Aels (sociolinguistics)
What is sociolinguistics?
• The way language & social context relate to one another (contrast/express identities)
• Social realities of language
• Shift à social context à shift à ways of speaking
• Language influences who we are (vice versa)
Types of Sociolinguistics
• “linguistic” (micro) to “socio” (macro)
• Micro à language is studied through social dimension (done without considering “big
issues” but rather accent discrimination/stereotypes)
• Macro à the role society plays in language
• Two sides of Sociolinguistics: The Linguistic End & The Social End
Linguistic end:
Aims to explain patterns of language use and social meaning
Variationist linguistics:
• Goal: why language/speech varies
• Focus: language structure
• Quantitative (statistical) research method (probabilistic, thus likelihoods not absolutes)
Social end:
Looks at how and why societies chose certain languages or dialects
• Official languages, schooling, media
• Attitudes towards different speakers
• How language & power influence each other
• Qualitative research methods (interviews/case studies)
• Looks at “bigger picture” of language & how it relates to societies, governments,
power, attitudes, biases etc.
Some types of Sociolinguistics:
• Language used in social contexts
• Language variation
• Language policy & planning
• Language Contact
Studying sub-areas of language in social use:
• Communities:
o Social groups (each group has their own way of speaking)
o Ethnic Differences (different ethnicities vary their language from other
communities)
o Regional areas (dialects differ from one region to the next)
• Social categories:
o Class (working class vs upper class speak differently)
o Gender & sexuality (language conveys our identities)
o Age (how children vs adults speak)
o Race (how language played a role in apartheid)
• Social relationships (group styles & interaction)
Made by: Daryan Vdw 1
, Aels (sociolinguistics)
• Relationships between language groups (multilingualism, language contact)
• Language in society (language planning & education)
Looking at language as a linguist:
• Empiricist (methods based on what is seen or experienced)
• Observing/recording language in use
• Descriptive (look & describe how language is used)
Language:
• A linguistic variety that emerged over time, developing a distinct identity/social values
and meanings
• Sociopolitical construct
Variety:
• A neutral term used to refer to languages and dialects, it avoids the distinction
between the two & the negative attitudes associated with the term “dialect”
• Inferences can be made about speakers based on a bit of data
Sociolinguistic variable:
• A feature of language that varies systematically along social dimensions such as class,
ethnicity, gender, sexuality, and geographical regions
• Interspeaker variation à differences and variation that is measured between different
speakers
• Intraspeaker variation à differences in the way a single person speaks at different
times, situations, interlocutors or with a sentence
• Sociolinguistic studies focuses on Interspeaker variation
Ethnolect: Linguistic variety spoken by a particular ethnic/race group
Sociolect: Linguistic variety spoken by social class/group
Accent: Prosodic and segmental features across social/geographical space, how words are
pronounced and spoken
Idiolect: Personal variety or repertoire of an individual speaker
Personalizing Sociolinguistics
Positionality:
• The social and political context that creates your identity in terms of race, gender,
class, sexuality etc.
• Influences our biases and how we look at the world
Sociolinguistic variation and social meanings:
• How we experience the world affects how we use language
Made by: Daryan Vdw 2
What is sociolinguistics?
• The way language & social context relate to one another (contrast/express identities)
• Social realities of language
• Shift à social context à shift à ways of speaking
• Language influences who we are (vice versa)
Types of Sociolinguistics
• “linguistic” (micro) to “socio” (macro)
• Micro à language is studied through social dimension (done without considering “big
issues” but rather accent discrimination/stereotypes)
• Macro à the role society plays in language
• Two sides of Sociolinguistics: The Linguistic End & The Social End
Linguistic end:
Aims to explain patterns of language use and social meaning
Variationist linguistics:
• Goal: why language/speech varies
• Focus: language structure
• Quantitative (statistical) research method (probabilistic, thus likelihoods not absolutes)
Social end:
Looks at how and why societies chose certain languages or dialects
• Official languages, schooling, media
• Attitudes towards different speakers
• How language & power influence each other
• Qualitative research methods (interviews/case studies)
• Looks at “bigger picture” of language & how it relates to societies, governments,
power, attitudes, biases etc.
Some types of Sociolinguistics:
• Language used in social contexts
• Language variation
• Language policy & planning
• Language Contact
Studying sub-areas of language in social use:
• Communities:
o Social groups (each group has their own way of speaking)
o Ethnic Differences (different ethnicities vary their language from other
communities)
o Regional areas (dialects differ from one region to the next)
• Social categories:
o Class (working class vs upper class speak differently)
o Gender & sexuality (language conveys our identities)
o Age (how children vs adults speak)
o Race (how language played a role in apartheid)
• Social relationships (group styles & interaction)
Made by: Daryan Vdw 1
, Aels (sociolinguistics)
• Relationships between language groups (multilingualism, language contact)
• Language in society (language planning & education)
Looking at language as a linguist:
• Empiricist (methods based on what is seen or experienced)
• Observing/recording language in use
• Descriptive (look & describe how language is used)
Language:
• A linguistic variety that emerged over time, developing a distinct identity/social values
and meanings
• Sociopolitical construct
Variety:
• A neutral term used to refer to languages and dialects, it avoids the distinction
between the two & the negative attitudes associated with the term “dialect”
• Inferences can be made about speakers based on a bit of data
Sociolinguistic variable:
• A feature of language that varies systematically along social dimensions such as class,
ethnicity, gender, sexuality, and geographical regions
• Interspeaker variation à differences and variation that is measured between different
speakers
• Intraspeaker variation à differences in the way a single person speaks at different
times, situations, interlocutors or with a sentence
• Sociolinguistic studies focuses on Interspeaker variation
Ethnolect: Linguistic variety spoken by a particular ethnic/race group
Sociolect: Linguistic variety spoken by social class/group
Accent: Prosodic and segmental features across social/geographical space, how words are
pronounced and spoken
Idiolect: Personal variety or repertoire of an individual speaker
Personalizing Sociolinguistics
Positionality:
• The social and political context that creates your identity in terms of race, gender,
class, sexuality etc.
• Influences our biases and how we look at the world
Sociolinguistic variation and social meanings:
• How we experience the world affects how we use language
Made by: Daryan Vdw 2
