outline of Chapter Eight.docx

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outlineofChapterEight

ChapterEightLanguageandSociety （Sociolinguistics）

1.Languagevariation

Languageuseissocial.Languageusevarieswiththespeechcommunities,regions,socialgroupsandindividuals.Sociolinguisticsisthestudyoflanguageinsocialcontextstoexplorethenatureandsocialsignificanceoflanguagevariationandlanguageuseindifferentsocialsituations.

1.1Speechcommunity

   Aspeechcommunityisdefinedasagroupofpeoplewhoformacommunityandsharethesamelanguageoraparticularvarietyoflanguage.Theimportantcharacteristicofaspeechcommunityisthatthemembersofthegroupmustinteractlinguisticallywithothermembersofthecommunity.Theymaysharesimilarattitudestowardlinguisticnorms.Peopleofdifferentsocialbackgrounds,suchassocialstatus,economicpositions,educationalbackground,occupations,agemayhavelinguisticformscharacteristicoftheirsocialidentity.

1.2Speechvariety

Speechvariety,alsoknownaslanguagevariety,referstoanydistinguishableformofspeechusedbyaspeakerorgroupofspeakers.Thedistinctivecharacteristicsofaspeechvarietyaremainlyreflectedinitspronunciation,syntaxandvocabulary.Speechvarietyisaneutralterm,whichisoftenusedtoreplacethesuchtermsasstandardlanguage,dialect,pidginandcreole.ItcanalsobeusedtorefertoregionaldialectsandethnicdialectssuchasAustralianEnglishandBlackEnglishaswellasthefunctionaldialectssuchaslegallanguage.

 Sociolinguistsareparticularlyinterestedinregionaldialects,sociolectsorsocialdialects,andfunctionalspeechvarietiesknownasregister.Socio-linguistsbelievethatallspeechvarietiesarerule-governed.Thereisnothinglinguisticallyinherentthatmakesonevarietysuperiororinferiortoanothervariety.

1.3Regionalvariation

  Geographicalbarrierstofreecommunicationsuchashighmountains,seasandgeographicaldistanceshavegivenrisetothedevelopmentofdifferentregionalvarietiesoflanguage.Inaddition,loyaltytoone'snativespeechandresistancetochangecanalsocontributetotheregionalvariationsoflanguage.Themostnoticeabledifferencesinregionaldialectsareseenintheiraccents,inspiteofthedifferencesinpronunciation,syntaxandvocabulary.

Theexistenceofdifferentregionaldialectsposesdifficultyincross-regioncommunication,languagestandardizationknownaslanguageplanningisoftencarriedoutbycertainauthorities,suchasthegovernment,whochoosesaparticularspeechvariety,standardizeitspronunciation,syntaxandvocabularyandspreadtheuseofitinthesociety.

1.4Socialvariation

Socialvariationsgiverisetosociolects.Twopeoplewhospeakthesameregionaldialectmaypossesssomelinguisticfeatureswhicharisebecauseofsocialfactorsinsteadofregionalfactors.Inotherwords,peoplewhohavedifferentsocialandeconomicbackgrounds,academicexperiences,occupations,agesandsexesspeakdifferently.Althoughlivinginthesameregion,peoplemayconsciouslyorunconsciouslyselectlinguisticfeaturesforcommunicationthatareappropriatetotheirsocialidentities.

1.5Stylisticvariation

Stylisticvariationisthepragmaticvariation.Aperson’sstyleissometimesformal,sometimesneutralansometimescasual.Thefactorsdeterminingdegreeofformalityincludetheoccasionsinwhichcommunicationtakesplace,thesocialstatusandrelationsoftheparticipants,theplaceofcommunication,topics,etc.Stylisticvariationsarerealizedbydifferentchoicesofpronunciation,grammaticalstructuresandwords.

Stylecanrefertoaparticularperson'suseofspeechorwritingatalltimes,ortoawayofspeakingorwritingataparticularperiodoftime.Aparticularregistermaybeusedbyaparticulargroupofpeople,usuallysharingthesameoccupation.

1.6Idiolectalvariation

Aspeaker'slinguisticperformanceisheterogeneous.Notwospeakersofthesamelanguageordialectusetheirlanguageordialectinexactlythesameway.Whenanindividualspeaks,whatisactuallyproducedisauniquelanguagesystemofthespeaker,expressedwithintheoverallsystemofaparticularlanguage.Personalspeechvariationleadstopersonaldialectoridiolect.

 Idiolectis,thus,ahabitofaspeaker’slanguageuse.Itisapersonaldialectofanindividualspeakerthatcombinesaspectsofalltheelementsregardingregional,social,andstylisticvariation.Inanarrowersense, idiolectincludesaspeaker’svoicequality,pitch,speechrhythm,etc.

2.Standardandnonstandardlanguage

2.1Standardandnonstandardlanguage

   Alllanguagesordialectscanequallyfulfilthecommunicativefunctionseffectively.Agovernmentmayselectaregionaldialect,raiseitssocialprestigeorstatusbystandardizingitandmakeitanationalorofficiallanguageofacountry.

