Page 183 - DENG504_LINGUISTICS

Gowher Ahmad Naik, Lovely Professional University Unit 13: Branches in Linguistics: Socio-Linguistics

Unit 13: Branches in Linguistics: Socio-Linguistics Notes

CONTENTS
Objectives
Introduction
13.1 Socio-Linguistics and Other Branches of Linguistics
13.2 Language Variation
13.3 Varieties of English
13.4 Summary
13.5 Key-Words
13.6 Review Questions
13.7 Further Readings

Objectives

After studying this Unit students will be able to:
• Know Socio-Linguistics.
• Discuss Language Variation.
• Understand Varieties of English.
Introduction

Sociolonguistics is a term including the aspects of linguistics applied toward the connections between
language and society, and the way we use it in different social situations. It ranges from the study of
the wide variety of dialects across a given region down to the analysis between the way men and
women speak to one another. Sociolinguistics often shows us the humorous realities of human speech
and how a dialect of a given language can often describe the age, sex, and social class of the speaker;
it codes the social function of a language.
13.1 Socio-Linguistics and Other Branches of Linguistics

Language is a social-cultural-geographical phonomenon. There is a deep relationship between
language and society. It is in society that man acquires and uses language. When we study a language
which is an abstraction of abstractions, a system of systems, we have to study its further abstractions
such as dialects, sociolects, idiolects, etc. That is why we have to keep in mind the geographical area
in which this language is spoken, the culture and the society in which it is used, the context and
situation in which it is used, the speakers who use it, the listeners for whom it is used, and the
purpose for which it is used, besides the linguistic components that compose it. Only then can our
study of a language be complete and comprehensive. So we must look at language not only from
within but also from without; we should study language from the points of view of both form and
functions. An informal definition of socio-linguistics suggested by a linguist is that it is the study of:
‘Who can say what how, using what means, to whom and why.” It studies the causes and consequences of
linguistic behaviour in human societies; it is concerned with the function of language, and studies
language from without.
Socio-linguistics is a fascinating and challenging field of linguistics. It studies the ways in which
language interacts with society. It is the study of the way in which the structure of a language changes

LOVELY PROFESSIONAL UNIVERSITY 177