Achtak walid

Sociolinguistics

The scope of sociolinguistics :

The study of a language is multidimensional. That is to say, We study a language from the internal
view point when we take into consideration the sub-disciplne of linguistics , phonology, syntax…
which can be carried out through theories and approaches ; while we can study it from the external
viewpoint where factors other than internal ones take place. Among those factors lie elements
beyond language such society.

Sociolingiustics is the study of language in which linguistic factors are related to factors beyond the
language. In this case, how society affects language and how language affects society.

 In social dimensions of language, the emphasis is on language. Micro socio linguistics

explores the way in which society affects or influences the way people talk which may result
the emerge of varieties due to the way people talk with different social factors
 In linguistics dimension of language the emphasis is on society. Macro socio linguistics
explores how the society as a whole treats language.

The task of sociolinguistics is to describe how language works in our everyday lives, especially how
people in certain areas or situation may speak in different language variation. It can prove the role of
language within the society. 

sociolinguistics is a meeting ground for linguists and social scientists, some of whom seek to
understand the social aspects of language while others are primarily concerned with linguistic
aspects of society.

Sociolinguistics and language :

     Sociolinguistics approach could be useful in analyzing language and people by looking at their
social identity and the way they communicate.  In other words, sociolinguistics proves that language,
as a tool of communication, may represent societies. Additionally, sociolinguistics functions as an
instrument for understanding human interaction, which is done by the means of language, if we look
at its ability to analyze characteristics of certain speech community by ethnographic methods.

Through, their language, sociolinguistics can :

- Explore the way language works,

- Understand the social relationships in a community
- Know the way people convey and construct aspects of their social identity

Sociolinguistics and sociiology of language :

the equivalent goal in the sociology of language is trying to discover how social structure can be
better understood through the study of language, e.g., how certain linguistic features serve to

characterize particular social arrangements. . 'The study of society in relation to language' (the
converse of our definition of sociolinguistics) defines what is generally called the sociology of
language.
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Sociolinguists use a range of methods to analyse patterns of language in use : Some sociolinguistic
patterns can only be observed systematically
through close examination of lots of recorded speech and a good understanding about the
speaker’s background or place in a community
 A major challenge that sociolinguists face is that a lot of the time speakers are completely
unaware of the ways in which language is used differently in different contexts. . Or if they are
aware, they can only talk about it in very general terms. the answers they get are typically more vague.

• Language vs Dialect
. The differences between language and dialect
>Language is usually used to refer to the standard language which is used in official or formal
context. It is prestigious, written, rich in vocabulary, codified, taught in school. Standard
languages are usually based on an existing dialect of the language.
Example: the British variety is based, historically at least, on the dialect of the surrounding area
(London), Continental French on the dialect of Paris, and Italian on the dialect of Florence or
Tuscany (although Rome and Milan became important influences in the late twentieth century).
In other countries the situation is not so clear.
>Dialect is a local form of language; it is often associated with a particular region or subsection of
a larger language community. Which means that dialect is a variety which differs grammatically,
phonologically and lexically from other varieties; this variety is associated with a particular social
class or status group. It is stigmatized, only spoken, poor in vocabulary, not codified, acquired
naturally.

We use the term variety to avoid using the term Language that people associate with the
standard language, also to avoid using the term Dialect which people relate with nonstandard
language because they think of it as less prestigious on less correct than the standard one.

>Dialect is based on region, on geography. We call the study of dialect diactology (the study of
dialects) and the people who study it are called diactologists.
Diactology is the study of the geographical distribution of a linguistic item. i.e. To study where words
are used as aid to show the limits, this limits called isoglosses, they are the ones that indicate the
geographical area of a particular word. Therefore isogloss does not determine varieties; it represents
the boundaries of one single word.

