Sociology PDF

S O C I O L O G Y Selected exemplary topics/terms to revise for a test: Sociolinguistics Dialect Accent Dialect continuum Mutual intelligibility Standard English Received Pronunciation (RP) Sapir-Wharf Hypothesis Taboo Sociolect William Labov Pidgin Language Creole Language Register Diglossia (High Variety vs. Low Variety) Language/Code Switching Sociolinguistics - lg in social and cultural context; relationship between language and society Sociolinguistics - lg is a social and cultural phenomenon. Subdiscipline of linguistics and focuses on how society influences lg and the other way around. Sociolinguistics: [...] is that part of linguistics which is concerned with language as a social and cultural phenomenon. It investigates the field of language and society and anthropology, human geography and sociology (Trudgill 2000: 21). has close connections with the social sciences, especially social psychology. Dialect: a subordinate variety of language, regional dialect (says where we come from); social dialect (says who we are) not a particularly clear-cut concept. Geographical dialect continuum - defined by Bloomfield as a range of dialects spoken across some geographical area that differ only slightly between neighboring areas, but as one travels in any direction, the differences accumulate in such a way that dialects from opposite ends of the continuum are no longer mutually intelligible. If two speakers cannot understand each other - they speak two different languages; If they can understand each other - they speak dialects of the same language. Dialect Accent Refers to differences between kinds of Refers to differences of pronunciation. language, i.e. differences of vocabulary / grammar / pronunciation; can be used to apply to all varieties of language, not just nonstandard varieties. Mutual intelligibility' - a relationship between languages or dialects in which speakers of different but related varieties can readily understand each other. Standard English 1. A dialect, because it differs grammatically/lexically from other varieties of English; 2. A variety (kind of language) of English used in print, taught in schools and to non-native speakers learning the language, spoken by educated people and used in news broadcasts; 3. Developed out of the English dialects used in/around London (by speakers at the court, scholars from universities and writers); 4. With time used in the upper classes of society in the capital city, 5. Associated with the education system in all English speaking countries; 6. Has much more status/prestige than any other English dialect; 7. Considered to be the English language; 8. Came to be regarded as the model for all those who wish to speak/write 'well'; 9. Has many regional differences: Standard Scot. Eng./Standard Eng. Eng./Standard Am. Eng. - all have differences in e.g. vocabulary (Br. lift, Am. elevator) or grammar (Br. I have got. Am. I have gotten; Eng. It needs washing. Scot. It needs washed). 10. Has a widely accepted/codified grammar; 11. Has nothing to do with pronunciation (there is no universally acknowledged standard accent for English). In Britain Received Pronunciation (RP) is a purely social accent; RP-the accent taught to non-native speakers learning British pronunciation. 12. It is fairly common for a speaker to use Standard English and deliver it with a regional, and national accent; 13. Attitudes towards nonstandard dialects are attitudes which reflect the social structure of society, not linguistic judgements ➔ 'Sapir-Whorf hypothesis' (Edward Sapir and Benjamin Lee Whorf) -> speakers' native languages set up series of categories which act as a kind of network/framework through which they perceive the world, and which restrict the way in which they categorise and conceptualise different phenomena. Linguistics: 1) Microlinguistics phonology morphology syntax semantics pragmatics 2) Macrolinguistics psycholinguistics sociolinguistics neurolinguistics anthropological linguistics (cultural linguistics) lg acquisition etc. Sociolinguistics - lg in social and cultural context; relationship between language and society Course description: 1. Sociolinguistics - Language and Society. 2. Language and Social Class. 3. Language and Ethnic Group. 4. Language and Sex. 5. Language and Content/xt? 6. Language and Social interaction. 7. Language and Nation. 8. Language and Geography. 9. Language and Humanity. Questions to answer: 1) How are society and language related to each other? 2) How do different social factors, like age and gender, affect language use? 3) How do people talk differently in different situations? 4) What is standard language and what are its characteristics? 