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What is sociolinguistics?

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Pretty much anything related to language can be sociolinguistics, since we speak in a social context.

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What is Society?

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Any group of people based on some common purpose or characteristic.

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What is Language?

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- Spoken (or signed or written) means of communication shared by a group of people. - Characterized by "grammar" = knowledge of language

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Sociolinguistics looks at differences in speech production, and also...

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how these differences are perceived

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People usually make perceptual assessments based on a very short amount of speech

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- Perception gives information about the speaker's identity, or at least what you expect the identity to be based on particular speech characteristics - Perception also connects to attitudes a person has to the speech characteristics of others

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Types of information we can perceive from speech

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- Nationality: British, French, Indian, ... - Where from (in US): New York, South, Midwest... - Age: teenager, middle age, senior... - Gender: male, female, gay... - Education: minimal, average, advanced... - SES: working class, middle class, wealthy... - Profession: use of jargon or special terms

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Linguistic Theory / Sociolinguistics

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- competence vs. performance - descriptive vs. prescriptive (no) study of language

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I-Language vs. E-Language

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- I-Language = internal language (competence) - E-Language = external language (performance and all the variability that is present in the context) - As linguists, we approach both from the descriptive perspective.

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Competence in Sociolinguistics

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"Knowing" a language in the Sociolinguistic Sense - (plain) competence = grammar - communicative competence = how to USE language appropriately in a social context William Labov - most influential scholar in modern sociolinguistics - "[T]he linguistic behavior of individuals cannot be understood without knowledge of the communities that they belong to."

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Language > Code

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- Code = specific system used by 2 or more people to communicate. - A language (e.g., English) could be considered a code, but sociolinguistics is interested in more specific language use. - Sociolinguistics is interested in "subsets" of a language. - Code refers to a particular usage of a Language.

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Code-Switching

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- Usually used for bilinguals - Bilinguals have two codes at language level, so two codes in the general sense - Switching between languages / codes = code switching - Code-switching - requires mutual intelligibility of the speakers in the group + obvious case - when two different languages are languages involved (e.g., Spanish / English in US; French / English in Canada)

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Code-Switching in Sociolinguistics

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- Changing from one language / code to another within a group of speakers who all share the same set of languages. - All of the speakers understand the communication regardless of which language is used. - The speakers identify themselves with a group that exhibits this type of linguistic behavior. - Since linguistic behavior associated with a particular identity = Code the Code-Switching behavior can be a code of its own.

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Idiolect

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- speech of an individual + Individual answers in homework assignment - Is this a code? - NO: a code needs 2 or more people

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Idiolect --> Dialect

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- Each person does speak a little differently, but sociolinguistics is interested in commonalities among idiolects of people in a group --> dialect (code). - Dialects in homework: "heat" maps showing prevalence of each speech property throughout the US. + When there are many speakers with the same speech properties, the set of these properties may be considered a dialect.

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How do we know where major dialect regions in the US are?

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Dialect Surveys • specific properties • methods Dialect Atlas • distribution of individual properties • distribution of groups of properties

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Dialect Atlas

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- Isogloss: line at the border between different usages of an individual property - Bundle of Isoglosses: overlapping lines at the border between different usages of multiple property => Dialects

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Variation in Sociolinguistics

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Moving from Bigger to Smaller - E.g., regional dialects à more subtle usage patterns - Variation in sociolinguistics + differences in the way a person speaks + differences between the speech of different people - Focus is on social factors that determine differences + who you are speaking to + type of communication + geography + personal traits: gender, age, education, SES, etc. + other aspects of the situation

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Challenge for Sociolinguistics

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- How much and which variation are we concerned with? + Contrast with more theoretical aspects of linguistics, where variation is mostly passed over, looking for broad generalizations about language structures. - As text discusses, there have been different approaches / answers to the question. + Answer depends largely on the goals you are interested in. + --> RESEARCH

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Consideration for research

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Methodological Concerns (p.16) "Data collected for the sake of collecting data are of little interest - ... without some kind of non-trivial motive for collection - they can tell us little or nothing. - A set of random observations about a few people we happen to observe... cannot lead us to any useful generalizations about behavior, either social or linguistic. - We cannot be content with 'stamp collecting,' no matter how beautiful the specimens are. - We must collect data for a purpose and that purpose should be to find an answer... to an interesting question."

