VIII Language and society

V. Language and society  1.Language exchange information  maintain social relationship 2 ** The kind of language one chooses to use is determined by his social background ** Language conveys information about a person ’ s origin and background reveals Language social background  determines

3. Language, esp. the structure of its lexicon, reflects both the physical and the social environment of a society. 1) physical environment: Snow : several in Eskimo;one in English 2) social environment: My uncle gave me a nice present..

4. The evaluation of a linguistic form is entirely social The dropping of [r] in Am. English

VI.Two approaches in socio-linguistics 1. Macro-socio-linguistics --- bird’s eye view 2. Micro-socio-linguistics --- worm’s eye view society language

I. Communicative competence 1. Chomsky: the ideal user ’ s knowledge of the rule of his language. (produce; recognize) 2. Dell Hymes: The ability to judge whether 1) something is formally possible, i.e. whether it is grammatical 2) something is feasible, i.e. whether something is psychologically acceptable. 3) something is appropriate, i.e. whether it is suitable in certain social context. 4) something is done, i.e. how often it occurs.

III. Varieties of language 1. Language variety refers to any distinguishable form of speech used by a speaker or a group of speakers. 2. Standard dialect 1) is based on a selected variety of the language 2) has a widely accepted codified grammar and vocabulary 3) is used in print, news broadcasts, official documents, publications, by educated native speakers and on other formal occasions.

IV. Register 1. Language varies as its function varies; it differs in different situations. The type of language which is selected as appropriate to a type of situation is a register. 2. Three social variable determining the register: 1) Field of discourse: purpose; subject matter 2) Tenor of discourse: who; relationship 3) Mode of discourse: means of communication (how)

VII. Varieties of language related to the user 1. Regional dialects are linguistic varieties used by people living in different places. three levels: phonological, lexical and syntactic separation caused by physical conditions 2. Social-class dialect refers to the linguistic2. variety characteristic of a particular social class s eparation caused by social conditions

3. Language and sex A: I ’ m getting married. B: You are? A: Uh huh. B: … A: … B: (laugh) You ’ re getting married? A: Yeah. What ’ s so funny about that? B: Well, It ’ s so wonderful. It ’ s so nice to see you embracing life in this manner quoted from film When Harry Met Sally

Female style R. Lakoff: Language & Women’s place, 1975 a. Use rising intonation to express statements b. Use intensifiers like very, really, absolutely so, to strengthen the effect. c. Use question tag to get hearer ’ s agreement d. Use hedges, such as sort of, I guess, I think 4. Language and age Certain linguistic features occur more frequently in the speech of one generation than in that of the other. Reason: society is changing.