5) What are the other varieties of language besides regional dialects?, etc. Main goals: 1) To gain familiarity with the basic terminology, methods and literature of sociolinguistics; 2) To investigate the relationship between social structure and language use/attitudes; 3) To become aware that language is affected by a whole range of social factors: gender, age, education, place of residence, etc.; 4) To look at how men and women use language to express the relationship of the sexes. Sociolinguistics - lg is a social and cultural phenomenon. Subdiscipline of linguistics and focuses on how society influences lg and the other way around. Sociolinguistics: [...] is that part of linguistics which is concerned with language as a social and cultural phenomenon. It investigates the field of language and society and anthropology, human geography and sociology (Trudgill 2000: 21). has close connections with the social sciences, especially social psychology, ORIGIN Sociolinguistics as a separate discipline developed in the early 60's, first in the USA (William Labov), later popular in Britain and then in the rest of the western world, William Labov - put the area into practice, founder of the variationist sociolinguistics, Britain (Basil Bernstein) -> work in the sociology and education, considerations of lg in relation to society go back a considerable way and the significance of society for lg was stressed by the structuralist at the beginning of the 20th c. (Ferdinand de Sausseure) Language and Society Language has/fulfills an important social function: 1) Helps us to establish & maintain relationships. 2) Conveys information about the speaker. There is a close inter-relationship between language and society. Basic terms: d i a l e c t Dialect: a subordinate variety of language, regional dialect (says where we come from); social dialect (says who we are) not a particularly clear-cut concept. In England e.g.: 1. 'The Norfolk dialect' 'East Norfolk' 'South Norfolk' 2. 'The Suffolk dialect' There is no clear linguistic break between Norfolk-and Suffolk dialect. -> There is a geographical dialect continuum - defined by Bloomfield as a range of dialects spoken across some geographical area that differ only slightly between neighboring areas, but as one travels in any direction, the differences accumulate in such a way that dialects from opposite ends of the continuum are no longer mutually intelligible. Basic terms: l a n g u a g e Language: not a particularly clear-cut concept, basic means of communication but also a social phenomenon. E.g. Dutch and German - two distinct languages. But, at some places along the Netherlands- Germany frontier the dialects - extremely similar. If two speakers cannot understand each other - they speak two different languages; If they can understand each other - they speak dialects of the same language. However, the case of Dutch and German contradicts such conclusion. Language 'Mutual intelligibility' - a relationship between languages or dialects in which speakers of different but related varieties can readily understand each other. Conclusion: 'mutual intelligibility' and other purely linguistic criteria are less important in the use of the terms language and dialect than political/cultural factors, of which the two most important are autonomy (independence) and heteronomy (dependence). Dutch and German - autonomous (both are independent, standardized varieties of language), but the nonstandard dialects of Germany, Austria and German-speaking Switzerland - heteronomous with respect to standard German. E.g. Norwegian, Swedish and Danish - autonomous, standard languages. Language and dialect Conclusion: it is difficult to use purely linguistic criteria to divide up varieties of lg into distinct languages or dialects - the problem of discreteness (separateness) and continuity. E.g. terms 'Cockney', 'Brooklynese', 'Yorkshire accent - not discrete, without well- defined, obvious characteristics; E.g. 'Canadian English', or 'American English' - treated as two clearly distinct entities but many linguistic features are characteristic for both varieties of English. Dialect, accent, Standard English Dialect Accent Refers to differences between kinds of Refers to differences of pronunciation. language, i.e. differences of vocabulary / grammar / pronunciation; can be used to apply to all varieties of language, not just nonstandard varieties. Standard English 14. A dialect, because it differs grammatically/lexically from other varieties of English; 15. A variety (kind of language) of English used in print, taught in schools and to non-native speakers learning the language, spoken by educated people and used in news broadcasts; 16. Developed out of the English dialects used in/around London (by speakers at the court, scholars from universities and writers); 17. With time used in the upper classes of society in the capital city, 18. Associated with the education system in all English speaking countries; 19. Has much more status/prestige than any other English dialect; 20. Considered to be the English language; 21. Came to be regarded as the model for all those who wish to speak/write 'well'; 22. Has many regional differences: Standard Scot. Eng./Standard Eng. Eng./Standard Am. Eng. - all have differences in e.g. vocabulary (Br. lift, Am. elevator) or grammar (Br. I have got. Am. I have gotten; Eng. It needs washing. Scot. It needs washed). 