>Isogloss is a geographical representation marking the distributional limits of lexical items or

linguistic forms (sometimes the area associated with a linguistic form).
> In linguistics we have a criterion called the criterion of mutual intelligibility (mutual
understanding), when we want to divide between two languages the most important
criterion is the political criterion and not the mutual intelligibility because and concerning
the example of the two guys of Germany and Netherlands, one call himself Dutch and the
other call himself German however when they communicate with each other they speak the
same language. So this means that we have here the mutual intelligibility criterion but they
do ignore it and they take to account politics, that is to say when we say this is German and
this is Dutch; we do it for political reasons not for linguistic reasons and because of the
speech continuum and we still do not take into consideration intelligibility but we take
politics.
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Standard variety vs social variety:

In the everyday use of the term, ‘language’ is usually used to mean both the
superordinate category and the standard variety.

Key questions in this lesson:

 How do factors like age, gender, ethnicity, and/or social context affect our linguistic choices?

People from different places clearly speak differently, but even within the same small community,
people might speak differently according to their age, gender, ethnicity and social or educational
background. All native speakers also adjust their speech according to context: from relaxed
conversation in familiar surroundings to more formal situations. In a job interview, for instance, or
when delivering an important presentation to an unfamiliar audience, most of us consciously seek to
avoid overtly stigmatized features such as dropping the initial sound in words like help and hot. In
more relaxed environments, such as when chatting with friends and family, individuals vary as to how
frequently they drop initial <h>: some speakers consistently omit initial <h>; others never drop a <h>
sound; most of us do so occasionally. Hence, Much of intra-group/speaker variations
are functional, i.e. it is VARIATION ACCORDING TO USE.

   There are no ‘single style’ speakers /users use. Speakers command a complex range of styles or
REGISTERS ( [sub-] varieties according to use ) and move from one to the other for different functions
/ purposes. That is, there is a different communicative behavior associated  with different functions /
purposes, among other things.

 Social variation and social varieties – varieties of language use defined according to class,
education, occupation, age, sex, etc.
 Regional variation: varieties of language use defined according to a certain region.

A variance, variety, variable, and variant:

A variety is a very general term which is used to refer to different manifestations of something. What
makes a variety different from another one is the the items a certain variety specialized in. For
example, a variety of language is a different manifestation of a particular language.

A variant can refer to an item which is slightly different from another similar item in the same
context, class or category.

Variation refers to something which is slightly different from the usual form or arrangement.

Variance is slightly formal when two or more things are different, amount of number for instance. It
is the act of varying or the state of being variable.

Language variation :

languages vary in many ways. One way of characterizing certain variations is to say that speakers of a
particular language sometimes speak different dialects of that language.

Language variation refers to regional, social or contextual differences that influence the way a
language is used. Factors as age, gender, ethinicity, education influence the way language is used.
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The languuage that speakers use in everyday interactions is remarkably varied. That is, they may use
different lexical items, prnounce words differently, linguistic items to express themselves. We can
differentiate between interpeaker and intraspeaker variations.

Style, register, jargons, :

Registers: change of variety across the formality scale. It is the way a speaker uses language
differently in different circumstances. Think about the words you choose, your tone of voice, even
your body language. They are determined by such factors as social occasion, context, purpose,
and audience. We can recognize specific features that occur in the religious register (Ye shall be
blessed by Him in times of tribulation), the legal register (The plaintiff is ready to take the witness
stand) and even the linguistics register (In the morphology of this dialect there are fewer inflectional
suffixes)

Jargons: One of the defining features of a register is the use of jargon, which is special technical
vocabulary, typically nouns (e.g. plaintiff, suffix), associated with a specific area of work or interest. In
social terms, jargon helps to create and maintain connections among those who see themselves as
“insiders” in some way and to exclude “outsiders.”

Slang: Whereas jargon is specialized vocabulary used by those inside established social groups, often
defined by professional status (e.g. legal jargon), slang is more typically used among those who are
outside established higher-status groups.

Taboo: Taboo terms are words and phrases that people avoid for reasons related to religion,
politeness and prohibited behavior. They are often swear words, typically “bleeped” in public
broadcasting (What the bleep are you doing, you little bleep!) or “starred” in print (S**t! You stupid
f***ing a**hole!). or, translated differently in order to match the conventional social norms of the
targeted cultures. Some taboo terms are not always welcomed within the target cultures.

Styles: a social feature of language use, when the speaker speaks with certain way. The most basic
distinction in speech style is between formal uses and informal uses. Formal style is when we pay
more careful attention to how we’re speaking and informal style is when we pay less attention. They
are sometimes described as “careful style” and “casual style.” A change from one to the other by an
individual is called style-shifting.

