A.

Introduction
 Sociolinguistics is Macro-linguistics.
Macro-linguistics analyzes language beyond its most basic
functions and context—it focuses on the social, cultural
psychological and neurological factors and how they're
connected to the language and its structure.

 Sociolinguistics Definition:
Sociolinguistics is the study of the complex relationship between
language and society. For Hudson (1996: 1): “the study of
language in relation to society”

 Sociolinguistics approaches:
 For De Saussure: 'Language is not complete in any speaker; it
exists perfectly only within a collectivity'.
 For Chomsky: Language is asocial, He is more focused on the
study of properties of language that are universal to all human
speech communities.
The systematicity of language is confined to competence.
 For Dell Hymes (Chomsky’s objector): He coined the term
communicative competence, which is knowledge of the rules
of a language + the ability to use these rules appropriately in
different settings.

Notes:
o Sociolinguistics and Language Variation involve the study of
how language varies among different groups of speakers and
the relationship of this variation to social factors.
o An extinct language is a language that no longer has any
speakers, especially if the language has no living
descendants. (Latin or Sanskrit).
o Sociolinguistics must be oriented toward both data and theory
→ it is an empirical discipline!
B. Varieties of language
 Variety Definition:
Variety: A linguistic system used by a certain group of speakers
or in certain social contexts.

 Speech Community Definition:

Speech community: all the people who use a given language (or
dialect). (John Lyons).
Speech community: refers to a group of people who agree
linguistically, and use the same rules and properties of language.
Members of speech community often use slang or jargon to
serve their group with special purposes and priorities.
 Language Definition:
Edward Sapir defined language as `a purely human and
noninstinctive method of communicating ideas, emotions, and
desires by means of a system of auditory and visual symbols
produced by organs of speech.
 Standard Language/Variety:
A standard language is usually identified as a relatively uniform
variety of a language which does not show regional variation,
and which is used in a wide range of communicative functions.
 Standardization:
The process by which standard languages are developed; it’s a
result of a direct deliberate intervention by society.
1. Selection
A particular variety must be selected as the one to be developed
into standard language. Generally, the chosen variety is the one
that has higher prestige because of its speakers political and
socioeconomical power.
 2. Codification
Academies establish the norms of grammatical usage and
vocabulary to 'fix' the variety, so that everyone agrees on what is
correct.
3. Elaboration of function
It must be possible to make the selected variety function in all
fields by adding new specialized vocabulary (parliament,
government…).
4. Acceptance
The selected variety has to be accepted by the relevant
population, it’s usually the national language and they must take
pride in using it.
 Dialect:
Dialect is the variety of language spoken in a region that differs
including a particular regional vocabulary, grammar, syntax and
accent.

 Mutual Intelligibility:
The criterion of mutual intelligibility is sometimes invoked to
distinguish dialects from languages. Two language varieties are
said to be mutually intelligible if their speakers can understand
each other. However, dialects belonging to the same language
are not always mutually intelligible in their spoken form, but at
least they share the same written language.
 Register:
It is used to refer to variation according to the context in which
language is used. For example, most people speak differently in
formal contexts than in informal contexts.
C. Linguistic Variation
  Variation is a characteristic of language: there is more than
one way of saying the same thing. Speakers may vary
pronunciation (accent), word choice (lexicon), or
morphology and syntax. Speakers do not make drastic
alterations in sentence word order. Therefore, Linguistic
variation does not equate with language ungrammaticality.

 Group Membership: People use a variety to signal

membership of a particular group and construct social
identity considering social status, ethnicity, gender,
education and Occupation.
 Speech Distinctions: We can distinguish whether the
speaker is a child or a male or female adult. If the speaker
has a distinctive regional accent, we can tell where he/ she
comes from even from a short utterance. No two people
speak exactly the same.
 Dialect vs. Accent: Dialects are different from accents in
that accents are only about pronunciation whereas dialects
include difference in pronunciation, grammar and
vocabulary, too.
 Language Variation Types:
1. Regional/Geographical variation:
It’s the most widespread of language varieties spoken across
some geographical area, such that neighboring varieties differ
only slightly, but the differences accumulate over distance, so
that widely separated varieties are not mutually intelligible.
 Isogloss: a dividing line or boundary that separates areas that
have different linguistic features that distinguish them.

