Sociolinguistics

1. An Introduction
Hainan University Bai Lifang

Outline

1. Objectives of the course

. !eaching "ethod

#. $efinition of sociolinguistics

%. Language and conte&t

'. $ifferent for"s of linguistic variation

(. Social factors in linguistic variation

1. Objectives of the course
!hrough this course) you*ll

1+ get to ,no- about the i".ortant

conce.ts and "ain areas of
sociolinguistics.

+ be able to find out the i".act of

e&tralinguistic factors on language) such
as age) gender) .rofession) social status)
ethnicity) .olitics) etc.

#+ thin, about language and observe the

usage around you. /ind interest in thin,ing
about and listening to the s.eech of
.eo.le around you.

%+ Learn to use language a..ro.riately in

different conte&ts.
Objectives of the course

. !eaching "ethod

!he course -ill "ainly be given in the for"

of lecture) but the students are highly
encouraged to be actively involved in the
classroo" activities) including

1+ 0uestions1and1ans-ers

+ discussions

#+ oral .resentations

2ou are su..osed to

attend the lecture

read relevant "aterials

observe the .articular use of language in

.articular situations

do the analysis -or, by using the theories

learned in the lecture or read in the
reference boo,s

.resent the result to the class.

#. $efinition of sociolinguistics

3ardhaugh4 53ardhaugh .1+

Sociolingistics investigates the

relationshi.s bet-een language and
society -ith the goal being a better
understanding of the structure of language
and of ho- languages function in
co""unication.

3hat are included in the 6society78

9eo.le

.lace

Social syste"

Language and .eo.le

Age) gender) race) nationality) class

Language and .lace

:egion) occasion
Language and social syste"

9o-er) ideology) .olicy) .oliteness

language
.eo.le
.lace
Social
syste"

Sociolinguists are interested in e&.laining

-hy -e s.ea, differently in different social

conte&ts)

-hat are the social functions of language

ho- language is used to convey social

"eaning.

:ay

Example 1

:ay4 Hi "u".

;u"4 Hi. 2ou*re late.

:ay4 2eah) that bastard Sootbuc,et ,e.t us in

again.

;u"4 <ana*s here.

:ay4 Oh sorry. 3here is she8

Example 2:

:ay4 Good afternoon, sir.

9rinci.le4 What are you doing here at this

time8

:ay4 Mr Sutton kept us in, sir.

Example 1:

:ay4 Hi mum.

;u"4 Hi, youre late.

:ay4 Yeah, that bastard Sootbucket kept us in

again.

;u"4 Nanas here.

:ay4 h sorry. Where is she8

Example 2:

:ay4 Good afternoon, sir.

9rinci.le4 What are you doing here at this time8

:ay4 Mr Sutton kept us in, sir.

=reeting4

Hi vs. =ood afternoon

Address4

;u" vs. Sir

:eferring to the teacher4

that bastard Sootbuc,et vs. ;r Sutton

:eferring to the event

>e.t us in again vs. ,e.t us in

:ay*s utterance

tells his "other

-hy he is late) his choice of -ords

ho- he feels about the teacher concerned)

tells us

so"ething about his relationshi. -ith his "other.

!he clues -e can get fro" the s.eech4

!he relationshi. -ith "other4

Inti"ate and friendly

!he relationshi. -ith the .rinci.al4

/or"al) distant) res.ectful

3e use language to as, for and give

.eo.le infor"ation.

3e use it to e&.ress indignation and

annoyance) as -ell as ad"iration and
res.ect.

;argaret 3al,er

!"ample #$
;argaret 3al,er

?very afternoon as she leaves her office)

her bossiness .artner says 6goodbye
Margaret%, &she re.lies 'goodbye Mike%(.

Her secretary says 6See you tomorro)%)

5she re.lies 6goodbye *ill%+.

And the careta,er says 6+ye Mrs.

Walker% 5to -hich she res.onds 6goodbye
,ndy%+.

As she arrives ho"e she is greeted by 6Hi mum% fro"

her daughter.

@enny) 6hello dear) ha-e a good day.% fro" her "other.

And si".ly 6youre late again/% fro" her husband.

Later in the evening the .resident of local flo-er club calls
to as, if she -ould li,e to join.

'Good e-ening, is that Mrs. +illington87 She as,s.

'No, its Margaret Walker, but my husbands name is

0a-id +illington%) she ans-er. 'What can 1 do for you87

/inally calls 6Hello Meg, sut )yt ti87

Languages .rovide a variety of -ays of

saying the sa"e thing.

!he choice of linguistic for" is a useful

clue to non1linguistic infor"ation.

Language variation can .rovide social

infor"ation.

9ractice4

;a,e a list of all the na"es you are called

by .eo.le -ho ,no- you.

3ho uses it to you and -hen and -here8

$o so"e .eo.le call you by "ore than

one na"e8

3e use different e&.ressions in different

conte&ts.

Linguistic variation can .rovide social

infor"ation.

