Module 3 Language

variation: focus on users

3.1. Regional and social dialects

D r . P h u o n g N g u y e n
If the person has a distinctive regional accent, then their regional origins will be
evident. It may also be possible to make a reasonable guess about the person’s
socioeconomic status or educational background.
3.1.1. Regional variation

3.1.2. Social variation

3.1.3. Social dialects

3.1.1. Regional variation
[Link] International varieties
• regional accent differences
• vocabulary differences
• grammatical differences
• a matter of the frequencies with which particular
features occur
[Link] Intra-national or intra- continental
variation
• Intra -Dialect differences within a country since the
distinguishing forms involve grammatical usages and
lexical items as well as pronunciation.
• Regional variation takes time to develop.
• British and American English, for instance,
provide much more evidence of regional
variation than New Zealand or Australian
English.
 • The Linguistic Atlas Projects provide a rich
[Link] Intra-national source of information on the features of
or intra- continental pronunciation, grammar and vocabulary
which distinguish different American dialects
variation • Dialects of English Archive
[Link] Intra-national or intra- continental variation

• Pop vs Soda
[Link] Intra-national or intra- continental
variation
• Isogloss: Boundary which distinguishes an area on a
map where a certain linguistic feature is found from
areas in which it is absent.
• Intra- national or intra- continental variation
 [Link] Cross continental variation: dialect
chains
French - Italian

Paris -> Italian border

• more and more ‘Italian like’ Rome --> French border
• more and more ‘French like’

Challenge: Where should be the boundary drawn between one

dialect and another – linguistic features overlap, the criterion
of “mutual intelligibility” is not sufficient either.
[Link] Cross continental variation: dialect
chains
• Dialect continuums or chains
• Moving from one village to another, there are only small changes in speech features from location
to location. Inhabitants of adjacent villages can usually understand each other. Over large distances,
however, speech differences are so great that inhabitants at either end of the chain may not be
able to understand each other.
• They illustrate very clearly the arbitrariness of the distinction between “language” and “dialect”.

Within a dialect continuum, the rationale with which transitory dialects (Ω) are viewed as dialects belonging to either stand ard forms is often
sociol-culturally determined, but linguistically arbitrary, AKAKIOS, Wikimedia, CC-BY-SA
 • Accents are distinguished from each other by pronunciation alone.
Different dialects are generally distinguishable by their
pronunciation, vocabulary and grammar.
• Regional dialects involve features of pronunciation, vocabulary and
grammar which differ according to the geographical area the
[Link] Cross speakers come from.
• Social dialects are distinguished by features of pronunciation,
continental vocabulary and grammar according to the social group of the
variation: dialect speakers. Social group is usually evaluated on the basis of a range of
features, such as education, occupation, residential area and income
chains level.
[Link] Cross continental variation: dialect
chains
• A language - as a collection of dialects that are usually
linguistically similar, used by different social groups who
choose to say that they are speakers of one language
which functions to unite and represent them to other
groups.
3.1.2. Social variation
[Link] Received Pronunciation: a social accent
• Received Pronunciation – the social accent of the best
educated and most prestigious members of English society.
• derives from the accent which was “received” at the
royal court, and it is sometimes identified with “the
Queen’s English”
• the Queen’s speech has kept pace with changes in RP,
albeit a few steps behind.
• promoted by the BBC (British Broadcasting Company)
for decades.
• conceals a speaker’s regional origins.
 3.1.2. Social variation
[Link] Received Pronunciation: a social accent
• most linguistic variation will be found at the lowest
socioeconomic level where regional differences abound.
• Further up - the amount of observable variation reduces till
one reaches the pinnacle of RP – an accent used by less than
5% of the British population.
• less variation from the lower- middle- class and middle- class
people
• More accurate diagram might have a somewhat flatter top,
suggesting accents other than RP can be heard amongst
those who belong to the highest social class
 3.1.2. Social variation
[Link] Received Pronunciation: a social accent
• RP now tends to be perceived by many
people as somewhat affected (or real posh!).
• Negative reaction to RP - among young
Londoners, many of whom use an accent
popularly labeled “Estuary English”
• Some have labelled it the “new RP”.
• rapidly spreading both regionally and socially
• a good illustration of the process of leveling
• Process of leveling - involves the reduction of
dialect and/ or accent variation
• Cockney, another variety which delineates
both a regional and a social group