23. Has a widely accepted/codified grammar; 24. Has nothing to do with pronunciation (there is no universally aknowledged standard accent for English). In Britain Received Pronunciation (RP) is a purely social accent; RP-the accent taught to non-native speakers learning British pronunciation. 25. It is fairly common for a speaker to use Standard English and deliver it with a regional, and national accent; 26. Attitudes towards nonstandard dialects are attitudes which reflect the social structure of society, not linguistic judgements e.g. in English /r/ - not pronounced before a consonant (cart)/at the end of a word (car), called 'non-prevocalic /r/'. Accents without non-prevocalic /r/ -> more status, more correct' In New York City - accents with non-prevocalic /r/ -> more prestige, more correct' Sociolinguistics: Language, Dialect, Variety Language - Criteria Standardization Vitality Autonomy Reduction Norms Dialect - Variety regional social phonological Inter-relationship between language & society One-way relationship - the influence of society on language or vice versa. 1. The effect of language on society: ➔ 'Sapir-Whorf hypothesis' (Edward Sapir and Benjamin Lee Whorf) -> speakers' native languages set up series of categories which act as a kind of network/framework through which they perceive the world, and which restrict the way in which they categorise and conceptualise different phenomena. Linguistic differences can produce cognitive differences - The Inuit can think more intelligently about snow because their language contains more sophisticated and subtle words distinguishing various forms of it. 2. The effect of society on language: ➔ Physical environment can be reflected in the lg: e.g. English has only one word for reindeer, but Sami languages of northern Scandinavia have several. ➔ Social environment can be reflected in the lg: e.g. in English kin relationships: son, daughter, grandson, granddaughter, brother, sister, uncle, aunt, etc. but the distinction between 'maternal' and 'paternal' aunt is not important. But, in the Australian aboriginal language Njamal: mama -> 'father, uncle, male cousin of parent, etc' Social change can lead to a linguistic change. E.g. in Russian - the structure of the Russian kinship system has undergone a radical linguistic change due to several important social and political events: In the past: wife's brother - Russian shurin; Now: brat zheny-brother of wife. In the past: brother's wife - Russian vevestka; Now: zhena brata - wife of brother. 3. The effect of the values of a society on language through the phenomenon of taboo. Taboo: ➔ behaviour which is believed to be supernaturally forbidden/regarded as immoral/improper (examples of taboo activities: abortion, addiction, adultery, homosexuality, etc.), ➔ in language - associated with things which are not said, esp with words,expressions which are not used. Taboo Words (swear words, curse words) - words/phrases which some people find shocking or offensive. Categories of taboo words: 1. Taboo words to do with Religion, ➔ "Jesus Christ! You are so god-damned stupid!" 2. Words to do with Sex or the Body, ➔ Tits (a euphemism would be breasts) 3. Words to do with the Toilet, ➔ Taking a piss (a euphemism would be going to the lavatory) 4. Words describing People: ➔ Sexual orientation, e.g. queer, ➔ Intelligence, e.g. retard, ➔ Physical disabilities, e.g, cripple, ➔ Ethnicity/Race/Nationality, e.g. frog, nigger. Language and Social Class Speaker A: Speaker B: 1) I seen it last week. We ain't go there. 1) I saw it last week. 2) Language and social class 2) We don't go there. Social-class dialects/sociolects + (possible) social-class accents why? ↓ Social differentiation has effect on language why? ↓ Analogy between development of social varieties & development of regional varieties (in both cases barriers and distance - important). Language and social class (regional varieties) Regional-dialect boundaries coincide with geographical barriers. traditional dialects of Lincolnshire & Yorkshire (regions divided by the River Humber) differ considerably. 1. Speakers in areas north of the river - a monophthong, e.g. house [hu:s], 2. Speakers in areas south of the river - a diphthong- house [haus] Language and social class (regional varieties) Note: the greater the geographical distance between 2 dialects the more they differ linguistically. 1) Buchan in Scotland 2) Newfoundland 3) Mississippi Language and social class (social varieties) Development of social varieties explained in terms of social barriers/social distance. 