Definition and Scopes of Sociolinguistics

De Leon, Christina Romela G.

 NOTIONS OF LANGUAGE

NATURAL AND SOCIAL LANGUAGE

natural language - language that has developed in the usual way as a method of

communicating between people, rather than language that has been created

social language - language we use everyday

LANGUAGE, THE INBORN

-humans are born to speak

-language is used in order to say something

- Language is seen as an evolutionary adaptation to communicate information

-parents teach children language

-language has a physical base in our brain

-all babies acquire language quickly because they have the ability to do so and because

all societies use language

-ability to acquire language is universal and unrelated to intelligence

-language is innate and common to the species

-our brain's physical equipment and our society are both indispensable in acquiring

language

brain damage or genetic deformation and social deprivation will both make

language acquisition impossible

-two sides of language are the:

biological and social

biolinguistics - focuses on general immutable properties of language

-main task is to elucidate the 'faculty of language'

faculty of language - according to Noam Chomsky is regarded as the 'language organ'

LANGUAGE, THE HISTORICAL

Ferdinand de Saussure -'social fact' (Saussure1959:6)

-every language could be different from what it actually is

-existence of different languages is a historical fact, a result of language change

-gender change

-different languages undergo modification as language adapts an element of another

language

-every language is transmitted from one generation to the next by learning and has its

unique history

LINGUISTIC DIVERSITY

-6,000 conventional count (multiplicity of human languages)

-enormous variety of coexisting forms

-language is neither deterministic nor random

*adaptation and innovation doesn't allow language to be outdated

*the process of learning lets us recreate our languages

MIGRATION AND DIVERSITY

-geographic isolation brings about linguistic divergence

Example:

A substantial body of population moves out of one territory and into another, driven

by demographic pressure, commerce, or the incursion of invaders, it will take its

language with it, but after some time, this language ceases to be the same as that

spoken in its original territory.

DESIRES AND NORMS

- a speech community's spatial contiguity and temporal continuity are no guarantee for

maintaining linguistic homogeneity or a sufficient condition for bringing uniformity

- variation serves important social functions

Causal factors in the process of language change:

-the desire for social assimilation

- social norms [that] put a premium on social distinctness

Speakers are active, knowledgeable, purposeful agents who make choices whenever

they use language

-they cannot avoid making choices

Social norms -restrictions on individual choices making deviations that imperil

communication unacceptable, if not impossible

Choice - the pivotal notion of sociolinguistics

 Language as a natural fact Language as a social fact

inborn learnt

genetically fixed culturally varied

universal variable

species-specific group-specific

timeless historical

governed by natural law governed by convention

COMPLEMENTARY APPROACHES

The natural and social sides of language are complementary since neither of them can

by itself fathom out the whole complexity of language.

CHOICE

-our reasoning and choices govern our behavior

-language has both a physical and mental side, and these are not always easily kept

apart

We could say that in choosing to speak, and to take interest in speech, man has

chosen to evolve his brain and his mind; that language once created, exerted the

selection pressure under which emerged the human brain and consciousness of

self. (Popper & Eccles, 1977:13).

Neurologist John Eccles and philosopher Karl Popper pointed out that the origin of

language is linked with choice.

*making choices is a central part of the human condition

*our choices are subject to restrictions

Agreement rules -restrictions on choices

Variety-central theme of sociolinguistics

-patterned

*We would be unable to recognize speakers for what they are if there is absence of

patterning.

Speech Varieties- powerful markers of group membership

*every speaker has the ability to change the way he or she speaks

*every speech act of a speaker is the manifestation of choice

COOPERATION AND CHOICE

Levels of Language as a means of cooperation:

1.) It enables its speakers to exchange information in order to request, announce and

promise certain actions

2.) It works as long as its speakers use it in such a way that they understand each

other

*speech behaviour is fundamentally cooperative

Theory of Cooperation by Axelrod (1984) and others shows that foresight is not

necessary for cooperation to evolve. It does not assume that interactants are rational.

Standard Operating Procedure -whenever communication proceeds smoothly stable

'path dependence' on psychologists and economists

Cooperation -unmarked case in speech behaviour and vital for preserving the

functionality of language
Theory of Public Choice emphasizes, reciprocity is essential for maintaining

cooperation.

Pidgin -new language created when speakers involved in communication do not have a

common language

Unmarked Choice - a psychological notion which Myers-Scotton (1993a) has

successfully applied to the analysis of multilingualism

Linguistic socialization -learning to avoid sanctions by discovering the restrictions that

define unmarked choices

What is sociolinguistics?

