Chapter 7 Language and Social Culture

Chapter7SociolinguisticsWhatissociolinguistics?Sociolinguisticsstudieswhypeoplespeakdifferentlyaccordingto:-Whomtheyaretalkingto?-Whattheyaretalkingabout?-Inwhatkindofcontexttheyaretalking?Morespecifically…1.Socialmotivationforlanguagevariation:-socio-economicstatus-gender-ethnicity-regionetc.2.Languagecontact-Pidginlanguage-CreolelanguageBasicconceptsyoushouldknow:Dialectvs.language:Mutualintelligibility:Situationinwhichspeakersofdifferentlanguagevarietiesareabletounderstandandcommunicatewiththeother.-Chinesedialect,aspecialcaseDialectcontinuum:Situationinwhichalargenumberofcontiguousdialectsexist,eachmutuallyintelligiblewiththenext,butwiththedialectsateitherendofthecontinuumnotbeingmutuallyintelligible.Variety•DavidCrystal(1992:76)definesvarietyas“asystemoflinguisticexpressionwhoseuseisgovernedbysituationalvariables,suchasregional,occupationalorsocialclass”.•Ageographicallydefinedvarietyisknownasadialect,avarietywithasocialbasisasasociolect,afunctionalvarietyasjargon,asituativevarietyasaregister.Pidginvs.CreolelanguagePidginlanguage:Languagedevelopedbyspeakersofdistinctlanguagewhocomeintocontactwithoneanotherandsharenocommonlanguageamongthem.-originatestoovercomecommunicationbarriers-typicallyspringupintradingcenters-madeofmixturesofelementsfromallofthelanguagesincontact-mostofthevocabularyderivedfromsociallyoreconomicallydominantlanguageCreolelanguageCreolelanguage:alanguagethatdevelopsfromcontactbetweenspeakersofdifferentlanguagesandservesastheprimarymeansofcommunicationforaparticulargroupofspeakers-typicalinplantationsetting-someofthemarestabilizedpidgin-differentfrompidgin,CreolelanguageservesasthefirstlanguageforspeakersLinguafranca•Alinguafrancaisalanguagesystematicallyusedtomakecommunicationpossiblebetweenpeoplenotsharingamothertongue,inparticularwhenitisathirdlanguage,distinctfrombothmothertongues.e.gEnglishEsperanto?LanguageorDialect:WhichDoYouSpeak?•Thetermdialectreferstothelanguagevarietycharacteristicofaparticularregionalorsocialgroup.Partlythroughhisorherdialectwerecognizeaperson’sregional,ethnic,social,andgenderaffiliation.Thusthetermdialecthastodowithlanguageusers,withgroupsofspeakers.•Alldialectsvaryaccordingtothesituationinwhichtheyareused,creatingregisters:languagevarietiescharacteristicofsituationsofuse,whiledialectsrefertolanguagevarietiescharacteristicofparticularsocialgroups.Languages,dialects,andregistersarealllanguagevarieties.Whatthismeansisthatthereisnolinguisticdistinctionbetweenalanguageandadialect.Everydialectisalanguage,andeverylanguageisrealizedinitsdialects.Fromalinguisticpointofview,whatiscalledalanguageandwhatiscalledadialectareindistinguishable.DialectandAccent•Dialectreferstoalanguagevarietyinitstotality—includingvocabulary,grammar,pronunciation,pragmatics,andanyotheraspectofthelinguisticsystem.Thetermslanguageandvarietyalsorefertoanentirelinguisticsystem.Bycontrast,thewordaccentreferstopronunciationonly.Whenwediscussa“Southernaccent”ora“Bostonaccent,”wemeanthepronunciationcharacteristicoftheSoutherndialectortheBostondialect.NationalVarietiesofEnglish•AmericanandBritishNationalVarietiesTheprincipalvarietiesofEnglishthroughouttheworldarecustomarilydividedintoBritishandAmericantypes.BritishEnglishisthebasisforthevarietiesspokeninEngland,Ire-land,Wales,Scotland,Australia,NewZealand,India,Pakistan,Malaysia,Singapore,andSouthAfrica.American(orNorthAmerican)includeschieflytheEnglishofCanadaandtheUnitedStates.•SpellingEthnicVarietiesofAmericanEnglish•AAVE(AfricanAmericanVernacularEnglish):pronunciation1.Consonantclustersimplification:passed,wild2.Deletionoffinalstops:rapid,side3.Interdental-labiodentalsubstitution:both,withGrammaticalfeatures:Thatmybike.Dotheybeplayingallday?Hedon’tnevergonowhere.SocioeconomicStatusVarietiesThelanguagevarietiesofmenandwomenYouknowthatinmanyspeechcommunitieswomenandmendon’tspeakidentically.IntheUnitedStates,certainwordsareassociatedmorewithwomenthanmenandmay“sound”feminineasaresult.Adjectivessuchaslovely,darling,andmaycarryfeminineassociations.Register(speechsituation)•MarkersofStyleLexicalMarkersofStyleandRegister:•Thefourwordspickled,high,drunk,andintoxicatedmaymeanthesamething,butyoucanrankthemaccordingtotheirformality,andyouwouldprobablyagreethattheycouldberankedfromleasttomostformalintheordergiven.•Judge:Iseethecopssayyouwerewastedlastnightanddroveanoldjalopydownthemiddleoftheroad.Thatright?•Defendant:Yourhonor,ifImightbepermittedtoaddressthisbaselessallegation,IshouldliketoreportthatIwasneitherinebriatednorundertheinfluenceofanalcoholicbeverageofanykind;fortherecord,Iimbibednoboozelastevening.•Slang•JargonCollegeslangsGrammaticalMarkersofRegisterPhonologicalmarkersofstyleofregister7.2LanguageandCulture•Languagereferstothecomplexofuniversallyhumanpotentialitiesforvocalcommunicationanditisapartofhumangeneticendowment.Thelanguageusedbyaspeechcommunityiscloselyrelatedtothecultureofthatcommunity.•Cultureisall-inclusive.Onthewhole,itisusedtorefertothetotalpatternofhumanlearnedbehaviortransmittedfromonegenerationtoanother.TheRelationshipbetwee