学期论文Language and Dialect.docx

1、学期论文Language and DialectLanguage and Dialect学生 ：学院 ： 高级翻译学院年级 ： 2007级研究方向 ： 商务翻译研究课程名称 ： 语言学理论任课老师 ：莫爱屏教授论文提交日期 ： 2008/01/08Abstract: This paper aims to probe into the study of language and dialect in the field of sociolinguistics. Part 1 is a general introduction to the issues being covered in the

2、paper. Part 2 centers on the analysis of certain criteria that probably could be applied as to differentiate a language from a dialect. Part 3 and Part 4 introduce two distinguished kinds of dialects, namely, regional dialect and social dialect respectively through detailed examples. Part 5 investig

3、ates the different aspects of register which is closely related to the study of language and dialect. Part 6 is the conclusion.Key words: variety; regional dialect; social dialect; register【中文摘要】【关键词】Contents 1. Introduction2. Criteria for differentiating a language from a dialect2.1 Variety and “mu

4、tual intelligibility”2.2 Other criteria (including Bells seven aspects in languages differentiation)3. Regional dialect3.1 Definition and characteristics of regional dialects3.2 Reasons for the appearance of regional dialects4. Social dialects4.1 Social dialects in relation to age differences4.2 Soc

5、ial dialects in relation to sex differences4.3 Social dialects in relation to difference of social class membership5. An introduction to register (field, mode and tenor)5.1 The field of discourse5.2 The mode of discourse5.3 The tenor of discourse6. Conclusion1. Introduction In sociolinguistics, lang

6、uage is considered as an abstract notion that is embodied in the form of dialects. Its not clear-cut to distinguish a language from a dialect of a language. “Mutual intelligibility” seems to be an ideal criterion in terms of telling a language from a dialect of a language, however, we can certainly

7、find some cases that counter-argue this principle. Hence some other criteria should be applied as supplements to distinguish between a language and a dialect, among which, Bells seven principles for discussing different languages are of great inspiration. The varieties of dialects are differentiated

8、 according to the places in which they are used, the different social factors that affect their uses, and functions and styles they have when accommodating different situations in language communication. Accordingly, sociolinguists label these dialects as regional, social, and functional dialect res

9、pectively. This paper will touch upon the discussion of the different varieties of language in relation to the users, social factors and environment.2. Criteria for differentiating a language from a dialect2 .1 Variety and “mutual intelligibility”In order to further the discussion of the difference

10、between a language and a dialect, lets first of all center on an important term in the field of sociolinguisticsvariety. Then what is the definition of a variety? R. A. Hudson, a famous linguist, defines a variety of language as a set of linguistic items with similar social distribution (1980:24). A

11、ccording to this definition, we can call any of the following items “varieties of language”: English, French, Chinese, London English, or the language used by a particular person, etc. It will be seen from this list that the general notion “variety” includes examples of what would normally be called

12、 languages, dialects and registers (a term meaning roughly “style”). Now we know that both “a language” and “a dialect of a language” are kind of variety. Then why do we call some varieties different languages and others different dialects of the same language? Many sociolinguists agree that a diale

13、ct is one of most problematic terms to give a general definition to. Some proposed that language exists in the form of dialect. What, then, is a dialect? What are the criteria for distinguishing between a language and a dialect of a language? Linguists start with the assumption that all human beings

14、 speak their own idiolects. Similar idiolects make up a particular dialect, and similar dialects make up a particular language. This statement in some sense presupposes that all the idiolects of a dialect and all the dialects of a language are mutually intelligible (Wang,1992:11). However, we can ea

15、sily find cases to counter-argue this thesis if the principle of mutual intelligible serve as the only criterion for differentiating a language from a dialect.Take for example, the Scandinavian languages (including Norwegian, Swedish and Danish). Speakers of these three languages can, with little ef

16、fort, understand and communicate with one another. These languages are mutually intelligible. According to the principle of “mutual intelligibility”, they are different dialects. But the fact is that they are usually assumed to be different languages.If we turn our attention to China, we will find t

