Sociolinguistics: Lecture notes

Chapter 1 What do sociolinguists study?

What is sociolinguistics?
 The study of the relationship between language and society.
Specifically: why we speak differently in different social contexts, the social functions of language, the ways
language is used to convey social meaning
 Sociolinguistics is the study of our everyday lives – how language works in our casual conversations and the
media we are exposed to, and the presence of societal norms, policies, and laws which address language.
Prescriptivism and Descriptivism
 Grammar books prescribe the rules of a given language: how language should be used.
 Sociolinguistics describes (and analyze, explain) how people actually use their languages in specific contexts.
 The focus of sociolinguistics is not prescriptive rules but the rules inside the heads of speakers which constitute
their knowledge of how to speak the language. It is a knowledge of underlying rules and principles which allow
us to produce new utterances. It is knowing what is part of the language and what is not, knowing both what it
is possible to say and what it is not possible to say. Communication among people who speak the same
language is possible because they share such knowledge.

Types of linguistic variation

 Types of linguistic variation: word choices (vocabulary), pronunciation (including accents), syntactic structures,
dialects (including all pronunciation, word choices, grammatical variation), styles, & languages.
 Variation is an inherent characteristic of all languages at all times, and the patterns exhibited in this variation
carry social meanings.

Variety
 A variety (code) is a set of linguistic forms used under specific social circumstances, i.e., with a distinctive social
distribution.
 Variety is 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 is 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.

Linguistic (verbal) repertoires

 The distinguishable varieties (codes) which are available for use in different social contexts.
 In every community there is a range of varieties from which people select according to the context in which they
are communicating. In monolingual communities these take the form of different styles and dialects.

Social Dimensions
 A social distance scale concerned with participant relationships
 A status scale concerned with participant relationships
 A formality scale relating to the setting or type of interaction
 Two functional scales relating to the purposes or topic of interaction.

 The solidarity–social distance scale: This scale is useful in emphasizing that how well we know someone is a
relevant factor in linguistic choice.
 The status scale: This scale points to the relevance of relative status in some linguistic choices.
 The formality scale: This scale is useful in assessing the influence of the social setting or type of interaction
on language choice. Often degrees of formality are strongly influenced by solidarity and status relationships,
but not always (e.g. in a law court)
 The referential and affective function scales: Language can convey (objective) referential information.
Language can also express how someone is feeling.
 Sociolinguistics: Lecture notes

Chapter 2: Language choice in multilingual communities

Domain of language use
A domain of language use involves typical interactions between typical participants in typical settings.

Diglossia
 Two distinct varieties of the same language are used in the community, with one regarded as a high (or H)
variety and the other a low (or L) variety.
 Each variety is used for quite distinct functions; H and L complement each other.
 No one uses the H variety in everyday conversation.

[Broad sense] Diglossia is the term used to describe a situation in which there are two distinct codes with clear
functional separation: one code is employed in one set of circumstances and the other in an entirely different set.

 People generally admire the H variety even when they can’t understand it. Attitudes to it are usually very
respectful. The H variety has prestige in the sense of high status. These attitudes are reinforced by the fact that
the H variety is the one which is described and ‘fixed’, or standardized, in grammar books and dictionaries.
 The L variety lacks prestige and power. In fact, there may be so little prestige attached to the L variety that
people may even deny that they know it although they may be observed to use it far more frequently than the H
variety.
 Diglossia is a characteristic of speech communities rather than individuals. Individuals may be bilingual. Societies
or communities are diglossic. The term diglossia describes societal or institutionalized bilingualism, where two
varieties are required to cover all the community’s domains.

Diglossia and Bilingualism

1. Diglossia with bilingualism: Two languages are required to cover the full range of domains, and (most) individuals
are bilingual. Eg: Communities in Vanuatu: individuals speak Erromangan, Aulua, (the local village languages) and
Bislama (the lingua franca)
2. Bilingualism without diglossia: Individuals are bilingual, but there is no community-wide functional differentiation in
the use of their languages. E.g.: English speaking countries (USA, Australia, New Zealand)
3. Diglossia without bilingualism: Two languages are used for different functions, but by largely different speech
communities. E.g.: Colonized countries with clear-cut social class divisions: i.e. the elite speak one language and the
lower classes use another
4. Monolingual groups: This is typical of isolated ethnic communities where there is little contact with other linguistic
groups.

Polyglossia is a term for describing situations where a number of distinct codes or varieties are used for clearly distinct
purposes or in clearly distinguishable situations.

