are essentially premature, given what
we know about both language and society. Chomsky prefers to develop an asocial linguistics
as a preliminary to any other kind of linguistic such as an asocial approach being, in his view
logically prior.
Sociolinguistics and the Sociology of Language
There is a distinction between Sociolinguistics and Sociology of Language.
Sociolinguistics is concerns with investigating the relationship between language and society
with the goal being a better understanding of the structure of language and of how languages
function in communication; the equivalent goal in the sociology of language is trying to
discover how social structure can be better understood through the study of language.
Methodological concerns

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The approach to sociolinguistics is that it should encamp everything from considering

‘who speaks (or write), what language (or what language variety) to whom and when and to
what end’ that is the social distribution of linguistics items, to considering how a particular
linguistics variable might relate to the formulation of speck grammatical rule in a particular
language or dialect, and even to the process through which language change.
Language and communities
Languages, Dialects, and Varieties
It is defined that a variety of language as ‘a set of linguistics items with similar
distribution’ a definition that all of the following are varieties: Canadian English, London
English, and so on. Hudson and Ferguson define variety in terms of a specific set of linguistic
items’ or human speech patterns’ (presumably, sounds, words, grammatical features, etc.
which we can associate with some external factor (presumably, a geographical area or a
social group).
Language and dialect are ambiguous terms. Terms are used quite freely in speech; a
dialect is almost certainly no more than a local non-prestigious (therefore powerless) variety
of a real language. One term should be used rather than the other in certain conditions.
Language can be used to refer either to a single linguistic norm or to a group related norms,
and dialect to refer to one of the norm. Dialect used both for local varieties of English. A
dialect is often thought of as standing outside the language. A dialect is a language that is
excluded from society. It is often equivalent to nonstandard of even sustain when such terms
are applied to language.
There are seven criteria that are useful in discussing different kind of languages. They
are standardization, vitality, historicity, autonomy, reduction, mixture, and de facto norms.
Standardization refers to the process by which a language has been codified in some way.
The process involves the development such things as grammars, spelling books, and
dictionaries, and possibly a literature.
Vitality refers to the existence of a living community of speakers. This criterion can
be used to distinguish languages that are alive from those that are dead.
Historicity refers to the fact that a particular group of people finds a sense of identify
through using a particular language: it belongs to them. Social, political, religious, or ethnic
ties may also be important for the group, but the bond is provided by a common language
may to be the strongest tie of all.
Autonomy is an interesting concept because it is really one of feeling. A language
must be felt by its speakers to be different from other language. It is very subjective criterion.
Reduction refers to the fact that a particular variety may be regarded as a sub-variety
rather that as an independent entity. Sometimes it is in the kinds of opportunities afforded to
users of the variety. There may be a reduction of resources that is the variety may lack a
writing system.
Mixture refers to feelings speakers have about the purity of the variety they speak. It
partly explains why speakers of pidgins and creoles have difficulty in classifying what they
speak as full languages: these varieties are, in certain respects, quite obviously mixed, and the
people who speak them often feel that the varieties are neither one thing nor another, but
rather are debased, deficient, degenerate, or marginal varieties of some other standard
language.
De facto norms refers to the feeling that many speakers have that there are both good
speakers and poor speakers and that the good speakers represent the norms of proper usage.
A dialect is a subordinate variety of language. If a language is spoken by view people,
or so uniformly, that it has only one variety. It is attempted to say that language and dialect
become synonymous in such a case.