1) The spread of a linguistic feature through a society may be stopped by barriers of social class, age, race, religion, etc. 2) Social distance is similar to geographical distance, e.g. a linguistic innovation that begins among the highest social group will affect the lowest social group last Social stratification - a type of social differentiation - any hierarchical ordering of groups within a society esp. in terms of power, wealth & status. In the English-speaking world - social classes are not clearly defined or labelled entities, social mobility is possible -> the more heterogeneous (diverse) a society is, the more heterogeneous is its lg. In the past linguists paid attention to: 1) Idiolect - the speech of one person at one time in one style, 2) The speakers in rural areas - called 'NORMS' - non-mobile older rural males Why surveying speakers of rural areas? 1) Easier to ignore social heterogeneousness in villages than in large towns, 2) Recording many dialect features which were dying out; 3) Treating speech of older, uneducated people as 'real' or 'pure' dialects. Social class stratification Social-class stratification is not universal. E.g. in India there is: Rigid separation into distinct groups in India → caste-dialect differences → clear-cut social differences in Ig are greater than regional differences. Social class stratification After WWII - dialectologists began to investigate the speech of towns. But heterogeneous populations of large towns/cities appeared to be a real problem The problem of urban dialectology to describe the speech of large towns/cities fully and accurately eventually became a sociolinguistic problem. In 1966 William Labov (the American linguist) published The Social Stratification of English in New York City - a large scale survey of the speech of New York, tape, tape- recorded interviews with 340 New Yorkers, by random sample. Social class stratification Labov's methods - very significant for the study of social-class dialects/accents. Methods of traditional dialectology - adequate for the description of caste dialects. Earlier it was claimed that New Yorkers' speech varied in a completely random/unpredictable manner, e.g. guard with [r] or without; beard and bad - sometimes pronounced in the same way or differently -> called 'free variation'. But: Labov - variation is not free in the speech of New Yorkers but determined by extra- linguistic factors in a predictable way. ➔ the problem of the heterogeneity of speech communities has been overcome, ➔ easier to obtain a clearer picture of social dialect differentiation. Language and social class Different dialects/accents are related to differences of social-class background: in Britain conservative/rural dialects - old-fashioned Ig varieties associated with the lowest groups in the social hierarchy and change gradually as one moves across the countryside. in the areas from Aberdeen to Cornwall - a whole series of different dialects gradually mergie into one another - called a dialect continuum. A dialect continuum - a large number of different but not usually distinct nonstandard dialects connected by a chain of similarity, but with the dialects at either end of the chain being very dissimilar. Social and regional dialect variation A lexical example: In Standard English (top of the pyramid) - scarecrow At the other end of the pyramid (bottom) - bird-scarer, moggy, shay, guy, bogeyman, shuft, rook-scarer, bogle, flay-crow, mawpin, mawkin, etc. A grammatical example: In Standard English - He's a man who likes his dog and He's a man that likes his dog, Regional non-standard variation: 1. He's a man who likes his dog 2. He's a man that likes his dog 3. He's a man at likes his dog 4. He's a man as likes his dog 5. He's a man what likes his dog 6. He's a man he likes his dog 7. He's a man likes his dog Language and social class A picture of the relationship between Ig and social stratification = measuring linguistic & social phenomena In case of a social class - assigning a numerical index score on the basis of e.g. income, education, then grouping them with others who have similar indexes; In case of language - taking a linguistic feature and varying it within the community E.g. In Norwich (East Anglia) and in Detroit (USA) the 3 rd p. suffix -s is not present in the speech of some people: She like him very much. He don't know a lot, do he? It go ever so fast. Conclusion: Since Standard English has the -s, and since the standard variety is most closely associated with higher social groups, there might be a direct relationship between social-class position and usage of -s. Verbs without -s in Norwich and Detroit Classes Norwich (%) Detroit (%) MMC 0 1 LMC 2 10 UWC 70 57 MWC 87 - LWC 97 71 Conclusion: the lower social-class position the more frequently used verbs without-s. Dialect mixture - two separate