Another idea related to style-shifting is prestige, a way of explaining the direction in which certain
individuals change their speech. When that change is in the direction of a form that is more frequent
in the speech of those perceived to have higher social status, we are dealing with overt prestige, or
status that is generally recognized as “better” or more positively valued in the larger community.

- The hidden “status” that is associated with certain style may explain why certain groups do
not exhibit style-shifting to the same extent as other groups. For example, the reason why
certain groups from a lower-status do not change their speech style from casual to carful is
because they value their style and perceive it as social marker and value social solidarity
among them (i.e. sounding like those around them) more than upward mobility (i.e. sounding like
those above them).
- For example, among younger speaker from middle class, there may be occurrence of frequent use of
statements as “ I am not doing anything,” that is related to higher- status groups, instead of “ I m doin
nuttin,” that belongs to their status.
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Speech accommodation: speech accommodation, defined as our ability to modify our speech style toward
or away from the perceived style of the person(s) we’re talking to. As we look closely at variation in speech
style, we can see that it is not only based on speakers’ social class and attention to speech, but is also
influenced by their perception of their listeners.

 We can adopt a speech style that attempts to reduce social distance, described as
convergence, and use forms that are similar to those used by the person we’re talking to.
 While we may want or try to sound like others in some social interactions to emphasize social
closeness, there are other times when we may prefer to create the opposite effect. When a
speech style is used to emphasize social distance between speakers, the process is called
divergence.

Social markers:

Social marker: having certain features occur frequently in your speech (or not) marks you as a
member of a particular social group, whether you realize it or not. One feature that seems to be a
fairly stable indication of lower class and less education, throughout the English-speaking world, is
the final pronunciation of -ing with [n] rather than [ŋ] at the end of words such as sitting and
thinking.

Language and accent:

The term dialect, particularly when it is used in reference to regional variation, should not be
confused with the term accent. Standard English, for example, is spoken in a variety of accents, often
with clear regional and social associations: there are accents associated with North America,
Singapore, India, Liverpool… However, many people who live in such places show a remarkable
uniformity to one another in their grammar and vocabulary because they speak Standard English and
the differences.
are merely those of accent, that is, how they pronounce what they say.

One English accent has achieved a certain eminence, the accent known as Received Pronunciation
(RP) it meant the accent allowed one to be received into the ‘better’ parts of society!

Critirea to distinguish between language and dialect: dialect and language can be distinguished in
terms of : solidarity, power, standardization and mutual intelligibility.

 Power: a dialect may have more of something that is important such as status and influence.
 Solidarity: feeling of equality among speakers of the same language. This feeling can lead
people to preserve a local dialect or insist on its independence.

Social dialects and regional dialects:

a social dialect is a variety of a language spoken by a particular group based on social characteristics
as  social class, religion, and ethnicity. other than geography. In contrast, A regional dialect, also
known as a regiolect or topolect, is a distinct form of a language spoken in a particular geographical
area. Dialect variation in regional dialect is lao influenced by three factors completing each others
which are time, place, and socio-culture. These statements mean that each region has different
dialect. However, because of the chain of mutual intelligible between dialect, people from, different
region which are still connected can still understand each other when they speak. The differences
which distinguish one village from another can be larger or smaller, but the further the distance we
go from the point we start, the more distinctive the dialect will be.
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Language contact :

Biligualism and multilingualism : refer to the mastery and use of more than one language in a
community. Multilingualism is the ability of an individual speaker or a community of speakers to
communicate effectively in three or more languages. Bilingualism is the ability of an
individual or the members of a community to use two languages effectively.
Diglossia :

diglossia is a situation in which two distinct varieties of a language are spoken

within the same speech community. Examples include the differences between
standard and moroccan Arabic.
Charecteristics of diglossia :
1- Fixed and distinction between high and low variety. Example : speakingH at home would
be regarded as inappropriate
2- Prestige : the low variety is considered a corrupt form of the high variety
3- Literary heritage : H has a siezable body of written literature than low variety.
4- Acquisition : H : is learned ; L : is acquired
5- Standardization : H is standardized.
6- Stability : diglossia is presitent ; it is not ephemira
7- Grammar :
8- Lexicon :
9- Phonology : phonemes are close or divergent from those of low variety.

