LG250A: Intro to Ling II [Week 11] 1

Sociolinguistics
(Dialects)

1/2

FRH Textbook Chapter 7

Language in Society
LG250A: Intro to Ling II [Week 11] 2

Outline

• Introduction

• Dialects

• Linguistic Features that Differentiate Dialects

• Some Representative Studies

• (Wrong) Myths about Dialects

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Questions to be Answered
Week 11 ~ Week 12

• By linguistic definition, what is a dialect?

• Before coming to the class, what do you think a dialect is?

• Are Southern Min and Hakka dialects?

• How may dialects differ?

• Is there really something called the standard language?

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Introduction

• Sociolinguistics (社會語言學) is a sub-discipline of linguistics

that focuses on the aspects of linguistics applied toward the
connections between language and society, and the way we
use it in different social situations.

• Studies in the field of sociolinguistics typically take a sample

population and interview them, assessing the realization of
certain sociolinguistic variables such as
• geography, age, gender, socio-economic status, ethnical,
attitude and etc.
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Dialects

• As such, studying how people may say differently in a society

is actually studying what we call dialects (方言).

• A dialect is a variety of a language whose grammar differs in

systematic ways from other varieties.

• A dialect is often related to the idea of standard language,

but the notion of standard language is just an idealization:
no one actually speaks the standard.

• Dialects may differ more or less from an idealized standard,

if one or one that is closer to it exists.
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Dialects

• Dialects can also be socially evaluated: some are often

referred to as the prestigious varieties and some are not.

• However, dialects are not intrinsically better or worse, in

terms of linguistics:
• No communicatively or cognitively corrupt dialects!
• People can also communicate with dialects!
• So they shouldn’t be considered to be a failure to
achieve the standard.
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Dialects

• A “dialect” is really a system. It’s not any different from the

so-called “language”.

• In other words, different dialects differ in some ways and

different languages also differ in some ways.

• What’s the difference between a “dialect” and a “language”?

• The answers:
• Degree of difference (dialects are mutually intelligible)
• Politics (a language is a dialect with an army and a navy)
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Dialects: Language vs. Dialect

• Linguistic definition

• Two speech varieties that are mutually intelligible are

different dialects of the same language.

• If they are NOT mutually intelligible, they are different

languages.

• Mutual intelligibility: speakers of one can understand the

other, and vice-versa.
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Dialects: Language vs. Dialect

• Political definition

• “A language is a dialect with an army and a navy.”

(Max Weinreich 1943)

• Another political definition: Ethnic group shares common

language (e.g., Mandarin Chinese and Arabic).
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Dialects: Language vs. Dialect

• Swedish is mutually intelligible with Norwegian (to a

considerable extent) and with Danish (to a lesser extent).
However, they are considered to be different languages.
• Each of them is an official ‘language’ of a country.

• Southern Min, Hakka, and Shanghainese are NOT mutually

intelligible but they are assumed to be Chinese dialects!

• In other words, the popular definition does NOT seem to be

a linguistic one, but a political one!
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Dialects: Regional Dialects

• Dialects may emerge due to geographical reasons.

• When various linguistic differences accumulate in a

particular geographic region, the language spoken has its
own character.

• Each version is referred to as a regional dialect.

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Dialects: Regional Dialects

• Some examples of regional dialects of American English:

• Boston dialect.
• New York/New Jersey dialect.
• Southern dialect.
• Southeastern Canadian dialect.
• …

• Some examples of regional dialects of Mandarin:

• Beijing Mandarin
• Taiwan Mandarin
• Sichuan Mandarin
• ….
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Dialects: Regional Dialects

• Taiwan Mandarin?
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Dialects: Regional Dialects

• Hakka Mandarin?
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Dialects: Regional Dialects

• What kind of Mandarin? There was a story…

• The truth: it’s based on a system called Chinese Postal

Romanization (郵政式拼音).
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Dialects: Regional Dialects

• Note that when we talk about, for example, Boston dialect,

it’s not just one Boston dialect, there can be many Boston
dialects!

• It’s difficult to pinpoint one single and specific Boston dialect!

• Ultimately, everyone has their own ways of speaking, i.e.,

idiolect (個人語型).

• In addition, as we will see, factors other than geography can

also determine dialectal differences.
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Dialects: Non-Geographical Dialects

• Factors other than geography can also determine dialectal

difference. These are also called sociolinguistic variables.
• Gender: men and women speak differently!
• Age differences: speech differences across different
generations.
• Socio-economic class differences: wealthy and working
class may have different speech patterns.
• Ethnical differences: different ethnic groups may speak
different dialects.
• Attitudes: people who live in same spot with same
age/class/ethnicity but different attitudes.
LG250A: Intro to Ling II [Week 11] 18

Dialects: Non-Geographical Dialects

• How differences come about?

• There are always some aspects of speech that are
variable, e.g., sound deletion in certain varieties but not
in others.
• Speakers can make use of differences to convey social
meanings or identifies. However, this is usually
unconscious.
• So, most people are multi-dialectal to some extent.
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Dialects: Non-Geographical Dialects

• Why these differences?

