What do sociolinguists study?

• Why do we speak differently in different social contexts?

• How is language affected by society?

• Example 1

Ray: Hi mum.
Mum: HI. You’re late.
Ray: Yeah, that bastard Sootbucket kept us in again.
Mum: Nan’s here.
Ray: oh sorry. Where is she?

Analysis:

• Ray’s description of his teacher would have been expressed differently if he had
realized his grandmother could hear him. The way people talk is influenced by
the social context in which they are talking. It matters who can hear us and
where we are talking, as well as how we are feeling. The same message may be
expressed very differently to different people .We use different styles in
different social contexts.

• Leaving school Ray had run into the school principal in the following example:

• Example 2

Ray: Good afternoon sir. (Good afternoon and sir are tactful, formal, and
respectful)
 Principal: What are you doing here at this time?

Ray: Mr. Sutton kept us in, Sir.

• This response reflects Ray’s awareness of the social factors which influence the
choice of appropriate ways of speaking in different social contexts.

• Comparison between the two examples:

Example 1 is Less tactful. Informal greeting: Hi. Term of address: mum

Referential-affective dimension: bastard soot bucket (anger) while Mr. Sutton

(neutral).

• Ray greets his mother with the friendly form hi, compared to the more distant
and formal good afternoon used to the school principal. He uses mum, an
address form which indicates that he gets on well with her. He could have used
no address form at all. Note that he uses the respectful address form sir to the
principal. Finally, in eg 1, he refers to his teacher as that bastard and uses a
nickname Sootbucket for him, an indication that he is treating his mother as an
intimate. This contrasts with the way he refers to the teacher when talking to
the principal, when he uses Mr. Sutton.

We choose our words carefully according to whom we are talking to. Language
choices convey information about the social relationships between people as
well as about the topic of discussion. The kind of information which is relevant
to language choice includes how well we know the other person and whether
they are socially superior.
• We adapt the way we speak to suit the people we are addressing or those who
can hear us.

*The analysis shall be in paragraphs not in a table or any other form. Use the
present simple.

Example (5) in the book:

- Lexical level:

• Refuse vs. rubbish.

• Deposit vs. put.

• Receptacle vs. bin.

• Bookish is an adjective that means only found in books.

• Start the analysis by setting the scene: who, where, etc.

• Refuse should be deposited in the receptacle provided.

(Note: General: no personal words - indirect)

• Put your rubbish in the bin, Jilly.

(Note: direct- here there is correspondence between form and function)

• Please tender exact fare and state destination.

(Note: "Please" softens the command: the imperative).

• Give me the right money and tell me where you’re going.

 - (i) Vocabulary choices: Tender vs. give, state vs. tell, destination vs. where
you're going, exact vs. right. Use of "please" in (c).

Syntax: Both sentences use imperative structures, but the more formal verbs in
(c) assist in avoiding the use of the personal pronouns me and you which occur
in (d). The determiner is omitted before exact fare and destination, which
increase the impersonality of the expression. These are both places where 'your'
could have occurred, for instance.

(ii) The medium of expression is relevant since (a) and (c) are much more likely in
writing than in speech. Written and spoken language differ in many specific ways.
Whether spoken or written, sentences (a) and (c) are also more formal and
distancing. If they were spoken they would be appropriate only in the most
formal context, between strangers or people who did not know each other well,
or where the speaker was far superior or more powerful than the addressee.
Sentences (b) and (d) would be appropriate in speech in informal contexts. The
address form in sentence (b) shows the speaker knows the addressee and
suggests they know each other well. It could be seen as softening the directive,
making it gentler.

- Example 6

In northern Norway there is a village which has become famous among

sociolinguists because the language used by the villages was described in great
detail by two sociolinguists, Blom and Gumperz,in the late 1960s. it is called
Hemnesberget and all the know and use two distinct kinds of Norwegian. There is
the local dialect which is called Ranamal (nidi is he Norwegian. Word for language)
and there is the standard dialect or standard Norwegian, Bokmal (literally book-
language) Bokmal is used by the teachers in school, it is the language of the
textbooks and after a little exposure it is the variety of Norwegian that the pupils
use to discuss school topics in school too .Bokmal is used in church services and
sermons, it is used when people go into the local government offices to transact
official business. It is used on radio and television .And it is used to strangers and
visitors from out-side Hemnesberget. So what does that leave for Ranamal?

Ranamal is what people speak to their family, friends and neighbors most of the
time. It is the local dialect and it signals membership in the local speech community.
People use Ranamal to each other at breakfast, to local shopkeepers when buying
their newspapers and vegetables, to the mechanic in the local garage, and to the
local people they meet in the street. A local person who used Bokmal to buy her
petrol would be regarded as” stuck up “or “putting on airs ".

(Note: it would be strange and funny to use Bokmal to buy petrol for instance).

• Definition of variety:

The term variety (or sometimes code) is used to refer to any set of linguistic
forms which patterns according to social factors. A variety is a set of linguistic
forms used under specific social circumstances. Variety is therefore a broad term
which includes different accents – different linguistic styles, different dialects
and even different languages which contrast with each other for social reasons.
It has proved a very useful sociolinguistic term because it is linguistically neutral
and covers all the different realizations of the abstract concept 'language' in
different social contexts.
• Social factors, dimensions and explanations:

Social factors:

1. The participants: who is speaking and Who are they speaking to?

2. The setting or social context of the interaction: where are they speaking?

3. The topic: what is being talked about?

4. The function: why are they speaking?

Social dimensions:

• The solidarity – social distance scale:

Intimate -------------------------------- Distant

High solidarity Low solidarity

• The status scale:

Superior -------------------- High status

Subordinate Low status

• The formality scale:

Formal ------------------ High formality

 Informal Low formality

• The referential and affective function scales:

Referential

High information content ------------------ Low information content

Affective

Low affective content -------------------- High affective content

• (a) Here is the forecast for the Wellington district until midnight Tuesday issued
by the meteorological service at 6 o'clock on Monday evening. It will be rather
cloudy overnight with some drizzle, becoming fine again on Tuesday morning.
The outlook for Wednesday – a few morning showers then fine.

• This is a recorded telephone message and therefore the speaker does not
know the hearer. This is reflected in the lack of address terms and the
formal syntax.

• Its primary function is to provide referential information. It is not intended

to provide information on how the speaker is feeling.

Example Sociolinguistic Analysis:

(b) Good morning little one – you had a good big sleep, didn't you, pet?

• Despite the initial greeting "good morning" which can be used to strangers
and acquaintances, the speaker clearly knows the addressee well. Two
affectionate endearment terms are used (little one, pet). These are terms
 appropriately used downwards in status (e.g. mother to child, older
person to younger, and nurse to young patient).

• The use of the tag form (didn’t you?) is an attempt to elicit a response.
However it is not a request for information – the answer is self-evident
since it is provided in the utterance itself. This is clearly an utterance with
a high affective content.

(c) Excuse me, Mr. Clayton. I've finished your letters, sir.

• The address forms ( Mr. Clayton , sir ) , as well as the initial phrase , an
apology for interruption ( Excuse me ) , suggest this is an utterance from
a subordinate to a superior and that the two do not know each other well.

• The primary intention of this utterance appears to be to provide referential

information. Note, however, that it might have other functions too if we knew
more about the context. The secretary might be indirectly (and therefore
politely) asking if s/he might leave since s/he has finished a particular task.
Utterances often serve more than one function.