Sociolinguistics is a study of language in which the linguistic factors are related

to the factors beyond the language, such as language use that is done by its speakers

in a certain speech community

It is a derivational word, 'sociology' and 'linguistics'. Sociology refers to a

science of society; and linguistics refers to a science of language.

Social Units of Language Use

Speech refers a surrogate for forms of language

a. Speech Community -refers to a group of people who use the same system of

speech signals.
Four dominant factors influencing someone’s language use in a given speech

community:

the participants: who speaks, to whom he speaks,(b) the setting: where does he

speak? (c) the topic discussed, and (d) the function: what and why does he speak?.

(Wardhaugh, 1983).

b. Speech Situation

According to Dell Hymes, it is a situation in which a speech occurs.

c. Speech Event

According to Dell Hymes, a speech event refers to activities or aspects of

activities that are directly governed by rules or norms for the use of speech.

d. Speech Act

According Dell Hymes, speech act is the minimal term of the speech event.

It represents a level distinct from the sentence, and cannot be identified with any

single portion of other levels of grammar, nor with segments of any particular size

defined in terms of other levels of grammar.

An utterance may have the status of command depending on a conventional

formula.

When we ask someone to leave the building, we may say: “Go!” not “Go?”

e. Speech Styles refer to a language variety that is divided based on the criterion of

formality.
Based on the criterion, Martin Jose (in Brown, 1982: 192) recognizes the speech

into:

a.) frozen (oratorical) style

 is used in public speaking before a large audience; wording is carefully

planned in advance

 intonation is somewhat exaggerated and;

 numerous rhetorical devices are appropriate

b.) formal (deliberative) style

 is used in addressing audiences, usually audiences too large to permit

effective interchange between speaker and hearers, though the forms are

normally not as polished as those in a frozen (oratorical) style

c.) consultative style

 is typically a dialogue, though formal enough that words are chosen with

some care

d.) casual style

 casual conversations, in this context words need not be guarded and

social barriers are moderately low

e.) intimate style

 characterized by the complete absence of social inhibitions

*Ceremonial occasions almost require very formal speech; public lectures are

somewhat less formal; casual conversation is quite informal; and conversation

between intimates on matters of little importance may be extremely informal and

casual.

f. Ways of Speaking refers to how a language speaker uses in accordance with

behavior of communication regulated in his speech community.

This means that he has to apply “regulation” of using his language.

Considering the person to whom he speaks, he will determine what language or its

varieties he wants to use to speak. His consideration is not only based on to whom

he speaks, but also on when or where he speaks.

g. Components of Speech

A language use occurring in a speech community must be in relation to speech

situation, speech event, speech act, and speech styles, as well as components of

speech. Dell Hymes (in Gumperz and Hymes, 1972 : 59-65) states the speech are in

the sixten components, being grouped together under the letters of the word

SPEAKING. SPEAKING here stands for (S)etting, (P)articipants, (E)nds, (A)act

sequence, (K)ey, (I)nstrumentalities, (N)orms, and (G)enres.

Micro-sociolinguistics focuses on the social aspects of language; it investigates how

society influences the way people communicate

Macro-sociolinguistics studies society in relation to language; examines how linguistic

features can provide explanations for certain social phenomena

As a Conclusion

 Society is built on language.

 A language is an important thing in a given community, a speech community. It is

not only a means for communication and interaction but also for establishing and

maintaining human relationships.

 Based the geographical area, one community may be different from one to

another.

 Every language must be learnt and the society teaches its new members on how

to use it properly and how to conform with established conventions.

 Every language could be different from what it actually is.

 Sociolinguistics strives to explain why they speak the way they do.

 Variability in language means that speakers are able to adjust their speech to

selected aspects of their environment.

 The principal task of sociolinguistics is to uncover, describe and interpret the

socially motivated restrictions on linguistic choices.

 Where a common language exists, it restricts its speakers' choices. Where no

such language exists, one is created by virtue of interactants' choice.

 Speakers make choices from the variety of the expressive means offered in their

environment.

 Sociolinguistics is the linguistics of choice.

References

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http://dictionary.cambridge.org/us/dictionary/english/natural-language

Mu’in, F. (2008, October). Sociolinguistics and Its Scope. Retrieved from

https://pbingfkipunlam.wordpress.com/2008/10/17/sociolinguistics-and-its-scope/

Encyclopedia of Communication and Information.( n.d.) Sociolinguistics.

Research Article. Retrieved from

http://www.bookrags.com/research/sociolinguistics-eci-03/#gsc.tab=0

Coulmas, F. (2005). Sociolinguistics: The Study of Speaker’s Choice. Cambridge:

Cambridge UniversityPress.