1. Regional & Social Varieties
Linguistics
Sociolinguistics: Regional and Social Varieties
Sociolinguistics:
Regional & Social Varieties
Presentation © Carsten Litterscheidt, 19 Jan 2006
Reference works:
Holmes, Janet. An Introduction to Sociolinguistics. London et. al.: Longman, 1996.
Mesthrie, Rajend, ed. Concise Encyclopedia of Sociolinguistics. Amsterdam et. al.: Elsevier, 2001.
Romaine, Suzanne. Language in society: an introduction to sociolinguistics. Oxford et. al.: Oxford UP, 1994.
Trudgill, Peter. Sociolinguistics: An Introduction to language and society. London et al.: Penguin Books, 1983.
Wardhaugh, Ronald. An Introduction to Sociolinguistics. 4th ed. Malden et. al.: Blackwell, 2002.
Seminar: Examenskolloquium Linguistik 1
Winter Term 05/06

2. Outline of Presentation
Linguistics
Sociolinguistics: Regional and Social Varieties
Outline of Presentation
What is Sociolinguistics?
A brief account on the history of Sociolinguistics (SL)
How do sociolinguists work?
Regional Variation: The starting point
Social Variation
Sociolinguistic competence
Seminar: Examenskolloquium Linguistik 2
Winter Term 05/06

3. I. What is Sociolinguistics?
Sociolinguistics: Regional and Social Varieties
I. What is Sociolinguistics?
One possible definition:
The study of the relationship between language (lge) and society
Sociology vs. Sociolinguistics
Sociologists (among others) Sociolinguists
study the effect of lge on society effect of society on lge
 A more precise definition:
“[Sociolinguists] are interested in explaining why we speak differently in different social contexts, and they are concerned with identifying the social functions of language and the ways it is used to convey social meaning.”
(Janet Holmes)
Seminar: Examenskolloquium Linguistik 3
Winter Term 05/06

4. II. A brief account on the history of SL
Linguistics
Sociolinguistics: Regional and Social Varieties
II. A brief account on the history of SL
Forerunners of SL: the founders of the study of lge, culture and cognition
Franz Boas
Leonard Bloomfield ethnographical approach to linguistics
Edward Sapir
Term first mentioned in 1952 by Haver Currie (poet and philosopher)
“Sociolinguistics” became an independent area of research in the early 1960s
SL chiefly influenced by:
historical and comparative linguistics
 interest in dialects, because they could help explain/varify theories on lge change previously based on written material
anthropology
dialectology
Seminar: Examenskolloquium Linguistik 4
Winter Term 05/06

5. II. A brief account on the history of SL
Linguistics
Sociolinguistics: Regional and Social Varieties
II. A brief account on the history of SL
First significant works:
1953: Uriel Weinreich’s Languages in Contact (a structural and social account on bilingualism)
1953: Einar Haugen’s study of the social history of the Norwegian lge in America
1962: Martin Joos’ study on the dimensions of style
The Chomskyan/Generative vs. Sociolinguistic approach
Chomsky: what can be generated in lge by what means
SL: what can be said in a language, by whom, to whom, in whose presence, when and where, in what manner, and under what social circumstances
Seminar: Examenskolloquium Linguistik 5
Winter Term 05/06

6. III. How do Sociolinguists work?
Linguistics
Sociolinguistics: Regional and Social Varieties
III. How do Sociolinguists work?
Q1: Why do we say the same thing in different ways?
Example: adressing & greeting
Margaret leaves her office:
Mike (her colleague): “Goodbye Margaret.”
Margaret  Mike: “Goodbye Mike.”
Jill (her secretary): “Goodbye Ms Walker.”
Margaret  Jill: “Goodbye Jill.”
Andy (the caretaker): “Bye Mrs Walker.”
Margaret  Andy: “Goodbye Andy.”
Margaret arrives at home:
Jamie (her son): “Hi mum!”
Her mother: “Hello dear, have a good day?”
Her husband: “You’re late again…”
colleagues = same status
employer / employee = formal
employer / employee = informal?
young, casual, short, indifferent?
old, intimate, friendly
intimate, no salutation, annoyed
Seminar: Examenskolloquium Linguistik 6
Winter Term 05/06

7. III. How do Sociolinguists work?
Linguistics
Sociolinguistics: Regional and Social Varieties
III. How do Sociolinguists work?
Q2: What are the different ways we say things?
Example: different accent use
Sam: “You seen our ‘enry’s new ‘ouse yet? It’s in ‘alton you know.”
Jim: “I have indeed. I could hardly miss it Sam. Your Henry now owns the biggest house in Halton.” 
Sam = use of accent different from standard  [h]-dropping  speaker of a vernacular/dialect?
Jim = speaker of standard? maybe uses standard to correct Sam’s “faulty” language?
Seminar: Examenskolloquium Linguistik 7
Winter Term 05/06

8. III. How do Sociolinguists work?
Linguistics
Sociolinguistics: Regional and Social Varieties
III. How do Sociolinguists work?
Sociolinguists investigate varieties (codes)
Variety = a set of linguistic forms used under specific social circumstances
 accents, linguistic styles, dialects, different lges in contrast with each other
Varieties make up the linguistic repertoire of each member of a speech community
Procedural steps of investigation:
Identify the linguistic variation involved (e.g. a dialect feature like [h]-dropping)
Identify the different social or non-linguistic factors which lead the speaker to use that particular form rather than another
Generalization: Is it possible to determine why particular social factors lead to the use of one set of forms rather than another?
 describe generalizations in the form of ‘sociolinguistic universals’
Seminar: Examenskolloquium Linguistik 8
Winter Term 05/06

