Key terms- language and social groups Flashcards
Social group
People that have something in common and form a community
Social class
A division of society based on economic or social status
Sociolinguistics
The study of the relationship between language use and social factors
Theolinguistics
The study of the relationship between language use and religion
Sociolect
The style of language used within a particular social group
Genderlect
A style of language thought to be distinctive of men and woman
Dialect
A style of language used within a particular geographical region
Ethnolect
A style of language thought to be a characteristic of an ethnic group
Familect
A style of language used within a family. Coined by Harriet Powney
Idiolect
An individuals personal language use
Pragmatic rules
The unspoken rules that operate in interactions between people who share common understanding
Social networks
A network of relations between people in their membership of different groups
Density
The number of connections that people have in their social network
Multiplexity
The number of ways in which two individuals may relate to each other in a social ne
Network density score
A score milroy gave people based on working together, living close to family members and socialising with each other
Diphthong
A sound that combines two vowels in a signal syllable eg coin, loud
Convergence
Becoming more similar to another persons language use.
Divergence
Becoming more different from a persons language use
Upward convergence
Convergence where a regional speaker becomes more RP. It shows they like the RP speaker
Downward convergence
Convergence where a RP speaker becomes more regional. It means they like the regional speaker
Overt prestige
Status gained from public approval/recognition
Covert prestige
Status gained from peer-group approval/recognition
Preconsonantal position
A sound produced before a constant eg fourth
Final position
A sound produced at the end of a word eg floor
Velar nasal
The name given to the /n/ sound eg king, tang
Observers paradox
A situation in which the phenomenon begin observed is unwittingly influenced y the presence of an observer/investigator
H-dropping
Omitting the /h/ sound at the start of words eg hat. horrible, hospital
Hypercorrection
Using language that is wrongly deemed to be correct because it is associated with a more prestigious variety. It often refers to the wrong pronunciations.
Restricted code
Language that focuses on the here and now
Elaborated code
Language that is much more explicit and independent of context
Community of practise
A concept conceived by Lave and Wenger. It refers to a group of people who have come together and have established ways of doing things and interacting in order to achieve a shared purpose. Similar to a discourse community.
Vernacular
The language or dialect spoken by the ordinary people in a particular country or region.
