SOCIOLINGUISTICS

LANGUAGE VARIETIES AND MULTILINGUAL

BY:KINKIN SUSANSI

LANGUAGE VARIETIES

• Specific language used by a particular community. In sociolinguistics a variety, also called a lect, is a specific form of a language or language cluster.

• Language itself is a system of arbitrary signals:- voice sounds - gestures - written symbols which communicate thoughts or feelings

• Factors that influence language varieties:(a)Dialect (b)Style (c)register

• Dialect is variety of a language used by people from a particular geographic area, differing in pronunciation, grammar, or vocabulary.

• There 2 kinds of dialect : 1) Regional dialect 2) social dialect

• For example: dialect standard EnglishY’all or yawl You all Ain’t is not, has notLil’ littleOl’ buddy old friend

ACCENT, STYLE AND REGISTER

• Accent is differences in pronunciation of the same language because of geographic and social differences of the speaker as their typicall way of speaking that describe where they are from.

American and the British have typicall accent that differ them. From their accents, we can guess which one is the American and which one is the British.Javaness and Sundanese have their typicall accents.

• Style analyzed from its level of formality and situational factors.

Variables that influence style:(a)Addressee(b)Social class(c)Context and social roles(d)Ethnics groups

• Register is speech related to a certain speciality.

• It is sets of vocabulary items associated with different occupational group or groups of people with common interests or jobs. For example: the language used by airplane pilots, surgeons, bank managers, jazz fans, commentators, etc.

SLANG, JARGON, AND ARGOT

• Slang is language of a low and vulgar used by a low or disreputable character or gang’s group as their identity that separate them from society who are not part of their group.For example: Glaslow slangcrap-bag cowardpeter police or prison cellsnide gear unfashionable clothes

• Current slang is the linguistic prerogative of young people and generally sounds odd in the mouth of an older person.For example: spiffing, topping, super, groovy, fab, etc.

• Argot is French slang, arose in the 17th century, a speech variety used by French beggars and street merchants and later was applied to the secret language of criminals to conceal their communication from non-members.

Examples: Bobby, cop, and peeler are argot for a police constable poke for an injection, and pill shooter for a doctor.

• Jargon is a set of terms of a particular subject, idioms, and concepts that are shared by people with a similar interest such as baseball fans, computer engineers, or athletes.for example:

Cyberspace jargon (www, mailing list, e-mail, etc.)

VERNACULAR• African American Vernacular English (AAVE) is known as Black English Vernacular or

Vernacular Black English Among sociolinguists , and commonly called Ebonics outside the academic community.

• It is the variety of the English language or English spoken by many African American and that is used in South Africa (the characteristic language in South Africa).

• Unlike most white immigrants who eventually adopted local dialects, blacks generally remained isolated in impoverished ghettos and as a result, retained their dialect, developed through processes of second language acquisition.

• This physical isolation contributed to linguistic isolation and the maintenance of African American vernacular English (AAVE). The retention of unique linguistic forms, racism, and educational

apartheid have since led to numerous misconceptions of this dialect.

• a large majority of the African American population uses AAVE.

• This kind of thing seems to have taken place in the Caribbean, at some times

in the United States. For instance Gullah or Sea Islands Creole spoken in the

Coastal Islands of South Carolina and Georgia.

• Currently, it becomes a young people's slang disseminated by rap and

popular culture. (Black slang)Bling: flashy jewelery, wearing a lot of bold piecesCrib: homeHood or “the hood”: People sometimes use this to refer to a neighborhood, but they usually are referring to a rather poor area.

STANDARD LANGUAGE• A particular variety of a language that has been given legal or quasi-legal status

• the most correct dialect of a language,

• It recognized as a prestigious variety by a community.

• An abstract rule in public discourse (communication/speech/discussion) and formal situation to adjust/adapt with the situation, uncommon applied in casual discourse.

• It can be either pluricentric (several standard dialects) or monocentric (one standard dialect).

• it is used in administrative matters, communication at Court, literature, education and economic life.

• Standardization is a historical process which is always in progress, selected and promoted by either legal authorities or other social institutions, such as schools or media.

Steps of standardising language•Selection •Codification•Elaboration of function •Acceptance

Non-standard vs standard

get outta here get out of here I luv y’all I love you allI dunno I don’t know gimme a cuppa tea give me a cup of tea

 

LINGUA FRANCA• A mixture of languages or a shared language of professional and commercial communities used as a

medium of communication between people whose main languages are different.

• It is first used during the Middle Ages , a language created as a combination of French and Italian that was developed by the Crusaders and tradesmen in the Mediterranean.

Arabic was another early lingua franca to develop because of the sheer size of the Islamic Empire. Its use spread with the empire as it expanded into China, India, parts of Central Asia, the Middle East, Northern Africa, and parts of Southern Europe.

• Today, lingua francas play an important role in global communication as a second language for communication between groups.

Examples:

The most obvious example today is English which has become a lingua franca in many parts of the world.

Indonesian, a language based on traditional Malay, influenced by various languages such as Dutch, Arabic, and Portuguese, serves as a lingua franca throughout Indonesia and East Timor, areas that are home to over 700 indigenous languages.

Arabic, Chinese, French, Portuguese, Russian and Spanish are lingua franca.

•  In lingua franca situations, most speakers of the common language are functionally multilingual.

• Multilingual is able to communicate using several different languages.

• It is a skill or competence in language to have control over the language.