SOCIOLINGUISTICS

LESSON 1

INSTRUCTOR: LE NGUYEN NHU ANH

Lesson Contents
Key takeaways:

Course Orientation

What is a sociolinguist?

Why do we say the same thing in different way?

What are the different ways we say things?

Social factors, dimensions and explanations

Learning
outcomes
• Relating sociolinguistic theories to
constructions of social reality;
• Examining sociolinguistic topics of personal
or professional interest; and
• Discussing the complexities and ambiguities
surrounding language analysis and language
in society
 Assessment 1
Multiple Choice Quiz (20%)
• Paper-based Test: 50 items
• 60 minutes
• Contents covering lessons 1-5
Assessment 2
Presentation (20%)
• Students work in groups of 6-7
to present about a
sociolinguistic topic based on
their understanding of the
reading materials
 Final Examination
(60%)
• Paper-based Test: 100 items
• 90 minutes
• Contents covering lessons 6-15
 1. What do sociolinguists 8. Ethnicity and social networks

Syllabus study?
2. Language choice in
9. Language change
10.Style, context and register
multilingual communities 11.Speech functions, politeness
3. Language maintenance and and cross-cultural
shift communication
4. Linguistic varieties and 12.Gender, politeness and
multilingual nations stereotypes
5. National languages and 13.Language, cognition and
language planning culture
6. Regional and social dialects 14.Analysing discourse
7. Gender and age 15.Attitudes and applications
LESSON 1
WHAT DO
SOCIOLINGUISTS
STUDY?
What is a sociolinguist?

Sociolinguists study the relationship between

language and society.
• explain why we speak differently in different
social contexts
• identify social functions of language and the
ways it is used to convey social meaning
Exercises and discussions
Exercise 1
(a) Identify the words in examples 1 and 2 which suggest that Ray’s relationship with his mother
is a friendly one compared to his relationship with the principal.What does this suggest about
the social significance of choice of words?
(b) Ray greeted the principal with the words Good afternoon, sir.How do or did you greet your
school principal? Would you use the same words to your father or mother? Would you use the
same greeting to your best friend? Why (not)?
(c) Nicknames can express affection as well as dislike. What clues indicate that Ray is not feeling
affectionate towards his teacher?
Exercises and discussions
Answer to exercise 1 (a)
Ray greets his mother with the friendly form hi, compared to the more distant and formal good
afternoon used to the school principal. He uses mum, an address form which indicates that he
gets on well with her. He could have used no address form at all. Note that he uses the respectful
address form sir to the principal. Finally he refers to his teacher as that bastard and uses a
nickname Sootbucket for him, an indication that he is treating his mother as an intimate. This
contrasts with the way he refers to the teacher when talking to the principal, when he uses Mr
Sutton.
We choose our words carefully according to whom we are talking. Language choices convey
information about the social relationships between people as well as about the topic of
discussion. The kind of information which is relevant to language choice includes how well we
know the other person and whether they are socially superior.
Exercises and discussions
Answer to exercise 1 (b)
Most people greet friends and family differently from those they do not know so well, and from
those who are in a superior relationship to them, such as the school principal or the boss at work.
Often nicknames or endearments are used between people who know each other well (e.g.
mornin? sweetheart, hello love, hi Jono). When speaking to superiors, it is common to use a title
plus last name (eg. Miss Firth, Mr Halliday, Dr Lee) or to avoid names and use only a formal
greeting, such as good morning. The particular forms you use may vary from those suggested, but
the general patterns described here should apply.
Exercises and discussions
Answer to exercise 1 (c)
We cannot tell from the form Sootbucket alone whether Ray feels positive or negative about his
teacher. In Western (and especially masculine) culture, it is common to use forms that appear
superficially insulting to express friendliness and affection. Even the preceding word bastard can
be used in a friendly manner between good (usually male) friends in New Zealand and Australia.
Hence the main clue to Ray’s feeling is the wider discourse which indicates he is clearly making a
complaint and that he is not happy at the way he has been treated.
What is a sociolinguist?

