Socio Linguistics

1. Socio Linguistics
By
Syeda Uzma Paiam

2. What is Sociolinguistics?
- aspects of linguistics applied towards connections between
language and society
- the way use language – different social situations

3. Society :
any group of people who are drawn together for a certain purpose
Language :
what the members of a particular society speak
Social:
how and where the members of a society interact and communicate

4. Sociolinguistics
- the study of language as it affects and is affected
by social relations.
- encompasses a broad range of concerns,
including bilingualism, pidgin and creole
languages
- other ways that language use is influenced by
contact among people of different language
communities
- E.g., speakers of German, French, Italian, and
Romansh in Switzerland.
- examine different dialects, accents, and levels of
diction in light of social distinctions among
people.

5. - studies how language varieties differ between groups separated by
certain social variables, e.g., ethnicity, religion, status, gender, level
of educationand age
- might also study the grammar, phonetics, vocabulary, and other
aspects of this sociolect.
(a variety of language associated with a particular social group)

6. Sociolinguistics
Micro-sociolinguistics Macro-sociolinguistics

7. Micro-sociolinguistics:
- How social structure influences the way people talk
and how language varieties and patterns of use
correlate with social attributes such as class, gender
and age.
- in a simplistic term micro-sociolinguistics explores
the ways in which society influences a speaker's
idiolect
- meaning the specific language of a person - and
how people communicate with one another in line
with different social variables/factors
For example: Variance in Manglish and Singlish

8. Macro-sociolinguistics:
- What societies do with their languages that is attitudes
and attachments that account for functional distribution
of speech forms in society, language shift, maintenance,
and replacement and interaction of speech communities.
- In other words macro-sociolinguistics moves alongside
with other human cultural phenomena
- macro-sociolinguistics focuses more on society as a
whole, in relation to language.
- In short, micro-sociolinguistics the emphasis is on
language; with macro-sociolinguistics the emphasis is on
on society

9. Ranges from
study of
wide variety of
dialects
how men and
women speak

10. shows
the humourous
realities of human
speech
how language
describe social
class

11. Sociolinguistics attempts to answer:
 How do people’s identity affect the way they speak, and how
does the way they speak ‘create’ their identity?
 What happens to languages and their speakers when people
of different language backgrounds find themselves living and
working in the same community?
 How governments and institutions can maintain or revitalise
languages, while at the same time maintaining effective
communication in a community?
 How do attitudes and ideologies about language affect the
way a language is spoken?

12. Sociolinguistics and related Disciplines
- Language and society – sociologists and linguists – other
disciplines
Anthropologists, psychologists, educators and planners
- Anthropologists –:
exploration of kinship systems
- Psychologists –:
concern with the possible effects of linguistics structure
on social and psychological behaviour
- Educators –:
making decisions about matters involving language
- Planners – :
need a considerable amount linguistic knowledge in
making sound decision on attempts to make a standardised
language

13. Sociolinguistics is interested in the study of how language:
a) is used in a social context
b) enables us to say the same thing in different ways
c) provides us with different linguistic variations for expressions

14. (A) Sociolinguistics – study of social context
Language - transfer of information
- send vital social messages
who we are who we associate with
where we come from

15. Through language, dialect or even a single word – judge
 a person’s background
 character
 intentions
 feelings
 relationships

16. For example:
Situation A:
Ray: Hello mum
Mum: Hi. You are late.
Ray: Yeah, that bastard Sootbucket kept us in again.
Mum: Grandma’s here.
Ray: Oh, sorry. Where is she?

17. Language is used
 for asking and giving information
 express indignation and annoyance
 admiration and respect
Ray’s utterance:
‘Yeah, that bastard Sootbucket kept us in again’
 why he is late
 how he feels
 the relationship with his mother

18. Example:
Situation B:
Ray: Good afternoon, sir
Principal: What are you doing here at this time?
Ray: Mr Sutton kept us in, sir

19. Take note of Ray’s language:
 Speak to mother:
‘Hello’ – to greet
‘mum’ – as an address form
‘bastard’ and ‘Sootbucket’ – nicknames for teacher
– relationship : intimate and friendly tone
 Speak to the Principal
‘Good afternoon’ – to greet
‘sir’ – as an address form
‘Mr. Suton’ – to refer to the teacher
- Relationship : formal, distant and respectful tone
Aware of the social factors which influence his choice of words and manner of
speech
Sociolinguistics is concerned with the relationship between language and context in
which it is used.

