Chapter 1
Introduction
What is sociolinguistics?
The study of language in use, language in society. The field of sociolinguistics is a big tent: it can encompass
work done in discourse analysis, studies of interaction, sociology, anthropology, cultural studies, feminism,
etc. It can also be used much more restrictively to only refer to variationist studies in the Labovian tradition.
For this reason, when you come across the term, it is worth stopping long enough to work out how the
writer/speaker is using it.
How do sociolinguists study sociolinguistics?
Sociolinguists use a range of methods to analyse patterns of language in use and attitudes towards language
in use.
1- Some sociolinguistic patterns can only be observed systematically through close examination of lots of
recorded speech and a good understanding about the speaker’s background or place in a community.
2- On the other hand, sociolinguists who are interested in investigating national language policies might
never need to use any audio or video recordings at all. A lot of relevant information on language planning
can be gleaned from library and archive materials, or from more free-form discussions with members of
the communities being studied. For example, official newspaper reports and letters to the editor provide the
researcher with a range of perspectives just in one medium.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Chapter 2
Variation and language
A - Variables and variants
Variable: principally
an abstract representation of the source of variation. Realised by two
or more variants. In sum, a sociolinguistic variable can be defined as a linguistic variable
that is constrained by social or non-linguistic factors, and the concept of a variable
constrained by non-linguistic factors emerges straightforwardly from the traditions of
dialectology.
Variant:
The actual realization of a variable. Analogous to the phonetic realisations of a
phoneme.
How to identify a variable?
There are two ways we can identify a variable.
(1) One convention is to write a variable in parentheses, i.e., (ear) in this case.
(2) A second convention is to refer to vowel variables by using the system of key
words in Wells (1982). In this particular case, we would talk about the NEAR
vowel or the NEAR lexical set.
Regular vs probabilistic alternations between variants
(Variables and Variants vs. Phonemes and Allophones)
The relationship between the abstract concept of a variable and the actual variants that realise
it is very similar to the relationship between the abstract notion of a phoneme and the actual
phonetic realisations of that phoneme.
When the variation is quite predictable and depends entirely on the immediate linguistic
context in which it occurs, the primary sound is called a phoneme and the variation is called
an allophone.
Phonologists distinguish what they call the phoneme, which is represented as /p/, from the
phonetic variants, one of which is aspirated and one of which is not aspirated (together these
are called the allophones of /p/).
However, there is an important difference between the alternation between [p h] and [p] in
English and the alternation between variables. The constraints on /p/ are completely regular
and predictable so you always know which variant will surface when. With variables, the
situation is less precise. The same person will sometimes use one variant and sometimes the
other variant. The same speaker may even alternate in different sentences.
For example,
Jed! Come here! [heə] => Variant
(silence from Jed)
Jed!! Come here!! [hiər] => Variant
What is “free variation”? And how do sociolinguists deal with it?
The idea that some variants alternate with each other without any reliable
constraints on their occurrence in a particular context or by particular speakers.
Arguably, though, the only thing that is free about free variation is that it frees the
linguist up to dust their hands and say ‘OK, we’ve analysed that!’ Sociolinguists’
studies of language in use have shown that variation is always more or less
constrained by some factor (social factor rather than linguistic factors) relevant to
the context in which a speaker is using their language.
REGIONAL DIALECTOLOGY: MAPPING SPEAKERS AND PLACES
What is “Regional Dialectology”?
The identification and mapping of boundaries between different varieties based
on clusters of similar and different features in particular regions, towns or villages.
Cases of Regional Dialectology.
1- The Altas Linguistique de la France or ‘Alf’, as it is commonly called is the
first regional dialectology study. This project was begun by Jules Gilliéron
and the data collection was carried out by a fieldworker, Edmond Edmont.
The results of dialect surveys are often plotted on maps, thus providing an
atlas which, instead of showing topographical features like mountains and
plains, shows how speakers’ pronunciation of words changes as you move
across physical space. The distribution of different forms – pronunciations
or sentence patterns – can be shown with different symbols superimposed
on a map of the region which plots every point surveyed.
2- One of the last to be completed in North America was the dialect atlas for
the Iberian Peninsula (Linguistic Atlas of the Iberian Peninsula, or ALPI).
USING REGIONAL DIALECT DATA TO INFORM THEORY
Linguists have found that regional variation can highlight the importance of
non-linguistic factors.
Work by the sociolinguist Dave Britain shows how the features of
different regional varieties intersect with a range of non-linguistic
features. SEE THE BOOK PAGEs (13-14) FOR THE DETAILS.
MARTHA’S VINEYARD: A STUDY OF SOCIAL DIALECTS
The first social dialect study was conducted in the summer of 1961 on
Martha’s Vineyard, an island off the coast of Massachusetts in the
northeastern United States. SEE THE BOOK PAGEs (16-17-18) FOR THE DETAILS.