dialects are mixed in different proportions by speakers from different classes (Norwich MMC speakers used verbs with -s but the Norwich LWC speakers didin't). Language and social class More complex grammatical features - If we want to negate a sentence: I can eat anything, In Standard English: I can't eat anything. I can eat nothing. Other varieties of English: I can't eat nothing. Conclusion - in the Detroit survey - a clear relationship between usage of double or multiple negation and social class. No single class consistently uses one form or the other. The percentage of nonstandard forms were: UMC 2 LMC 11 UWC 38 LWC 70 LWC 70 Language and social class Social-class accents - more difficult to handle. investigation of the pronunciation of Individual vowels and consonants Consonants studied in Norwich: the usage of 'dropped hs' as opposed to h in hammer, hat, etc.- [æma] vs. [hæmǝ]; the usage of 'n' as opposed to 'ng' in walking, running, etc. - ['wo:kn/] vs. ['wo:kiŋ]. Vowels: - socially more significant than consonants. - the problem of measurment is greater in Leeds in England - in words but, up, fun middle-class speakers use [^] but working-class speakers use a higher, rounder vowel [u] 'Correlational sociolinguistics' Studies like these have been labeled to be under correlational sociolinguistics which deals with: 1. Assigning a social status to speakers. 2. Correlation between the social class and the linguistic forms. 3. Finding out something about the social structure of particular communities. 4. Finding out more about idiolects and their characteristics. 5. Finding out about social-class dialects. 6. Giving a great deal of information about the processes involved in linguistic change. Language and ethnic group An ethnic group or ethnicity is a population group whose members identify with each other on the basis of common nationality or shared cultural traditions. The term race refers to the concept of dividing people into populations or groups on the basis of various sets of physical characteristics (which usually result from genetic ancestry). Language and ethnic group Experiment in the USA: 1. There are differences between the English spoken by Whites and African Americans in the USA. Thus, Americans assign people to one of the two ethnic groups solely on the basis of their language. -> 'black speech' and 'white speech' have some kind of social reality for many Americans. 2. Whether one speaks 'White' or 'Black' English is the result of learned behaviour'-> speakers acquire the linguistic characteristics of those they live in close contact with. 3. Members of the two American ethnic groups learn the linguistic varieties in the same way that social-class dialects are acquired. 4. There is no racial or physiological basis for the type of linguistic variation. 5. Any human being can learn any human language. Language and ethnic group However, language may be an important/even essential concomitant of ethnic- group membership: 1. When we talk about different languages - linguistic characteristics may be the most defining criteria for ethnic-group membership. 2. When we talk about different varieties of the same language - language is an important identifying characteristic. By no means all American Blacks speak African American Vernacular English, but the overwhelming majority of those who speak it are Blacks and can be identified as such from their speech alone. ➔ Ethnic-group differentiation in a mixed community is a particular type of social differentiation, and as such, will often have linguistic differentiation associated with it. E.g. You speak Greek, we assume u Greek Language and ethnic group Two types of the relation between language and ethnic group: 1. Cases where language is a defining characteristic of ethnic-group membership in Ghana there are native speakers of 80 different languages in Canada - two official languages: English and French Language and ethnic group 2. Cases where the separate identity of ethnic groups is signalled not by different lgs, but by different varieties of the same lg. a) Ethnic group differentiation may act as a barrier to the communication of linguistic features in the same way as other social barriers. b) Individuals who are Black are much more likely to be aware of the fact that they are 'Black' than they are to recognize that they are, say, 'lower middle class'. c) This means that ethnic-group membership and identity may be an important social fact for them which can be signaled by persistent linguistic differences. Language and ethnic group Ethnic groups are relatively fluid entities whose boundaries can change and which can come into being and/or disappear during the course of history. former Yugoslavia: A case in point Between 1918 and the 1990s, Yugoslavia was a multi-ethnic, multilingual nation-state. Language and ethnic group Before 1990s - there were large minorities of Hungarian and Albanian speakers and many other smaller minority groups BUT most of Jugoslavia was covered by a geographical dialect continuum of South Slavic dialects. 