Extended diglossia :

A socio-linguistic case in which varieties functional distribution. A case of bilingualism.

- Diglossia but not bilingualism

- Bilingualism but not diglossia
- Not bilingualism, not diglossia
- Both bilingualism and diglossia
 Multiglossia/triglossia

Codeswitching

1- Situational codeswitching : it is when you codeswitch when somebody else existence. You
do ir for signaling membership to agroup and other social reasons. Doing this, you diverge
and emphasize the social distance indicate formality and status of the situation (you speak
with your friend, then you switch as the professor comes)
2- Referential code-switching : you switch to discuss another topic ; or, when you quote
somebody.
3- Affective code-switching : you code-switch to express feeling like anger.

Borrowing and code-switching :

Attitudes to codeswitching :
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Language shift and maintenance :

Language shift : language transfer, replacement and assimilation

Because of assimilation, migranst adopt the dominant language. To start with, the first generation is
monolonigual ; the second generation become bilingual, and the third generation becomes
monolongual of the dominant language.

+ non migrant communities :political, economic, and social changes occur that may cause langugae
shift.

+ migrants majorities :

Language death and loss :

Language policy and planning :

Lg planning: all conscious efforts that aim at changing the linguistic behavior of a speech community.

Lg policy: A language policy is a body of ideas, laws, regulations, rules and practices intended to
achieve the planned language change in the societies, group or system. what governments (or
organizations – both national and international) do through legislation, policies, or legal decisions to
determine how languages are used (which languages may be used for what purposes), to cultivate
second language skills in chosen languages, or to establish minority language rights.

Example : promoting tamazight as the second official language in the consititution after it was only
a national language ; therefore, it has become an official language.

Two types of planning :

Corpus planning : seeks to develop a variety of a language, usually to standardize it, that is, to
provide it with the means for serving every possible language function in society.

Status planning: changes the function of a language or a variety of a language and the rights of those
who use it.

Prestige planning : Decisions and activities aimed at creating positive attitudes towards the language,
which are vital to the long-term success of other language planning activities.

1-status planning: the language will be assigned social and political position, and decisions will
determine the usage of language in various public functions by the government, legela system media
and educational system. It is done by the government officially and includes the “selection and
implementation” stages

2- corpus planning: changes and stardadizaion of certain elements of the language lexicon,
ortography. This stage includes “codification” and done by linguists to modify the language structure
or develop its linguistic resources in manner consistent with disered goal.

Language planning principles/ ideologies behinde language planning :

 Assimilation : every person should speak fluently the dominant language

 Linguistic pluralism :it is the opposite of assimilation ; it is better to have multiple languages
whithin the society
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 Vernacularazation : the restoration or elaboration of indeginous language and its adoption

as an official language
 Internatioonlism : Internationalism: the adoption of non-indegneous language of a wider
communication either as official language or for education, trade purposes.

ARABIZATION : it is a language policy tha was adopted by the moroccan authorities after
independence in order to unify the nation by promoting arabic as a national language.

National language vs official language

An official language is a language that has a special legal status in a particular

state or a country. The function of the language is utilitarian than symbolic. This
means that an official language of a country or a nation is the language people
use for the nation’s parliamentary, administrative, and legal affairs. However,
when it comes to multi-ethnic nations, they usually have more than one official
language in practice due to varying politically, historically, or linguistically
driven reasons. For example, tamazight and Arabic in morocco. Whereas, A
national language acts as a symbol or identity for any country or nation. A
language rises up to the status of the national language as that particular
language is used by the country’s majority as their first language of written
and verbal communication. A national language is often used to unite the
people. Examples of this include Japanese in Japan, French in France, and even
English in Great Britain. Each country has a complex history behind its selection
of a national language. The process of developing a national language involves
four steps which are :

 Selection
 Codification
 Elaboration
 Acceptance

Example : promoting tamazight as the second official language in the consititution after it was only a
national language ; therefore, it has become an official language.
Achtak walid

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