Sociolinguistics

An Introduction
 Sociolinguistics: Basic
Definitions
 Sociolinguistics studies the relationship between language and society.

 As a discipline, sociolinguistics is interested in explaining why we

speak differently in different social contexts and in identifying the

social functions of language and the ways it is used to convey social

meaning (Holmes, p.2001).

 It attempts to study the inter-relationship between language and social

life instead of studying language structures.

 Sociolinguistics investigates the way in which
language is used to establish and maintain social
relationships, it goes beyond the study of language use
for the aim of communicating meaning (Spolsky,
2010) (e,g,, mother and baby communication, meeting
strangers for the 1st time, friends’ converstaions,,etc),

 Sociolinguistics does not focus on the study of grammar, phonetics and lexis of
the language, it rather prioritizes the communicative competence of speakers
It studies how language speakers are able to use language
to fulfil social interactions.

The study of environmental factors determining the

social/societal function of a language, and which may cause
variation in linguistic systems is the fundamental aim of
sociolinguistic studies.
 That is, sociolinguistics investigates the way in which social variables

such as age, religion, gender age, and level of education…etc. results

in different language varieties.

 1. Sociolinguistics: a Historical Background

 The field of social Linguistics started in the 1960s arising out of the

work particularly of the American Scholars William Labov, Joshua

Fishman, Charles Ferguson , John Gumperz, and Dell Hymes and the

British scholar Basil Bernstein (Wodak, Johnstone & Kerswill, 2011).

 As a new linguistics paradigm endorsed the view that language

cannot be understood unless the different many layers of social

 Language is not confined to the prescription of the underlying rules of

its structures. To adequately understand the use of a given language,

sociolinguists stressed the consideration of many social aspects

surrounding the use of the language such as the situational context in

which utterances occur, the geographical origin of the speakers, their

age, gender, social class, ethnicity and so forth,

 sociolinguistics attempted to answer these questions who speaks where,

in what way; why and with what kind of impact and how do these

aspects of context shape the linguistic resources available to the

speakers.

 Chomskyian Transformational Grammar and other views of language

and meaning triggered the appearance of what is known today as

sociolinguistics.
 Chomsky revolutionized the field of linguistics in his attempts to find

out a universal grammatical structure that accounts for the

similarities in the organization of languages, neglecting in that the

social contexts in which the language is used.

 Before the emergence of sociolinguistics in 1960’s, the study of

language was confined to the analysis of phonology, morphology,

syntax and semantics following the traditions of philology and

historical linguistics.
 Dell Hymes- one of the founding fathers of sociolinguistics- proposed an

alternative approach to the study of language in showing more interest in

studying language in use and as a social practice.

 Henceforth, the study of language was no more conceived as the

analysis of linguistic systems. Rather, new concepts appeared

considering language as actions and communicative competence

emerged into the scene.

 Sociolinguistics and Linguistics

 Linguistics differs from sociolinguistics in taking into account only

the structure of language, to the exclusion of the social contexts in
which it is learned and used.

 Linguistics’ focal concern is to work out the rules governing the

formulation of language structures, with little or no reference to
the social dimension underlying the different uses of these
language structures.
 While linguistics studies the structures of language, sociolinguistics

scrutinizes how language is influenced by social contexts, how language

users use language alternatively in different social contexts, and how

language can be utilized differently to convey diverse social functions and

meanings.
 Sociolinguistics and the Sociology of Language

 Both sociolinguistics and sociology of language study the interaction of

language and society.

 The difference between them lies on the emphasis of each.

 While sociolinguistics- also known as micro sociolinguistics- focuses on

the study of language in relation to society, sociology of language-labelled

as macro sociolinguistics- attempts to study the structure of society

through language.
 While sociolinguistics scrutinizes how language functions in

communication, sociology of language is interested in understanding

the structure of society through language.

 Sociolinguistics studies language in relation to social factors embracing

differences in geographical regions, social classes, dialect, gender,

bilingualism…etc. Contrariwise, the sociology of language examines the

relationship between society and language.

 To explain the scope of study of sociolinguistics , the following

examples are introduced. In New York city, pronouncing the

word ‘this’ as /dis/ mirrors the social class of the speaker.

Likewise, the choice of the lexical items in saying doctor’

surgery’ instead of doctor’s office demonstrates on which side

of the Atlantic is speaker of English has been leaving

 From a micro sociolinguistics ’perspective, as much speech itself

communicates content, the selection of lexical items, their

pronunciation…etc., reveals crucial information about the speaker and

the listener and their relationship to each other.