Code-switching
 Situational code-switching occurs when the languages used change according to the situations in which the
speakers find themselves: they speak one language in one situation and another in a different one.
 People sometimes switch code within a domain or social situation because:
 Participant: When there is some obvious change in the situation, such as the arrival of a new person.
 Solidarity: to signal group membership and shared ethnicity with an addressee
 Emblematic switching (tag switching): an interjection or a linguistic tag in the other language which serves as an
ethnic identity marker.
 Bilinguals often find it easier to discuss particular topics in one code rather than another. For many bilinguals,
certain kinds of referential content are more appropriately or more easily expressed in one language than the
other.
 Switching for affective functions: To create an effect (e.g. make a dramatic/amusement effect) or to express
feelings (e.g. anger, disapproval…)
 Metaphorical switching: Each of the codes switched represents or symbolizes a set of social meanings, and the
speaker draws on the associations of each, just as people use metaphors to represent complex meanings. The
 Sociolinguistics: Lecture notes
term also reflects the fact that this kind of switching involves rhetorical skill. Skillful code-switching operates like
metaphor to enrich the communication.
 Lexical borrowing: switches motivated by lack of vocabulary (when there is lexical need). Borrowed words are
usually adapted to the speaker’s first language. They are pronounced and used grammatically as if they were
part of the speaker’s first language.

Code-mixing
 Code-mixing: a type of rapid switching when the speaker is mixing up codes indiscriminately (or perhaps
because of incompetence); Switches occur within a sentence (intra-sentential).
 Code-mixing is itself a specific sociolinguistic variety (aka a fused-lect)
 Code-mixing is a distinctive conversational style used among bilinguals and multilinguals – a rich additional
linguistic resource available to them.
 Switches only occur within sentences (intra-sentential switching) at points where the grammars of both
languages match each other. Matrix language frame (MLF): matrix language imposes structural constraints on
embedded (code-switched) utterances.

Chapter 3 Linguistic varieties and multilingual nations

Vernacular languages and Standard languages
 Vernacular generally refers to a language which has not been standardized and which does not have official
status. Vernaculars are often the first languages learned by people in multilingual communities, and they are
often used for a relatively narrow range of informal functions. E.g: African American Vernacular English (AAVE)
 The term vernacular simply means a language which is not an official language in a particular context.
 The term vernacular generally refers to the most colloquial variety in a person’s linguistic repertoire.
 It is the variety used for communication in the home and with close friends. It is the language of solidarity
between people from the same ethnic group.
 A standard variety is generally one which is written, and which has undergone some degree of regularization or
codification (for example, in a grammar and a dictionary). It is recognized as a prestigious variety by a
community, and it is used for H functions alongside a diversity of L varieties.
 Standard language is always a particular dialect which has gained its special position as a result of social,
economic and political influences. A standard dialect has no particular linguistic merits, whether in vocabulary,
grammar or pronunciation. It is simply the dialect of those who are politically powerful and socially prestigious.
Once it begins to serve as a norm or standard for a wider group, however, it is likely to develop the wider
vocabulary needed to express the new functions it is required to serve.

World Englishes
The term World Englishes has been used to emphasize the range of different varieties of English that have developed
since the 19th century. It emphasizes the plurality of the English language

Three Circles of English Varieties (Kachru,

1985)
 Sociolinguistics: Lecture notes

Lingua Franca
 A lingua franca is a language used for communication between people whose first languages differ.
 More generally, lingua franca describes a language serving as a regular means of communication between
different linguistic groups in a multilingual speech community.
 Lingua francas often develop initially as trade languages

Pidgin and creole

 Pidgin has no native speakers and is strictly a contact language, i.e. used for trading or working.
 Pidgin is not used to express group membership or social distance – it mostly has referential functions.
 Pidgin languages are created from the combined efforts of people who speak different languages.
 All languages involved may contribute to the sounds, the vocabulary and the grammatical features, but to
different extents, and some additional features may emerge which are unique to the new variety.
 The prestige language tends to supply more of the vocabulary, while vernacular languages have more influence
on the grammar of the developing pidgin. E.g.: Tok Pisin: 77% from English vocabulary & 11% from Tolai (the
local vernacular)
 The language which supplies most of the vocabulary is known as the lexifier (or sometimes superstrate)
language. The languages which influence the grammatical structure are called the substrate.
 A pidgin language has three identifying characteristics:
1. it is used in restricted domains and functions
2. it has a simplified structure compared to the source languages
3. it generally has low prestige and attracts negative attitudes – especially from outsiders.
 A creole is a pidgin which has acquired native speakers. They are learned by children as their first language and
used in a wide range of domains. A creole is a pidgin which has expanded in structure and vocabulary to express
the range of meanings and serve the range of functions required of a first language. E.g Tok Pisin
 Creolization: the process of expanding the lexicon and grammar of the existing pidgins and increasing its use in
more domains and functions.
 Decreolization: the process of reconverging the creole with the standard language.