Thestandardlanguageisasuperposed,sociallyprestigiousdialectoflanguage.Generallyspeaking,thestandardlanguageisalsothenationalorofficiallanguageofacountry.Butthenationallanguageorofficiallanguageofacountryisnotalwaysthestandardlanguage.Alanguagewhichwasoncestandardizedmayforvariousreasonsbenolongeranationallanguageorofficiallanguage.Aparticulardialectcanbeastandardlanguageorofficiallanguage,butnotanationallanguage.Thenationallanguageisthesymbolofanation.InSingapore,thenationallanguageisMalay,withMandarin,Hindi,MalayandEnglishasitsofficiallanguages.Astandardlanguageisusuallythelanguageemployedbythegovernmentandthejudiciarysystem,usedbythemassmedia,andtaughtineducationalinstitutions. 

Varietiesotherthanthestandardvarietyarecallednonstandardorvernacularvarieties.Linguisticallyspeaking,noonevarietyisbetterorworsethantheother.Theirdistinctionsaremadebecauseofhistorical,socialorpoliticalreasons.Theviewthatthestandardvarietyoflanguageis"right",“logic”,“elegant”and“expressive”,whilenonstandardvarietiesare“substandard”,“incorrect”and“illogical”isasocialprejudicialattitudethatreflectsasubjectiveandsociopoliticaljudgment,whichhasnolinguisticbaseatall.Alllanguagesanddialectsaresystematicandrule-governed.

2.2Linguafrancas

Alinguafrancaisavarietyoflanguagethatservesasamediumofcommunicationamonggroupsofpeoplefordiverselinguisticbackgrounds.Forthisreason,alinguafrancamustbeanagree-uponcommontongueusedbypeoplethrowninsocialcontactforvariouspurposes.Broadlyspeaking,linguafrancaisanyotherlanguageusedasatradeorcommunicationmedium.ThestandardChineselanguageinChinaisalinguafranca.Englishisalsoalinguafrancausedforinternationalcommunicativepurposes.

2.3Pidgins

Apidginisavarietyoflanguagethatisgenerallyusedbynativespeakersofotherlanguagesasamediumofcommunication.Itisoftenamixtureoftwoormorethantwovarieties.Apidginandalinguafrancaissimilarinthatbotharethevarietiesforcommunicationamongthepeopleofdiverselinguisticbackgroundsandbothareoftenrestrictedtosomepracticalpurposes,suchastrading.Butapidginisdifferentfromalinguafrancainthattheformerhasnonativespeakerswhilethelatterhas.

Asacontactlanguage,apidginmaycontainsignificantgrammaticalfeaturesoftwoormorelanguages.Apidginusuallyreflectstheinfluenceofthehigher,ordominant,languageinitslexiconandthatofthelowerlanguageintheirphonologyandoccasionallysyntax.Apidgininvolvesthereductioninitspronounciation,vocabulary,andinflectionalmorphemes.Inaddition,thecopulaverb"tobe"isoftenabsentinpidgins.Overgeneralizationisafrequentphenomenonnotonlyinitsgrammaticalsystem,butalsoinitsvocabularysystem.

 Althoughpidginsaresimplifiedlanguages,theyaresystematicandrule-governed,likeanyhumanlanguage.Pidginshavestrictrulesforwordorderstocompensateforthelackofinflectionalmorphemes.

2.4Creoles

Whenapidgincomestobeadoptedasaprimarylanguageinaspeechcommunityandchildrenlearnitastheirfirstlanguageornativelanguage,thenpidginbecomesacreole.Acreoleinvolvesaseriesofexpansioninvocabularyandgrammaraswellasitscommunicativefunctions.

Asafullydevelopedlanguage,ithasrulescomparableinnatureandcomplexitywiththerulesofanyotherhumannaturallanguage.Creloescanalsoachievethestatusofstandards.

3.Diglossiaandbilingualism

3.1Diglossia

Diglossia,advancedbyFergusonin1959,usuallydescribesasituationinwhichtwoverydifferentvarietiesoflanguageco-existinaspeechcommunity,eachwithadistinctrangeofpurelysocialfunctionandappropriateforcertainsituations.Usually,oneisamorestandardvarietycalledthehighvarietyorH-variety,whichisusedformoreformalsituationsorasawrittenformofcommunicationsuchasingovernmentoffices,massmedia,educationalfieldandchurches.Theotherisanon-prestigevarietycalledthelowvarietyorL-variety,whichisusedincolloquialandotherinformalsituationssuchasamongfamilymembers,friends,ortheinstructionsbythesuperiorstoinferiors.

  DiglossiausedtooccurinChinawhenClassicalChinese“WenYanWen”anditsspokenform“BaiHuaWen”co-existedandtheirsocialfunctionsareclearlydistinguished,withtheformerastheH-varietyandthelatterastheL-variety.

   Diglossiaalsoincludesthesituationsinwhichtwovarietiesinvolvedarenotgeneticallyrelated.Forexample,inParaguay,SpanishisaH-varietywhileGuaraniisaL-variety.

3.2Bilingualism

Bilingualismreferstoalinguisticsituationinwhichtwostandardlanguagesareusedeitherbyani