《语言学教程》胡壮麟 chapter7 language and society

胡壮麟 语言学

英语语言学

Language and Society

语言与社会

Step 1: Introduction

Step 2: Varieties of Language

Step 3: Standard Dialect

Step 4: Pidgin and Creole

Step 5: Bilingualism and Diglossia

Step 6: Summary

Step 1: Introduction

1.1 Definition

---- a sub-field of linguistics that studies the relation between language and society, between the uses of language and the social structures in which the users of language live.

1.2 The relatedness between language and society

1). While language is principally used to communicate meaning, it is also used to establish and maintain social relationships.

2). Users of the same language in a sense all speak differently. The kind of language each of them chooses to use is in part determined by his social background. And language, in its turn, reveals information about its speaker.

胡壮麟 语言学

3). To some extent, language, especially the structure of its lexicon, reflects both the physical and the social environments of a society.

4). As a social phenomenon, language is closely related to the structure of the society in which it is used, and the evaluation of a linguistic form is entirely social.

1.3 Two approaches to sociolinguistic studies

Macro-sociolinguistics : look at society as a whole and consider how language functions in it and how it reflects the social differentiations (a bird's-eye view)

Micro-sociolinguistics : look at society from the point of view of an inpidual member within it (a worm's-eye view )

1.4 Speech community and speech variety

Speech community:a social group of people who share a language

(includes a country, a town, a network across great distances).

Speech variety: any distinguishable form of speech used by a

speaker or a group of speakers. Linguistic features of a speech variety can be found at the lexical, the phonological, the morphological, or the syntactical level of the language.

Step 2: Varieties of Language

2.1 Dialectal Varieties

胡壮麟 语言学

Regional dialect

Sociolect

Dialectal Varieties Language and Gender

Language and age

Idiolect

Ethnic dialect

Regional dialect

A regional dialect is a linguistic variety used by people living in the same geographical region.

Regional dialect boundaries often coincide with geographical barriers ( mountains, rivers, swamps,etc)

lack of communication in the old days loyalty to one's native speech physical and psychological resistance to change

eg：Taiwan Mandarin vs. Beijing Mandarin:

Phonological differences

Beijing Taiwan

是[Shi] [si]

Lexicon: Different words:

English Beijing Taiwan

“potato” 土豆 馬鈴薯 “guava” 番石榴 芭樂

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Syntactic differences

Beijing

Taiwan (nonstandard) 他給我打。 我打他。

Sociolect

a language variety caused by different social conditions. It is spoken by a group that share social features such as occupation, age, class, race, etc.

Language and Gender

Language used by men and women have some special features of their own. Women and men often have slightly different "grammars" at many different levels.

Lexicon: Women often know and use a greater number of words more accurate in meaning

(e.g. color words: violet, mauve, beige, scarlet, crimson...)

Language and age

In many communities the language used by the old generation differs from that used by the younger generation in certain ways. Their speech is thus a record of the never-ending change of language.

Lexical variation

Old: icebox , wireless

Young: fridge, boombox

胡壮麟 语言学

Eg：新新校园流行语

最近，某校进行了一次校园语言的专题调查，调查结果令人颇为吃惊：大学生的日常用语中，玄机种种，“密码”多多。

代用语层出不穷。如果有人对你说：“你真像孔雀!”别以为她在赞美你，她的意思是你太自作多情了。上自习是“革命”；“学习文件”、“操练操练”是指打牌；“疲软”是指没钱用了；“化妆”称“奋(粉)发图(涂)强”；男生追女生叫“钓鱼”、“钓花””；女生追男生则是“钓虾”；约会称“出去甜蜜一下”；常打小报告的人叫“老男人”；矮个子被称为“根号2”。

Idiolect(个人语言)

Idiolect is a personal dialect of an inpidual speaker that combines elements regarding regional, social, gender, and age variations.This makes it possible for us to recognize a speaker by the way he/she speaks.

Language and ethnics

An ethnic dialect is a social dialect of a language that cuts across regional differences; it is mainly spoken by a less privileged population that has experienced some form of social isolation such as racial discrimination or segregation.

e.g. Black English

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He don't know nothing. (He doesn't know anything. )

I ain't afraid of no ghosts. (I'm not afraid of ghosts. )

Register

A speech variety (style) that is appropriate for different situations (e.g. formal vs. casual).

Different registers may be thought of as different grammars within a single person's brain.

Halliday's register theory:Language varies as its function varies; it differs in different situations.

There are three social variables that determine the register: field of discourse, tenor of discourse, and mode of discourse.

Field of discourse 语场: what is going on: to the area of operation

of the language activity. It is concerned with the purpose (why) and subject matter (about what) of communication. It can be either technical or non-technical.)

Tenor of discourse 语旨: the role of relationship in the situation in

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