Example 1
Ray: Hi mum.
Mum: Hi. You’re late.
Ray: Yeah, that bastard Sootbucket kept us in again.
Mum: Nana’s here.
Ray: Oh sorry. Where is she?

The way people talk is influenced by the social context in which

they are talking.
=> WHO, WHERE, HOW
=> The same message may be expressed very differently to
different people
What is a sociolinguist?

Example 2
Ray: Good afternoon, sir.
Principal: What are you doing here at this time?
Ray: Mr Sutton kept us in, sir.

Sociolinguistics is concerned with the relationship between

language and the context in which it is used.
What is a sociolinguist?
Language serves a range of functions:
• to ask for and give people information
• to express indignation and annoyance, as well as admiration and respect.
One utterance will simultaneously convey both information and express feelings.
What is a sociolinguist?
We also indicate aspects of our social identity through the way we talk.
• who we are,
• where we come from,
• what kind of social experiences we have had.
Exercises and discussions
Exercise 2

Make a list of all the names you are called by people who know you. For each name note who
uses it to you and when or where.
Do some people call you by more than one name?
What are the reasons why people choose one name rather than another for you?
Exercises and discussions
This is just an example of the kind of list you might make if you live in an English-speaking
Western monolingual community.
Exercises and discussions
Parents often call children by a variety of names depending on how they feel towards them. The
person in the example above is called Robbie by his mother in most circumstances, but when she
is annoyed with him she calls him Robert or even Robert Harris. Friends often have a range of
names for each other too. Friends call him Rob most of the time, but Bob when they want to tease
or annoy him.
In some cultures, people have one name which is used only in the family and another for use
outside. In some cultures people have a ceremonial name used only on very formal occasions.
Marital status is sometimes relevant to choice of address form (e.g. Miss vs Mrs and choice of
surname).
Exercises and discussions
Exercise 3
We often have different names for people when we are addressing them directly, as opposed to
when we are referring to them in different contexts. Note what you call your mother in different
contexts:
(a) addressing her
(i) at home alone with her
(ii) on the telephone with friends listening
(iii) in a shop.
(b) referring to her
(i) at home to another family member when she is present
(ii) at home to another family member when she isn’t present
(iii) to an acquaintance who doesn’t know her
(iv) to a sales assistant in a shop when she is present.
What influences your choice of address form and reference form in each of these contexts?
Exercises and discussions
In addressing and referring to your mother, the term you use may provide a clue to your social
background, and may differ according to which country you live in. In England, for instance, some
members of high social groups use mummy well beyond childhood, while others use mater or
mama, especially in reference. Members of lower social groups sometimes use ma, especially for
address. Some members of middle social groups use their mother’s first name in address,
especially when they become adults. Some use her first name in referring to her in front of others.
In some families mum changes to mother as she and the children grow older.
In general, the following factors are among those relevant in selecting appropriate terms of
address: family norms of address between children and parents at different stages; audience (who
is listening?); social context (is it formal or public, or private and personal, for instance).
In reference, the relationship between the speaker and the addressee is also relevant as well as
how well they know the person being referred to.
Why do we say the same thing in different ways?
Example 3
Why do we say the same thing in different ways?
Languages provide a variety of ways of saying the same thing (addressing, greeting, describing
things, paying compliments, etc.)

The choice of one linguistic form rather than another is a useful clue to nonlinguistic information.
=> social information.
Exercises and discussions
Exercise 4
(a) Identify the linguistic features which distinguish (c) and (d) in example 5.
What levels of linguistic analysis does the variation involve?
(b) What non-linguistic and social factors are likely to account for the different ways of saying
the same thing illustrated in example 5?

