HESP120 Module 10- Sociolinguistics

Dialect

Language variety characteristic of a particular social group

NOT: a bad way of talking, slang, or an underdeveloped/inferior form of language

Isogloss

Geographical boundary that marks the limit of the regional distribution of a particular feature.

Overt prestige

The speaker seeks prestige by assimilating to the standard dialect.

Covert prestige

The speaker chooses to differ from the standard and assimilate to a different non-standard language variety.

Chicano English

Spanish-influenced English that has become a distinct dialect and may be bilingual or monolingual.

• Features 

  • Vowel substitutions (e.g. /tədeɪ/→[tudeɪ])

  • /z/ devoicing (e.g. /wʌz/→[wʌs])

  • Topicalization:

    • To talk about myself, it’s easy for me. (SAE: It’s easy for me to talk about myself)

  • Use of “barely” for “just recently”

    • “You’re leaving? You barley got here

African American English

A continuum of varieties with a complex grammatical system and specific phonological features

• A phonological rule: word-final consonant cluster reduction 

  • past and passed =pass

  • burned my hand = [bʌɹn maɪ hæn]

• A grammatical rule: “habitual be”

  • Distinguishes whether the statement refers to a specific instance or in general (a habitual state)

    • The coffee (always) be cold

    • *errored: The coffee be cold right now

    • She be late (everyday)

Sociolinguistics

The study of relationships between language varieties and social structure.

Privilege

Unearned cultural, legal, social, and institutional benefits extended to a group based on social group membership.

Linguistic discrimination

Discrimination based on the way an individual speaks, often tied to prestige and accent.

Style shifting

Automatically adjusting from one speech style to another based on context.

Slang

Words or expressions used in informal settings, often indicating membership in a particular social group.

Jargon

Technical language associated with a specialized domain, like medical or legal terminology.

Social variation

Differences in language usage influenced by factors like ethnicity, class, age, gender, and socioeconomic status.

Lexical variation

Differences in vocabulary, including different words for the same object.

Phonological variation

Differences in pronunciation among speakers.

Register

Different levels of formality in language, characterized by linguistic features.

Speech community

A group of people who share the same dialect.

Natural language changes

Changes in language that may be phonetic, phonological, lexical, semantic, etc.

Differential access

Limited access to information based on language proficiency or variety spoken.

Communication access

Tools and methods through which people receive and exchange information.

Social dialects

A variety of speech associated with a particular social group within society (sociolect) 

• Social factors that affect language include:

  • Ethnicity

    • Often speakers of the same ethnicity will share a dialect but it is not a biological issue 

  • Class

  • Age

    • Natural language changes may be phonetic, phonological, lexical, semantic, etc. 

  • Gender

    • Links between cultural norms for behavior and gender are usually arbitrary 

  • Socioeconomic status

  • Education 

Communication access

Various tools and methods through which people receive and exchange information

Appropriate access: gives people equal access to education, the workplace, public venues, etc.