1. Sociolinguistics
1. An Introduction
Hainan University Bai Lifang

2. Outline
• 1. Objectives of the course
• 2. Teaching method
• 3. Definition of sociolinguistics
• 4. Language and context
• 5. Different forms of linguistic variation
• 6. Social factors in linguistic variation

3. 1. Objectives of the course
Through this course, you’ll
• 1) get to know about the important
concepts and main areas of
sociolinguistics.
• 2) be able to find out the impact of
extralinguistic factors on language, such
as age, gender, profession, social status,
ethnicity, politics, etc.

4. Objectives of the course
• 3) think about language and observe the
usage around you. Find interest in thinking
about and listening to the speech of
people around you.
• 4) Learn to use language appropriately in
different contexts.

5. 2. Teaching method
• The course will mainly be given in the form
of lecture, but the students are highly
encouraged to be actively involved in the
classroom activities, including
• 1) questions-and-answers
• 2) discussions
• 3) oral presentations

6. You are supposed to
• attend the lecture
• read relevant materials
• observe the particular use of language in
particular situations
• do the analysis work by using the theories
learned in the lecture or read in the
reference books
• present the result to the class.

7. 3. Definition of sociolinguistics
• Wardhaugh: (Wardhaugh p12)
• Sociolingistics investigates the
relationships between language and
society with the goal being a better
understanding of the structure of language
and of how languages function in
communication.

8. What are included in the “society”?
• People
• place
• Social system

9. Language and people
• Age, gender, race, nationality, class
Language and place
• Region, occasion
Language and social system
• Power, ideology, policy, politeness

10. people
language
place Social
system

11. Sociolinguists are interested in explaining
• why we speak differently in different social
contexts,
• what are the social functions of language
• how language is used to convey social
meaning.

12. • Ray

13. Example 1
• Ray: Hi mum.
• Mum: Hi. You’re late.
• Ray: Yeah, that bastard Sootbucket kept us in
again.
• Mum: Nana’s here.
• Ray: Oh sorry. Where is she?

14. • Example 2:
• Ray: Good afternoon, sir.
• Principle: What are you doing here at this
time?
• Ray: Mr Sutton kept us in, sir.

15. • Example 1:
• Ray: Hi mum.
• Mum: Hi, you’re late.
• Ray: Yeah, that bastard Sootbucket kept us in
• again.
• Mum: Nana’s here.
• Ray: Oh sorry. Where is she?
• Example 2:
• Ray: Good afternoon, sir.
• Principle: What are you doing here at this time?
• Ray: Mr Sutton kept us in, sir.

16. Greeting:
• Hi vs. Good afternoon
Address:
• Mum vs. Sir
Referring to the teacher:
• that bastard Sootbucket vs. Mr Sutton
Referring to the event
• Kept us in again vs. kept us in

17. Ray’s utterance
• tells his mother
why he is late, his choice of words
how he feels about the teacher concerned,
• tells us
something about his relationship with his mother.

18. The clues we can get from the speech:
• The relationship with mother:
Intimate and friendly
• The relationship with the principal:
Formal, distant, respectful

19. • We use language to ask for and give
people information.
• We use it to express indignation and
annoyance, as well as admiration and
respect.

20. • Margaret Walker

21. Example 3:
Margaret Walker
• Every afternoon as she leaves her office,
her bossiness partner says “goodbye
Margaret”, (she replies “goodbye Mike”).
• Her secretary says “See you tomorrow”,
(she replies “goodbye Jill”).
• And the caretaker says “Bye Mrs.
Walker” (to which she responds “goodbye
Andy”).

22. • As she arrives home she is greeted by “Hi mum” from
her daughter.
• Jenny, “hello dear, have a good day?” from her mother.
• And simply “you’re late again!” from her husband.
Later in the evening the president of local flower club calls
to ask if she would like to join.
• “Good evening, is that Mrs. Billington?” She asks.
• “No, it’s Margaret Walker, but my husband’s name is
David Billington”, she answer. “What can I do for you?”
• Finally calls “Hello Meg, sut wyt ti?”

23. • Languages provide a variety of ways of
saying the same thing.
• The choice of linguistic form is a useful
clue to non-linguistic information.
• Language variation can provide social
information.

24. Practice:
• Make a list of all the names you are called
by people who know you.
• Who uses it to you and when and where?
• Do some people call you by more than
one name?

25. • We use different expressions in different
contexts.
• Linguistic variation can provide social
information.