 Regional variation develops because people are separated

by a common barrier like physical barriers, historical
barriers, racial barriers or religious barriers.
 2. Social Variation:
Refers to language variation between social groups: how
language varies according to social class, gender, age, ethnicity
etc. Social variation therefore refers to interspeaker variation
(variation between speakers). Sociolinguistic studies have
demonstrated the systematic, patterned nature of social
variation, and how this relates to language change.
 Social Variation Examples:

 (If a person speaks with a regional accent in England, he is

most unlikely to belong to the upper class as people from
the upper class would go to private schools and learn the
standard English).

 RP (i.e. Standard English) is a SOCIAL ACCENT and not a

regional one because it hides the speaker’s regional
origins.
 It is used by well-educated English speakers worldwide
and NOT bound to a certain region.

 Social Class/stratifications and Social Markers:

 Sociolect: Social dialect: A dialect that varies according to
the speaker’s social class.
 Class: The speaker’s social prestige, status, or respect
within community.
 A sociolect is different from a dialect because dialects
belong to certain regions geographically (regional
variation).
 Idiolect: A variety of a language that is unique to a person.
The lower the socio-economic level is, the more regional
variation there is.
The higher the level is, the less regional variation we have,
because upper class people mostly use RP *Received
Pronunciation.
 Vocabulary as a social marker:
 U SPEAKERS – SITTING ROOM - LAVATORY
 NON U SPEAKERS – LOUNGE - TOILET

 Pronunciation as a social marker:

 Dropping the /h/ and /r/ is for lower-economic level
people.
 Keeping the /h/ and /r/ is for higher-economic level
people.

 Grammar as a social marker:

D. BILINGUALISM
 Bilingualism is the ability to use two or more languages by
an individual or by a speech community. (Bloomfield
(1933): native-like control of two languages).

 Multilingualism is the use of more than two languages,

either by an individual speaker or by a group of speakers.
Polyglot: a person who knows and is able to use several
languages.
  Bilingualism vs Multilingualism
Bilingualism is a specific case of multilingualism, which has no
ceiling on the number of languages a speaker may dominate. The
timing and sequence in which one learns each of the languages
has led to other distinctions between kinds of multilingualism.
The governments of many countries give official recognition to
only one or some of the languages spoken in the country and this
creates the impression that multilingualism is not a common
phenomenon. In fact, it would be difficult to find a country that
is completely monolingual because multilingualism is very
common in Indonesia, Mexico, Nigeria and India, and it is the
rule not the exception.
 Multilingualism Factors
 Historical or political movements: such as Imperialism and
colonialism, this results in the coexistence of various
languages.
 Economic Movements: In the case of migration, when the
population of weak economic areas move to host countries, it
results in the development of multilingual and multicultural
communities.
 Social and cultural identity: the interest for maintenance and
revival of minority languages creates situations in which two
or more languages co-exist and are necessary in everyday
communication.
 Educational factors: Second and foreign languages are part of
the curriculum in many countries.

 Lingua Franca
Lingua franca refers to any form of language serving as a means
of communication between speakers of different languages.
Also known as bridge/global language, trade language, a
language or dialect systematically used to make communication
possible between groups of people who do not share a native
language or dialect.
 Pidgin
A Pidgin mainly stems from the process of creating a new variety
out of two or more existing ones, in order to communicate
immediately with people who do not share a common language.
Pidgin is the first-generation version of a language that forms
between native speakers of different languages — a makeshift
communication bridge.
Pidgins have norms of their own, frequently making maximum
use of minimal grammatical resources.
 Creole
Creole is a pidgin acquired by native speakers, or one that’s
been passed down to a second generation of speakers.
 Pidgin vs Creole
 Similarities:
 Pidgins and creoles are both the result of what happens when
you blend two or more languages, but they’re not the same.
 Pidgins and creoles are new languages that develop when
speakers of different languages come into contact with each
other and have a need to communicate.
 Differences:
 Pidgins have no native speakers. It compromises between two
or more languages; the speakers adopt simplified language
based on the most basic vocabulary of the dominant language
and the most basic grammar of their own language merely for
functional communication (trade or labor).
 Creoles have native speakers, usually start as a pidgin, and
become the native language for the next generation.

