Sociolinguistics

1. An Introduction
Hainan University Bai Lifang

Outline

1. Objectives of the course

2. Teaching method
3. Definition of sociolinguistics
4. Language and context
5. Different forms of linguistic variation
6. Social factors in linguistic variation

1. Objectives of the course

Through this course, youll
1) get to know about the important
concepts and main areas of
sociolinguistics.
2) be able to find out the impact of
extralinguistic factors on language, such
as age, gender, profession, social status,
ethnicity, politics, etc.

Objectives of the course

3) think about language and observe the
usage around you. Find interest in thinking
about and listening to the speech of
people around you.
4) Learn to use language appropriately in
different contexts.

2. Teaching method
The course will mainly be given in the form
of lecture, but the students are highly
encouraged to be actively involved in the
classroom activities, including
1) questions-and-answers
2) discussions
3) oral presentations

You are supposed to

attend the lecture
read relevant materials
observe the particular use of language in
particular situations
do the analysis work by using the theories
learned in the lecture or read in the
reference books
present the result to the class.

3. Definition of sociolinguistics
Wardhaugh: (Wardhaugh p12)
Sociolingistics investigates the
relationships between language and
society with the goal being a better
understanding of the structure of language
and of how languages function in
communication.

What are included in the society?

People
place
Social system

Language and people

Age, gender, race, nationality, class
Language and place
Region, occasion
Language and social system
Power, ideology, policy, politeness

people

language
place

Social
system

Sociolinguists are interested in explaining

why we speak differently in different social
contexts,
what are the social functions of language
how language is used to convey social
meaning.

 Ray

Example 1
Ray: Hi mum.
Mum: Hi. Youre late.
Ray: Yeah, that bastard Sootbucket kept us in
again.
Mum: Nanas here.
Ray: Oh sorry. Where is she?

 Example 2:
Ray: Good afternoon, sir.
Principle: What are you doing here at this
time?
Ray: Mr Sutton kept us in, sir.

Example 1:
Ray: Hi mum.
Mum: Hi, youre late.
Ray: Yeah, that bastard Sootbucket kept us in
again.
Mum: Nanas here.
Ray: Oh sorry. Where is she?
Example 2:
Ray: Good afternoon, sir.
Principle: What are you doing here at this time?
Ray: Mr Sutton kept us in, sir.

Greeting:
Hi vs. Good afternoon
Address:
Mum vs. Sir
Referring to the teacher:
that bastard Sootbucket vs. Mr Sutton
Referring to the event
Kept us in again vs. kept us in

Rays utterance
tells his mother
why he is late, his choice of words
how he feels about the teacher concerned ,

tells us
something about his relationship with his mother.

The clues we can get from the speech:

The relationship with mother:
Intimate and friendly

The relationship with the principal:

Formal, distant, respectful

 We use language to ask for and give

people information.
We use it to express indignation and
annoyance, as well as admiration and
respect.

 Margaret Walker

Example 3:
Margaret Walker
Every afternoon as she leaves her office,
her bossiness partner says goodbye
Margaret, (she replies goodbye Mike).
Her secretary says See you tomorrow,
(she replies goodbye Jill).
And the caretaker says Bye Mrs.
Walker (to which she responds goodbye
Andy).

 As she arrives home she is greeted by Hi mum from

her daughter.
Jenny, hello dear, have a good day? from her mother.
And simply youre late again! from her husband.
Later in the evening the president of local flower club calls
to ask if she would like to join.
Good evening, is that Mrs. Billington? She asks.
No, its Margaret Walker, but my husbands name is
David Billington, she answer. What can I do for you?
Finally calls Hello Meg, sut wyt ti?

 Languages provide a variety of ways of

saying the same thing.
The choice of linguistic form is a useful
clue to non-linguistic information.
Language variation can provide social
information.

Practice:
Make a list of all the names you are called
by people who know you.
Who uses it to you and when and where?
Do some people call you by more than
one name?