 On the other hand, the sociology of language intends to investigate how

social identity influences the use of language. For instance, in the

sociology of language, the researcher is intended to unveil why some

immigrants maintain the use of their mother tongue in the host country

while others shift completely to a new one.

 The difference between sociolinguistics (micro sociolinguistics) and sociology of language

(macro sociolinguistics) is that the former attempts to show how specific differences in

pronunciation or grammar lead members of a speech community make judgments about the

education or the economic status of a speaker. On the other hand, at the macro level (sociology

of language), importance is given to the study language in relation to some cultural

phenomenon; it attempts to study the social bonds between language choice and social identity,
 The Relationship between Language and Society

 Wardhaugh & Fuller (2015) define society “as a group of people who are

drawn together for a certain purpose or purposes” (p.2)

 Language, as worded by Wardhaugh & Fuller (2015), is “a system of

linguistic communication particular to a group; this includes spoken,

written, and signed modes of communication.” (p,2)

 the two terms are intertwined, they are tied to each other. No society can

survive without the use of language and vice versa. To perform many

functions in society, users use language. Hence, the existence of each

will affect the other. In every society, language is crucially important for

users to engage in social interaction, and for social interaction to take

place; language is indispensable. Therefore, we can say that language

and society have a reciprocal relationship as language shapes language

and society shapes language.

 To communicate with other individuals in society, we use language as a

tool of communication and social interaction. It is through language that

humans can create social bonds and communicate in the community (s).

1.The social structure may either influence or determine the

linguistic structure and/or behaviour.
 A social structure can be the factor that determines the language variety
to be used and thereby reflects the language users social backgrounds as
their origins, ethnic groups, gender, sex.
• For instance, the age-grading phenomenon in which young children speak
differently from older children and, in turn, children speak differently
from mature adults; shows that the varieties of language that speakers use
reflect such matters as their regional, social, or ethnic origin and possibly
even their gender.
• and other studies which show that particular ways of speaking, choices of
words, and even rules for conversing are in fact highly determined by
certain social requirements.
2.The linguistic structure and/or behaviour may either influence or
determine the social structure (This is the view adopted in the
Whorfian hypothesis and Bernstein’s theory of Restricted and
Elaborated Codes).
1.Worfian Hypothesis
 Sapir and Whorf studied Hopi languages and argued that language and
culture are strongly interconnected; we cannot understand one without
the knowledge of the other.
 Hopi and the European languages are different in terms of referring to
the world as each is influenced by the way they see it
‘Time’ notion is viewed as discrete form the European perspective and non
discrete in Hopi language.

Other examples include the word ‘snow’ and ‘flies’, tenses…etc.

In Solomon Island language, there exist different names used to refer to
‘coconut’ while only one exists in American English. So, the way in which
people’s linguistic structures influence social structures is the so-called
Linguistic Relativity Hypothesis introduced by Sapir& Whorf.
 2. Bernstein Elaborated and Restricted Code (1971)
Basil Bernstein compared between English as used by Middle-class
children and by working-class children in school.
He noticed that middle-class pupils tend to use an elaborated code,
(formal code) in which more abstract words, less and more complex
sentences are implemented.
 Working-class children, however, tend to use a more restricted code
(public code) in which less abstract and less complex sentences are
used.
 Hence, Bernstein’s concepts of elaborated and restricted codes reveal
the close relationship between linguistic structure and social structure.
 3. The Sexist Language Theory

 The sexist language theory is another example to highlight how

language can affect social structure.
language affects the way we view men and women in society because it
treats men and women differently. To illustrate more, women might feel
excluded if words like "chairman" or "fireman" are used because they
imply that only men can perform these jobs. That is why it is important
to remember that how we say things can deeply affect how we view the
world.
For example, in hearing the word ‘farmer’, one can directly imagine a
‘man’ instead of a ‘woman’. In brief, these examples can only but reflect
how language can make societies sexist.
3. The influence is bi-directional: language and society may influence

each other.
 The influence is dialectical in nature: ‘speech behaviour and social
behaviour are in a state of constant interaction’ and that ‘material
living conditions’ are an important factor in the relationship.
 That is to say, this perspective on the underlying relationship
between language and society presupposes that each of them
influences the other. No society can live without language and no
language can survive without society. Societies are evolving and so
are languages, both language and society are on a continuum of
progress
4. There is no relationship at all between linguistic structure and
social structure and that each is independent of the other.