Notes:
 Bilingualism is present in most countries throughout the
world, in all classes of society and in all age groups.
 However, the importance of bilingualism in the world is not
widely recognized, particularly in countries which view
themselves as monolingual.
Types of Bilingualism:
• Individual Bilingualism – the use of two (or more) languages by
an individual.
Individuals who speak more than one language, but who do not
necessarily live in a bi- or multilingual community
• Societal Bilingualism – the use of two (or more) languages
within a given community.
Societies in which several languages are spoken, although not all
members of the society are necessarily proficient in more than
one language.
Types of Individual Bilingualism:
 Co-ordinate bilingualism: A type of individual bilingualism
in which a person learns two languages in separate
environments and uses them independently of each other,
suggesting that their meaning systems exist separately in
the brain.
(Synonyms from each language are not treated as if they
were exactly equivalent.) eg- kitab and book.
 Compound bilingualism: A type of individual bilingualism in
which a person learns two languages in the same context
 and uses them in an interdependent way, suggesting that
their meaning systems exist in one fused form in the brain.

 Balanced Bilingualism: A balanced bilingual is someone

whose mastery of two languages is roughly equal.
However, Beardmore argues that equal fluency in two
languages is impossible to achieve. There must be a
language that is more dominant than the other.
 Language Transfer:
Language transfer is the application of linguistic features
from one language to another by a bilingual or multilingual
speaker.
 Forward Transfer: the individual may apply
knowledge from their native language (L1) in the
acquisition of their second language.
 Backward Transfer: the second language (L2) can
bring effect onto the first language.

