5 - Sociolinguistics

Strands of Sociolinguistics

• Sociology of Languages

  • Studies the role of language in society

  • Looks at languages on a macro-level, how they are spread and used in society

  • Method: Surveys (e.g., who speaks which languages, and where)

  • Critical Constructivist Sociolinguistics

  • Sees language as a dynamic tool

  • Dives into societal issues and themes like multilingualism, globalisation, language and power

    • Examples: How minority languages are turned into economic or cultural “products”

  • Language constructs society and is also being constructed by it

  • Ethnographic-Interactional Sociolinguistics

  • Focuses on understanding how people behave and interact by observing everyday conversations and social behaviour in smaller groups

  • Uses methods from anthropology: researchers observing or participating in a community and combining it with close linguistic analysis

  • Variationist Sociolinguistics

  • Popular in the U.S.

  • Founder: William Labov

  • How language changes depending on social factors (like age, gender, class)

  • Data-driven, uses statistics (quantitative)

NORM

NORM = Non-mobile, Older, Rural Male

• Considered speakers of “pure” dialects, unaffected by standard or urban influence.

• Used in early dialectology to identify stable dialect features.

YUMFs = Young, Urban, Mobile Females

• Key focus of modern sociolinguistics.

• Often at the forefront of linguistic change and innovation.

Isogloss

is a geographic boundary line that marks where a particular linguistic feature occurs, such as pronunciation, vocabulary, or grammar.

• Example: Differences in how the vowel in "man" is pronounced across England.

• Isoglosses help identify and map dialect regions within a language.

Linguistic variable

a set of related forms (called variants) that show how language varies in a structured way across social contexts.

• Example: (h):[h] (presence) vs. (h):ø (absence) in hotel, honey

• Refutes the idea that variation is random—variation is orderly heterogeneity

• Enclosed in parentheses: variable (e.g., (h)), with its variants following (e.g., [h], ø)

Accommodation and audience design

These concepts explain how stylistic variation occurs based on social context and perceived audience:

• Accommodation: Speakers adjust their speech to align with their listener’s speech norms—consciously or unconsciously.

• Audience Design (Bell, 1984): Style shifts occur in response to the audience’s social characteristics (real or imagined).

• Example: A New Zealand newsreader changed accents depending on the audience:

  • (t):[ɾ] for a working-class audience

  • (t):[t] for a middle-class audience

• Demonstrates that language style is not fixed—it is adaptive and socially informed.

The three waves of Sociolinguistics

1. First Wave (1960s–70s, e.g., Labov 1966, Trudgill 1974)

   Big surveys, social groups, patterns

   • Large-scale urban surveys using (quasi-)random sampling

   • Focus on correlations between language use and social categories (class, age, gender)

   • Interest in language change and how it's transmitted in communities

   • Quantitative, pattern-seeking approach

2. Second Wave (1980s, e.g., Rickford 1986)

   Ethnography, real lives, rich context

   • Ethnographic approach: long-term immersion in communities

   • Focus on social practices and the lived experiences of speakers

   • More qualitative, context-rich studies

   • Moved beyond broad categories to understand speakers’ roles in their communities

3. Third Wave (1990s–present)

   Meaning, style, identity

   • Emphasis on stylistic variation and social meaning

   • Language tied to identity construction

   • Linked to communities of practice (groups formed by shared activities)

   • Focus on how speakers use language to perform and negotiate identity

Broad catogary → community meaning → individual identity

Identity and language practice

Identity is seen not as something you are, but something you do — performed and negotiated through language.

• Applies to social categories like gender, ethnicity, and regional identity (e.g., “Cockney” or “New Yorker”).

• Language is a key tool for constructing, expressing, and negotiating identity.

• Linguistic practices (accent, word choice, style) reflect and shape one’s place in social and regional categories.

Regional variation

refers to differences in language use across geographic areas.

• Includes regional dialects with distinct pronunciation, vocabulary, and grammar.

• Often noticeable when moving from one location to another due to local colourings in speech.

• Helps define dialect regions and reflects historical, social, and cultural influences on language.

Social variation

refers to differences in language use based on social group membership, such as:

• Occupation, education, income

• Place of residence, ethnic or racial background, religion, etc.
  These factors influence pronunciation, vocabulary, and grammar, shaping how individuals or groups speak.
  Language use both reflects and reinforces social identity and group boundaries.

Language-dialect continuum

refers to a range of dialects spoken across a geographic area where:

• Adjacent dialects are mutually intelligible, but

• Dialects at distant ends may be unintelligible to each other

• Borders between dialects are gradual, not sharply defined

• Even intermediate dialects may be unintelligible with one or both ends of the continuum

Example: Traveling through a region, a speaker notices subtle language changes, but not a clear boundary between dialects.

Dialect vs Accent

• Dialect = A variety of language that includes differences in grammar, vocabulary, and pronunciation

• Accent = A variety of language distinguished only by pronunciation

  • Example: Standard English can be spoken with different accents (e.g., British, American, Australian)

• Key Point: All accents are part of dialects, but not all dialects are just accents

RP

a prestigious English accent associated with:

• High social and educational status

• Traditional associations with the BBC, the professions, and the upper class

• Spoken by as few as 3% of people in England

• The term "received" reflects an old notion of being socially acceptable or elite—an accent that allows one to be "received" into high society

Estuary English

a variety of English:

• Originating along the lower Thames (between London and Essex)

• Seen as a blend of RP and regional (especially London) accents

• Part of a broader accent levelling trend across the UK

• Notable feature: Glottal stop for /t/ (e.g., "bottle" pronounced as "boʔle")

• This feature is not exclusive to Estuary English and is spreading to regions like Newcastle

General American

a broad, non-regional American English accent.

• Commonly heard in TV news, radio, and national media

• Sounds "neutral" — not tied to a specific region

• Associated with educated speech, but not upper-class

• Lacks strong markers of New England, New York, or Southern accents

• Found widely in the Midwest and West

• Valued for its clarity, understandability, and lack of regional bias.

Style

refers to the variation in speech depending on:

• Formality of the occasion (formal vs. informal)

• Social context and relationships between speakers

• Differences in age, social status, and other factors among participants

• Speakers adjust their language use to fit these contexts, showing stylistic variation

Register

a set of language features—including vocabulary, intonation, syntax, and phonology—used by specific occupational or social groups.

• Registers vary depending on the context or purpose of communication

• Example: Medical register, legal register, teenage slang