ENG368
Sociolinguistics
Chapter 1
Course Introduction
What do sociolinguists study?
Instructor
 Cecilia Li
 ceciliali@chuhai.edu.hk
 Appointment by email
2
Schedule
 Course introduction
 Questionnaire
 Quiz
 Mini-lecture on sociolinguistics
3
Questionnaire
Complete the questionnaire and let us know your
expectation of the course.
4
Quiz
Do the quiz and see how much you already know!
5
Statement 1
There are five vowel sounds in English.
Statement 1
English is written with five vowel LETTERS.
However, those letters serve to represent as
many as 12 to 15 SOUNDS, depending on your
variety of English. For example, the letter "u"
represents 3 different sounds in the words 'but',
'put', 'butte'.
Useful websites on IPA
http://web.uvic.ca/ling/resources/phonlab/ipatut/
index.html
http://www.oupchina.com.hk/dict/phonetic/hom
e.html
http://www.eduquery.com/archives/ipa.htm
Statement 2
Educated people speak more grammatically
than do uneducated people.
Statement 2
Educated people tend to conform more closely
to the norms of a "standard" variety of a
language (English in English-speaking
countries, French in French-speaking countries,
etc.) than do people without formal education.
Statement 3
All linguists speak several languages.
Statement 3
Depending on what you mean by "linguist".
One dictionary definition of "linguist" is
"someone who speaks two or more languages".
By this definition, the statement is obviously
true.
Statement 4
The languages of primitive peoples have
simpler grammars than languages such as
English or French.
Statement 4
All languages are complex. Some of the
languages which have the greatest complexity
in details of how words are put together, etc.
are, in fact, spoken by people in some of the
least technologically advanced cultures.
Statement 5
Parrots and people can both use language.
Statement 5
Parrots have the ability to mimic sounds of
various types, including words and phrases of
human languages. However, a parrot could not
learn to combine the word-like sounds that it
can mimic into new combinations to create
sentences which it had not heard before.
Statement 6
Intelligence is a major factor in a child's ability
to learn a first language rapidly and well.
Statement 6
All children in all cultures acquire the languages
of their cultures at about the same rate and
following similar paths, starting with one-word
utterances, then combinations of two words,
then more complex utterances with the cute
"mistakes" we recognize as baby talk, and so
on.
Statement 7
More than two-thirds of the English vocabulary
consists of "borrowed" words.
Statement 7
If one goes through an unabridged dictionary of
English, one finds that as many as 2/3 of the
words listed there have come into English from
other languages. That is, these words were not
part of the vocabulary of English as it was
spoken, say, 1000 years ago.
Statement 8
We should say, "It's I," rather than, "It's me."
Statement 8
The answer here is similar to that for Statement
2 above. If "should say" means that this is what
we were taught in school and it is therefore the
norm which we should follow, then this
statement is true. If "should say" means that we
are not speaking "real English" if we do
otherwise, then it is false.
Statement 9
A language which has never been written is
more properly called a "dialect" than a
"language".
Statement 9
If by "dialect" you mean "a non-written variety
of speech", this statement is, by definition, true,
but this is an incoherent and unacceptable use
of the word "dialect". Properly used, the word
"dialect" refers to "a variety of language
showing systematic differences from other
varieties of THE SAME LANGUAGE".
Statement 10
As a language is passed on from one
generation to the next, it tends to get corrupted.
Statement 10
If "corrupted" means "changed", then this would
be true, but normally persons who make such
statements as this mean "degenerated".
Statement 11
Hawaiian Pidgin should not be taught in
schools because it prevents children from
learning proper English.
Statement 11
Hawaii Pidgin English, Hawaii Creole English,
HCE, or simply Pidgin, is a creole language
based in part on English used by most “local”
residents of Hawaii. Pidgin is used by many
Hawaii residents in everyday conversation and
is often used in advertising toward Hawaii
residents.
Statement 12
There are 3 to 5 distinct sounds in the word
thorough.
Statement 12
The sounds are:
th = a single "fricative" sound made by
passing air between tongue and teeth
or = for some speakers, a single sound like
the "rr" sound in 'bird'; for other speakers,
two sounds, i.e. a vowel like the vowel in 'but'
and an 'r'
ough = for some speakers a single sound,
'o'; for other speakers, two sounds, 'o'
followed by 'w'
Statement 13
There are 4 units of meaning in the word
disrespectfully.
Statement 13
The 4 units of meaning are:
dis- means "not, negative“
-respect- means "deference“
-ful- added to the noun respect to make an
adjective ("full of respect")
-ly added to an adjective to make an
adverb ("in a manner of respecting")
Statement 14
How many languages are there in the world?
Statement 14
Several thousand.
Statement 15
Which two languages in the following pairs are
the most closely related to each other?





English and Yiddish
Yiddish and Hebrew
English and French
Chinese and Japanese
Hawaiian and Tagalog
Statement 15
English and Yiddish
These are both "Germanic" languages.
Statement 16
Which is the oldest language in the world?






Sumerian
Egyptian
Sanskrit
Greek
Chinese
Hebrew
Statement 16
 Sumerian: records dating from about 3100 BC
(5100 years)
 Egyptian: 3000 BC
 Sanskrit: 1500 BC
 Greek: 1400 BC (oldest records in the Greek
alphabet, ca. 1000 BC)
 Chinese: 1300 BC
 Hebrew: 1100 BC
Sociolinguistics
Aims of Sociolinguistic Study:
1. Describe how we speak differently in different
social contexts.
2. Explain why we speak differently in different
social contexts.
We speak differently in different
social contexts
1.1 Different styles
e.g. Address forms
Sir Robert Jones, Mr. Jones, Robert, Bob
e.g. Greetings
How are you?
Hi, what a nice day.
Exercises 1, 2, 3
We speak differently in different
social contexts
1.2 Different pronunciation
Sam: “ You seen our ‘enry’s new ‘ouse yet? It’s in
‘alton you know.
(dropping of “h”)
Jim: Your Henry owns the biggest house in
Halton.
(Holmes 2008:4)
We speak differently in different
social contexts
1.3 Different Vocabulary
Tender exact fare
Give the right money
State destination
Tell me where you’re going
(Holmes 2008:5)
Exercise 4
We speak differently in different
social contexts
1.4 Different Grammar
Refuse should be deposited in the
receptacle provided. (passive voice)
Put your rubbish in the bin, Jilly.
(Holmes 2008:5)
We speak differently in different
social contexts
1.5 Different Dialects
Putonghua vs. Cantonese in HK
Bokmal (book language) vs. Ranamal
in northern Norway
1.6 Different Languages
English and Chinese in HK
French and English in Quebec
Why we speak differently in
different social contexts?
2.1 Participants
Who is speaking?
Who are they speaking to?
Why we speak differently in
different social contexts?
Participant relationships
a. The solidarity – social distance scale
Intimate ------------------------ Distant
High solidarity
Low solidarity
b. The status scale
Superior -------------------- Subordinate
High status
Low status
Why we speak differently in
different social contexts?
2.2
Setting or social context of the
interaction: where are they
speaking?
The formality scale
Formal ---------------------- Informal
High formality
Low formality
Why we speak differently in
different social contexts?
2.3 Topic: what are they speaking?
2.4 Function: why are they speaking
(purposes)?
Two functional scales relating to the
topic or purpose of interaction
The referential function scale:
Referential (give information)
High information < ---------- > Low information
content
content
The affective function scale:
Affective (express feeling)
Low affective < ------------ > High affective
content
content
Exercises 5, 6