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Are these "interesting questions"? If not, how might you make them interesting?

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How do they say "water" in Delaware? + We know that there is a particular pronunciation of "water" in Philadelphia, so we want to determine if the region in which this pronunciation is used, extends to DE. + Given that there are many differences in the speech of Northern and Southern Delaware, we want to determine if "water" is a word that shows this dialectal split. Does my grandmother say "car" with or without [r] at the end? - I observe that my grandmother says "car" without [r] at the end, so I want to determine ... + if this is typical of other people of her generation. + if females and males of her generation show the same absence of [r] + if people / females of my generation show the absence of [r] as my grandmother

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Challenge: accent or dialect?

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- What is the difference between an accent and a dialect? - What is a dialect? + variety of a language - also a communication system (code) - What is an accent? + variety of a language - that primarily differs from another at the phonological / phonetic level + can an accent also be a code?

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What is "Standard American English" - to be used to determine if something is an accent or dialect?

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- Usually something like Midwestern variety - BUT all of the varieties have their own characteristics - American English does not have a legal body or organization that sets out the practices that constitute "Standard American English".

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In "American Voices", what were some examples of accents and dialects?

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- Some accents: southern accents, Boston accents, African American accent (not same as dialect) - Dialects: Tangier Island, PA Dutch, New Orleans/ Cajun

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If you are a school teacher or a SLP practitioner and someone comes in who speaks differently...

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- how do you know if the person has a speech problem or a different dialect / accent? - if it's a different dialect / accent, do you work to change it to be more similar to "Standard English"?

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Challenge: language or dialect?

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What is a language - communication system (code) What is a dialect - variety of a language - also a communication system (code) How do we know when we have a variety of a language (Dialect) or a distinct language? Some considerations - mutual intelligibility - number of speakers - ethnicity of speakers - geographical location - politics - religion "A language is a dialect with an army and a navy"

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Standard vs. Non-standard Language

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What is meant by "standard language"? - agreement on characteristics - codification of characteristics - can be taught explicitly - usually associated with such social considerations as: prestige, "correctness", education, power... What is a non-standard variety? - Any variety that is not the standard variety. - Sometimes non-standard varieties are called dialects. - Is non-standard the same as sub-standard?

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If non-standard language varieties are "dialects"...

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Can the standard language also be considered a dialect? - Yes § Dialect is a code § Standard is code spoken by people who identify themselves with a group who speak in that particular way § As a dialect, Standard does not necessarily coincide with any particular regional location. § BUT, sometimes the variety of a particular region comes to be considered Standard.

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Question: will all Americans eventually speak the same way given that there are more and more national TV shows, programs, etc.?

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- Identity is the key again - Who wants to sound like a newscaster? - People intentionally reinforce group speech patterns to solidify the group itself.

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Dialect, Standard...How Does Vernacular Fit In?

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Vernacular - "Home" language as opposed to "higher" standard language. - Linguists would call this a dialect, but "vernacular" also carries additional information about its usage: + where, when the speech variety is used Latin vs. Romance Languages - Romance languages originated as dialects of latin. - In Catholic Church, masses were held in Latin. + Recent change to use "vernacular" = Italian, Spanish, English?

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Language and Politics

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- Serbo-Croatian > Serbian, Croatian + Grammatically the same language + Some different vocabulary items Croatian: Latin alphabet, Catholic Serbian: Cyrillic alphabet, Orthodox

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Power and Mutual Intelligibility

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Spanish can understand Italian, but not vice versa (or less so) Swedish, Danish, Norwegian - N, S similar pronunciation; larger vocabulary differences. - N, D different pronuciation; more similar vocabulary - Best intelligibility: N, S - Danes claim to understand Norwegians; not vice versa - Worst intelligibility: D, S - Denmark dominated Norway - Today, Sweden is most powerful; Denmark least powerful

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Speech Community

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- Is a Speech Community the same as a Dialect? - Community is a group of people with something in common + church + work + team - Do all groups have an associated Speech Community? + NOT necessarily; not all aspects of identity result in distinctive speech patterns

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Register

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What is meant by speech Register? - language of a group brought together by special interest (or work) What are some examples? - professions, trades, fashion, mechanics, air traffic controllers, doctors, linguists, SLP practitioners, etc. Do you think all of these groups speak a different Register? - most differences in terms of terminology - what about other aspects of grammar, manner of speaking?

