8/21/2019 Meeting 2 Sociolinguistics
1/21
Meeting II
Language and SocietySiti Mukminatun
8/21/2019 Meeting 2 Sociolinguistics
2/21
Sociolinguistics
Study the relationship between language and society.
1. explaining why we speak differently in different socialcontexts
2. identifying the social functions of language and theways it is used to convey social meaning.
An attempt to find correlations between social structure andlinguistic structure and to observe any changes that occur(Gumpers, 1971: 223)
Language and society intertwined impossible tounderstand one without the other.
The language used by the participants is influenced by anumber of social factors.
8/21/2019 Meeting 2 Sociolinguistics
3/21
Sociolinguistics vs. the Sociology of
language
Sociolinguistics
investigating the relationships between languageand society with the goal of a better
understanding of the structure of language andof how languages function in communication
Sociology of language
to discover how social structure can be better
understood through the study of language, e.g.how certain linguistic features serve tocharacterize particular social arrangement
8/21/2019 Meeting 2 Sociolinguistics
4/21
Sociolinguistics vs. the Sociology of
language
Hudson, 1980: 4-5
a. Sociolinguistics is the study of language
in relation to society,
b. Sociology of language: the study of
society in relation to language
Similarity:a. Both require systematic study of
language.
8/21/2019 Meeting 2 Sociolinguistics
5/21
The relationship between language
and society (wardaugh, : 10)
1. Social structure linguistic structure and/or behavior
a. age-grading phenomenon
young children speak differently from older
children and in turn, children speak differentlyfrom mature adults.
b. studies the varieties of language that speakersuse reflect such matters; their regional, social,
or ethnic origin and possible sex.c. other studies particular ways of speaking,choices of words, and rules for conversing aredetermined by social requirement
8/21/2019 Meeting 2 Sociolinguistics
6/21
The relationship between
language and society (wardaugh, : 10)
2. Linguistic structure and/or behavior may
either influence or determine socialstructure (behind Whorfian hypothesis)
3. The influence is bi-directional; languageand society may influence each other.
4. There is no relationship at all.
8/21/2019 Meeting 2 Sociolinguistics
7/21
Social factors
The participants
Who is talking to whom (wife-husband,customer-shopkeeper, boss-worker)
The social setting and function of interaction
e.g. home, work, school
The aim or purpose of the interaction
(informative, social)
The topic; What is being talked about?
8/21/2019 Meeting 2 Sociolinguistics
8/21
Example I
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?
8/21/2019 Meeting 2 Sociolinguistics
9/21
Analysis I
Language serves a range of functions; to
ask for and give people information, to
express indignation and annoyance, as
well as admiration and express feelings.
8/21/2019 Meeting 2 Sociolinguistics
10/21
Example II
Ray : Good afternoon, sir.
Principle : What are you doing here at this
time?
Ray : Mr. Sutton kept us in, sir.
For the analysis, see Holmes, 1995: 2-3
8/21/2019 Meeting 2 Sociolinguistics
11/21
Example III
Every afternoon my friend packs her bag andleaves her Cardiff office at about 5 oclock. Asshe leaves, her business partner says goodbyeMargaret, (she replies goodbye Mike) hersecretary says goodbye Ms Walker, (she repliesgoodbye 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 son, Jamie, hello dear, have a goodday?, from her mother, and simply youre lateagain! from her husband.
8/21/2019 Meeting 2 Sociolinguistics
12/21
Example III
Later in the evening the president of the
local flower club calls to ask if she would
like to join. Good evening, is that Mrs.
Billington?she asks. No, its Ms Walker,but my husbands name is David
Billington, she answers. What can I do for
you? Finally a friend calls Boradar Meg,hows thing?
8/21/2019 Meeting 2 Sociolinguistics
13/21
Example IV
Sam : You seen our enrysnew ouse
yet? Itsin altonyou know.
Jim : I have indeed. I could hardly
miss it Sam. Your Henry now
owns the biggest house in Halton.
It illustrated a range of social influences on
language choice.
8/21/2019 Meeting 2 Sociolinguistics
14/21
Social dimensions
A Social distance scale concerned with
participant relationship
A status scale concerned with participantrelationship
A formality scale relating to the setting or
type of interaction
Two functional scales relating to the
purposes or topic of interaction
8/21/2019 Meeting 2 Sociolinguistics
15/21
The solidaritysocial distance
scale
Intimate Distant
High solidarity Low solidarity
The scale is useful in emphasizing that howwell we know someone is a relevant factor
in linguistic choice.
e.g. meg vs. Mrs. Belington
8/21/2019 Meeting 2 Sociolinguistics
16/21
The status scale
Superior high status
Subordinate low status
e.g.1. The use of sir, Mrs., to the lecturer by thestudents
2. The [h]-dropping reflect someones lower
social group
8/21/2019 Meeting 2 Sociolinguistics
17/21
The formality scale
Formal High formality
Informal Low Formality
1.
Useful in assessing the influence of socialsetting or type of interaction on languagechoice.
2. Often degrees of formality are largely
determined by solidarity and statusrelationshi . But not alwa s.
8/21/2019 Meeting 2 Sociolinguistics
18/21
The referential and affective
function scalesReferential
High low
Information information
Content content
affective
Low high
Affective affective
Content content
8/21/2019 Meeting 2 Sociolinguistics
19/21
The referential and affective
function scales1. The more referentially oriented an
interaction is, the less it tends to express
the feelings of the speaker.
8/21/2019 Meeting 2 Sociolinguistics
20/21
Chaika ( 1988, 10)
the context determines meaning,
1. the social status of speakers
2. the speech event and social conventions
governing it;
3. the social-cultural and physical environment
4. previous discourse between the speakers orknown to them
5. the intent of the speaker.
8/21/2019 Meeting 2 Sociolinguistics
21/21
Conclusion
Our word choices depend on who we aretalking to.
Language choices convey information
about the social relationships betweenpeople as well as about the topic ofdiscussion.
Linguistic variation occurs at other levelsof linguistic analysis: sounds, word-structure, grammar as well as vocabulary.