English Language in use

Social variation
 English Language and Use

SOCIAL
VARIATION

From Crystal D. (1997) Cambridge Encyclopaedia of the English Language

Social language variation provides an
answer to a question:
• Who are you?
•What are you, in the eyes of the English-speaking
society to which you belong?

A person might be identified as 'a woman', `a parent', `a

doctor', 'a husband', 'a failure', `an appren­tice', 'a drop-out',
'a political activist', `a senior citizen', `a Times reader', or
in many other ways.
Any of these identities can have consequences
for the kind of language we use.

From Crystal D. (1997) Cambridge Encyclopaedia of the English Language

• Age, sex, and socio-economic class
have been considered to be important when it
comes to explaining the way sounds
(pronunciation), constructions (grammar), and
vocabulary vary.

• Choice of occupation has a less predictable

influence, though in some contexts (such as the
world of the law) it can be highly distinctive.

From Crystal D. (1997) Cambridge Encyclopaedia of the English Language

linguistic interactions between speakers (in terms of content and,
more so, style) depend largely on the social relation between the
speakers.

From Mesthrie R., Swann J., Deumert A., and Leap W. L. (2009) Introducing sociolinguistics
 Social variation: VOCABULARY
In the 50s in England many pairs of words were
identified to distinguish the speech of upper-class
(U speakers) from the rest (non-U speakers)

Sitting room (U) Lounge (non-U)

Lavatory (U) Toilet (non-U)
Bag (U) Handbag (non-U)
Sofa (U) Settee (non-U)
Relations (U) Relatives (non-U)

From Holmes J. (1992) An introduction to sociolinguistics

 Social variation: PRONUNCIATION
One of Labov’s most influential studies, published in 1966,
found regular patterns relating to the social class of the
speakers.

• The pronunciation –ing vs -in' at the end of words like

sleeping and swimming, for instance, distinguishes social
groups in every English-speaking community in which it has
been investigated.

• One of the most notable was the variable (r) after vowels in
words such as lark or bar. English speakers in various parts of
the world differ in the extent to which [r] is pronounced after
vowels. RP for example is ‘r-less’, while Scots English is ‘r-ful’.
 Social variation: PRONUNCIATION
An important study
that adopted Labov’s
approach to language
research was
undertaken by Peter
Trudgill (1974)and
Petyt (1985)
In both areas the highest
social group drops the least
numbers of [h] and the
lowest group omits the
most.
From Holmes J. (1992) An introduction to sociolinguistics
 Social variation: PRONUNCIATION

Some of the linguistic features have been found to pattern

socially in English-speaking communities all over the world.

From Holmes J. (1992) An introduction to sociolinguistics

 Social variation: GRAMMAR
Some examples of grammatical forms which have been
identified in several English speaking communities:
Form Example
Past tense verb forms I finished that book yesterday.
I finish that book yesterday.
Present tense verb forms Rose walks to school every day.
Rose walk to school every day.
Negative forms Nobody wants any chips.
Nobody don't want no chips.
Ain't Jim isn't stupid.
Jim ain't stupid.
From Holmes J. (1992) An introduction to sociolinguistics
 Social variation: GRAMMAR
• The higher social groups use more of
the standard grammatical form and
fewer instances of the vernacular or
non-standard form (e.g. standard she
walks vs vernacular she walk).

• There is a sharp distinction between

the middle class groups and the lower-
class groups. People are often more
aware of the social significance of
vernacular grammatical forms, and this
Vernacular present tense verb forms
is reflected in the lower incidence of (3rd person singular: she walk) in
vernacular forms among middle class Norwich and Detroit.
speakers in particular. From Holmes J. (1992) An introduction to sociolinguistics
 Social variation: CONCLUSION
• All countries display social stratification.

• Britain is said to be linguistically much more

class- conscious than other countries where
English is use as a first language.

• As a consequence there are variations in the

choice of vocabulary, structures and
pronunciation.
 English Language in use
Social variation
References:
Crystal D. (1997) Cambridge Encyclopaedia of the English
Language, Penguin

Mesthrie R., Swann J., Deumert A., and Leap W. L. (2009)

Introducing sociolinguistics, Edinburgh: Edinburgh
University Press

Holmes J. (1992) An introduction to sociolinguistics,

Harlow: Longman