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Can someone go into a speech community that is not their own and study the language?

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- Observer's Paradox - When an outsider is present in a group, the behavior of the group will be altered by that presence. - So, the description provided by the observer will have some degree of inaccuracy

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Networks

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Another way to view social interactions and language

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Social (and Linguistic) Networks

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- Networks: groups of social interactions - Some relatively simple examples (p. 130)

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Dense vs. Loose Network

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- dense: many connections / interactions among the members - loose: most members in your network don't interact with each other

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Multiplex Network

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- networks overlap; members tied together in multiple ways + e.g., students in a school / same church / same summer camp - is this dense or loose?

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Focus on Language

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Do all networks have distinctive linguistic properties? - some might, but others might not - back to issue of personal identification - speech properties used to join a group; also to stay distinct from other groups - many smaller groups may not choose to distinguish themselves from some larger group (e.g., N / S DE) + students in each school may not speak differently from students in every other school

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What happens if a person is in different networks that DO used different speech properties (codes)?

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- alternate codes depending on who s/he is talking to - How does the concept of register fit in here? + each of the codes a person uses for communication with different groups = that person's registers

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Summary of Main Interaction / Linguistic Concepts

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Code - general term (communication of a group) Language - Standard / Non-Standard (vs. sub-standard- value judgement implied) - Vernacular Language - vs.: Dialect / Accent / Register / Idiolect - mutual intelligibility - role of power - role of politics Code-switching vs. Using Different Languages Code-switching - in bilingual community - code-switching behavior may be its own code NOT same as personally alternating / shifting from one dialect, register, even language to another under specific circumstances

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What is the difference between Pidgins and Creoles?

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Pidgin - contact language; nobody's first language - reduced language usually used for a specific purpose (e.g., trade) - lacks many properties found in natural human languages - just enough to accomplish what needs to be accomplished Creole - Pidgin that has become first language of a new generation - has all the properties found in natural human languages - created by innovations that are due to basic human cognition / universal human linguistic competence - often grammatical structure from 1 language, vocabulary from the other

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Examples of Creoles (often incorrectly called Pidgins)

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- Tok Pisin: (Pisin < Pidgin) Papua New Guinea - Nigerian Pidgin English - Haitian Creole (French based) - Jamaican Creole (English based)

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Lingua Franca

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existing language used by people who don't speak it as their native language - English - Hausa (West Africa) - Swahili (East Africa) - Latin (former Roman Empire)

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English as a Creole

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- Grammatically, English is Germanic - But the vocabulary has subtanial "Latinate" component (possibly up to 60%) - How did this happen? + Norman invasion of England (1066) + Warriors brought their French language + Many remained in England and their vocabulary had heavy influence on the local speech + Many cases of "doublets": similar word in Germanic and French forms (French usually "fancier" meaning) § beef (Fr. boeuf) vs. cow's meat § mansion (Fr. maison) vs. house

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Two types of data that can help shape research questions in the sciences and social sciences:

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Quantitative / Qualitative

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Quantitative data focuses on the numerical measurement and analysis between variables.

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- Variables are properties that can vary - YOU as research can vary them (e.g., select age, gender, SES, geograpical or social setting, etc.) - SUBJECT data can vary (e.g., behavior: how often do subjects interrupt, drop final r, use creaky voice, etc; OR attitude: how positively / negatively do they respond to a type of speech (determined by specific questions) etc.

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Qualitative data examines the social processes that give rise to the relationships, interactions, and constraints of the inquiry.

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- Can often be quantified - E.g., behavior of speaker of higher SES interaction with same vs. lower SES (compare a specific property + e.g., how often interruptions take place) - We will NOT investigate issues we cannot quantify, e.g., Danes understand Norwegians but not vice versa due to historical relations between the nations.

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Types of data we might use for our projects

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Recordings of specific types of speech, interactions - BUT not just random recordings - you need to be looking for clear properties to address your question - different social groups (e.g. ages, genders, education, interactions) BOTH of speakers and responders if attitudes / interactions. - specific linguistic properties (e.g., use of double negatives, contrast between cot / caught) - why these? - specific behaviors (e.g., interruptions, class participation) - again, why these?

