Chapter-8--language-and-society

Chapter8languageandsociety8.1thescopeofsociolinguistics•Sociolinguisticsisthestudyoftherelationshipbetweenlanguageandsociety,esp,theinflunenceofsocialfactorsonlanguage.•1languageisshapedordeterminedbysocialfactors:regionaldialectsandsocialdialectsaredeterminedbysocialfactors;whatandhowtotalkisdeteminedbypowerandsolidarity•2languagereflectssocialfactors:socialstatus,profession,interpersonalrelationship.Languagecanalsousedtoestablishandmaintaininterpersonalrelationship.•Post-vocalic[r]isrelatedtoprestigeinNewYork.•Languagecanalsoinfluencepeopletodothings:suicidecar-bombing,hijacking.Speechcommunityandspeechvariety•Speechcommunity:agroupofpeoplewhoformacommunityandsharethesamelanguageoraparticularvarietyofalangauge.ThespeechcommunityofChinese:allthepeopleintheworldwhosefirstlanguageisChinese,orallthespeakersofChineseintheworld•ThecommunityofEnglish.•Socialgroupofaspeechcommunity:thesocialgroupofpeopledistinguiseditsleffromtherestofthecommunityby:geographicalbackground;education,occupation,gender,theage,ethicaffilationofitsmembers.•Socialgroupsformsdifferentspeechvarieties(语言变体）•Speechvariety:thetypeoflanguageusedorsharedbyagroupofspeakersorbyaparticularspeechgroup.•Speechvarietycanbestudiedonthelevelofphonology,morphology,syntaxandsemantics.•Speehvarietyincludes:regionaldialects,socialdialects,andregisters(语域）Approachestosociolinguistics•Bird’seyeviewoflanguageusedinsociety:Howlanguageisusedinsocietyandhowlanguagereflectssociety,languageplanning:macro-sociolinguisticsorthesociologyoflanguage.•Worm’seyeviewoflanguageinuse:mico-sociolinguistics:howlanguagefunctionsinthecommunicationbeweenmembersofthesociety.8.2varietiesoflanguage语言变体•Peopledonotspeakinthesamemannerinallsituations,butusedifferentvarietiesindifferentsituations•Varietesrelatedtousersarecalleddialects:regionaldilalectsandsocialdialects•Varietiesrelatedtolanguageuseisregisters:legallanguage,journalisticlanguage,differnetstylesoflanguage•Aregionaldialectisalinguisticvarietyusedbypeoplelivinginthesameorcertaingeographicalregion.Dialectsarisebecausecommunicationisblockedbygeographicalbarrierslikemountains,rivers,lakes,orlongdistanceorthereisnoneedtotavel.InBritain,KentdilalectisveryhardforLondonerstounderstand.•Dialectsoftenformacontinuum.Dialectsspokenintheneighbouringareasaremutuallyintelligible.InWudilalect,thereisSuzhouHua,WuxiHua,ShanghaiHuaandsoon,butpeoplefromthoseareascanunderstandeachother.EveninSuzhouHua,thereareluzhihua,kunshanghua,changsuhua,thedialectspokenbythenativeofsuzhouproper.•InChina,thereare8majordialects.Eachcanbealanguagealthoutheysharethesamewritenlanguage(itissaidthesamewrittenchineseunitedChinaoverthepastthousandsofyears):•Documentthedialects,drawthedialectatlas•Duetomoderntransportation,communications,education,ormass•media….,thestabilityofdialectsaredecreasing,peoplehavetosavethedialects.•InUS,dialectsinnotamajorissue.•Dialectscanbestudiedonthelevelsofphonology,morphology,syntax,lexicon(词汇）.2socialdialect•Socialdialectorsociolectreferstothelinguisticvarietycharacteristicofaparticularsocialclass.Itisbronghtabouttheseparationofsocialconditions.•OneexampleisCockney(thedialectspokenbypeopleofEastEndofLondon)•InChina,socialclassesarenotobvious,socialdialectsarenotmarked•ButinBritian,socialclassoccupiesamnimportantpostionandclassidentityisstrong.There4or7classes,sosocialdialectsareobvious.•Thepronouciationofasocialdialectiscalledaccent(口音）,likeRP(receivedpronounciation)..•RPenjoyshighsocialprestigeinBritain,beingthoughtofastheaccentofthosewithpower,money,andinfluence.•ButRPisoutofdateandisrarelyheardnow.BBCpronunciation•GeneralAmericanEnglish,GeneralBritishEnglish.Putonghua,ModernStandardChinese.•Althoughadmiredinsomecircles,RPisdislikedinothers.ItiscommoninpartsofBritaintoregarditasasouth-easternEnglishaccentratherthananon-regionaloneandasasymbolofthesouth-east'spoliticalpowerinBritain.A2007surveyfoundthatresidentsofScotlandandNorthernIrelandtendtodislikeRP.Itisshunnedbysomewithleft-wingpoliticalviews,whomaybeproudofhavinganaccentmoretypicaloftheworkingclasses.3languageandgender•Womenaremoreconsciousofsocialstatus,theirlanguageismorecorrectthanmen’slanguage.•Phonology:clear,articulate,tonevocaltract.•Lexicon:lovely,nice,cute,fantastic,awfully,terribly,IamafraidLanguageandgender•OldergenerationVSyounggeneration:•Lexicon:oldwordsVSnewwords•iceboxwirelessVSfridgeradio•裸婚，山寨，愤青•Causes：socialchange;conservativeattitude，valuedifferenceIdiolect(个人语言）•Idiolectisapersonaldialectofanindividualspeaker,regardingtheregional,social,gender,agevariation;•thedistinctivefeaturesofanindividual:voicequality,pitch,speechtempo;words,syntax:Trump’sEnglish:simplewords,shortsentence,ellipticalsentences•Clinton’sEnglish:hoarsevoice•毛泽东；蒋介石；邓小平：•温家宝•习近平：捋起袖子干；整整衣服，照照镜子；洗洗澡，治治病；•宋世雄；韩乔生；赵忠祥Ethnicdialect——BlackEnglish•Anethnicdialectisasocialdialectthatcutsacrossregionaldialect,spokenbyaethnicgroup.•BlackEnglish,AfricanAmericanEnglish:non-standardvarietyofEnglish:•1consonantdeletion:•passed[pa:s],mend[men];desk[des]•Syntax:deletionofcorpularorlinkword:•“Theym