1) Former Yugoslavia 2) Countries where a South Slavic language was the national language Language and ethnic group In the centre of former Jugoslavia - Croatia, Montenegro, Bosnia-Hercegovina and Serbia- the language was Serbo-Croat (Serbo-Croatian). It had two forms: Serbian written in the Cyrillic alphabet and Croatian in the Latin alphabet. Croats from Croatia (Roman Catholic Christians) - native-speakers of Serbo-Croat or of Croatian Serbs from Croatia (Orthodox Christians)-native speakers of Serbo-Croat Areas where Serbo-Croatian was spoken by a plurality of speakers -> Language and ethnic group In Bosnia - the dialects were intermediate between those of Croatia and Serbia in Sarajevo - Croats said they spoke Croatian and Serbs said they spoke Serbian. But Moslems (Muslims) and Jugoslavs - preferred the term Serbo-Croat. Language and ethnic group After the break-up of Jugoslavia - Croatia calls its nationial lg Croatian and favours the Latin alphabet (lexical cleansing) Serbia calls its national Ig Serbian and favours the Cyrillic alphabet (lexical cleansing) Moslems in Bosnia - prefer their Ig to be called Bosnian -> whether a linguistic variety is a language or not is by no means entirely a linguistic question. Language and ethnic group The African American Vernacular of English (AAVE): Another case in point African American Vernacular English (AAVE), African American English (AAE), - is a variety of American English (dialect and sociolect), most commonly spoken today by lower-class African Americans. Non-linguists sometimes call it Ebonics. Language and ethnic group Origins of AAVE - there are two main views: 1. AAVE features are derived from the English dialects of the British Isles. 2. AAVE features are derived from West African languages. E.g. the widespread form OK is almost certainly of West African origin. Others include: jazz, voodoo, etc. 3. The first African Americans spoke an English Creole, which through a process of decreolization became the African American Vernacular English (AAVE) of today. A pidgin is a reduced, regularised, mixed lg evolved for e.g. trading purposes by speakers with no common lg. A creole language - applied to a pidgin Ig which has become the native Ig of a speech community, and has therefore become expanded again, and acquired all the functions and characteristics of a full natural lg. What are Creoles and Pidgins? And what's the difference? Pidgin Creole No native speaker Native speaker exist Mixing of language Mixed language associated with cultural and often racial mixture Reduced grammar & vocabulary Have parents who use pidgin Language and ethnic group The Divergence Hypothesis Due to the racially divided nature of American society, and the lack of integration between blacks and whites, AAVE and White speech in America are believed to be growing apart, showing a dramatic reflection of the severe racial division between the two communities. Language and sex/gender What is the difference between sex and gender? Sex = male and female Gender = masculine and feminine Sex refers to biological differences; chromosomes, hormonal profiles, internal/external sex organs. Gender refers to the state of being male or female, esp. as differentiated by social and cultural roles and behaviour; 'Gender role' refers to the characteristics/behaviours that different cultures attribute to the sexes. To summarise: 'man' = male sex + masculine social role 'woman' = female sex + feminine social role Language and sex There are two linguistic phenomena related to 'Language and Sex': 1. Lexicalization and grammaticalization of gender 2. Linguistic variation between male and female speech The division of the human race into male and female is reflected and indicated in all human languages (man-woman, boy-girl, son-daughter, etc.) by: Lexicon: German - Freund (male friend), Freundin (female friend) French - cousin (male cousin), cousine (female cousin) English - actor, actress; manager, manageress English - chairman, spokesman chairperson, spokesperson 2. Grammar: Language and sex a) Pronouns Finnish - hän 'he' or 'she' (no sex-marking on pronouns) Hungarian - on 'he' or 'she' (no sex-marking on pronouns) English - he, she French- ils 'they masculine', elles 'they feminine' Spanish - vosotros 'you plural masculine', vosotras 'you plural feminine' b) Articles and adjectives French: une étidiante très intelligente (feminine), un étidiant très intelligent (masculine) 'a very clever student' c) Verb forms Polish - przyjechał 'he arrived', przyjechała 'she arrived' Language and sex Sex differentiation is also lexicalised when people want to signal their own sex. In English I am a young woman/I am a sick man. There are a few possibilities of how it may occur: 1. Not at all (e.g. English and Hungarian), e.g. English narration written in the first person 2. Through the use of adjectival gender marking e.g. French je suis heureuse - a female form vs je suis heurureux - a male form for 'I am happy'. 