1、Chapter 8Language and SocietyWhat is sociolinguistics?o Sociolinguistics is the 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.Main tasks:o The scope of sociolinguisticso Varie
2、ties of languageo Standard dialecto Pidgin and Creoleo Bilingualism and diglossiaThe scope of sociolinguistics o The relatedness between language and society(语言和社会的相关性)o Speech community and speech variety(言语社区和言语变体)o Two approaches to sociolinguistic studies(社会语言学的两种研究方法)The relatedness between lan
3、guage and societyo Language is used to establish and maintain social relationship.o Users of the same language speak differently due to their different social background.o Language reflects both the physical and social environments of a society.o Language is closely related to the structure of the s
4、ociety.Speech community and speech variety 言语社区和言语变体o The social group that is singled out for any special study is called the speech community.o Speech variety,or language variety,refers to any distinguishable form of speech used by a speaker or a group of speakers.Two approaches to sociolinguistic
5、 studies o Macro-sociolinguistics:to look at society as a whole and consider how language functions in it and how it reflects the social differentiations,i.e.a birds-eye view of the languages used in society.将社会看作一个整体，考察语言是如何在其中运作的，以及他是如何反映社会差异的，即对社会中所使用的语言的一个总观。o Micro-sociolinguistics:to look at s
6、ociety from the point of view of an individual member within it,or a worms-eye view of language in use.从其中的个体成员的角度来观察社会，或对使用中的语言作一个具体的详细的观察。Varieties of language 语言变体o Dialectal varieties(方言变体)o Register(语域)o Degree of formality(正式度)Dialectal varieties(方言变体)o Regional dialect(地域方言)o Sociolect(社会方言)o
7、 Language and gender(语言与性别)o Language and age(语言和年龄)o Idiolect(个人方言)o Ethnic dialect(种族方言)Regional dialect(地域方言)oA regional dialect is a linguistic variety used by people living in the same geographical region.Sociolect (社会方言)o Social-class dialect,or sociolect,refers to the linguistic variety chara
8、cteristic of a particular social class.o Accent is an important marker of sociolect.Language and gender(语言与性别)o Womens speech closely approaches the standard variety than the speech of men.o Male and female speeches are also found to be different in the use of intonations.o Gender differentiations i
9、s also reflected in the use of certain lexical items.Language and age o Language used by the old generation differs from that used by the younger generation in certain ways.o The most striking difference is found at the lexical level(词汇层).Idiolect(个人方言个人方言)o Idiolect is a personal dialect of an indi
10、vidual speaker that combines elements regarding regional,social,gender,and age variations.Ethnic dialect(种族方言)o Black English is just another non-standard variety of English.o Black English has its own features at the phonological,morphological,syntactic,and lexical level.Linguistic Features of Blac
11、k Englisho The simplification of consonant clusters at the end of a word;o The deletion of the link verb“be”;o The use of double negation construction.o Examples:P116.Register(语域)o Language varies with the user and it also varies with the circumstances under which it is used.o A competent native spe
12、aker of a language is in possession of a variety of ways in using the language.The totality of linguistic varieties possessed by an individual constitutes his linguistic repertoire(语言变体库).Hallidays register theory o “Language varies as its function varies;it differs in different situations.”“语言随其功能而
13、变；因其场合而异”.o The type of language which is selected as appropriate to the type of situation is a register.o Three social variables that determine the register:field of discourse(语场),tenor of discourse(语旨),and mode of discourse(语式).Field of discourse(语场)o Field of discourse refers to what is going on:
14、to the area of operation of the language activity.(purpose and subject)o The field of a register determines to a great extent the vocabulary to be used in communication and it also determines the phonological and grammatical features of the language.Tenor of discourse(语旨)o Tenor of discourse refers
15、to the role of relationship in the situation in question:who the participants and in what relationship they stand to each other.o It,to a great extent,determines the level of formality and the level of technicality of the language we use.Mode of discourse(语式)o Mode of discourse mainly refers to the
16、means of communication.It is concerned with“how”communication is carried out.o Example:P118.Degree of formality(正式程度)o An American linguist Martin Joos,distinguishes five stages of formality,namely,1.intimate,2.casual 3.consultative 4.formal 5.frozen.o Example：P119.Standard dialect(标准方言)o The standa
17、rd variety is a superimposed(强制性的),socially prestigious dialect of a language.o The standard dialect is a particular variety of a language which any member of a speech community can possibly use regardless of his social and geographical backgrounds,his gender and age.Pidgin and Creole 洋泾浜语和克里奥耳语(混杂语
18、)o A pidgin is a special language variety that mixes or blends languages and it is used by people who speak different languages for restricted purposes such as trading.o When a pidgin has become the primary language of a speech community,and is acquired by the children of that speech community as th
19、eir native language,it is said to have become a Creole.Features of Pidgino It has a limited vocabulary and much reduced or simplified grammar and serves restricted functions,such as trading and employment.Bilingualism and diglossia双语现象和双语 o In some speech communities,two languages are used side by s
20、ide with each having a different role to play.o The term diglossia,first used by Ferguson in 1959,refers to a sociolinguistic situation similar to bilingualism.But instead of two different languages,in a diglossic situation two varieties of a language exist side by side throughout the community,with
21、 each having a definite role to play.The two have one important point in commono i.e.what determines the choice of which language to use in a bilingual situation and what determines the choice of which form of a language to use in a diglossic situation are more or less the same social variables,such
22、 as the purpose of communication,the occasion of communication,the relationship between participants,the degree of formality of the occasion,etc.Assignmentso1.Review P110-123.o2.Do the revision exercises.o3.Preview the next chapter.人有了知识，就会具备各种分析能力，明辨是非的能力。所以我们要勤恳读书，广泛阅读，古人说“书中自有黄金屋。”通过阅读科技书籍，我们能丰富知识，培养逻辑思维能力；通过阅读文学作品，我们能提高文学鉴赏水平，培养文学情趣；通过阅读报刊，我们能增长见识，扩大自己的知识面。有许多书籍还能培养我们的道德情操，给我们巨大的精神力量，鼓舞我们前进。
