1. Context of Situation
1. I’m going to give you a prescription for the pain.
2. Cream together butter, sugar and beaten yolks until smooth.
3. New Tubifast. The tubular dressing retention bandage. No sticking. No tying. No pinning.
4. Beauty of Velvet at truly Budget Prices. In
16 colours. Send now for full details and actual fabric samples.
Montgomery, Martin An Introduction to Language and Society, second edition. London: Routledge, p. 106.
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2. Context-Constrained Language Use
 Where talk takes place (Physical setting)
 Who you talk to (Interlocutors)
 What you talk about (Register)
 How used (Medium)
 Level of formality (Style)
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3. Second Person Singular Personal Pronouns
Familiar Polite
French tu vous
Italian tu Lei
Spanish tú usted
German du Sie
Dutch jij u
Swedish du ni
Norwegian du De
Greek esi esis
Russian ty vy
Trudgill, Peter Sociolinguistics: An Introduction to Language and Society, 4th edition. London: Penguin Books, p. 90.
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4. Korean Suffixes Marked for Status
intimate: -na
familiar: -e
plain: -ta
polite: -e yo
deferential: -supnita
authoritative: -so
Trudgill, Peter Sociolinguistics: An Introduction to Language and Society, 4th edition. London: Penguin Books, p. 93.
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5. Written vs. Spoken Language
Written Language
IF FORMAL:
1. Longer more complex sentences.
Variety of sentence types
2. Carefully selected vocabulary.
Don’t repeat; Usage rules
3. Standard forms
4. Correct spellings
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6. Written vs. Spoken Language
Written Language
IF FORMAL:
5. Adherence to particular grammar rules
Agreement
Prepositions not at end of sentence
Not splitting infinitives
6. Coherence and Cohesion
7. Limited (if any) feedback
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7. Written vs. Spoken Language
IF FORMAL, then all of the above
IF CASUAL, few of the above
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8. Formal / Informal Sentence Pairs
I require your attendance to be punctual.
I want you to come on time.
Father was somewhat fatigued after his lengthy journey.
Dad was pretty tired after his long trip.
A not inconsiderable amount of time was expended on the task.
The job took a long time.
Trudgill, Peter Sociolinguistics: An Introduction to Language and Society, 4th edition. London: Penguin Books, p. 83.
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9. Labov's Elicitation of Four Levels of Formality
Most Formal
WLS Word list style
RPS Reading passage style
FS Formal Speech
CS Casual Speech
Least Formal
Trudgill, Peter Sociolinguistics: An Introduction to Language and Society, 4th edition. London: Penguin Books, pp
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10. Labov’s Study of Non-Prevocalic /r/ in New York City
WLS Word List Style RPS Reading Passage Style
FS Formal Speech CS Casual Speech
Trudgill, Peter Sociolinguistics: An Introduction to Language and Society, third edition. London: Penguin Books, p. 95.
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11. Switching from Scots Dialect to Standard Scots English
I’ve kenned yon man eight years.
I’ve known that man eight years.
Trudgill, Peter Sociolinguistics: An Introduction to Language and Society, 4th edition. London: Penguin Books, pp
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12. Diglossia
“Diglossia is a particular kind of language standardization where two distinct varieties of a language exist side by side throughout the speech community (not just in the case of a particular group of speakers, such as working-class Scots), and where each of the two varieties is assigned a definite social function.”
Trudgill, Peter Sociolinguistics: An Introduction to Language and Society, 4th edition. London: Penguin Books, p. 95.
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13. Diglossia Contexts for Variety Selection
High Variety Low Variety
Sermons Conversation with family and friends
Formal letters Radio serials
Political speeches Political and academic discussions
University lectures Political cartoons
News broadcasts ‘Folk’ literature
Newspaper editorials
‘High’ poetry `
Trudgill, Peter Sociolinguistics: An Introduction to Language and Society, 4th edition. London: Penguin Books, p. 96.
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14. Address Forms: With Dispensation
Situation 1: Teenager Frank Hardy addresses older Rod Jimerson politely. Jimerson gives Frank permission to call him by his first name.
Jimerson: "No, I wouldn't say that. There's a lot to tell, but I've got to get back to work." He glanced at his watch and added, "Where are you fellows staying? Maybe I could meet you tonight."
Frank: "Okay," Frank said, and gave the Indian their address. "I know you're not getting paid to bat the breeze, Mr. Jimerson."
Jimerson: "Rod."
Frank: "Good enough, Rod." Frank shook his hand. "Suppose we meet at the motel at nine."
Jimerson: "Suits me."
Dixon, Franklin W The Melted Coins. New York: Grosset & Dunlap Publishers, p. 15. (Previously 1944)
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15. Address Forms: Without Dispensation
Situation 2: The setting is 1951 New England. Margie Hartwell, a young teenage girl, addresses an older woman by her first name.
Her visitor was now standing in full view.
"Yes?" Fredericka said coldly.
"Oh," said the girl, looking up. "You must be Fredericka Wing.“
"I am. And who, if I may ask, are you?" In spite of herself, Fredericka was annoyed at the use of her first name by the stranger, and her annoyance was not relieved by the sight of the unprepossessing girl who stared back at her. Young, certainly not more than sixteen, sullen, untidy, her too-full face blotched with patches of crimson acne.
Norton, Andre and Grace Allen Hogarth Sneeze on Sunday. New York: TOR: A Tom Doherty Associates Book, p. 15.
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