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Regional Dialects
Regional dialects are such distinctive varieties. The term dialect is sometimes used
only if there is a strong tradition in writing in the local variety. The dialect-patois distinction
seems to make more sense in some situation. In medieval France, a number of languages
flourished and several were associated with strong literary tradition. Patois is usually used to
describe only rural forms of speech; we may talk about an urban dialect, but to talk about an
urban patois seems strange. Patois also seems to refer only to the speech of the lower strata in
society; again it talks about a middle-class dialect but not, apparently about middle-class
patois. A dialect usually has a wider geographical distribution than a patois.
Such situation is often referred to as a dialect continuum. There is a continuum of
dialects sequentially arranged over space: A, B, C, D, and so on. Over large distances the
dialects at each and of the continuum may well be mutually unintelligible, and also some of
the intermediate dialects may be unintelligible with one or both ends, or even with certain
other intermediate ones.
Dialect geography is the term used to describe attempts made to map the distributions
of various linguistic features so as the show their geographical provenance. Sometimes maps
are drown to show actual boundaries around such features, boundaries are called isoglosses,
so as a to distinguish an area in which a certain feature is found from areas in which it is
absent. When several isoglosses coincide, the result is sometimes called a dialect boundary.
Speakers on one side of the boundary speak one dialect and the speakers on other side speak
a different dialect.
The term dialect is used to reference to regional variation, should not to confused with
the term accent, often with clear regional and social associations: there are accents associated
with North America, Singapore, India, Liverpool, Boston and so on. Many people who live
in such places show a remarkable uniformity to one another in their grammar and vocabulary
because they speak Standard English and the differences are merely those of accents.
Social Dialects
Whereas regional dialects are geographically based, social dialects originate among
social groups and related to a variety of factors, the principles ones apparently being social
class, religion, and ethnicity. For example, in a city like Baghdad, the Christian, Jewish, and
Muslim inhabitants speak different varieties of Arabic.
Studies in social dialectology, the term used to refer to this branch of linguistic study,
confront many difficult issues, particularly when investigators venture into cities. Cities are
much more difficult to characterize linguistically than rural hamlets; variation in language
and patterns of change are much more obvious in cities, e.g., in family structures,
employment, and opportunities for social advancement or decline.
Styles, Registers, and Beliefs
Study of dialect is further complicated by the fact that speakers can adopt different
styles of speaking. We can speak very formally or very informally, our choice being
governed by circumstances. Ceremonial occasions almost invariably require very formal
speech, public lecture somewhat less formal, casual conversation quite informal, and
conversation between intimates on matters of little importance may be extremely informal
and casual.
Register is another complicating factor in any study of language varieties. Registers
are set of language items associated with discrete occupational or social group. Surgeons,
airline pilots, bank managers, sales clerks, jazz fans, and pimps employ different registers.
Many people hold strong beliefs on various issues having to do with language and are
quite willing to offer their judgment on issues. They believe such things as certain language
lack grammar, that we can speak English without an accent, that France is more logical that

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English, that parents teach their children to speak, that primitive language exist, that English
is degenerating and language standards are slipping, that pronunciation should be based on
spelling, and so on. Language beliefs are well entrenched as are language attitudes and
language behavior.
Pidgin and Creoles
A simplified language derived from two or more languages is called a pidgin. It is a
contact language developed and used by people who do not share a common language in a
given geographical area. It is used in a limited way and the structure is very simplistic. Since
they serve a single simplistic purpose, they usually die out. However, if the pidgin is used
long enough, it begins to evolve into a more rich language with a more complex structure and
richer vocabulary. Once the pidgin has evolved and has acquired native speakers ( the
children learn the pidgin as their first language), it is then called a Creole. An example of this
is the Creole above from Papua New Guinea, Tok Pisin, which has become a National
language.
In the nineteenth century, when slaves from Africa were brought over to North
America to work on the plantations, they were separated from the people of their community
and mixed with people of various other communities, therefore they were unable to
communicate with each other. The strategy behind this was so they couldn't come up with a
plot to escape back to their land. Therefore, in order to finally communicate with their peers
on the plantations, and with their bosses, they needed to form a language in which they could
communicate. Pidgins also arose because of colonization. Prominent languages such as
French, Spanish, Portuguese, English, and Dutch were the languages of the coloni zers. They
traveled, and set up ports in coastal towns where shipping and trading routes were accessible.
There is always a dominant language which contributes most of the vocabulary of the
pidgin; this is called the superstrate language. The other minority languages that contribute to
the pidgin are called the substrate languages.
In the United States, there is a very well known Creole, Louisiana Creole, which is
derived from French and African Languages. You most likely have heard of "Cajun" which is
a developed dialect of this Creole.
Lingua Franca
A lingua franca is a language which is used habitually by people whose mother
tongues are different in order to facilitate communication between them. A variety of other
terms can be found which describe much the same phenomenon. They are a trade language, a
contact language, an international language, an auxiliary language, and mixed language.
Codes
Code is a set of symbols for representing something. The term code is somewhat
colloquial. It is possible to refer to a language or a variety of language as a code. Dialects,
language, style, standard language, pidgin and Creole are terms that are inclined to arouse
emotions. The neutral term code can be used to refer to any kind of system that two or more
people employ communication. The factors govern the choice of particular code on a
particular occasion.
When we open our mouth, we must choose a particular language, dialect, style,
register, or variety that is, a particular code. Many of issues that there will also arise with
those codes which can be called sub-varieties of a single language e.g., dialects, styles, and
registers. In particular, we will examine the so-called diglossic situation in which clear
functional differences between the codes govern the choice. Diglossia is relatively stable
language situation in which, in addition to the primary dialects of the language (which may
include a standard or regional standards).

