Chapter 19: Social Variation in Language

Question 1

speech community

Answer 1

group of people that share a set of norms/expectations regarding the use of language

Question 2

sociolinguistics

Answer 2

study of the relationship between language and society

Question 3

social dialects are mainly concerned with…

Answer 3

speakers in towns and cities

Question 4

who are the two main groups in social dialects?

Answer 4

lower class and middle class

Question 5

social variable

Answer 5

class

Question 6

linguistic variable

Answer 6

pronunciations, words, or structures

Question 7

idiolect

Answer 7

personal dialect

Question 8

speech style

Answer 8

careful (polite), casual

Question 9

overt prestige

Answer 9

the social value given to standard or formal language features

Question 10

covert prestige

Answer 10

the high social value that a speech community gives to nonstandard languages or dialects, usually within a specific group

Question 11

speech accomodation

Answer 11

ability to modify speech style towards/away from audience

Question 12

convergence

Answer 12

attemtping to reduce social distance through using similar speech forms

Question 13

divergence

Answer 13

attempting to increase social distance through use of speech forms

Question 14

register

Answer 14

using speech appropriate to a certain context (religious, legal)