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Yule (2006) The study of languageweek 7-9 chapters 18 & 19

LANGUAGE

INDIVIDUAL

SOCIAL

Sociolinguistics“I pronounce you man and wife.”“ Do you know Tim and Sue got married?”

“Gimme a lift home, babe!”“Would you be so kind as to take me home, please?”

Everybody has the right to cast his vote.Everybody has the right to cast her vote.Everybody has the right to cast their vote.

These are terrorists. - No, they are freedom fighters!

Sociolinguistics

“Who uses what language to whom when

and for what purpose(s).”

(Joshua A. Fishman)

Today’s lecture Introduction

Basic concepts

Variation acc. to language users

Variation acc. to language use

Language Variation

2.Society 3.Situation 4. Individual

1. Time historical variation

style register, style

regional, ethnicity, class, age etc.

Language Variation

2.Society 3.Situation 4. Individual

1. Time historical variation

style register, style

regional, ethnicity, class, age etc.

Basic concepts - 1

variety - language - dialect - accent

variety a set of linguistic items with similar distribution (Hudson, 1980)

language ? perceptions; linguistic description

dialect ?regionally localisable

accent ? refers to pronunciation only

2 sets of criteria

• description - perception

• linguistic - socio-political/historical

e.g.:dialects around the German/Dutch borderChineseBosnian/Serbian/CroatianScandinavian languagesSwiss German

“A language is a dialect with an army and a navy.” (Bolinger)

LANGUAGE - DIALECT

Linguistic usage

D1 D2

D3D4

D5

Popular usage

D1 D2

LD4

D5

LANGUAGE - DIALECT

Linguistic usage

L1 L2

L3L4

L5

Popular usage

D1 D2

LD4

D5

Basic concepts - 2

standard - non-standard

e.g.:

A. He ain’t got none.

B. I seen him.

C. Who did you mention it to?

D. Da hab ich genug von.

E. Da treff ma sich!

Standardisation (Haugen, 1966)

selection elaboration

acceptance codification

Standardisation (Haugen, 1966)

socio-political linguistic

selection elaboration

acceptance codification

language norm

If [someone’s] reaction to the form (not the content) of the utterance is neutral and he can devote full attention to the meaning, then the form is standard for him. If his attention is diverted from the meaning of the utterance because it sounds ‘snooty’, then the utterance is super-standard. If his attention is diverted from the message because the utterance sounds like poor English, then the form is substandard.

Wolfram and Fasold (1974)

Variation acc. to language users

Regional dialects

Social dialects

Variation acc. to language usersRegional dialects (taken from Freeborn, 1993)

3. A good boss was a good boss. He was paying for the stuff that I were supposed to make perfect or as near perfect as possible. It's his money. It's his building. It's all that. He's kept your childer for so many year while you work for him, style of thing – hasn't he? (Lancashire)

4. …I usually just sub, but then again, I'm a defender. …I likes playing defender more than anything else. (Plymouth boy)

Regional dialects (taken from Freeborn, 1993)

2. I used to work in Marks and Spencer's. We've always kept friends with the people in there, you know. And then I worked on the station for nineteen year. (Carlisle).

3. When I heard the knocking I never thought nothing like that could ever happen. …. (Norwich)

Regional dialects - grammatical features

• Noun plurals childer, year

• Person endings on verbs I likes

• Distribution of forms of to be I were

• Multiple negation never thought nothing

Other:

past tense forms, personal pronouns, modals

•dialect - accent

•RP (Received Pronunciation) - Estuary English

•dialect geography

•dialect continuum

•isoglosses + dialect boundaries

Social dialects

•social factors

•social class

social distinctions relevant to a society go hand-in-hand with linguistic differences

Variation acc. to language use

idiolect - style - register (jargon); domain

idiolect: individual choice of language

style: linguistic choices depending on social situationscales: e.g. formal – casual; impersonal – intimate; monologic – dialogic; formulaic - creative

"Place the ingredients into a prepared dish.”"Put the stuff into the bowl you've got ready.”

Variation acc. to language use

idiolect - style - register (jargon); domain

Register: “sets of language items associated with discrete occupational or social groups” and forms part of their jargon (Wardhaugh, 1998)

classroom - ecuational register

courtroom - legal register

church – religious register

football-fans weight-watchers deer-hunters brain-surgeons

Domains (taken from Spolsky, 1998)

location role-relation-ships (e.g.)

topics (e.g.)

home mother, son domestic,personal

school teacher, pupil social,educational

church priest,parishioner

sermons,prayers, social

"Your dialect shows who (or what) you are, whilst your register shows what you are doing." (Hudson, 1966)

Reading (YULE 2006) Revise

pp. 194-200; 208-9, 210-11,

& Study Questions

Prepare

Remainder of chapters 18&19

• accent.gmu.edu• www.bbc.co.uk/voices/recordings