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There are two kinds of code-switching: situational and metaphorical. Situational code-
switching occurs when the language used change according to the situations in which another
in a different one. No topic change in involve. When a change of topic requires a change in
the language used we have metaphorical code-switching.
This kind of code-switching differs from glossia. In glossic communities the situation
also controls the choice of variety but the choice is much more rigidly defined by the
particular activity that is involved and by the relationship between the participants. Diglossia
reinforces differences, whereas code-switching tends to reduce them. In diglossia too people
are quite aware that they have switched from H to L or L to H. code-switching, on the other
hand, is often quite sub-conscious: people may not be aware that they have switched or be
able to report, following a conversation, which code they used a particular topic.
Speech community
Speech community is any human aggregate characterized by regular and frequent
interaction by means of a shared body of verbal signs and set off from similar aggregates by
significant differences in language usage. A more restrictive concept, assuming a shared set
of grammatical rules; emphasizes linguistic contrast w/outsiders. Gumperz also argues for
regular relationships between language use and social structure. The speech varieties
employed within a speech community form a system because they are related to a shared set
of social norms but may overlap language boundaries. A speech community is made up of
individuals who regard themselves as speaking the same language; it need have no other
defining attributes.
Change
Traditional view of language changes, the changes that can be demonstrated to have
structural consequences. Over a period of time a distinction between two sounds may be lost
in a language, as occurred historically in most varieties of English in the vowels of meet and
meat or horse and hoarse. Phonemic coalescence is situations in which a contrast existed at
one time but later was lost, and instances of phonemic split, situation in which there was no
contrast at one time but the contrast developed.
Internal histories of language show the structure changes that have occurred over
periods of time through use of this principle of contrast versus lack of contrast. External in
nature is change brought about through borrowing from other dialects or languages that are
often quite clearly distinguishable, for a while at least, from change that come about
internally.

The Whorfian Hypothesis

Since language and culture are debatable in the way one influence another,
consequently linguistic scientists stood for investigating a different argument about this.
Some believed that the structure of language determines the way the speakers think, act or
behave in daily living, while some refused that argument. They figured out that culture
definitely influence the language varieties. And the rest of them prefer to point out that
language and culture stand independently without any relationship each other. These
hypothesis concerning those two terms (language and culture) broaden its study till today.
Benjamin Lee Whorf, the student of Edward Sapir, found out the objective that is
famously known as "The Whorfian Hypothesis". He mentioned that ideas are not
independently formulated but the background of grammatical system generally modifies it.
That is why different people view the world differently as they differentiate language
structurally.