Language and society are independent. Social structure and linguistic

structure are completely unrelated and exist independently of one another.
This point of view was adopted by Chomsky who preferred to develop an
asocial linguistics as a preliminary to any other kind of linguistics
(Wardhaugh, 2006).
 6. Key Concepts in Sociolinguistics
6.1. Competence
 Competence is the (mostly implicit) ability to determine whether a
particular group of words in one's native tongue would be considered to
be grammatical (Chomsky, 1965).

 In this way, all proficient English speakers will be aware that Chomsky's
famous string of English words, "colourless green ideas they sleep
furiously," is syntactically flawlessly and perfectly well-formed even
though it is undoubtedly semantically and pragmatically odd. (Merrison
et al, 2014).
 6. 2.COMMUNICATIVE COMPETENCE
 The concept of Communicative Competence has been introduced by

Dell Hymes (1972) as a reaction against Chomsky's linguistic

competence (1965).

 While Chomsky (1965) focused on the innate faculty and the abstract

knowledge of the system of language, Hymes (1972) was interested in

the concrete use of language in social interactions.

 He was interested in the role of the socio-cultural factors that

influence the use of language is communicative situations. He

expanded the concept of linguistic competence to the concept of

communicative competence which includes, beside the linguistic

competence, other types of competences that are necessary to use

language appropriately in daily life communications.

 For Hymes, (1972, p. 281), a competent speaker is able to use

language in relation to:

• Whether (and to what degree) something is formally possible;

• Whether (and to what degree) something is feasible in virtue of the

means of implementation available;

• Whether (and to what degree) something is appropriate (adequate,

happy, successful) in relation to a context in which it is used and

evaluated;

• Whether (and to what degree) something is in fact done, actually

performed, and what its doing entails

According to Hymes (1972, p. 279), children who are learning a language
must not only learn how to form sentences in that language, but also acquire
knowledge of a variety of sentence usage patterns. They develop a general
theory of the speaking appropriate in their community from a limited
experience of speech acts and their interdependence with sociocultural
features, which they use, like other forms of implicit cultural knowledge
(competence), in conducting and interpreting social life. Hymes offers the
following examples of the different learning styles that are involved
(Wardhaugh, 2006).
• To select the appropriate speech acts from the existing

repertoire in one context, speakers should be equipped with a

kind of knowledge related to the socio-cultural norms and rules

that govern the use of language in a given situation.

 6.3. Speech Community
 Speech community has been defined differently from one scholar to another
(Chomsky, Hymes& Haliday, Labov)
 Speech Community is a group of individuals who share the same norms of
interaction and patterns of communication.
 A speech community shares the same knowledge of the rules for the conduct
and interpretation of speech.
 Such sharing consists of knowledge of at least one form of speech and also
of its patterns of use (it extends the knowledge of language forms to the
knowledge of speech acts).
 What constitutes a speech community is the sharing of linguistic norms,
knowledge of use and sociocultural variables underlying the use of the
language.
 6.4 Social network

The social context of a person, group, or community can be conceived as an

aggregation of individuals. Some of them communicate with each other,
whereas others do not. The pattern of all such communication ties is called
a communication network or social network. Basically, such a network
indicates who communicates with whom. Together, these ‘‘communication
links’’ constitute a network of direct and indirect ties between people. The
communication link or tie is the basic unit of each communication network.
It is the dyadic link of interpersonal communication between two
individuals” (Weenig; 2004, p.422). In brief, the social network is a method
of describing how various members of speech communities are
 Resources
• Merrison, A. Bloomer, A., Griffiths, P. & Hall, C.
(2014). Introducing language in use. London: Routledge.
- Wardhaugh, R., & Fuller, J. (2015). An introduction to
sociolinguistics (7th ed.). Atrium: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
- Wardhaugh, R. 2006. An Introduction to Sociolinguistics.
Blackwell Publishing Ltd.
 References

• - Holmes, J. 2013. An Introduction to Sociolinguistics. London and

New York: Routledge.
• - Swann,J., Deumert,A., Lillis,T.& Mesthrie,.R.(2004).A Dictionary
of Sociolinguistics. 2004 Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press
Ltd 22 George Square, Edinburgh
• -Ammon, U., & Hellinger, M. (2012).Status Change of Languages.
• - Hudson, R. A. (1996). Sociolinguistics, Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press.
• - Spolsky, B. (1998). Sociolinguistics. Oxford: Oxford University
Press.
• - Wodak, R., Johnstone, B., & Kerswill, P. (2011). The SAGE
handbook of sociolinguistics (1st ed.). London: SAGE Publication
Ltd.
• -
•Thank You