Example 5
(a) Refuse should be deposited in the receptacle provided.
(b) Put your rubbish in the bin, Jilly.
(c) Please tender exact fare and state destination.
(d) Give me the right money and tell me where you’re going.
Exercises and discussions
(a) Vocabulary choices.
Tender vs give, state vs tell, destination vs where you’re going, exact vs right. Use of please in (c).

Syntax. Both sentences use imperative structures, but the more formal verbs in (c) assist in
avoiding the use of the personal pronouns me and you which occur in (d). The determiner is
omitted before exact fare and destination, which increases the impersonality of the expression.

Example 5
(a) Refuse should be deposited in the receptacle provided.
(b) Put your rubbish in the bin, Jilly.
(c) Please tender exact fare and state destination.
(d) Give me the right money and tell me where you’re going.
Exercises and discussions
(b) The medium of expression is relevant since (a) and (c) are much more likely in writing than in
speech. Written and spoken language differ in many specific ways. Whether spoken or written,
sentences (a) and (c) are also more formal and distancing. If they were spoken they would be
appropriate only in the most formal context, between strangers or people who did not know each
other well, or where the speaker was far superior or more powerful than the addressee. Sentences
(b) and (d) would be appropriate in speech in informal contexts. The address form in sentence (b)
shows the speaker knows the addressee and suggests they know each other well. It could be seen
as softening the directive, making it gentler.

Example 5
(a) Refuse should be deposited in the receptacle provided.
(b) Put your rubbish in the bin, Jilly.
(c) Please tender exact fare and state destination.
(d) Give me the right money and tell me where you’re going.
What are the different ways we say things?
Example 4
Sam: You seen our ‘enry’s new ‘ouse yet? It’s in ‘alton you know.
Jim: I have indeed. I could hardly miss it Sam. Your Henry now
owns the biggest house in Halton.

Pronunication
What are the different ways we say things?
Example 5
(a) Refuse should be deposited in the receptacle provided.
(b) Put your rubbish in the bin, Jilly.
(c) Please tender exact fare and state destination.
(d) Give me the right money and tell me where you’re going.

Grammar and Vocabulary

What are the different ways we say things?
Example 6
2 kinds of Norwegian

Ranamål Bokmål
- Language for family, - Language of textbooks =>
friends and neighbours school topics
- The local dialect => - Language of church
membership, used at services and sermons
breakfast, local - Transact official business
shopkeepers, mechanic or - Radio and television
people - For strangers outside
Hemnesberget

Dialects
What are the different ways we say things?
Example 7 Friulian
- People outside the village
- Language of young men in the pub
German
- Language of friendship
- Language of the home, to
neighbours and fellow villagers

Italian
- People from beyond the region
- For reading and writing
- Language of the church and
school

Languages
What are the different ways we say things?
Linguistic variation involves
• Pronunciation
• Vocabulary
• Grammar
• Styles of a language
• Dialects
• Languages
=> variety/code: any set of linguistic forms which patterns according to social factors.

A variety: a set of linguistic forms used under specific social circumstances

Linguistic/verbal repertoire: a range of varieties from which people select according to the
context in which they are communicating
Social factors, dimensions and explanations
Social factors
1. The participants:
Who is speaking and
Who are they speaking to ?

2. The setting/social context of the interaction:

Where are they speaking?

3. The topic:
What is being talked about?

4. The function:
Why are they speaking?
Social factors, dimensions and explanations
Social dimensions
1. The solidarity-social distance scale:

Intimate Distant
High solidarity Low solidarity
Social factors, dimensions and explanations
Social dimensions
2. The status scale:
Superior High status

Subordinate Low status

Social factors, dimensions and explanations
Social dimensions
3. The formality scale:
Formal High formality

Informal Low formality

Social factors, dimensions and explanations
Social dimensions
4. The referential and affective function scales:

Referential

High Low
information information
content content
Affective
Low High
affective affective
content content
 Looking for explanations
Sociolinguists aim to describe sociolinguistic variation and explain why it happens.