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Language Variation

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Main types of variation - geographical (earlier focus) - social (more current focus) Understanding variation may help explain language change - geographical: migrations of populations - social - changes in the direction of prestige or some other category Over time, small changes may eventually lead to different languages (e.g. Romance lgs.)

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Geographical Variation - some major concepts

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Review: - Dialect Atlas - Isogloss / Bundle of Isoglosses - Dialect Boundary (usually bundle of isoglosses) - BUT - bundles may have inconsistencies, so always a bit fuzzy - Dialect Boundary - often strengthened by geographical boundary

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Observing Dialect Variation - linguistic variables

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- applies to geographical and social dialects - identify crucial property/properties (= variable/s) - investigate alternation / distribution of specific variable/s + geographical location + usage by different segments of population + changes in distribution: § movement / expansion § reduction, loss § association with different segments of population - investigate attitude to specific variables

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Relic Area

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small part of original dialect area that doesn't change like the rest

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Remnant Dialect

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variety of speech in relic area; older form of dialect

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Social Variables

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- properties that correlate more with social identification that with geographical location - BUT NOTE: these might be exactly the type of factors that could determine changes in geographical patterns - most wide-spread variable of English (world-wide) alternation between [ŋ] and [n] e.g., going with [ŋ] or [n]

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William Labov (father of modern sociolinguistics): 3 main types of socio linguistic variables

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- indicator - marker - stereotype

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indicator

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- difference with little or no social relevance; not usually recognized by the non-linguist § e.g. most people don't recognize difference between speakers with cot/caught same or different

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marker

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strong carrier of social information; even if somewhat present in someone's speech, it's felt by others to be the way the person speaks § e.g. even if somone uses both [ŋ] and [n], it's the [n] form that stands out; this "marks" the speaker

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stereotype

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popular view of how a group speaks § very conscious awareness § may not even be completely accurate § e.g., Boston: park the car [pɑk ðə kɑ] § e.g., Texas drawl: Howdy partner. § often stigmatized § BUT to some extent this depends on your view of the group the variable is associated wit

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Challenge: how do we get authentic, casual data?

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- Problem: observer's paradox - Can you tell people to "be natural" - why, why not? - Create situations where people are less likely to monitor speech - Labov used several creative ideas; still used sometimes + ask for repetition; several times might be useful + ask about particularly emotional topic (e.g., when speaker was in life-threatening situation)

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Selecting Participants in your study

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you can't usually test everyone in a group, so how do select a representative sample sample? - random sample - judgement sample

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random sample

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- just take large number of people from a group to get good distribution of types of people, behaviors, etc. - you need to be sure you have a good mix if you want to draw conclusions about the group of speakers - e.g., if you want to talk about all UD students, would it be ok to have 20 SLP students? Why / why not?

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judgement sample

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- based on researcher's assessment of some crucial characteristic/s - researcher selects people based on specific criteria NOT just "I think they sound like..." - the specific criteria depend on what you are looking for § gender differences (age might not matter) § age differences (gender might not matter) § etc. - results are about the specific groups (e.g., 20 yr olds vs. 40 yr olds)

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What are intuitions based on?

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Usually based on judgement criteria - These need to be explicit and clear - e.g. + certain amount of /r/ dropping (you need to measure this) + specific characteristics that mark a southern accent (e.g., use of specific vowels) + use of particular intonation patterns (gay male)

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Geographical Distance as a Linguistic Variable

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- is this a useful variable? - do people identify themselves by number of miles from a given location? - does X miles have the same linguistic value at all times?

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What to tell participants

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- Don't lie - Just give general idea, for example: + how different people listen to recorded speech + how different people read sentences - Be sure to tell everyone the same thing - Be sure to tell everyone that there are no RIGHT or WRONG answers - it's just to see how people do with listening / reading / etc.

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Independent Variables

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- ones that YOU as researcher independently specify be cause you want to know their patterns, AND you suspect they will have different patterns (otherwise there's probably nothing to study) + e.g., males, females, UD students + e.g., 20 yr old, 40 yr old females at UD

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Dependent Variables

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- the properties you are looking for in the speech / behavior - e.g., use of final /r/; use of "gay intonation"; # of interruptions

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Production study

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record people speaking to observe the use of the linguistic variable

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