20. B) Language - enables us to say the same thing in different ways
 addressing and greeting others
 describing things
 paying compliments

21. For example:
Situation C – note the same thing is said in different ways
At 5 o’clock, Norhayati Merican, a manager, leaves her
office. As she leaves:
a) Business partner: Goodbye, Norhayati
Norhayati: Goodbye, Mike
b) Her secretary: Goodbye, Ms Norhayati
Norhayati: Goodbye, Maria
c) Caretaker: Goodbye, Puan Norhayati
Norhayati: Goodbye, Sunita

22. Norhayati Merican arrives home:
d) Daughter, Suzana: Hi mum
Norhayati: Hello dear. Taken your dinner?
e) Husband: You are late again!
Norhayati: Oh…stop complaining
f) A close friend, Aiman calls: Hello, Yati
Norhayati: Hi, man. What’s up?

23. - many different ways of addressing people
- depends on who we are speaking to:
* Mother to children of different ages
* Employee to employer
* Colleague – degree of closeness
In the example, Norhayati’s choice of using ‘dear’ to address her
daughter reflects her affectionate feelings.
Annoyed – would have used her full name ‘Suzana Hassan’
instead of ‘dear’
Factors that influence the choice of address:
a) Family norms of address between children and parents
b) Audience (who is listening?)
c) Social context (formal or informal?)
d) The relationship (how well they know each other)

24. (C) Language – offers a choice of words (linguistic variation) of
expression.
Vocabulary – is one areas of linguistic variation
E.g : (i) ‘that bastard Sootbucket’ instead of ‘my teacher, Mr
Sutton’
(ii) ‘dear’ instead of ‘Suzana’
Occurs in other areas too:
(a) sounds
(b) word-structure
(c) grammar
All these areas offer – speak a choice of ways of expression
and different linguistic styles to be used in different social
context

25. Example (1) :
(a)
Sam: You our ‘enry’s new ‘ouse yet? It’s in ‘alton, you know.
Jun: I have indeed. I could hardly miss it Sam. Your Henry now owns the
biggest house in Halton.
(b)
Woman: Give ‘im something!
Man: ‘Knock ‘is ‘ead off’
Woman: The man knocked ‘er down and just walked away.
The above examples show – obvious linguistic variation – pronunciation.
All speakers drop the ‘h’ in their speech whereas Jun does not.
Pronunciation like vocabulary - social information
Speakers – same regional origins – different social backgrounds –
reflected in – speech.

26. Example (2):
(a) Refuse should be deposited in the receptacle provided.
(b) Put your rubbish in the bin, Kamal.
The above examples – variation in grammar and vocabulary
In sentence (a) – the passive grammatical structure is used ‘should be deposited’
- avoids any mention of the doer (people involved)
In sentence (b) – an imperative verb form ‘Put’ and ‘an address form ‘Kamal’ is used.
Both sentences express the same message / speech function (give a directive)
But…
Sentence (b) – is much more direct and specific
‘Refuse’, ‘deposited’ and ‘receptable’ – less frequently used words and are all more formal than
‘rubbish’, ‘put’ and ‘bin’

27. More examples:
(c) Please tender exact fare and state destination.
(d) Give me the right money and tell me where you
are going.
What are the linguistic features which distinguish
(c) and (d)?
- Vocabulary choice – tender vs give, state vs tell,
destination vs where you are going,exact vs
right and the use of please
- Both use imperative structures but in (c) it is
more formal avoiding the use of pronouns
- Omission of determiners in (c)

28. The different ways of saying the same thing – social information
Sentences (a) and (c)
– more in writing than in speech
- more formal and distancing
- more formal context – speakers do not know each other well,
strangers or far more superior than the other
Sentences (b) and (d)
- Informal context
- speakers know each other (sentence (b))- address is used
- Directive – softening making it more gentle.

29. Exercise:
Make a list of all the names you are called by people whom know you.
For each name note who uses it to you and when or where.
What are the reasons why people choose one name rather than
another for you?