LANGUAGE AND SOCIAL

VARIATION
 What is sociolinguistics?

The study of language in relation to social factors,

including differences of regional, class, and
occupational dialect, gender differences, and
bilingualism.
Source:
https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/soci
olinguistics
Sociolinguistics is the study of how language serves and is
shaped by the social nature of human beings. In its
broadest conception, sociolinguistics analyzes the many
and diverse ways in which language and society entwine

Source:
http://www.pbs.org/speak/speech/sociolinguistics/sociol
inguistics/
Why are the connections with
other disciplines such as
anthropology, sociology and
social psychology important?
 Idiolect vs. social dialect or sociolect

Individuals speak in characteristic ways that may

be peculiar to them in certain circumstances.

People often use language in ways they share with

many other people. These patterns are sociolects.
 Variation and Social
Variables
Variation = key notion in sociolinguistics
applied to language itself and to its use
Social Class
Gender
Age
Pronunciation
Words and structures regularly used
Education and Occupation
 Social marker

A feature that occurs frequently

(or not) in a person speech and
marks him/her as a member of
a social group
 Pronunciation features as Social
Markers

Pronunciation of -ing with [n] Elision of

postvocalic /r/ instead of [ŋ] the /h/
Speech Style & Style
Shifting

They involve adapting

register
According to Yule...

 The amount of attention and carefulness is what

distinguishes careful and casual styles.

 Changing from one style to another is known as

style-shifting.
Prestige

Degree of esteem and social value attached by members of a speech

community to certain languages, dialects, or features of a language
variety.
To explain the direction in which speech changes we
use the definitions...

Overt prestige Covert prestige

When the speech turns The speech doesn’t
similar to the one used by change and remains the
those perceived to have a same.
higher social status.

(2010, Yule).
Speech Accommodation

“Our ability to modify our speech style toward or away from the
perceived style of the person(s) we’re talking to.”
Styles of speech accommodation

Convergence Divergence
The speaker changes the The speaker changes the
speech style in attempt to speech style in order to
reduce the social emphasize social
distance. distance.
(teen vs. grown up) (student vs. teacher)

(2010, Yule).
Register & Jargon

Textual variations
Definitions
Register
The way a speaker uses
language differently in
different circumstances.
It can be situational,
occupational, and/or topical.
Jargon
A defining feature of register.
It is specialized vocabulary
used by those inside
established social groups.
 Slang

It is a type of colloquial speech that refers to words and phrases that are
used instead of more everyday terms, mainly among young people.
 Slang through the years

Groovy Fashion Dope

Hunk Hottie
Pits Bummer

Age is an important aspect in social

variation.
*Remember bad words or taboo terms.
African American English

Also known as Black English

According to Yule...

 It is a variety used by many AA in different

regions of the USA.
 It has a number of features that together make a
distinct set of social markers.
 Segregation and discrimination serve to create
marked differences between social dialects.
Vernacular Language

This is the AAE that has been more

studied. The term vernacular has been
used since the Middle Age to
characterize any non-standard form of
a language used by lower status
groups. (2010, Yule)
The Sounds of a
Vernacular

Some phonological features are:

Tendency to reduce final consonant
clusters, (affecting tenses), dental
consonants produced as alveolar
stops, possessive -s, third person -s,
and plurals are not used.
The Grammar of a
Vernacular

Stigmatized as “illogical” and

“sloppy”.
Double negative construction and
absence of forms of the verb “to be”,
use of “be” to all the persons.
LANGUAGE AND
REGIONAL
VARIATION
 Standard language

An idealized variation
associated with administrative,
commercial and educational
centers, regardless of region
 Standard English

Version found in newspapers and books

Widely used in the mass media
Taught in most schools
Variety taught as a second or foreign
language.
Standard American English

Standard British English

Standard Australian English

Standard Canadian English

Standard Indian English

 ACCENT

a way of pronouncing words that shows which country

or area you are form

He speaks English with a faint French accent.

I find it difficult to understand Sarah. She speaks with a

broad Scottish accent.
It is a myth people do
not have accents!
 DIALECT

a form of language that is spoken in a certain area

Even though my English is pretty good, I can’t

understand the Yorkshire dialect.

There are many different dialects in China.

Dialectology = study of dialects

It is important to find and use acceptable

informants or typical representatives
Isogloss represents a boundary between areas with
regard to the use of one particular linguistic item

Dialect boundary represents a boundary between

areas with regard to a number of isoglosses
 The dialect continuum

Regional variation exists as a dialect

continuum

Bidialectal people who speak two

dialects
Bilingualism

Canada
English - French

Diglossia
Arabic speaking countries
Classical Arabic - Lebanese Arabic
 Language planning

Government, legal and educational organizations

have to plan which variety /varieties of the
languages spoken in the country are to be used
for official business
Stages of Language planning

Selection
Codification
Elaboration
Implementation
Acceptance
 Pidgins and Creoles

A pidgin is a variety of a language that developed

for some practical purpose, such as trading, among
groups of people who have a lot of contact, but did
not know each other's languages
 Creole

A pidgin that becomes the first

language of a social community

French Creole in Haiti

English Creole in Jamaica
 Creolization
Development from a pidgin to a Creole

Decreolization
Retreat from a Creole to a pidgin

Between these two extremes there is a range

of varieties = Post-Creole Continuum