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Whorf found his hypothesis through his two experiences, either as a fire prevention
engineer for The Hartford Fire Insurance Company or Linguistic work on American Indian
Language where he was a student of Sapir. He observed the specific vocabularies used by fire
workers that were understandable among them. It is the same as the chemicals or physicians
who easily talk about medical matters while we do not. It means the linguistic behaviors even
purely behaviors itself are much determined by the linguistic formulas in which the situation
is spoken. Whorf's experience as the linguistic observer led him to the investigation through
the structure of Hopi language of New Mexico which is in contrast with European language;
such as English, German, French, etc. in European language, the time order is presented in
different structure while Hopi provided a process orientation toward the world. These
distinctions formally influence the speakers in the way they form their world-view.
Kinship System
The study about kinship seem interesting since it is complicatedly various. Almost
every language differ in renaming and redefining the label of family members, for instance;
The Njamal (a tribe of Australian Aborigines) calls his or her father's brother's daughter as
'Turda' whereas 'cousin' in English. They used the word 'maraga' to mention any daughters
who are younger than.
Again, the world of language develops dynamically, the result is the kinship system also may
more vary and vary depends on an appropriate situation that occur.
Taxonomies
Since people differ in the way they occupy themselves, as the result, there will be a
great number of different classification and categorization of any aspects of the world.
Scientists take a place on their appropriate scientific matter, while librarians and story-teller,
for example, do too. They unconsciously manipulate language into various forms depend on
its own place.
Then, linguists offer the discipline called 'Folk Taxonomies' which refers to the way of
classifying a certain part of reality in order to make some easiness in the world of
communication.
Folk Taxonomies may also means specifying such word choices in such matters.
Frake (1961) once held a studies concerning this term on The Subanun of Mindanano in The
Southern Philippines. They used particular term to describe disease. The study about Folk
Taxonomies effectively helps us to investigate how people organize the world around them.
Color Terminology
Language and culture exploration, then, come to the study of color terminology. This
is basically simple; however, it is able to colorize the area of language varieties, because a
particular language has a particular word to express color. Each language generally has the
basic color terms, for instance English has only a single word to mention basic color; blue,
yellow, red, and so on. However, the need of people to express more than only basic color,
consequently led them to create a certain word such as 'the light blue, pale yellow, grayish
brown, etc.
Prototype Theory
This theory refers to the way people codify such things and situation around them.
People prefer to classify a particular thing arbitrarily. For example; apple, orange are
included to kind of fruit while tomato is not.
Hudson (1980) pointed out that Prototype Theory is an easy way for people to express
language verbally from such things and situation that are occurred. This theory is not only
helps us to form an ideas but also to draw social competence in the use of language.
Taboo and Euphemism

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Taboo stands for a certain expression which is considerably avoided because, usually,
norm wants it to be avoided for some particular reasons. Society defines taboo particularly as
kind of behaviors that are harmful to its members. Taboo has wide areas, such as sex, death,
excretion, bodily function, religious matter, etc. Language taboo in particular community
may be not meant so in another community. That is why people should be careful in giving
judgment on certain language varieties. It means a language used by particular society may
be not the superior one among others. In other hand, Euphemistic expression, people are
allowed to express certain tabooed, of course, in particular ways. However, taboo and
euphemism arbitrarily based on a society’s agreement. All those things refer to language
varieties.
Ethnographies
Ethnography is a scientific research strategy often used in the field of social 
sciences, particularly in anthropology and in some branches of sociology, and also 
known as part of historical science that studies people, ethnic groups and other 
ethnic formations, their ethno genesis, composition, resettlement, social welfare 
characteristics, as well as their material and spiritual culture. It is often employed for 
gathering empirical data on human societies and cultures. Data collection is often 
done through participant observation, interviews, questionnaires, etc. Ethnography 
aims to describe the nature of those who are studied (i.e. to describe a people, 
an ethnos) through writing. In the biological sciences, this type of study might be 
called a "field study" or a "case report," both of which are used as common 
synonyms for "ethnography".
Solidarity and politeness
Solidarity and politeness mean adjusting words to fit occasion. There are some
strategies developed in order to save the hearers’ “face,” which refers to (1) the respect that
an individual has for him or herself and (2) the act of maintaining “self-esteem” in public or
in private situations. What to do with respect to solidarity and politeness is avoiding Face
Threatening Acts (FTA’s), acts that infringe on the hearers’ need to maintain his/her self
esteem, and be respected.
There are four types of politeness strategies: Bald on Record, Negative Politeness, Positive
Politeness, and Off-Record-indirect strategy.
 Bald On-Record strategy (provides no effort to minimize threats to your teachers’
“face.”)
 Positive Politeness strategy (you recognize that your teacher has a desire to be
respected, and confirm that the relationship is friendly and expresses group reciprocity)
 Negative Politeness strategy (you recognize that your teacher wants to be respected
however, you also assume that you are in some way imposing on them)
 Off-Record indirect strategies (The main purpose is to take some of the pressure off of
you but you are trying not to directly impose by asking for a pen)
With respect to gender women typically use more polite speech than do men
(honorific: showing respect, and softening devices such as hedges and questions). They
historically are expected to “act like a lady” and “respect those around you.” Men, on the
other hand, are permitted, even encouraged, to talk rough, cultivate a deep “masculine” voice.
However, avoiding FTA is good for your social interaction with language.
Talk and Action
Speech Act
Utterances can make proposition. There are clausal type and complexity of utterance;
they are active-passive, statement-question-request-exclamatory, and various combinations of