• To emphasize solidarity with group: People may modify

their speech to become like those they identify with.

• To emphasize difference from other groups: People may

also modify their speech to set themselves apart.
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Dialects: Non-Geographical Dialects

• E.g., Boston Brahmins:

• Rich, old families of Boston.
• Anglophiles.
• Location of scene: Boston Athenaeum
• Special dialect: Common Boston features ([r]-dropping)
but exaggerated toward British standard (broad [a] in
answer, dance, etc.)
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Dialects: Non-Geographical Dialects

• E.g., People in the North End:

• Historically working-class Italian neighborhood in Boston.
• Some people exaggerate dialect characteristics.
• But some feel embarrassed to their family, so they may
try to remove the dialect characteristics.
• But what is their attitude toward their speech? Why do
they talk this way?
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Dialects: Non-Geographical Dialects

• Attitude Matters:
• How you speak is strongly affected by your attitude.
• Strong identification with group: keep their speech
patterns, even exaggerate them.
• Desire to separate from group: attempt to eliminate
their speech patterns.

• Attitudes are basis of all of these. Your speech identifies you

to others, and you consciously or unconsciously change your
speech to alter that.
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Linguistic Features that Differentiate Dialects

• How may dialects differ?

• Phonological differences (most easily noticed)
• Morphological
• Syntactic
• Lexical

• Note that the differences are really systematic, so a dialect is

really a system and is not different from what we know as a
language!
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Linguistic Features that Differentiate Dialects

• Some examples of phonological differences:

• [r]-dropping.
• [æ]-tensing.
• monophthongization (diphthong → monophthong)

• Features stereotypically associated with a regional dialect

will often be exaggerated in some social groups.
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Linguistic Features that Differentiate Dialects

• Some examples of morphological differences:

• Southeastern Ohio white working class:

• I says, “No!”

• African American (Vernacular) English (AAE/AAVE):

• She say_, “No!”
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Linguistic Features that Differentiate Dialects

• Some examples of syntactical differences:

• He and I are friends vs. Him and me are friends.
• Between you and I vs. Between you and me
• She ain’t nothing special.
• whom/who/preposition
• Of whom are we speaking?
• Whom are we speaking of?
• Who are we speaking of?
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Linguistic Features that Differentiate Dialects

• Some examples of lexical differences:

• I am fixin’ to... (going to)
• I reckon ... (recognize)
• y’all, youse, yuns, all of you all
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Linguistic Features that Differentiate Dialects

• Some useful terminology:

• Slang: fad vocabulary that is popular for a short period of

time (“swell,” “bad,” “groovy” = good).

• Jargon: specialized vocabulary and speech features

associated with a profession (medical jargon, sailor jargon).

• Argot/Cant: specialized vocabulary of a secretive group

(gangs, Addis Ababa prostitutes, and etc).
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Some Representative Studies

Labov (1966)

• William Labov (1966): The Social Stratification of English in

New York City

• An experimental study of [r]-dropping by employees in three

NYC department stores.

• Result: employees adapt their pronunciation to store’s

perceived prestige (higher prestige = less [r]-dropping).
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Some Representative Studies

Labov (1966): Three NYC Department Stores

• Saks: Very classy. Richer customers.

• Macy’s: Ordinary. Upper-middle class customers.

• S. Klein: Discount store. Working class customers (it has been

long out of business)!
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Some Representative Studies

Labov (1966): Price in 1962

• Saks: usually doesn’t list prices (if you have to ask, you can’t
afford it).

• Women’s coats:
• Saks: $90
• Macy’s: $79.95
• S. Klein: $23

• Dresses:
• Saks: No list price
• Macy’s: $14.95
• S. Klein: $5.00
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Some Representative Studies

Labov (1966): Wages

• Saks: no union, lower wages but hard-to-get job.

• Macy’s: union, higher wages (higher socio-economic class).

• S. Klein: no union, lowest wages.

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Some Representative Studies

Labov (1966): Experiment/Methodology

• Experimenter goes up to clerk and says:

“Where’s women’s shoes?”

• Clerk answers casually, “Fourth floor.”

• Experimenter says, “Excuse me?”

• Clerk answers emphatically, “Fourth floor.”

• Make a note of whether [r] is pronounced each time.

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Some Representative Studies

Labov (1966): Results

• Saks
• 62% of clerks used [r] at least once.
• 30% used [r] both times.

• Macy’s
• 51% of clerks used [r] at least once.
• 20% used [r] both times.

• S. Klein
• 21% of clerks used [r] at least once.
• 4% used [r] both times.

Note: higher prestige = less [r]-dropping = more [r]

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Some Representative Studies

Labov (1966): Results
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Some Representative Studies

Labov (1966): Discussion

• This is called social stratification of dialects: dialects differ

based on socio-economic class.

• But the difference is a matter of the employees’ attitude

(e.g., “I work at a classy store”) and not their own socio-
economic class.

• Employees at Saks (who don’t have a union) actually got

lower wages than employees at Macy’s (who have a union).
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Reading Assignment

• Finish FRH, Chapter 7!