Sociolinguistics Summary PDF

SOCIOLINGUISTICS Sumarrized by : Taqwa DJAIDJA. Definition : Sociolinguistics is the study of the relationship between language use and structure of society. William Labov is considered the father of sociolinguistics. Sociolinguistics’ Factors: Language is effected by certain factors that shape i...

SOCIOLINGUISTICS Sumarrized by : Taqwa DJAIDJA. Definition : Sociolinguistics is the study of the relationship between language use and structure of society. William Labov is considered the father of sociolinguistics. Sociolinguistics’ Factors: Language is effected by certain factors that shape it, which are: 1- Social background of both the speaker and recipient ( their age, sex, social class, ethnic background, etc.) 2- The relationship between the speaker and the recipient (good friends, teacher-student, employer-employee, parent-son, etc.) 3- Context and manner of the interaction ( at home, at school, at work, at the studio, at the street, etc.) Aspects of the Relationship between Language and Society: 1- Physical Environment (geographical/ place/ external ): a physical environment is reflected in the language of its lexicon. For example, in English, there is only one word for camel, but in Arabic, there are plenty of appellations to the same word. 2- Social Environment (social organization/ how society is structured): it also can be reflected in language and can effect on the structure of vocabulary. a. Kindship System: family relationship are reflected by kindship vocabulary. English society us the word ‘uncle’ for both maternal and paternal uncles. While in Arabic, they use district word for each paternal ''‫ "عم‬and maternal uncle "‫"خال‬. b. Sexist Language: this refers to the languages that is patronizing and contemptuous towards one of the two sexes, mainly female. For instance, the pronoun “ his” in ( the first to finish his work) refers to both sexes. This usually reflects the superiority of one sex over another in English society. 3- Social Values: a- Taboo: it is the behaviors that is believed to be supernaturally forbidden or regarded as immoral, or even not excepted among dome societies. Taboo words have rules that everybody have to adhere. Failure in doing so, leads to punishment. However, people use them to indicate a sort of strength or freedom. Taboo words can be represented as cursing words or gestures. Example. In Algerian society, men struggle to call their wives ‘my wife’ in front of others. They call them ‫ العيال‬/‫الدار‬ b- Religious Expressions: some expressions in Arabic are used to she the importance of religion in societies, like, ‫ هللا يبارك‬, ‫ بسم هللا‬,‫بارك هللا فيك‬  SOCIOLINGUISTICS Scopes of Sociolinguistics: Sociolinguistics is interdisciplinary study between linguistics and sociology. Sociolinguistics research is a work which is intended to achieve a better understanding of human language by studying its social context. It includes branches, which are: Here’s a super condensed summary: Anthropological Linguistics: Studies how language reflects social structures, like kinship and taboos. Dialectology: Focuses on dialects. Discourse Analysis: Examines language beyond sentences, including social interactions. Ethnography of Speaking: Studies cultural language norms in social contexts (e.g., Del Hymes). Geolinguistics: Explores the geography of language. Language Contact Studies: Looks at interactions between different language groups. Sociolinguistics: Studies everyday social language use (e.g., William Labov). Social Psychology of Language: Analyzes attitudes and social aspects of face-to-face language use. Sociology of Language: Examines broad topics like multilingualism and language planning.