9. III. How do Sociolinguists work?
Linguistics
Sociolinguistics: Regional and Social Varieties
III. How do Sociolinguists work?
What are the social factors involved?
Participants: who talks to whom?
Setting: where are they speaking?
Topic: what are they talking about?
Function: why are they speaking?
What social dimensions are involved in sociolinguistic analysis?
Solidarity / social distance  intimacy vs. distance of interlocutors
Status / power  superiority vs. subordination of interlocutors
Formality  high vs. low formality (setting / type of interaction)
Function  referential (“objective” information content, e.g. news report) vs. affective function (subjective, affective content, e.g. tell about feelings)
Seminar: Examenskolloquium Linguistik 9
Winter Term 05/06

10. IV. Regional Variation: The starting point
Linguistics
Sociolinguistics: Regional and Social Varieties
IV. Regional Variation: The starting point
International variation
Example:
A British visitor to New Zealand decided while he was in Auckland he would look up an old friend from his war days. He found the address, walked up the path and knocked on the door.
‘Gidday’, said the young man opened the door. ‘What can I do for you?’
‘I’ve called to see me old mate Don Stone’, said the visitor.
‘Oh he’s dead now mate.’ said the young man.
The visitor was about to express condolences when he was thumped on the back by Don Stone himself. The young man had said
‘Here’s dad now mate’,
as his father came in the gate.
 different dialects  differences in pronunciation, vocabulary and grammar
Seminar: Examenskolloquium Linguistik 10
Winter Term 05/06

11. IV. Regional Variation: The starting point
Linguistics
Sociolinguistics: Regional and Social Varieties
IV. Regional Variation: The starting point
Intra-national / intra-continental variation
Example:
Rob: “This wheel’s completely disjaskit.”
Alan: “I might could get it changed.”
Rob: “You couldn’t do nothing of the sort. It needs dumped.”
 Features of Tyneside dialect (North-Eastern England):
double modals, double negatives, ‘need’ + ‘-ed’ (instead of ‘-ing’) +
Lexical borrowing from Scottish:
‘disjaskit’ = ‘worn out’ / ‘completely ruined’
 different dialects  differences in pronunciation, vocabulary and grammar
Seminar: Examenskolloquium Linguistik 11
Winter Term 05/06

12. IV. Regional Variation: The starting point
Linguistics
Sociolinguistics: Regional and Social Varieties
IV. Regional Variation: The starting point
Conducting research on regional variation:
1) Collect data / samples on regional variation 
2) Define geographical areas where the same dialectal features occur (‘linguistic
areas’)
3) Establish a dialect map  regional dialect continuum
Q: So far, this could have been done by a dialectologist, but where exactly does the sociolinguists work come in?
A: Once we have identified a linguistic variable, we have to collect further data to assess the social distribution of the variants of that particular variable, e.g. find out about the social stratification of the use of the RP accent as compared to possible variants of RP (“standard” vs. “vernacular” use).
Seminar: Examenskolloquium Linguistik 12
Winter Term 05/06

13. Linguistics
Sociolinguistics: Regional and Social Varieties
V. Social Variation
Q: What does regional variation have to do with social variation?
Example: RP – a social accent
Highest class: RP (ca 5% of British population)
Social variation /
“Social ladder”
Lowest class: most localized accents
Regional variation
Seminar: Examenskolloquium Linguistik 13
Winter Term 05/06

14. Linguistics
Sociolinguistics: Regional and Social Varieties
V. Social Variation
Q: What does regional variation have to do with social variation?
Social and regional dialect variation
Highest class: standard dialect
A limited amount of grammatical variation is possible. Compare StE:
“I’ve not washed the dishes yet.”
“I haven’t washed the dishes yet.”
Social variation /
“Social ladder”
Lowest class: most localized non-standard
(‘vernaculars’)
Regional variation
Seminar: Examenskolloquium Linguistik 14
Winter Term 05/06

15. Linguistics
Sociolinguistics: Regional and Social Varieties
V. Social Variation
Q: What does regional variation have to do with social variation?
A: By referring to the previously mentioned social dimensions the use of a
social variety can reveal a speaker’s
social status / background
gender
age
ethnicity
+ (many) other social factors 
People can accommodate their language (e.g. code-switch) according to their communicative competence (Dell Hymes).
= We can move up and down the ‘social ladder’.
Seminar: Examenskolloquium Linguistik 15
Winter Term 05/06

16. V. Sociolinguistic Competence
Linguistics
Sociolinguistics: Regional and Social Varieties
V. Sociolinguistic Competence
Definition:
“The knowledge which underlies people’s ability to use language appropriately.” (Janet Holmes)
Variation in multilingual speech communities
Example: code-switching
Young British Portuguese using
Portuguese at home and at church
English in all other domains of life
because it is appropriate language use for them.
(Other examples include the use and explain the existence of lingua francas, pidgins and creoles.)
Seminar: Examenskolloquium Linguistik 16
Winter Term 05/06

17. My own private sociolinguisticcompetence
Linguistics
Sociolinguistics: Regional and Social Varieties
V. Sociolinguistic Competence
Variation in monolingual speech communities
 Learning to use the community lge in a way which reflects one’s membership of various overlapping social groups:
family
friends
My own private sociolinguisticcompetence
partner
colleagues
Seminar: Examenskolloquium Linguistik 17
Winter Term 05/06