Sociolinguistic

1.      What is Sociolinguistic?

Sociolinguistics is combined by two words, society and language. So, it is the branch of both linguistics and sociology. This field is concers in how language use ineract by social factor. Sociolinguistic including differences of regional, class, dialect, gender, ethnicity, age,  and bilingualism

2.       Why do we learn Sociolingustic?

SOCIOLINGUISTICS as you know is that branch of linguistics dealing with the influence of the society on language and vice-versa. Under this branch we deal with the problems faced in learning a language or, to say how a language is acquired and also how a language is modified according to different social circumstances. Through this we also come into contact with the traditional value of a language, which otherwise would have remained unknown to us. So, Sociolinguistics is an integral part in the study of language in common, and in the study of the impact of society over language. So, it is really important in the sphere of the study of language. Language is the communication of thoughts and feelings through a system of subjective signals, such as voice sounds, gestures , or written symbols which is used by a nation, people, or other distinct  community. On the other hand Society is a group of people related to each other through persistent relations, or a large social grouping sharing the same geographical or vital territory, subject to the same political authority and dominant cultural expectations. Sociolinguistics is an integral part in the study of language in common, and in the study of the impact of society over languag. So, it is really important in the sphere of the study of language.so sociolinguistics is the  field of study having to do with the interaction of language and society—how all aspects of society have an effect on language, and how language has an effect on society.

3.        What is the relation between language, and society?

The connection between language and society is tightly anchored. The relationship of the two is deeply rooted. Language performs various functions in the society and the society does the same way. If one will not exist, the other one will be affected.

Language is the primary tool for communication purposes, for establishing peace and order in our society, for showing authority and power, and for attaining goals and objectives. But, it can also destruct the society if it will use inappropriately. It must follow the conformity governing the society to avoid conflict s and to meet the boundary of individual differences.

Society however controls our language by giving us preferences as what are acceptable and not, because each one of us has our own perception or point of view. A group of people may accept our language, but for others, it could be kind of offence or insult. We must know how, when and where to say it and for what purpose.

Social changes produce changes in language. This affects values in ways that have not been accurately understood. Language incorporates social values. However, social values are only the same as linguistic values when the society is a stable and unchanging one. Once society starts changing, then language change produces special effects.

4.      Please Mention and Explain the branches of linguistic?

a.        General linguistic generally describes the concepts and categories of a particular language or among all language. It also provides analyzed theory of the language. Descriptive linguistic describes or gives the data to confirm or refute the theory of particular language explained generally.

b.      Micro linguistic is narrower view. It is concerned internal view of language itself (structure of language systems) without related to other sciences and without related how to apply it in daily life. Some fields of micro linguistic:

                                                                       i.      Phonetics, the study of the physical properties of sounds of human         

                                               language

                                                                     ii.      Phonology, the study of sounds as discrete, abstract elements in the 

                                               speaker's mind that distinguish meaning

                                                                   iii.      Morphology, the study of internal structures of words and how they can 

                                               be modified

                                                                   iv.      Syntax, the study of how words combine to form grammatical sentences

                                                                     v.      Semantics, the study of the meaning of words (lexical semantics) and 

                                               fixed word combinations (phraseology), and how these combine to                 form the meanings of sentences

                                                                   vi.      Pragmatics, the study of how utterances are used (literally, figuratively,         or otherwise) in communicative acts

                                                                 vii.      Discourse analysis, the analysis of language use in texts (spoken,                   written, or signed)

                                                               viii.      Applied linguistic is the branch of linguistic that is most concerned with         application of the concepts in everyday life, including language-                     teaching.

c.    Macro linguistic is broadest view of language. It is concerned external view of language itself with related to other sciences and how to apply it in daily life. Some fields of micro linguistic:

                                                                                i.          Developmental linguistics, the study of the development of                               linguistic ability in an individual, particularly the acquisition 

                                                       olanguage in  childhood.

                                                                                 ii.          Historical linguistics or Diachronic linguistics, the study of 

                                                         language change.

                                                                                 iii.          Language geography, the study of the spatial patterns of                                    languages.

                                                                                  iv.          Evolutionary linguistics, the study of the origin and subsequent                        development of language.

                                                                                    v.          Psycholinguistics, the study of the cognitive processes and                                representations underlying language use.

                                                                                    vi.          Sociolinguistics, the study of social patterns and norms of                                 linguistic variability.

                                                                                   vii.          Clinical linguistics, the application of linguistic theory to the                            area of Speech-Language Pathology.

                                                                                      viii.         Neurolinguistics, the study of the brain networks that underlie                          grammar and communication.

                         ix.   Sosiolinguistics, the study of natural as well as human-taught                                        communication systems in animals compared to human                                                 language.

