Sociolinguistics

Session 1: Introducing sociolinguistics

Aims
Define sociolinguistics
Aims of the field Developments in the field

Introduce concepts that will recur during the semester

An interesting prediction
Perhaps [] there will be in the year AD2000 three main branches of linguistic science: psychological, sociological (these two answering to the two directions of explanatory adequacy), and the traditional and indispensable work oriented toward specific languages, language families, and language areas (Hymes 1974)

What is sociolinguistics?
Sociolinguistics.. .is that part of linguistics which is concerned with language as a social and cultural phenomenon. It investigates the field of language and society & has close connections with the social sciences, especially social psychology, anthropology, human geography and sociology -Peter Trudgill

What is sociolinguistics?
Given the social role of language, it stands to reason that one strand of language study should concentrate on the role of language in society. The basic notion underlying sociolinguistics is quite simple: Language use symbolically represents fundamental dimensions of social behavior and human interaction Walt Wolfram

What is sociolinguistics?
The central concern of sociolinguistics is the way in which individuals and communities vary in the forms of language that they use, depending on such factors as context (formal or informal), social class, age and gender -Bert Vaux

Socio-LINGUISTICS
Objectives are purely linguistic based on empirical work on language as it is spoken in its social context, and are intended to answer questions and deal with topics of central interest to linguistics... the term sociolinguistics [here]... is being used principally to refer to a methodology: sociolinguistics as a way of doing linguistics.

SOCIO-linguistics
Second, those where they are partly linguistic and partly sociological sociology of language; the social psychology of language; anthropological linguistics; the ethnography of speaking; & [interactional] discourse analysis.

Macro and micro

Macro-sociolinguistics takes society as its starting-point and deals with language as a pivotal factor in the organization of communities Micro-sociolinguistics begins with language and treats social forces as essential factors influencing the structure of languages (both taken from Suzanne Romaine, Language in Society)

What we research: The sociolinguistic variable

The linguistic variable
Alternative ways of saying the same thing e.g. (a) Each different way is called a variant

[a]

[]

What we research: The sociolinguistic variable

The sociolinguistic variable
A socially significant linguistic variable e.g. (ai) on Marthas Vineyard A set of alternative linguistic realisations with social significance

[a]= New England []= island

The sociolinguistic variable

Phonological
Alternates differ by a phonological feature or two.

Lexical
Alternate lexical items for same referent(NOT synonyms)

Morpho-syntactic
Involves variable inflections or syntactic differences

How we do research: Qualitative v. Quantitative

Qualitative
Things in their natural settings Attempting to make sense of phenomena in terms of the meanings people bring to them (Denzin 1994). It involves an interpretive, naturalistic approach to its subject matter and gives priority to what the data contribute to important research questions or existing information.

May include:
Text analysis Ethnography Narrative accounts Verbal reports Classroom interaction analysis

How we do research: Qualitative v. Quantitative

Quantitative research :
Explains phenomena by collecting numerical data Analysis using mathematically based methods (in particular statistics)

May include:
Experimental vs. non-experimental design Inferential vs. descriptive statistics Multivariate vs. univariate

How we do research: different views of research (following Rampton 2007)

Approach to language Prescriptivism: there are norms and standards that should be followed Descriptivism: non-standard forms are systematic and authentic Determinism: language is secondary to structures of political and economic domination View of research Research is neutral, objective, and informative. It gets us close to the truth. Empiricism: positivism Research is neutral and objective, but it can also be used on behalf of the people that it studies, to advocate their causes Research is either part of the apparatus of hegemonic domination, a form of scientific imperialism, or it can help us see through the mystifications of the dominant ideology Research can either be restrictive and controlling with its claims to truth, or it can be empowering, giving voice to types of knowledge that were previously silenced or subjugated

Constructionism: interpersonal, institutional, and collective discourse and interaction are crucial to the processes through which social realities and social identities get reproduced

Stages of sociolinguistics study

1st wave
Surveys to provide a big picture of a range of variables across a large population

2nd wave
Ethnographically oriented studies of language variation

3rd wave
Communities of practice approach- use of particular variant is only one of the practices through which individuals construct an identity

3 key words

Style
Generally, style refers to a way of doing something Sociolinguistic style- ways of speaking we mean to include any consistentlinguistic forms used by a speaker that can be associated with a topics, participants, channel, or the broader social context. Labov, 1984

Style often related to

Formality- formal versus informal
Attention being paid to speech- the sociolinguistic interview
Reading passage, word list, minimal pairs, danger of death question

Age of speaker and addressees Relationship between interlocutors

Dialect: activity
How would you define a dialect? (based on the links) http://www4.uwm.edu/FLL/linguistics/dialect/staticmaps/q_5 0.html http://www4.uwm.edu/FLL/linguistics/dialect/staticmaps/q_5 3.html http://www4.uwm.edu/FLL/linguistics/dialect/staticmaps/q_7 3.html

Dialect
Any of the varieties of a single language Usually, the variation is grammatical or lexical Can also occur on the level of phonology One way we can track these are by looking at isolglosses (dialect maps) which show the boundary of a linguistic feature (such as the ones you just looked at)

 Should be mutually intelligible

Can the speakers understand each other

Holmes gives two examples: Chinese dialects, which arent mutually intelligible, and the Scandinavian languages, which are On the African continent, there are over 2000 different languages, but many of them are called dialects

More dialect maps

http://www.google.de/imgres?imgurl=http://static3.businessi nsider.com/image/51af64bdecad048b58000001-1200/unitedstates-dialect-maplanguage.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.businessinsider.com/22maps-that-show-the-deepest-linguistic-conflicts-in-america20136?op%3D1&h=595&w=794&sz=61&tbnid=etpN3hOR_XHY5M: &tbnh=90&tbnw=120&zoom=1&usg=__sH825YP7AqmByclFC6OQKOgZzo=&docid=jqheQFs5FSmfM&sa=X&ei=Tuf4UuafA8HPhAfutoC4Bw&sqi=2&ved=0CDgQ9 QEwAQ&dur=1127

Language standardisation
Milroy says standardisation consists of the imposition of order on a class of objectts In English, Chaucers writings are not always consistent- at the time of his writing, there was no established standard Typically, standardisation consists of 4 stages: selection, codification, elaboration and acceptance

But
How do you decide what gets selected to be the standard? Samuel Johnsons dictionary
Sources were Shakespeare plays, the King James Bible, sermons from the Church of England Language spoken among his associates in London and Oxford Inevitably, it was the language of the middle classes to which Johnson belonged

The Standard
All [dialects] are equal, but some [dialects] are more equal than others.

Two Views
Descriptivism Prescriptivism

Studies and characterizes language No preconceived notions of correctness Does not favour language of one social group

Concerned with language etiquette Appeals to logic, classical forms Preference for older forms Against the use of foreign words

Accent
Speakers vary at the level of pronunciation Their grammar is not different You can speak Standard English (a dialect) with any accent. Still, some accents enjoy more prestige e.g. RP, General American

Speaker 1

Speaker 2

Speaker 3

Register
A set of features of speech or writing characteristic of a particular type of linguistic activity or a particular group when engaging in it. E.g. sports commentaries, news reports, legal documents, advertisements etc.

Listening activity
Decide where the clips are from (the linguistic activity that is taking place), and identify some features of that register.

3 key words