3. Through the use of distinct gender-marked verb forms in the first-person singular e.g. in Polish past tense verb forms, przyjechałam - said by a woman, przyjechałem - said by a man. 4. Through the use of distinct first-person singular pronouns e.g. in Thai, a man will say phom for the first-person 'I' and a woman will refer to herself as dichan. Language and sex Why do men and women often speak differently? (genderlects - types/styles of speech used by males & females) In the Lesser Antilles (West Indies) - women and m The quotation from the 17th c.: The men have a great many expressions peculiar to them, which the women understand but never pronounce themselves. On the other hand, the women have words and phrases which the men never use, or they would be laughed to scorn. Thus it happens that in their conversations it often seems as if the women had another language than the men… Language and sex The savage natives of Dominica say that the reason for this is that when the Caribs came to occupy the islands these were inhabited by an Arawak tribe which they exterminated completely, with the exception of the women, whom they married in order to populate the country. It is asserted that there is some similarity between the speech of the continental Arawaks and that of the Carib women. The 'invasion' theory seems rather suspect because: 1) Linguistic gender differentiation among the Carib Indians is similar to such differences in other American Indian Igs. 2) According to Otto Jespersen, sex differentiation may be the result of taboo. in Zulu a wife cannot mention the name of her father-in-law or his brothers if the tabooed name includes the sound /z/, as in amanzi 'water', a woman has to convert the word to the one without this tabooed sound, as in amandabi. Language and sex Taboo is not a particularly good overall explanation of linguistic gender differentiation because: 1. It is not clear how such differences could become generalised to the whole community 2. 2. In many other non-lexical cases it is clear that we are not dealing with taboo In the 1930's in the American Indian Ig Koasati, a lg spoken in Louisiana - noticeable sex differences were found - involved the phonological shapes of particular verb forms Language and sex How can we explain differences of this type in the American Indian Ig Koasati? In Koasati and other languages, some female forms appear to be older than the male forms. Linguistic change seems to have taken place in the male variety. Women's speech thus seems to be more conservative and less innovating than that of men. Language and sex Linguistic sex differentiation in English: 1. Women use forms which approach those of the 'standard variety' or the 'prestige' accent than those used by men. women on average use fewer instances of nonstandard multiple negation (e.g. / don't want none) Language and sex Conclusion: In different parts of the English-speaking world, as well as in Koasati, female speakers use forms considered 'better' and more 'correct' than those used of course not use more standard forms than men. But: In the Arabic-speaking communities women who are denied education or travel will Countries where Arabic is spoken -> Language and sex Gender differentiation (female speakers - better forms; male speakers - nonstandard forms) is the most consistent finding to emerge from sociolinguistic work. Why? 1. Working-class speech has connotations of or associations with masculinity → men more inclined to nonstandard linguistic forms → working-class speech is associated with 'toughness' characteristic of working class life and 'toughness' is considered to be a desirable masculine characteristic. 2. Many societies seem to expect a higher level of adherence to social norms and better behaviour from women. Note: 'Double standard' - a situation in which two e.g. groups of people are treated very differently from each other in a way that is unfair to one of them. Language and sex To sum up: 1. Gender differentiation in Ig arises because Ig as a social phenomenon is closely related to social attitudes. 2. Different social roles are ascribed to men/women and consequently different behaviour patterns are reflected in the lg. 3. Changes of social roles of men/women cause changes in linguistic differention of the sexes. Gender-neutral occupational titles: businessperson, people in business instead of businessman, businesswoman or chair, chairperson, convenor instead of chairman, chairwoman. Language and Context Verbal repertoire of a linguistic community - refers to the totality of linguistic varieties used in different situations and for different purposes. Register - the style of language, grammar, and words used for particular situations. E.g. the register of law is different from the register of medicine. 