'. $ifferent for"s of linguistic
variation
!he different -ays -e say things

9ronunciation

3ords

=ra""ar

$ialect

language

?&a".le %

Sa" 4 2ou seen our Aenry*s ne- Aouse yet8 It*s in

Aalton you ,no-.

@i" 4 I have indeed. I could hardly "iss it Sa".

2our Henry no- o-ns the biggest house in
Halton.
Sa"Ba coal "iner
HenryBSa"*s son
@i"BHenry*s old friend
$ifferent .ronunciations

!"ample 2

5a+ :efuse should be de.osited in the rece.tacle

.rovided.

5b+ 9ut your rubbish in the bin) @ill.

:efuse vs. rubbish
$e.osit vs. .ut
:ece.tacle vs. bin
<ull vs. @ill
9assive vs. i".erative
$ifferent -ords and gra""ar

He"nesberget) <or-ay

?&a".le (

All the villagers ,no- and use t-o distinct ,inds

of <or-egian4 the local dialect -hich is called
:ana"al and then there is the standard dialect
or standard <or-egian) Bo,"al .

:ana"al 11 s.ea, to their fa"ily) friends and

neighbors.

Bo,"al C at school) in church services and

ser"ons) the local govern"ent offices ) official)
to strangers and visitors fro" outside. 5@anet
Hol"es) DD14 '+

!he t-o dialects differ in .ronunciation)

and -ord1for"s.

!he social considerations for the choice

of language4

the .artici.ant)

social setting)

the to.ic

.ur.ose of the interaction.

$ifferent dialects

Sauris) Italy

?&a".le E

!he adults -ere all trilingual4 =er"an) /riulian) Italian

Before 1F(( the village had been .art of the Austrian

e".ire) and its villagers all s.o,en =er"an.

=er"an dialect 11 at the ho"e) and to neighbours and

fello- villagers.

!he regional language /riulian 11 -ith .eo.le fro" the

surrounding area outside the village) and in the .ub. It is
a language of friendshi. and solidarity.

Italian 11 tal,ing to those fro" beyond the region) and

reading and -riting)at the church and the school. 5@anet
Hol"es) DD14 (+
$ifferent languages

Sociolinguists use the ter" variety 5or

so"eti"es code+ to refer to language in conte&t.

A variety is a set of linguistic for"s used under

s.ecific social circu"stances) i.e. -ith a
distinctive social distribution.

!herefore) variety is a broad ter" -hich includes

different accents) different linguistic style)
different dialects and even different languages
-hich contrast -ith each other for social
reasons.

(. Social factors in linguistic
variation

Social factors accounting for the .articular

variety used4

1. !he .artici.ants 4 3ho is s.ea,ing and

3ho are they s.ea,ing to 8

. !he setting or social conte&ts of the

interaction 4 3hereare they s.ea,ing 8

#. !he to.ic 4 -hat is being tal,ed about 8

%. !he function 4 -hy are they s.ea,ing 8

Social di"ensions

9artici.ants4

solidarity11 social distance scale

status scale

SettingBfor"ality scale

!o.ic

/unction
:eferential and affective function scales

!he solidarity C social distance
scale
Inti"ate $istant
High solidarity Lo- solidarity
!he scale is useful in e".hasiGing that ho- -ell
-e ,no- so"eone is a relevant factor in
linguistic choice.
e.g. ;eg vs. ;rs. Belington

!he status scale
Su.erior high status
Subordinate lo- status
e.g.
1. !he use of Asir*) A;rs.*) to the lecturer by the
students
. !he HhI1dro..ing reflect so"eone*s lo-er
social grou.

!he for"ality scale
/or"al High for"ality
Infor"alLo- /or"ality
1. Useful in assessing the influence of social setting
or ty.e of interaction on language choice.
. Often degrees of for"ality are largely deter"ined
by solidarity and status relationshi.. But not
al-ays.

!he referential and affective
function scales
Language can convey objective infor"ation of a referential
,indJ it can also e&.ress ho- so"eone is feeling.
:eferential
High lo-
Infor"ation infor"ation
Kontent content
affective
Lo- high
Affective affective
Kontent content

!he referential and affective
function scales
!he "ore referentially oriented an
interaction is) the less it tends to e&.ress
the feelings of the s.ea,er.

1D L 111D

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High infor"ation) lo- affective

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PFQHJKRNS*

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EF_`GHUabIcdZWXefgh*

PF_`QHdiajkNS*EFlHIm
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lo- infor"ation) high affective

Konclusion

Linguistic variation occurs at the levels of

sounds) -ord1structure) gra""ar) dialects and
even language.

Our choice of linguistic variety de.ends on -ho

-e are tal,ing to) -here -e are tal,ing) -hat -e
are tal,ing and -hy -e are tal,ing.

Language choices convey infor"ation about the

social relationshi.s bet-een .eo.le) social
status of .eo.le) setting of interaction) to.ic of
discussion and .ur.ose of discussion.