Socio. Week 4

Language Variation - Synchronic

• Variation can be affected by gender (male/female/transgender), registers and styles (formal/informal), social class, ethnicity (ethnolects), age, and place (regiolects/dialects)

Social Class

• The working class is more likely to use non-standard forms than the middle class
• Variants have prestige
• Status, Karl Marx, and Max Weber all define social class
• Karl Marx defined social class by proletariat vs capitalists
• Max Weber determined status of the individual by: economic situation, individual lifestyle, and life perspectives such as ambitions and attitudes
• Social class allows individual mobility
• Examples of social class systems include the UK and USA, which are lower/working - middle - upper class
• Europe's social class systems includes: nobility (inheritable), and often simple distinction low (= workers) - middle - high (elite) class

How to measure social class

• Factors include: geographical comparability, comparability over time, social mobility during the life span, and often sensitive information that invades privacy
• Common choices to measure social class include: education, occupation (scales), and income and wealth
• Alternatives to measure social class include: blue/white collar and micro level
• In the Netherlands, social class is measured using the CBS.nl, which uses the Sociale klasse (EGP-92)
• In the UK social classes are measured via the BBC
• The classes listed on the BBC are: Elite, Established middle class, Technical middle class, New affluent workers, Traditional working class, Emergent service workers, and Precariat, or precarious proletariat

Caste

• Originally used for inheritable social class in Europe
• There are now inheritable classes in the Hindu community
• There are also caste systems in Africa
• Caste does not allow individual mobility like a social class
• The Caste system: Brahmins (Priests, Academics), Kshatriyas (Warriors, Rulers), Vaishyas (Business Community), Kshudras (Servants), and Dalit

Fine-Broad Stratification

• Fine stratification shows small differences in the frequency of variants between the groups
• Broad stratification shows clearer differences

Relationship Between Social Class and Language Change

• Change from above occurs above the level of consciousness
• The new variant has overt prestige and is often led by lower middle class or upper working class ("interior" groups)
• Change from below occurs below the level of consciousness
• The new variant has no overt prestige

Cross-Over Effect

• DU ‘hypercorrect taalgedrag’ =/= hypercorrection
• DU soep [zup], fiets [vits], aap [haap]
• DU hij is even groot dan zijn broer
• EN captain [kæptiŋ]
• EN a native Spanish speaker says ‘stablish’
• Intersection of style and class is apparent
• In less formal styles, class x produces fewer prestige variants than class x + 1
• In most formal styles, class x produces more prestige variants than class x + 1

Historical Sociolinguistics

• A recent subfield in sociolinguistics that uses written sources
• Themes mainly look at the elite
• In Europe it also examines the language used by the working class in the 19th century
• It includes the interpretation of references to language in literary texts
• HiSoN - https://hison.org
• The Journal of historical Sociolinguistics can be found at https://www.degruyter.com/view/j/jhsl
• In "Warenar" (1617) a comedy by P.C. Hooft using the dialect of Amsterdam it includes the quote “Nae dien dat ghy mijn wel kent, en ick jou mede, soo hoop ick je seltme niet weygheren een bede, Dat is dat je me jou dochter te wyve wilt gheven" which translates to "If you know that I know you, and I have you with me, I hope you won't refuse a prayer, that is, that you allow me to marry your daughter."
• Examples can be found in english literature from Charles Dickens
• Including the fact that during the 19th century, there was a link between (ing) and social status
• EX: Ex-prisoner and charwoman usage in ‘the buryin’ ground’

Social Networks

• Sociology: a successful way to explain innovations
• These networks are at least as vital as macro-social categories in understanding language variation and change
• Includes the use of local variants // integration in the social network of the community
• Pioneers in the field are James & Lesley Milroy, Belfast
• Core - secondary – peripheral members // involvement in network
• Dense networks: all members know each other
• Loose networks: not all members know each other
• Uniplex: 1 role in network or 1 basis for contact
• Multiplex: different social relationships
• A broker is someone with many contacts outside the network, often an innovator for change

Relationship Between Networks and Language Change

• Dense and multiplex networks can be displayed in rural areas/villages, working-class neighborhoods in large cities, and high social class and political elites
• These inhibit change
• Loose and uniplex networks consist of the upward mobile middle class
• Breaking traditional patterns can cause language change
• Research of social networks often includes participatory observation
• The friend of a friend study includes different situational contexts without violating the community interaction standards (natural language)

Communities of practice

• Introduced to sociolinguistics by Penny Eckert, Sally McConnell-Ginet, Mary Bucholtz (gender)
• A smaller unit than social networks
• The 3 characteristics must be present: mutual engagement, a shared repertoire, and a joint enterprise
• Mutual engagement involves direct personal contact between all members
• A shared repertoire includes language involving speaking styles, topics and a variety of social activities
• A joint enterprise requires working together towards a common goal

Examples of Communities of Practice

• Children’s Choir
• Digital CoP GagaDaily by Carter (2018)
• Online fandom of Lady Gaga known as “Little Monsters”

Social Identity in 2025

• To be vs to do
• Conscious/intentional vs Unconscious/unintentional
• // Labov: Markers vs Indicators
• Assigned vs adopted

Language and Identity

• In the ‘60s: Variation in language is due to social factors: gender, ethnic origin, socio-economic class, age (STRUCTURE)
• In the ‘80s and ‘90s (Gender studies): language 'practice', 'acts of identity' using AGENCY

Further Thinking

• Does a speech community consist of different social networks and communities of practice?
• Can individuals be members of different networks?
• Do networks change with age?
• What is the exact position of brokers in the network?

Conclusion: Different Approaches

• Social class: Groups with large numbers of speakers where not necessary to know the others
• Social networks: Groups based on frequency and quality of the interaction between group members
• Community of practice: Involves joint activities and goals (detailed knowledge of group members required)