LANGUAGE, SOCIETY, AND CULTURE

Sociolinguistics

The way one speaks provides clues not only to a person’s regional background but also to his social one, e.g. his/her education and economic status.

Speech is a form of social identity. Language indicates the membership of different

social group- speech community.

Speech communityA group of people= share a set of norms, rules, and

expectation about language use.

The Relationship between Language and Society

Linguistics + anthropologyLanguage and culture

Linguistics + sociologyThe role language plays in the organization of social groups

Linguistics + social psychologyIn-group and out-group behaviors

Speech community

Group of people who share a set of norms, rules and

expectations regarding the use

of language

Sociolinguistics

Inter-relationships between language and

society

Anthropology (investigation of

language and culture)

Sociology (role that language plays in social groups and

institutions)

Psychology (how attitudes and

perceptions are expressed)

Social Dialects

Varieties of language used by

groups defined

Class Age SexEducation

Other social para

meters

In social dialects…

Prestige

Over prestige

Covert prestige

Positively valued ways

pf speaking in social

communities

Non –standard forms and

expressions by certain sub-groups

SOCIAL DIALECTS

EDUCATION SOCIAL CLASS

A person who spends a long time going through college or

university will tend to have spoken

language features.

Differences in pronunciation among

social classes from the same place.

Differ in form and

pronunciation

Upper class and

more educated

Lower class and

less educated

Tend to use more complicated forms

Tend to simplify the way

of speaking

Social ClassLanguage

AndEducation

Age and gender

are also factors that can

determine language variety

Age Gender

Elder people may

talk a bit different

from youngers

Tend to use more

sophisticated language

Tend to use simpler ways of

speaking

FEMALE SPEAKERS

MALESPEAKERS

ETHNIC BACKGROUND

Importan form to

determine languages

Is easy to identify people’s

belonging place

Black English Vernacular

(speech of many African-

Americans)

IDIOLECT

Dialect of each

individual speaker of a

language

Physical stateVoice quality

Contribute to identifying

features in an individual’s

speech

Style

FormalSpoken or

Written

Informal Spoken or

Written

Job interview, business

letters, etc.

Speaking to a friend or writing to

him.

Relations between Language and Culture Structure of language determines the

way that speakers of that language view the world.

Culture is reflected in language. Cultural requirements do not determine structure of language, but influence how it is used.

Sapir-Whorf/Whorfian HypothesisEdward Sapir:Human beings do not live in the objective

world alone, nor alone in the world of social activity as ordinarily understood, but are very much at the mercy of particular language which has become the medium of expression for their society. It is quite an illusion to imagine that one adjusts to reality essentially without the use of language.

Sapir’s Idea

The fact of the matter is that the “real world” is unconsciously built up on the language habits of the group. We see and hear and…experience very largely as we do because the language habits of our community predispose certain choices of interpretation.

Benjamin Lee Whorf

The background linguistic system (in other words the grammar) of each language is not merely a reproducing instrument for voicing ideas but rather is itself the shaper of ideas…the guide for individual’s mental activity…Formulation of ideas is not an independent process, but…is part of particular grammar…

Then…

Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis = the structure of a language affects the way in which its speakers conceptualize the World.

Different speakers will view the world differently in so far as the languages they speak differ structurally.

Our language controls our world view, thus speakers of different languages will have different world views.

What to write for week 4:

The Role of Language in Society The Influence of Society and Culture to

the Language