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these. Constative utterances are the utterances that are connected in some way with event or
happenings in a possible world which propositions can be said to be either true or false.
Speech act is an act that the speaker performs making an utterance. There are some
acts conditions in speech; (1) Locutionary act is the statement having grammatical structure
and linguistic meaning, (2) Illocutionary act is the speaker intension of the utterance, (3)
Perlocutionary act is the effects of the utterance on the hearer, (4) Felicity conditions are
necessary conditions to make successful of speech acts, (5) Prepositional contain is the
utterance produced if the composer commits himself to be a future act, (6) Preparatory
condition is the utterance produced if speaker believes that the listener will not perform the
act without being asked, (7) Sincerity condition is the utterance produced if the speaker
wants the listener to do what the speaker has been asked, and (8) Essential condition is the
utterance produced if the speaker show to listener that he really wants to persuade and does
what he wants to listener.
Understanding and Intervening
Gender
Sex is to a very large extent biologically determined whereas gender is a social
construct involving the whole gamut of genetic, psychological, social and cultural differences
between male and female. Gender is not a pool of attributes possessed by a person, but
something a person does. It means to be a woman or to be a man changes from one
generation to the next and varies between different racialized, ethnic, and religious group, as
well as for members of different social classes.
There are differences between woman and man is hardly a matter of dispute. Females
have two X chromosomes whereas men have an X and a Y; this is a key genetic difference
and no geneticist regards that difference as unimportant. On average, females have more fat
and less muscle than males, are not as strong, and weigh less. They also mature rapidly and
live longer. The female voice usually has different characteristic from the male voice, and
often female and male exhibit different range of verbal skills.
Women conform more closely than men to sociolinguistic norms that are overtly
prescribed, but conform less than men when they are not to read than men are less
conforming than women with stable linguistic variables and more conforming when change is
in progress within a linguistic system.
Conclusion
Languages are just as complex as societies, and it is difficult to make generalization
about those. Language should be so complex is not surprisingly. Language and society are
related. Social and linguistic complexities are not unrelated. All cultures and all languages are
extremely complex. If both the structure and language of any group of people defy adequate
description, the relationships that certain exist between the two are not likely to be more
transparent even to well inform observers.
Complication is added by the fact that various kinds of complexity in language give a
considerable concern. It is the amount of variation that is apparent wherever we look.
Language varies show that people are aware of this fact, even though they may not be
conscious of precisely what they are doing and how they are reacting to the variant that others
use. Variation seems to be an inherent property of language. If it is, it creates a number of
theoretical problems of linguists.
Linguists working in the Chomskyan tradition have generally tried not to involve
themselves with variation, preferring to adopt a view of language which sees it is
homogeneous and describing a linguistic competence which they assume all speakers posses.
However if an important part of the linguistic competence of language users is their ability to
handle variation and the various uses of language in society, the competence that needs to be