E. Diglossia and Code-Switching

 Language Contact occurs when speakers of different

languages interact and influence each other.
 The field of language contact is concerned with:
Macrosociolinguistic issues like language maintenance and
language shift, as well as
 Microsociolinguistic issues like the effects of borrowing,
code-switching, etc.
 It arises when two or more languages are spoken in the
same regions, or when there is a high chance of
communication between the people speaking them.
 It results in language death/loss, bilingualism and language
change.
  Diglossia:
Diglossia is a situation in which two varieties are used within the
same speech community, and are mostly kept apart in their
functions. One is used in a particular set of circumstances and
the other in an entirely different set.
 The ‘Low’ variety is the vernacular variety that is used in
the community’s everyday speech, it is also the regional
colloquial variety used in informal situations.
 The ‘High’ variety or the ‘Standard Language’ is likely to be
the language used in schools or corporate settings such as
newspapers, national TV, etc.….
“Diglossic Situation”
*For instance, in a classroom situation where children speaking
only one regional variety are taught exclusively in the standard
variety. In our university, to be specific, Berber students who
speak only Amazigh, among their friends and family, study in the
standard Arabic and communicate with classmates from
different regional varieties using Darija (Moroccan Arabic).
*In some cases, The ‘Low’ variety may take over the ‘High’
variety and eventually becomes the national language such as
the case of Indonesia in which Bahasa Indonesian became the
official language due to its common use that helped unify all 300
varieties in one standard language for a better communication.
 Code-Switching:
Code Switching occurs when a speaker alternates between two
or more languages, or language varieties, in the course of a
single conversation. Multilinguals sometimes use elements of
multiple languages when conversing with each other.
  Situational Code-switching: is the tendency to use
different language varieties in different social
situations.
- It redefines the situation, being a change in
governing norms.
(e.g. a shift from a formal to a more informal context).
 Metaphorical Code-switching: is the tendency to
switch from a language variety to another, in order to
discuss a topic that would normally fall into a
different conversational domain.
- It enriches the situation, brings with it the flavour of
a different situation.
(e.g. the use of a formal or poetic expression in
conversation between friends).
* Interlocutors may switch from a high variety to a low prestige
variety depending on the topic being discussed.
 Distinguishing Code-Switching:
- Borrowing affects the lexicon (the words that make up a
language).
- Code-switching takes place in individual utterances.
- Speakers who do not share a common language, form and
establish a pidgin as an intermediate third language in
order to communicate.
- Speakers practice code-switching when they are fluent in
both languages.
 Code-Switching Factors:
- A particular topic.
- Quoting someone.
- Clarification.
- Lexical need: To make up for the lexical gaps in varieties.
- To help maintain a smooth speech flow.
  Code-Switching Types:
- Intersentential Switching: occurs outside the sentence or
clause; expressing one sentence in one variety, and the
next in another. Mchit nl 9ahwa lyoma, it was awesome!
- Intrasentential Switching: occurs within the sentence or
clause; the speaker switches varieties within a single
sentence. Mchit to the café lyoma, it was wa3ra!
 Borrowing Vocabulary:
*Borrowing occurs when a vocabulary item from one language
enters the vocabulary of another.
Eg- in English, Garage is from French. And in French ‘le Weekend’
is from English.
*A borrowed word is also known as a loanword.
*The language that receives the borrowed item is the host
language.
*The language that provides the borrowed item is the source
language.
**One language may possess words for which there are no
equivalents in the other language. **
 Loanwords in English
- English has borrowed for: - Types of houses (Teepee, Igloo…)
- Cultural institutions (opera, Ballet…)
- Political Concepts (glasnost…)
 One culture borrows from the language of another culture
words or phrases to express technological, social or cultural
innovations. Examples:
-Whiskey from Scottish -Yoghurt from Turkish
-Ukulele from Hawaiian - Mayonnaise from French
F. Language and Culture
 Anthropologists consider language as a part of culture.
 Language and culture are both at the core of all human
society.
- Language as the most important symbolic aspect of culture
 Language is a symbolic system through which people
communicate and through which they transmit culture.
 We define language as a system of communication using
sounds and/or gestures, which are put together according
to certain rules, resulting in meanings that are intelligible to
all the speakers who share that language.
 Language symbols allow people to develop complex
thoughts, exchange those thought with others, and express
feeling and ideas.
-Cultural aspects reflected in language
 Proverbs and sayings of one language are symbolic aspects
of culture, they demonstrate, shape and determine this or
that cultural identity.
 Eg – American Culture: “Time is Money”
“Lost time is never found”
- Japanese Culture: “The more haste - the less speed.”
“When in a hurry, take the roundabout route”
-Language as a tool of subjugation and assimilation
 Languages and variations within languages play both a
unifying and diversifying role in human society as a whole.
 Language is a part of culture, but culture is a complex of
totality containing many cultural features.
 Colonizing nations usually imposed their language onto the
people they colonized.
  By controlling the language that people used, the
transmission on culture through it becomes restricted too.
-Cultural thought Pattern
 In order to communicate effectively across cultures, you
need to understand the cultural thought patterns behind
the language of communication.
 A thought-pattern expresses the interaction of a number of
concepts. It represents our way of thinking.
 As a thought-pattern, our language shapes our way of
thinking in more ways than we could ever express.
-Language as a collector of culture
 The knowledge and beliefs that constitute one’s culture are
habitually encoded and transmitted in language.
 Language is an endlessly creative vehicle for self-expression
 It makes the individual speaker form an identity, belonging
to a group, to maintain boundaries between groups.
 The wisdom of nations, their customs and ways of life
collect and preserve culture.
 The idiom is an expression that has a figurative meaning
that is separated from its literal meaning. It acquires a
specific meaning within the culture of a given society.
It is a piece of cake (meaning: It is easy) • It is raining cats and dogs (meaning: it is
raining hard)) • The elephant in the room (meaning: The big issue

-What is lost when a language goes extinct?

 Language and culture are intertwined, and so when one dies the
other suffers.
 Children lose the connection to their cultural roots;
 This leads to them not possessing a sense of cultural identity, as
they instead identify with the larger hegemonic culture.
 The words that are passed down through generations are lost.
 These traditions pass into the past only to be replaced by the
traditions of the dominant culture at large