3. look for patterns

which will help to
2. identify clearly the
formulate an
different social or
1. identify clearly the explanation of why
non-linguistic factors
linguistic variation people use one set of
which lead speakers
involved forms in some
to use one form
contexts, but
rather than another
different forms in
others.
Exercises and discussions
Exercise 5
Answer the following two questions for each of utterances a, b and c, below.
(i) What information does the utterance provide about the relationship between the people
talking in the context of their talk?
(ii) What is the function of the utterance in the context? Does it convey primarily affective or
referential information?

(a) Here is the forecast for the Wellington district until midnight Tuesday issued by the
meteorological service at 6 o?clock on Monday evening. It will be rather cloudy overnight with
some drizzle, becoming fine again on Tuesday morning. The outlook for Wednesday ’ a few
morning showers then fine.
(b) Good morning little one ’ you had a good big sleep, didn’t you, pet?
(c) Excuse me, Mr Clayton. I’ve finished your letters, sir.
Exercises and discussions
(a) Here is the forecast for the Wellington district until midnight Tuesday issued by the
meteorological service at 6 o?clock on Monday evening. It will be rather cloudy overnight with
some drizzle, becoming fine again on Tuesday morning. The outlook for Wednesday ’ a few
morning showers then fine.

(i) This is a recorded telephone message and therefore the speaker does not know the hearer.
This is indicated by the absence of address term and the formal syntax.
(ii) Its primary function is to provide referential information. It is not intended to provide
information on how the speaker is feeling.
Exercises and discussions
(b) Good morning little one ’ you had a good big sleep, didn’t you, pet?

(i) Despite the initial greeting Good morning which can be used to strangers and acquaintances,
the speaker clearly knows the addressee well. Two affectionate endearment terms are used
(little one, pet). These are terms appropriately used downwards in status (e.g. mother to child,
older person to younger, nurse to young patient).
(ii) The use of the tag form (didn’t you?) is an attempt to elicit a response. However, it is not a
request for information ’ the answer is self-evident since it is provided in the utterance itself.
This is clearly an utterance with a high affective content.
Exercises and discussions
(c) Excuse me, Mr Clayton. I’ve finished your letters, sir.

(i) The address forms (Mr Clayton, sir), as well as the initial phrase, an apology for interruption
(Excuse me), suggest this is an utterance from a subordinate to a superior and that the two do
not know each other well.
(ii) The primary intention of this utterance appears to be to provide referential information. Note,
however, that it might have other functions too if we knew more about the context. The
secretary might be indirectly (and therefore politely) asking if s/he might leave since s/he has
finished a particular task. Utterances often serve more than one function.
 References
Hemnesberget in example 6 is based on Blom and Gumperz (1972).
• Blom, Jan-P. and John J. Gumperz (1972) Social meaning in linguistic
structure. In John J. Gumperz and Dell Hymes (eds) Directions in
Sociolinguistics. London: Holt, Reinhart & Winston. 407–34.
The Sauris community described in example 7 is based on Denison (1972).
• Denison, Norman (1972) Some observations on language variety and
plurilingualism. In John B. Pride and Janet Holmes (eds)

Resources
Sociolinguistics. Harmondsworth: Penguin. 65–77.

Additional reading
These references provide more information on the topics discussed in this
chapter.
Hudson (1996) Ch. 2
• Hudson, Richard A. (1996) 2nd edn. Sociolinguistics. Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press.
Saville-Troike (2003) Ch. 3
• Saville-Troike, Muriel (2003) 3rd edn. The Ethnography of Communication.
Oxford: Blackwell.
Trudgill (2001) Ch. 1
• Trudgill, Peter (2001) 4th edn. Sociolinguistics: An Introduction to Language
and Society. Harmondsworth: Penguin.
Wardhaugh and Fuller (2015) Ch. 1
• Wardhaugh, Ronald and Janet M. Fuller (2015) 7th edn. An Introduction to
Sociolinguistics. Oxford: Wiley Blackwell.