17、hat speakers of Cantonese and Mandarin will tell you that they speak the same language. People speaking Cantonese and people speaking Mandarin are not mutually intelligible at all, yet they almost certainly insist that they speak different dialects of the same languageChinese, not different language

18、s, for to the Chinese a shared writing system and a powerful social and cultural tradition form essential parts of our definition of language.So for these and other reasons, then, we cannot use the test of “mutual intelligibility” to differentiate between dialect and language. The fact is that there

19、 is no very clear distinction between the terms dialect and language. These two concepts are, as a matter of fact, ambiguous. The above two cases mentioned tell us that different languages are sometimes mutually intelligible and that dialects of the same language are sometimes not mutually intelligi

20、ble at all.2.2 Other criteria (including Bells seven aspects in language differentiation)So apart from “mutual intelligibility”, we also need other supplementary criteria. Some sociolinguists have some accounts of differentiating a language from a dialect. One of them is based on the existence of a

21、standard language or of a written form shared by a set of speakers. If two or more groups who differ in speech but regard the same form of speech as a standard, or if they share the common written form, they tend to be regarded as speaking different dialects rather than different languages, whatever

22、 degree of mutual intelligibility, like different dialects across China. On the contrary, the Scandinavian languages like Norwegian, Swedish and Danish are considered different languages because they have distinct, codified, standardized forms, with their own grammar books and literatures, which cor

23、respond to three separate nation states.Another account is made in terms of size and prestige. That means a language is larger than a dialect, so that a language can contain more dialects. For example, the Chinese language has seven dialects: Northern, Wu, Xiang, Gan, Min, Yue, and Kejia dialects. I

24、n addition, they also think that the term language implies social prestige, for it is written as well as spoken, but dialectal varieties are generally not used in formal writing, thus is not comparable with more socially valuable language.A famous linguist Bell (1976:147-57) has listed seven criteri

25、a that may be useful in discussing different kinds of languages. According to Bell, these criteria, namely, standardization, vitality, historicity, autonomy, reduction, mixture and de facto norms, may be used to distinguish certain languages from others.1) Standardization refers to the process by wh

26、ich a language has been codified in some way. That process usually involves the development of such things as grammars, dictionaries and possibly a literature, etc. Once a language is standardized it becomes possible to teach it in a deliberate manner. According to these criteria, both English and F

27、rench are quite obviously standardized, Italian somewhat less so, and the variety known as Black English not at all.2) Vitality, the second of Bells seven criteria, refers to the existence of a living community of speakers. This criterion can be especially used to distinguish languages that are “ali

28、ve” from those that are “dead”. For example, Latin is dead in the sense that no one speaks it as native language; it exists only in a written form frozen in time, pronounced rather than spoken, and studied rather than used.Yet we should note that a language can remain a considerable force even after

29、 it is dead, that is, even after it is no longer spoken as anyones first language and exists almost exclusively in one or more written forms, knowledge of which is acquired only through formal education. Classical Greek and Latin still have considerable prestige in the Western world, and speakers of

30、 many modern languages continue to draw on them in a variety of ways.3) Historicity refers to the fact that a particular group of people finds a sense of identity through using a particular language: it belongs to them. Social, political, religious, or ethnic ties may also be important for the group

31、, but the bond provided by a common language may prove to be the strongest tie of all. Historicity can be long-standing. For example, the speakers of Chinese, the different varieties of colloquial Chinese make much of a common linguistic ancestry.4) Autonomy is an interesting concept because it is r

32、eally one of feeling. A language must be felt by its speakers to be different from other languages. However, this is a very subjective criterion. For example, some speakers of Black English maintain that their language is not a variety of English, but is a separate language in its own right. In contrast, speakers of Cantonese and Mandarin are not autonomous languages but are just two dialects of Chinese. 5) Reduction refers to the fact that a particular variety may be regarded as a sub-variety rather than as an independent entity. Sometimes the reduction is in the kinds of