This document discusses the concepts of language, dialects, and varieties from a sociolinguistic perspective. It defines varieties as sets of linguistic items with similar distributions. Languages can refer to single norms or groups of related norms, and dialects refer to individual norms within a language. Seven criteria are identified for distinguishing language types: standardization, vitality, historicity, autonomy, reduction, mixture, and de facto norms. Regional dialects vary based on geography in terms of pronunciation, vocabulary, and syntax. Social dialects originate from social groups and factors like social class, religion, and ethnicity. Registers are vocabularies associated with occupational or social groups. The document concludes that humans can comprehend many more language varieties than they can productively control

1. SociolinguisticsLanguage, Dialect, and Varieties

2. Second groupHerlyNurviaRini (0705085243)

3. RizkyHana (0705085242)

4. Ditha Nanda Wahdini (0705085263)

5. DewiAstuty (07050805272)

6. Angistia Devi (0705085280)

7. WekiWidiawati (0705085251)Language, Dialects, and VarietiesHudson (1980,p. 24) defines a variety of a language as a set of linguistic items with similar distribution, a definition that allows one to say that all of the following are varieties.Ferguson (1971, p.30) offers another definition of variety: ‘Any body of human speech patterns which is sufficiently homogeneous to be analyzed by available techniques of synchronic description and which has a sufficiently large repertory of elements and their arrangements or processes with broad enough semantic scope to function in all normal context of communication.

8. Language and DialectsHaugen (1966a) has pointed out that language and dialect are ambiguous terms. The terms ‘represent a simple dichotomy in a situation that is almost considerably complex’.

9. Language can be used to refer either to a single linguistic norm or to a group of related norms, and dialect to refer to one of the norms; but norms themselves are not static.Bell, 1976,pp. 147-57 has listed seven criteria that may be useful in discussing different kinds of languages. These criteria may be used to distinguish one type of language. Standardization refers to the processes by which a language has been codified in some way.

10. Vitality refers to the existence of a living community of speakers.

11. Historicity refers to the fact that a particular group of people finds a sense of identity through using a particular language.

12. Autonomy is an interesting concept because it is really one of feeling. a language must be felt by its speakers to be different from the other language..Reduction refers to the facts that a particular variety may be regarded as a sub variety rather than as an independent entity.

13. Mixture refers to feelings speakers have about the ‘purity’ of the variety of the speak.