 We use different expressions in different

contexts.
Linguistic variation can provide social
information.

5. Different forms of linguistic

variation
The different ways we say things
Pronunciation
Words
Grammar
Dialect
language

Example 4
Sam : You seen our enrys new ouse yet? Its in
alton you know.
Jim : I have indeed. I could hardly miss it Sam.
Your Henry now owns the biggest house in
Halton.

Sama coal miner

HenrySams son
JimHenrys old friend

Different pronunciations

Example 5
(a) Refuse should be deposited in the receptacle
provided.
(b) Put your rubbish in the bin, Jill.

Refuse vs. rubbish

Deposit vs. put
Receptacle vs. bin
Null vs. Jill
Passive vs. imperative
Different words and grammar

 Hemnesberget, Norway

Example 6
All the villagers know and use two distinct kinds
of Norwegian: the local dialect which is called
Ranamal and then there is the standard dialect
or standard Norwegian, Bokmal .
Ranamal -- speak to their family, friends and
neighbors.
Bokmal at school, in church services and
sermons, the local government offices , official,
to strangers and visitors from outside. (Janet
Holmes, 2001: 5)

 The two dialects differ in pronunciation,

and word-forms.
The social considerations for the choice
of language:
the participant,
Different dialects
social setting,
the topic
purpose of the interaction.

Sauris, Italy

Example 7
The adults were all trilingual: German, Friulian, Italian
Before 1866 the village had been part of the Austrian
empire, and its villagers all spoken German.
German dialect -- at the home, and to neighbours and
fellow villagers.
The regional language Friulian -- with people from the
surrounding area outside the village, and in the pub. It is
a language of friendship and solidarity.
Italian -- talking to those from beyond the region, and
reading and writing,at the church and the school. (Janet
Holmes, 2001: 6)
Different languages

 Sociolinguists use the term variety (or

sometimes code) to refer to language in context.
A variety is a set of linguistic forms used under
specific social circumstances, i.e. with a
distinctive social distribution.
Therefore, variety is a broad term which includes
different accents, different linguistic style,
different dialects and even different languages
which contrast with each other for social
reasons.

6. Social factors in linguistic

variation
Social factors accounting for the particular
variety used:
1. The participants : Who is speaking and
Who are they speaking to ?
2. The setting or social contexts of the
interaction : Whereare they speaking ?
3. The topic : what is being talked about ?
4. The function : why are they speaking ?

Social dimensions
Participants:
solidarity-- social distance scale
status scale
Settingformality scale
Topic
Referential and affective function scales
Function

The solidarity social distance

scale
Intimate Distant
High solidarity Low solidarity
The scale is useful in emphasizing that how well
we know someone is a relevant factor in
linguistic choice.
e.g. Meg vs. Mrs. Belington

The status scale

Superior high status

Subordinate

low status

e.g.
1. The use of sir, Mrs., to the lecturer by the
students
2. The [h]-dropping reflect someones lower
social group

The formality scale

Formal High formality

InformalLow Formality
1. Useful in assessing the influence of social setting
or type of interaction on language choice.
2. Often degrees of formality are largely determined
by solidarity and status relationship. But not
always.

The referential and affective

function scales
Language can convey objective information of a referential
kind; it can also express how someone is feeling.
Referential
High
low
Information
information
Content
content
affective
Low
high
Affective
affective
Content
content

The referential and affective

function scales
The more referentially oriented an
interaction is, the less it tends to express
the feelings of the speaker.

 10 9 1-10

30-80
120-180
200
10-30
10
1-2
1
High information, low affective

low information, high affective

Conclusion
Linguistic variation occurs at the levels of
sounds, word-structure, grammar, dialects and
even language.
Our choice of linguistic variety depends on who
we are talking to, where we are talking, what we
are talking and why we are talking.
Language choices convey information about the
social relationships between people, social
status of people, setting of interaction, topic of
discussion and purpose of discussion.