5.      What is standard language? Giving an example!

 According to a popular saying amongst linguists, a standard language is a dialect with an army. It is rarely the case that brutal force has been used to impose a standard language, although linguistic issues can arouse passion and occasionally violence. More often, however, the imposition of a standard language happens through more subtle means. Economic circumstances seem to play a very important. role in this. People regularly choose to adopt a standard (or even an entirely different) language because they see benefits. By using a standard language rather than a local variety, for example, you will invariable reach a much wider audience.

The variety of language which has the highest status in a community or nation and which is usually based on the speech and writing of educated native speakers of the language.

6.      Elaborating the language, dialect and accent, please!

Dialects, on the other hand, have differences not only in pronunciation but also in grammar and syntax. Two people may both speak English but one might say:

He did well!

Whilst the other could say:

He done well!

Here this isn’t just a difference in pronunciation but also grammar; these are two different dialects. On another tack, one person might say:

He’s talking.

Whilst another says:

He’s a-mardlin’.

Accent is all about pronunciation. Two people may use the same grammar, the same syntax and the same vocabulary but pronounce the words in a different way. Effectively they have two accents.

So linguistically speaking there is no real difference between a language and a dialect; however politically speaking the differences become of major importance!

For example, people in the north of England tend to say the word path as:

pæːθ

with a short vowel whilst people in the south of England tend to say:

pɑːθ

with a long vowel. There are two different accents at work here.

Language, There is a saying that a language is a dialect with an army. Linguists often talk about language in terms of political influence and power. By this they mean that a dialect with political power becomes a language.

Take, for example, Chinese and Spanish. They are two very different languages and most people would regard them as completely separate.

However, what about Spanish and Italian? They share a great deal and are obviously related however, most people would see them as separate languages.

What about Mandarin and Cantonese which are very different (far more different than Spanish and Italian for example) and yet some people regard them as dialects of Chinese.

Finally think about Hindi and Urdu which are regarded as separate languages since they “belong” to two different nations, India and Pakistan, and yet they’re linguistically extremely similar.

7.      Giving an example of formal language and informal language!

She has decided to accept the job.	formal
She’s decided to accept the job.	informal: She’s = contraction
The girl whom I met in Singapore was interested in working in Australia.	formal
The girl I met in Singapore was interested in working in Australia.	informal: relative clause without the relative pronoun whom

8.      What aspects of language are sociolinguistic interested in?

Sociolinguists are interested in explaining why people speak differently in different social contexts. They are concerned with the way people signal aspects of their social identity through language. Sociolinguists study the effect of social factors -- such as social distance, social status, age, gender and class -- on language varieties (dialects, registers, genres, etc). Sociolinguists are also concerned with identifying the social functions of language and the ways it is used to convey social meaning.

9.  When two or more people from different language met and tried to communicate, what should they do?

a.        Pidgin

b.        Creole

c.         Lingua Franca

6.      Why do people switch and mix a language?

        a.       Sometimes the other language has a better word or phrase to express a                  particular idea.

            I talk about this reason in particular in the post I mentioned above. I do this a lot with adjectives, for example, and it really has nothing to do with not knowing the equivalent in either language. It’s rather a matter of using the better word to describe what I am trying to say.

b.      Sometimes the words we code-switch are the only ones we have or they are more readily available in the other language.

          This is not to say that we don’t necessarily know the correct word in the language we’re using. This has more to do with something extremely interesting Prof. Grosjean calls the “complementary principle” which basically has to do with the notion that for bilinguals different aspects of life, such as work, family, school, sports, hobbies, etc., require different languages. For example, I spent a large part of my career as a television producer and although I worked for Univision for many years surrounded with bilinguals (with different levels of proficiency), we would always switch to English whenever we were talking about technical terminology related to, say, editing video. It just made more sense to do so since in the case of editing video, for instance, the software was in English.

c.       Sometimes we code-switch as a communicative tool, including to exclude someone or to show expertise.

           If you’re bilingual, you’ve surely done this: switched to the minority language so that those around you can’t understand. Sometimes it might be to say something specifically about those you’re excluding; sometimes you just don’t want others to listen to what you’re saying. If you’re bilingual, you’ve surely been embarrassed when you found out the person you were trying to exclude actually spoke the minority language, too!

11.  Islamic, Living an example of code switching and code mixing!

Examples of code-switching Bautista (1998a)

        a.   Thanks for all the kwentos. „Thanks for all the stories.‟ (English plural                         inflection  in a Tagalog word).

       b.      Mike and I are so depressed by the turn of events, sana naman magkaturn-                  around. Mike and I are so depressed by the turn of events; hopefully there will            be        a turn-around.‟ (Tagalog affixation in an English word).

Examples Code mixing

        ·         Why make Carol sentarse atras

        ·         pa'que everybody sit at the back so that has to move

       ·         pa'que se salga so that [she] may get out (Spanish / English; Poplack 1980:                 589).