Video Source Upper-class Accent Examples

3.1.3. Social dialects
[Link] Standard English

• Standard English is more accommodating

than RP and allows for some variation
within its boundaries.
• limited amount of grammatical
variation is acceptable
• spoken with many different accents
• Study the relationship between
social and regional variations in
relation to socioeconomic levels
[Link] Standard English
• non- standard
• associated with the speech of less prestigious
social groups
• inevitably acquires negative connotations
• nothing linguistically inferior → use the term
“vernacular”
• Vernacular
• learned at home and used in informal contexts
• lack public or overt prestige
• are generally valued by their users as means of
expressing solidarity and affective meaning
[Link] Caste dialects
• People can be grouped together on the basis of
similar social and economic factors. - use
different social dialects.
• Indonesia and India – clear-cut social divisions.
• caste systems determined by birth, and strict
social rules
• kind of job people can have
• who they can marry
• how they should dress
• what they should eat
• how they should behave in a range of social
situations.
• Corresponding speech differences - A person’s
dialect is an indication of their social
background. English Brahmin non- Brahmin
Milk haalu aalu
Sleep tuungu orangu
[Link] Caste
• Javanese - six distinguishable stylistic levels.
• lowest status group, the peasants and uneducated townspeople: 1,
1a and 2.

dialects • urbanised people with some education consists of 1, 1a, 2, 3 and 3a.
• highly educated highest status - 1, 1a, 1b, 3 and 3a.
[Link] Social
class dialects
• “Social class”
• differences between people
which are associated with
relative social prestige,
wealth and education.
• convenient label for groups
of people who share
similarities in economic and
social status.
[Link].1 Vocabulary
[Link].1 Vocabulary
• Consistent relationship between social class and
language patterns.
• Vocabulary – obvious differences in many ways - the
least illuminating from a sociolinguistic point of view,
though they clearly capture the public imagination.
• sitting room (U) - lounge (non- U)
• lavatory (U) – toilet (non- U)
• the U terms spread beyond the boundaries of the U
group-> new terms are introduced to maintain the
distinction.
• Vocabulary clues are superficial and conceal the
complexity and relative fluidity of social class
membership
• The barriers are NOT insurmountable. People can
move up and down the social ladder.
[Link].2
Pronunciation
• Groups - distinguished by
the frequency with which
they use particular
features, rather than by
their use of completely
different forms.
• h-dropping
[Link].2 Pronunciation
• regional differences but the overall pattern remains the same.
• a great deal of individual variation
• Pronouncing–in as /ɪn/ instead of /ɪŋ/.
[Link].2 Pronunciation
• the variable (r) - two possible variants of (r).
• [r]
• absent [0]
• part of the standard prestige dialect
• pronouncing (r) as [r] is part of the standard prestige
dialect – in the Boston and New York, Ireland and
Scotland
• The higher a person’s social group, the more [r] they
pronounce – in England
[Link].2 Pronunciation
• Particular linguistic forms which people regard as prestigious or stigmatized are in
general totally arbitrary.
• the precise values of the standard forms are entirely determined by the speech of the
most prestigious social group.
• Labov developed a method which involved giving a score to different pronunciations
according to how close they were to the prestige pronunciation or standard in the
community.
• In New Zealand - diphthongs (gliding vowels)
• Four points scale
• 1->4 - the “broadest”→ closest to RP
• The higher a person’s social class, the closer their pronunciation was to RP.
• better represents how the listener perceives sounds
• Analyze recordings of their speech using a spectrograph and some specialized
computer software.
[Link].2 Pronunciation
• The frequency with which [l] is deleted distinguishes the French of two social
groups
• differ between the social classes
• differs according to the grammatical status of the word in which it occurs.
[Link].2 Pronunciation
• Similar patterns can be found in any speech
community where there is social stratification
• Same relationship is found between speech and
social class.
• The higher social groups use more of the
standard forms
• the lowest groups use the fewest standard forms
[Link].3 Grammatical patterns
• On average - that children from lower class families used
more vernacular verb forms than children from middle-
class families.
• Clear pattern to the relationship between the
grammatical speech forms and the social groups who use
them.
• The higher social groups use more of the standard
grammatical form and fewer instances of the
vernacular or non- standard form.
• “sharp stratification”: a sharp distinction between social
classes with regard to the use of standard vs. vernacular
grammatical structures
• Multiple negation use: more frequent in lower-class
speech
 [Link] A note about methodology
• “cell”
• box in a diagram which indicates the target numbers for
each group in a sample.
• a minimum of five people in each box or cell in the
diagram to represent each group
• Sociolinguistic interviews -- difficulties: time consuming and
expensive!
• Rapid and anonymous surveys -- limitations: uncertainty
regarding social backgrounds!
Discussion 6
• Create a short presentation (powerpoint, infographic, video..) discuss
the similarities and differences in terms of vocabulary,
pronunciation, or grammar
• 2 different regional dialects of your choice (e.g., the north and south of
Vietnam)
• AND 2 different social dialects of your choice (e.g., teachers vs. farmers)
Class Discussion 6

1 2 3
Go to your class Create a short presentation
(powerpoint, infographic, video..) Don’t forget to
Padlet discuss the similarities and
differences in terms of vocabulary, include your
pronunciation, or grammar
• 12:00 -15:00 • 2 different regional dialects of your choice name and
student id.
• AND 2 different social dialects of your

• 15:10-17:40
choice
Homework

Complete Class
Read Chapter 7
Discussion 6
THANK YOU