Sociolinguistics

Question 1

The development of sociolinguistics

Answer 1

• traditional dialectology (NORMs, isoglosses, atlases)
• now modern sociolinguistics:
• • methodology
• • main focus
• • relevance of standard
• • linguistic levels dealt with

Question 2

Eugenio Coseriu and sociolinguistics

Answer 2

Eugenio Coseriu distinguishes within language, on the one hand, three levels: the universal one (the level of designation), the historical one (the level of signification1) and the individual level (that of sense), since “language is a universal human activity which is done individually but always following some historically established techniques («langues»)” (Coşeriu 2000: 233 – ourtranslation). The language is generated, on the other hand, according to some acquired knowledge and is presented as some objective facts, that is why Coseriuadopts, just as W. von Humboldt did before, the terms used by Aristotle: érgon(product),enérgeia (creative activity), which goes beyond the learnt technique and dýnamis (competence – found only with Aristotle). Language is not essentially érgon, but enérgeia, creative activity.

Question 3

Coseriu and user and use variation

- historical dimensions of variation in a language

Answer 3

If a language is taken as a historical object, i.e. a way of communicating by language bound to the coordinates of a particular speech community (rather than as a self-contained system), its use varies along a set of dimensions that has been called the architecture of a language (Flydal 1951). The following set of four dimensions is proposed in Coseriu 1981.

1) diaphasic
–> in different communicative settings, different levels of style/register are used
_
example:
oral vs. written language, foreigner talk, vulgar style

2) diastratic
–> in different social groups (according to age, sex, profession …), different sociolects are used
_
example:
youth language, hunters’ language

3) diatopic
–> in different places and regions of the linguistic area, different dialects are spoken
_
example:
Cockney English, Saxonian German

4) diachronic
–> variants and even historical stages follow each other on the diachronic axis
_
example:
extinct, obsolete, old-fashioned, current, fashionable expressions
_______
Variants that characterize a particular generation characterize a particular social group and constitute, to that extent, diastratic variation. Only to the extent that such variants correspond to the diachrony of the language are they also diachronic variants.

The set of properties that characterize a variety and distinguish it from the others does not exhaust a whole language system. This is clearest in the case of a professional special language, which may be characterized only by some additional vocabulary. Similarly, a dialect may share its syntax with the other dialects or with the standard while differing from them in phonological and lexical aspects.

_________
https://www.christianlehmann.eu/ling/variation/dimensions_of_variation.html

Question 4

John Kenyon and use, user variation

Answer 4

.

Question 5

Name two studies that were done in sociolinguistics and their results.

Relevance?

Answer 5

• Labov (several studies!!!)
• • dept store
• Belfast Study by Milroys
• • Network-approach (tight/loose), tight knit community speak vernacular more Bc of identity, belong to group, community loyalty
• Belten High study by Eckert
• • Jocks and Burnouts: Teenagers use diff variants depending on which social category they want to belong to rather than socioeconomic status of parents

Feminist studies?

Question 6

What approaches were are there in sociolinguistics which developed over time? Where does their main focus lie?

Answer 6

First wave: Labov

• observer’s paradox
• New York study (rhoticity as social Marker?)

Second: network approach

• dense vs loose networks
• uniplex vs multiplex ties

Third: persona construction approach

• Belten High study (Eckert)
• Micro-linguistics

Question 7

What is Sociolinguistics?

Answer 7

descriptive study of the effect of any and all aspects of society, including cultural norms, expectations, and context, on the way language is used, and society’s effect on language.

It differs from sociology of language, which focuses on the effect of language on society.

____
Therefore:
Sociolinguistics =
Social factors/society influence lg how?

Sociology of lg =
Language influences society how?
______

Sociolinguistics overlaps considerably with pragmatics.

It also studies how language varieties differ between groups separated by certain social variables
(which ones? ->e.g., ethnicity, religion, status, gender, level of education, age, etc.)
and how creation and adherence to these rules is used to categorize individuals in social or socioeconomic classes.
As the usage of a language varies from place to place (regional variation), language usage also varies among social classes, and it is these sociolects that sociolinguistics studies.

The study of the social motivation of language change, on the other hand, has its foundation in the wave model of the late 19th century. The first attested use of the term sociolinguistics was by Thomas Callan Hodson in the title of his 1939 article “Sociolinguistics in India” published in Man in India.
Sociolinguistics in the West first appeared in the 1960s and was pioneered by linguists such as William Labov in the US and Basil Bernstein in the UK.
In the 1960s, William Stewart and Heinz Kloss introduced the basic concepts for the sociolinguistic theory of pluricentric languages, which describes how standard language varieties differ between nations (e.g. American/British/Canadian/Australian English; Austrian/German/Swiss German; Bosnian/Croatian/Montenegrin/Serbian Serbo-Croatian).

Question 8

Contrast between current and traditional methods and focus in sociolinguistics

Answer 8

Traditional:

• dialectology
• isoglosses, maps
• merely regional variation
• NORMs (non-mobile older rural male speakers)
• interviews?

Modern linguistics:
- urban 'dialectology'
- Labov
- recordings
Etc etc...

– incomplete

Question 9

How can you describe the (speech/communicative) accommodation theory?

Answer 9

Communication accommodation theory (CAT) is a theory of communication developed by Howard Giles 1971. The theory is an advancement of speech adjustment theory talking about psychological concepts on dynamics of speech.
Communication accommodation theory, related to social identity theory, is about people adjusting (accommodating) to communicate by minimizing social differences.
Doing this helps the message sender gain approval from the receiver, increases efficiency in communication between both parties, and helps the sender maintain a positive social identity. This theory is concerned with the links between language, context, and identity.

Interest in
1- behavioral changes that people make to attune their communication to their partner,
2- the extent to which people perceive their partner as appropriately attuning to them.”

• focuses on intergroup and interpersonal factors that lead to accommodation
• also focuses on as the ways that power, macro and micro-context concerns affect communication behaviors
  Accommodation is usually considered to be between the message sender and the message receiver, but the communicator also often accommodates to a larger audience- either a group of people that are watching the interaction or society in general.

“Convergence” refers to strategies through which individuals adapt to each other’s communicative behaviors to reduce these social differences.
“divergence” refers to the instances in which individuals accentuate the speech and non-verbal differences between themselves and their interlocutors.

The speech accommodation theory was developed to demonstrate all of the value of social psychological concepts to understanding the dynamics of speech.[5] It sought to explain “… the motivations underlying certain shifts in people’s speech styles during social encounters and some of the social consequences arising from them.”
Particularly, it focused on the cognitive and affective processes underlying individuals’ convergence and divergence through speech.
The communication accommodation theory has broadened this theory to include not only speech but also the “non-verbal and discursive dimensions of social interaction”.
CAT has also created a different perspective from other research in language and social interaction—and communication more generally—that focuses on either interpersonal or intergroup communication.