26. 5. Different forms of linguistic
variation
The different ways we say things
• Pronunciation
• Words
• Grammar
• Dialect
• language

27. Example 4
• Sam : You seen our ‘enry’s new ‘ouse yet? It’s in
‘alton you know.
• Jim : I have indeed. I could hardly miss it Sam.
Your Henry now owns the biggest house in
Halton.
Sam—a coal miner
Henry—Sam’s son
Different pronunciations
Jim—Henry’s old friend

28. Example 5
• (a) Refuse should be deposited in the receptacle
provided.
• (b) Put your rubbish in the bin, Jill.
Refuse vs. rubbish
Deposit vs. put
Receptacle vs. bin
Null vs. Jill
Passive vs. imperative
Different words and grammar

29. • Hemnesberget, Norway

30. Example 6
• All the villagers know and use two distinct kinds
of Norwegian: the local dialect which is called
Ranamal and then there is the standard dialect
or standard Norwegian, Bokmal .
• Ranamal -- speak to their family, friends and
neighbors.
• Bokmal – at school, in church services and
sermons, the local government offices , official,
to strangers and visitors from outside. (Janet
Holmes, 2001: 5)

31. • The two dialects differ in pronunciation,
and word-forms.
• The social considerations for the choice
of language:
 the participant,
social setting,
Different dialects
the topic
purpose of the interaction.

32. Sauris, Italy

33. Example 7
• The adults were all trilingual: German, Friulian, Italian
• Before 1866 the village had been part of the Austrian
empire, and its villagers all spoken German.
 German dialect -- at the home, and to neighbours and
fellow villagers.
 The regional language Friulian -- with people from the
surrounding area outside the village, and in the pub. It is
a language of friendship and solidarity.
 Italian -- talking to those from beyond the region, and
reading and writing,at the church and the school. (Janet
Holmes, 2001: 6)
Different languages

34. • Sociolinguists use the term variety (or
sometimes code) to refer to language in context.
• A variety is a set of linguistic forms used under
specific social circumstances, i.e. with a
distinctive social distribution.
• Therefore, variety is a broad term which includes
different accents, different linguistic style,
different dialects and even different languages
which contrast with each other for social
reasons.

35. 6. Social factors in linguistic
variation
• Social factors accounting for the particular
variety used:
• 1. The participants : Who is speaking and
• Who are they speaking to ?
• 2. The setting or social contexts of the
interaction : Whereare they speaking ?
• 3. The topic : what is being talked about ?
• 4. The function : why are they speaking ?

36. Social dimensions
• Participants:
solidarity-- social distance scale
status scale
• Setting—formality scale
• Topic
• Function
Referential and affective function scales

37. The solidarity – social distance
scale
Intimate Distant
High solidarity Low solidarity
The scale is useful in emphasizing that how
well we know someone is a relevant factor
in linguistic choice.
e.g. Meg vs. Mrs. Belington

38. The status scale
Superior high status
Subordinate low status
e.g.
1. The use of ‘sir’, ‘Mrs.’, to the lecturer by
the students
2. The [h]-dropping reflect someone’s lower
social group

39. The formality scale
Formal High formality
InformalLow Formality
1. Useful in assessing the influence of social
setting or type of interaction on language choice.
2. Often degrees of formality are largely
determined by solidarity and status relationship.
But not always.

40. The referential and affective
function scales
Language can convey objective information of a referential
kind; it can also express how someone is feeling.
Referential
High low
Information information
Content content
affective
Low high
Affective affective
Content content

41. The referential and affective
function scales
The more referentially oriented an
interaction is, the less it tends to express
the feelings of the speaker.

42. • 未来10天（9月1-10日），西北地区东部、华
北、江淮、江南北部、华南南部、西南地区东部
等地降雨量有30-80毫米，其中四川盆地东北部
、陕西东南部、湖北西部及华北局地有120-180
毫米，局地可超过200毫米；黄淮、东北部分地
区降雨量有10-30毫米。
• 未来10天，新疆北部、华北、东北及华南气温较
常年同期偏高1-2℃；黄淮、江淮、江南北部及
西南地区气温偏低1℃左右。
High information, low affective

43. 火车上，一对小情侣正窃窃私语
• 女孩说：我困了，想上去睡觉。
• 男孩答：困了就睡吧。
• 女孩又说：那我是不是要脱了鞋上去？
• 男孩又答：当然要脱鞋子。
• 女孩接着说：那你帮我看好鞋，不要被人偷走。
• 男孩接着答：好的，你放心睡吧。女孩道：我躺
好了。
• 男孩：那就闭上眼睛睡吧
low information, high affective

44. Conclusion
• Linguistic variation occurs at the levels of
sounds, word-structure, grammar, dialects and
even language.
• Our choice of linguistic variety depends on who
we are talking to, where we are talking, what we
are talking and why we are talking.
• Language choices convey information about the
social relationships between people, social
status of people, setting of interaction, topic of
discussion and purpose of discussion.