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explained is one that encompasses a much wider range of abilities. It is communicative

competence, of which linguistic competence is but a part. While sociolinguistics have talked
at length, however about communicative competence, attempt to specify just what is have not
been very successful, probably because it is so complex and all-encompassing. Furthermore,
attempts to use the concept to rely more on rhetoric than on substance.
If there is such a thing as communicative competence, and there must surely be in
some sense, a further problem arises in trying to explain how it develops in individuals. Just
how does an individual learn to use the variants of a linguistic variable, to code switch, to use
sexist language, and so on? Moreover , how does that the individual learn to use this in the
same way as certain other individual forces that bring out such learning, what intellectual
abilities are called for, and what survival value follows from the results? These are all very
important linguistic and social problem, answer to which will bring us important
understanding about human linguistic and social organization.
One of the facts that our various inquiries have certainly shown is that the data we can
use the explorations of the relationship between language and society seem boundless.
Moreover, there is no shortage of concepts and categories available to use to make sense of
those data. We have seen various attempts at such organization. We can begin with concepts
like language and dialect in an attempt to discover how useful these are. In just about every
case, such an approach has revealed shortcoming. While such concepts allow us to organize
large amount of data, they fail us too often to become the building blocks of a comprehensive
theory. For example, we cannot adequately define ether language or dialect, nor we can
infallibly distinguish the one form the other.
Quantification is a useful approach in showing what kinds of behavior you may
expect to find among group of people and trends in that behavior across various dimensions
such as time, space, gender, age and social class. But any resulting claims are claims about
behavior we can expect of groups, or of subgroups. In that respect they are statements about
an idealized typical member, whoever he or she might be. In actual fact, individuals are never
typical, and certainly their behavior is never ideal by almost any criterion. What is interesting
is the particular fit between individuals and such idealizations, and especially the
fundamental sociological puzzle of whether people model their behaviors in certain ideals
they perceive to exist or whether any ideals that people claim to exist are just idealizations
arrived at through emphasizing similarities we believe to exist in people`s behavior and
down-playing differences. The approach through quantification is therefore not without a
whole array of problems, ranging from very simple issues such as collecting data, to profound
ones having to do with the nature of social reality.
An approach through language function may also be indicated by the fact that
language is used for so many purposes. As we have seen, there are many ways of trying to
deal with language function. We can try an ethnographic approach, we can analyze
conversations, and we can attempt to distinguish what people do with language as opposed to
what they use language to say, as in speech-acts approach, and so on. Much understanding of
language use has been achieved by investigations conducted with such aims. Above all,
though, they show how subtle and varied are the differences that exist, yet hoe easily and
confidently speakers and listeners handle these subtleties.
One thing that our examination of various issues has revealed though is how
important such concepts as “class, power, solidarity, politeness, and gender” are in trying to
make sense of the data we find. Unfortunately, we have no grand theory to unite these.
Figueroa concludes her study of sociolinguistics theory in general and specifically the ideas
of Labov, Hymes, and Gumperz by saying “there is no unified theory of sociolinguistics, or

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even for that matter, a shared meta theory. There is a shared sociolinguistics subject matter
-”utterance”- but this not necessarily delimit sociolinguistics from other types of linguistics.”
Some sociolinguistics insists on a narrow view. We may agree with Chambers that:
We have come to understand how variable function in vernacular and standard dialects. It
may be possible now to go beyond that and ask why. Why do certain variables recur in
dialects all around the world? Why is it these particular variables, not others, that persist?
Why are they constrained in almost exactly the same way in different, widely separated
communities? Why are they embedded so similarly in the social strata?
However, his next sentence, “this vast, virtually unexplored area lies at the very root of our
discipline,” might give us pause. Are there no other roots? Is that sociolinguistics should be
about?
The study of language in society is best served by resisting premature urges to declare
that it must proceed along certain lines and may not proceed along others. Repeatedly, we
have seen that multi-functional nature of any issue we have looked at. Even when we took a
uni-dimensional approach, we did so knowing full well what we were doing and in the
knowledge that another or other approaches might cast a different light on the issue.
Although people have long been interested in the relationships between language and society,
it is only fairly recently that scientific approaches have been adopted. It seems wiser to
encourage a variety of scientific approach and the generalization of a range of theories that to
put our entire trust and hope into a single way of doing sociolinguistics.

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