1. Vocabulary differences: e.g. doctors use the word clavicle, non-doctors - collar-bone; bus-company employees - deckers, lay people - double-deckers. 2. Registers are independent of dialect. Language and context Registers are produced by a particular kind of social context - formality/Informality. Father was somewhat fatigued after his lengthy journey. Dad was pretty tired after his long trip. An inconsiderable amount of time was expended on the task The job took a long time. Styles - varieties of language which differ from one another in terms of formality/Informality. Slang - a type of language consisting of words/phrases that are regarded as very informal, are more common in speech than writing, and are typically restricted to a particular context or group of people. Language and context Javanese - spoken differently depending on the social context. There are often three distinct styles or registers - each employs its own vocabulary/grammatical rules: 1. Ngoko - informal speech, used between friends/close relatives; also used by persons people, or subordinates in the workplace). of higher status (such as elders, or bosses) addressing those of lower status (young 2. Madya - intermediate between ngoko and krama; used by strangers on the street, nor too informal. where status differences may be unknown and one wants to be neither too formal 3. Krama - the polite/formal style; used between those of the same status when they do not wish to be informal; used by persons of lower status to persons of higher status, (i.e. young people to their elders, or subordinates to bosses); the official style for public speeches, announcements, etc. Language and context For example the Javanese sentence: "Are you going to eat rice and cassava now'? can be said in the following three distinct styles depending on the social context: 1. Menapa pandjenengan badé dahar sekul kalijan kaspé sanenika? 2. Napa sampėjan adjeng neda sekul lan kaspé saniki? 3. Apa kowé arep mangan sega lan kaspé saiki? Language and context In English: registers are independent of dialect. registers are independent of style (formal/informal) different styles differ not only in terms of grammar and vocabulary but also pronunciation. Labov in his New York study observed four different styles of pronunciation: 1. Informal, casual speech 2. Formal speech 3. Reading-passage speech 4. Word-list style Language and context The Addressee's Context: 1. Speech between individuals of unequal rank is likely to be less relaxed/more formal than that between equals. 2. In certain languages definite rules may exist as to which linguistic forms may/may mate. not be used, as in different forms of address. e.g. sir, Mr. Smith, Smith, Fredrick, Fred, 3. European languages distinguish, esp. in the sing., between a polite and a familiar second-person pronoun: Language Familiar Polite French tu vous Italian tu Lei Spanish tú usted German du Sie Dutch jij u Russian ty vy Language and context Further Stylistic Complications: E.g., in Japanese and Korean, the context of the person addressed can also produce grammatical/lexical variation. E.g., a Korean speaker may have to choose one out of six different verb suffixes: ○ Intimate: -na ○ Familiar: -e ○ Plain: -ta ○ Polite: -e yo ○ Deferential: -supnita ○ Authoritative: -so Conclusion: Differences in social context having an impact on formality lead to the use of different styles. Styles can be characterized through differences in vocabulary, including address forms and pronouns, and in grammar and pronunciation. We can regard these styles as being varieties within dialects. E.g.: He was bloody knackered! He was extremely fatigued. Both examples of Standard English. Language and context Style shifting between different dialects, e.g., from Scots (Lowland Scots) dialects to Scottish Standard English: 1. The difference is much greater. 2. Co-occurrence restrictions are involved – it is not usual to use, e.g., Lowland Scots forms when speaking Standard English or vice versa. 3. Whereas other English speakers switch from one variety of their vernacular to another, Scots dialect speakers switch from their own vernacular to that of others – a linguistic variety that they normally learn only at school. For example: Scots dialect: I’ve kenned yon man eight years. Scottish Standard English: I’ve known that man eight years. Languages in Scotland Today, the primary languages spoken in Scotland are: ○ English (Scottish Standard English) – main lg ○ Scots (Lowland Scots) ○ Scottish Gaelic (Gaelic) – minority lgs BUT: Scottish Standard English and Scots lg – closely related to each other Scottish Gaelic – very distinct

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