Chapter 4: Regional & Social Dialects

Regional dialects
 International varieties: varieties of language in different regions (geographical influences). Example: British
English vs. American English
 Intra-national (or intra-continental) variation: Regional variation occurs within a nation. Example: Northern,
Midland, Southern dialects in the USA
 Cross-continental variation
Dialect chains: a term used to describe a gradual change of the language. Over large distances, the dialects at
each end of the chain/ continuum may well be mutually unintelligible, although speakers can easily understand
people in neighboring areas.
 What is language (in sociolinguistic perspectives)?
A language can be thought of 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.
 Social accents
RP (Received Pronunciation):
 The accent of the best educated and most prestigious members of English society.
 Sometimes identified with ‘the Queen’s English’.
 Promoted by the BBC for decades.
 RP is essentially a social accent, not a regional one. Indeed, it conceals a speaker’s regional origins.
 Social dialects: Dialects of people coming from different social groups.
 Standard English: the dialect used by well-educated English speakers throughout the world
 Sociolinguistics: Lecture notes

Chapter 5: Speech functions, politeness and cross-cultural

communication
Linguistic choices are affected by social factors – the audience, the formality of the context, and the purposes of talk.

Speech functions:
 Expressive utterances express the speaker’s feelings,
e.g. I’m feeling great today.
 Directive utterances attempt to get someone to do something
e.g. Clear the table.
 Referential utterances provide information
e.g. At the third stroke it will be three o’clock precisely.
 Metalinguistic utterances comment on language itself
e.g. ‘Hegemony’ is not a common word.
 Poetic utterances focus on aesthetic features of language (a poem, an ear-catching motto, a rhyme)
e.g. Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers.
 Phatic utterances express solidarity and empathy with others
e.g. Hi, how are you, lovely day isn’t it!
 Any utterance may express more than one function, and any function may be expressed by a stretch of
discourse which doesn’t exactly coincide with an utterance.
 The categories of functions are useful as guides for analysis, but they are not mutually exclusive. E.g. A love
poem is both poetic and expressive.
 Researchers can add/create new categories of speech functions, depending on their interests or the focus of
their study.
 A speech function can be expressed by various linguistic forms in a variety of contexts.

Assessing the appropriateness of linguistic forms

 Social distance/solidarity
 Status
 Formality of context
 Routineness/ reasonableness
 Gender
 Assessing the appropriateness of particular forms for expressing certain speech functions involves a
consideration of politeness.
 The patterns for choosing appropriate forms are not universal – they are context/cultural-specific.

Linguistic politeness
 Generally speaking, politeness involves contributing to social harmony and avoiding social conflict.
 More specifically, linguistic politeness involves discourse strategies or linguistic devices which are perceived or
evaluated by others as having been used to maintain harmonious relations and avoid causing trouble.
 In many cases, being polite involves adapting sensitively to evolving social relationships.
 Being linguistically polite involves speaking to people appropriately in the light of their relationship to you.
 Inappropriate linguistic choices may be considered rude.
 Sociolinguistics: Lecture notes
 Making decisions about what is or is not considered polite in any community of practice therefore involves
assessing social relationships along the dimensions of social distance or solidarity, and relative power or
status. We need to understand the social values of a community in order to speak politely.
 Positive politeness is solidarity oriented. It emphasizes shared attitudes and values.
E.g.: The boss suggests that a subordinate should use first name to her  express solidarity and
minimize status differences
 Negative politeness pays people respect and avoids intruding on them. Negative politeness involves
expressing oneself appropriately in terms of social distance and respecting status differences.
 Interaction is not static. What is considered polite or impolite may emerge, change and develop throughout an
interaction.

Linguistic politeness in different cultures (CROSS-CULTURAL COMMUNICATION):

 Learning another language usually involves a great deal more than learning the literal meaning of the
words, how to put them together and how to pronounce them.
 We need to know what they mean in the cultural context in which they are normally used. And that
involves some understanding of the cultural and social norms of their users.

E.g. On which day of the week would you like to have your bath?

How much do you earn a month?

 Ways of expressing the same speech act may differ quite markedly from one culture to another.
 These differences may seem totally random and unpredictable, but in fact they are not. They indicate the
different social values and attitudes of different societies.
 Culture is the ways we do things around here.
 Direct cultures (Western countries, Northern America): say what they mean
 Indirect cultures (Asian, Arab, African): ambiguity – not saying what they actually mean
E.g. Refusal to a meal: Western countries vs. Vietnam
Greeting: America vs. Vietnam

Chapter 6: Language, cognition and culture

Linguistic determinism (Sapir-Whorf hypothesis)
People from different cultures think differently because of differences in their languages. People perceive reality
differently because of differences in their languages.

Example: Some languages do not have words for numbers (e.g. Pirahã speakers), then counting and calculations are
problematic for the speakers of those languages. They will have trouble of keeping track of an exact point due to lacking
a trick in language.

Linguistic relativity
Language influences perceptions, thought and, at least potentially, behavior. The categories provided by a language may
make it easier to draw certain conceptual distinctions.

Example: Navajo-speaking children are typically faster than English-speaking children in categorizing blocks by shape.
Given a choice of ways of putting objects into groups, Navajo children tend to group them according to shape, while
English-speaking children group them according to color.