语言学备课第八章

CHAPTER8SOCIO-LINGUISTICS,Sociolinguisticsisthesubdisciplineoflinguisticsthatstudieslanguageinsocialcontexts.Inviewoflanguageasaprimarymeansofcommunicationamongindividualspeakersofasociety,sociolinguistsareconcernedwiththesocialsignificanceoflanguagevariationandlanguageuseindifferentspeechcommunitiesincludingregional,ethnicandsocialgroups.Sociolinguistsarealsoconcernedwiththeimpactofextralinguisticfactors,onlanguageuse,suchasage,gender,profession,andsocialstatus.Inthischapter,wefirstintroducesomegeneralconceptsregardinglanguagevariationandthesituationaluseoflanguage.Next,weexaminelanguagevariationintermsofvariedsocialfunctionsaregionaldialectmayperforminbroadsocialcontexts,includingthepopularcommonspeechrole,suchasthatofstandardlanguageorlinguafranca,andthe,morelimitedbusinesscontactrole,suchasthatofpidginanditsnativizedcreole.Wealsoexaminesociolinguisticsituationsinwhichspeakersofacommunityhavetoswitchbetweentwodifferentlanguagesystems,aphenomenonknownasdiglossiaorbilingualism.We,then,probeintothecaseofethnicdialects,focusingononeparticularethnicvarietyofEnglishknownasBlackEnglish.Lastbutnottheleast,we,presentanextensivediscussionoftilerealityoflanguageuseamongdifferentsocialgroupsinavarietyof.socialcontexts.1.LanguagevariationLanguageasameansofsocialcommunicationisneverahomoge-neoussystemwithahomogeneousgroupofspeakers.,Languageusevariesfromonespeechcommunitytoanother,fromoneregionalgrouptoanother,fromonesocialgrouptoanother,andevenfromoneindividualtoanother.Thegoalofsociolinguisticsis,thus,toexplorethenatureoflanguagevariationandlanguageuseamongavarietyofspeechcommunitiesandindifferentsocialsituations.,(1)SpeechcommunityInsociolinguisticstudies,speakersaretreatedasmembersofsocialgroups.ThesocialgroupisolatedforanygivenstudyiscalledthespeechcommunityAspeechcommunityisthusdefinedasagroupofpeoplewhoformacommunity(whichmayhaveasfewmembersasafamilyorasmanymemberasacountry),andsharethesamelanguageoraparticularvariety,oflanguage.Theimportantcharacteristicofaspeechcommunityisthatthemembersofthegroupmust,insomereasonableway,interactlinguisticallywithothermembersofthecommunity.Theymaysharecloselyrelatedlanguagevarieties,aswellasattitudestowardlinguisticnorms.,Manydifferencesexistinspeechcommunitiesandthesedifferencescorrelatewiththeexistenceofsocialgroupswithinthecommunity.Languagecanvarygreatlyfromonesocialgrouptothenext.Socialgroupsmaybedefinedinanumberofwaysbesidesregionally.Asocialgroupmaydistinguishitselffromtherestofthecommunitybyitsdistinctethnicaffiliation.,Individualsofoneagegroupmaydistinguishthemselvesfromotheragegroupsasmuchbytheircharacteristicusesofvocabularyasbynonlinguisticbehaviorsuchasdressingandentertainment.Femaleandmalepopulationsmayexhibittheirlinguisticbehaviorthatwouldbeidentifiedascharacteristicallybelongingtotheirowngenderworld.,(2)SpeechvarietySpeechvariety,alsoknownaslanguagevariety,referstoanydistinguishableformofspeechusedbyaspeakerorgroupofspeakers.Thedistinctivecharacteristicsofaspeechvarietymaybelexical,phonological,morphological,syntactic,oracombinationoflinguisticfeatures.Consideredamoreneutralterm,speechvarietyissometimesusedinsteadofstandardlanguage,vernacularlanguage,dialect,pidgin,creole,etc.,Speechvariationmovesonascaleofthenationallanguage,dialects,andindividualwaysofcommunication.Fromthesociolinguisticperspective,aspeechvarietyisnomorethanadialectalvarietyofalanguage.Althoughdialectsareoftensaidtoberegionalandsocial,linguistsalsousethetermdialecttorefertolanguagevariationsthatcannotbetiedtoanygeographicalarea,socialclass,orethnicgroup.,Rather,thisuseofdialectsimplyindicatesthatindividualspeakermayshowsomeidiosyncraticvariationsinthewaytheyspeak,orwrite,thelanguage.Thestudyofanindividualsspeechformcapturesthefactthateachspeakerofanationaloflocallanguagevarietyisuniqueintheirownwayofcommunicating.,(3)RegionalvariationRegionalvariationisspeechvariationaccordingtotheparticularareawhereaspeakercomesfrom.Regionalvariationoflanguageisthemostdiscernible(clear)anddefinable.Whenallsocialgroupsinasinglegeographicalarea,suchasacountry,province,town,speakoneparticulardialectalvarietyofalanguagethatsharesthesamelinguistictraitsandisdistinguishablefromanyother,linguisticsystemofadifferentgeographicallocation,thatspeechvarietyisaninstanceofregionalvariation.Althoughgeographicalbarriersarethemajorsourceofregionalvariationoflanguage,loyaltytoonesnativespeechandphysicalandpsychologicalresistancetochangeareamongotherreasonsofsuchvariation.,Althoughvariationmayoccurwithrespecttopronunciation,vocabulary,orsyntax,particularlytopronunciation,themostdistinguishablelinguisticfeatureofaregionaldialectisitsaccent.Accentreferstoawayofpronunciationwhichtellsthelistenersomethingaboutthespeakersregionalorracialbackground.Itistobedistinguishedfromthetermdialectwhichdescribesthecombinationalfeaturesofgrammar,vocabulary,andpronunciation.,Forexample,thesentenceYoudontknowwhatyouretalkingaboutmaybeutteredbyaNewYorkerwithadistinctNewYorkaccent,orspokenbyaScotwithanunmistakablyAustralianaccent，andwhenspokeninadialectofScottishEnglish,thissamesentencetakesthewrittenformofsomethingclosetothesequenceofYedinnaekenwhityerhaverinabout.,Althoughregionalvariationisaccountedforintermsofthedistinctionbetweenaccentsanddialects,sociolinguistsareconcernedwiththesocialsignificanceofthiskindoflanguagevariation.(4)SocialvariationWhileanindividualfromaparticulargeographicalareaspeakswithanaccent,thatpersonsspeechmayalsocontainanumberoffeatureswhicharenotrelatedinanywaytoregionalvariation.,Twopeoplewhowerebornandbroughtupinthesametownandspeakthesameregionaldialectmayspeakdifferentlybecauseofanumberofsocialfactors.Thisisespeciallythecasewhentheyaremembersofdifferentsocialgroups.Peoplessociolectsaredefinedbylinguisticdifferencesassociatedwithrespectivedefinablesocialgroupsevenwithinthesamegeographicallocation.,Socialvariationgivesrisetosociolectswhicharesub-divisibleintosmallerspeechcategorieswhichreflecttheirsocioeconomic,educational,occupationalandethnicbackground,aswellastheirsexandage.(5)StylisticvariationStylisticvariationinapersonsspeech,orwriting,usuallyrangesonacontinuumfromcasualorcolloquialtoformalorpoliteaccordingtothetypeofcommunicativesituation.,Stylecanalsorefertoaparticularpersonsuseofspeechorwritingatalltimes,ortoawayofspeakingorwritingataparticularperiodoftime,e.g.,Dickensstyle,Hemingwaysstyle.Aparticularregistermaybeusedbyaparticulargroupofpeople,usuallysharingthesameoccupationlikedoctors,teachers,andlawyers,orthesameinterests,suchasstampcollectors,footballfans.,Aparticularregisteroftendistinguishesitselffromotherregistersbyhavinganumberofdistinctivewords,byusingwordsorphrasesinaparticularway,andsometimesbyspecialgrammaticalconstructions,suchasscientificlanguage,orlegallanguage.,(6)Idiolectalvariation个人言语变异Idiolectis,thusapersonaldialectofanindividualspeakerthatcombinesaspectsofalltheelementsregardingregional,social,andstylisticvariation,inoneformoranother.Inanarrowersense,whatmakesuponesidiolectincludesalsosuchfactorsasvoicequality,pitchandspeechrhythm,whichallcontributetotheidentifyingfeaturesinanindividualsspeech.,Weareabletorecognizedifferentindividualsbytheirdistinctspeechpatterns,whichconstitutesomeofthemostfundamentalfeaturesofanindividualsself-identity.Everyspeakerofalanguageis,inastrictersense,aspeakerofadistinctidiolect;whatmakesanindividualuniqueis,amongotherthings,ishisorheruniqueidiolect.,2.StandardandnonstandardlanguageDialects,whetherregionalornational,servethepurposeofcommunicationamongspeakersofthesamedialectusuallylivinginageographicallydefinablearea.Aregionaldialect,asthetermsuggests,isusuallyspokenbyagroupofpeoplelivinginthesameregion.Aregionaldialectassuchmaygainstatusandbecomestandardized,asthenationalorofficiallanguageofacountry,andspokenbymost,ifnotall,ofitscitizens.Throughcross-culturalcommunication,aregionaldialectmaybeusedasthecommontongueknownaslinguafranca,between,oramong,groupsofpeoplespeakingdifferentdialectsorlanguages,ordevelopintoacontactlanguageknownaspidgin,spokenbythepeopleofanotherregion.,Apidginizeddialectmayexpandandeventuallybecomethenativelanguageofacertainpopulationknownascreole.(1)StandardandnonstandardlanguageThestandardlanguageisasuperposed,sociallyprestigiousdialectoflanguage.Itisthelanguageemployedbythegovernmentandthejudiciarysystem,usedbythemassmedia,andtaughtineducationalinstitutions,includingschoolsettingswherethelanguageistaughtasaforeignorsecondlanguage.,Forexample,intheUnitedStates,StandardAmericanEnglish(SAE)isaformofthelanguageusedinnewsprogramsinthenationalmedia.Forthatreason,SAEisoftenreferredtoasNetworkEnglish.InChina,thecentralgovernmentstipulates普通话asthestandardcommonspeechinthecommunicationmediaandschools,andencouragesitspopularizationacrossthecountry.Inmostcountries,thestandardlanguageservesasayardstickagainstwhichallothervarietiesaremeasured.,Languagevarietiesotherthanthestandardarecallednonstandard,orvernacularlanguages.Somepeopleholdtheviewthatnonstandardlanguagesaresubstandard,atermthatisrejectedbylinguistsbecauseitsuggestssomeinherentinferiorityofthesevarieties.Theviewthatthestandardvarietyoflanguageistherightformoflanguageisbynomeansjustifiable.,Itisnomorejustifiabletosaythatonevarietyofalanguageisbetterthananyotherthantosaythatoneskincolorsuggestsabetterracethananyotherskincolor.Thedesignationofthestandardlanguagevarietyismotivatedbyhistoricalandsocio-politicalreasonsandhasnothingtodowithanysupposedlinguisticsuperiorityintrinsictothegrammaticalcomponentsofthatparticularlanguagevariety.,Itisabiasedattitudetoregardthestandardvarietyofalanguageas“correct”,“logical”,and“pure”;itisasocialattitudethatreflectsasociopoliticaljudgmentratherthanalinguisticjudgment,toconsiderthatonedialectismoreexpressivethananother.Inviewoflanguageasaneffectivemeansofcommunication,nosingledialectofalanguage,beitstandardornonstandard,isanymorecorrect,anymorelogical,oranypurer,thananyotherdialectofthelanguage.Alldialectsofalanguageareequallyeffectiveinexpressingideas.Ofcourse,astheuseoflanguagehassocialconsequences,afluentspeakerofthesociallymoreprestigiousstandardnationallanguageisacceptedmoreeasilybytheadministrativeandeducatedcommunitiesofthesociety.Thestandardlanguageofmanycountries,asineachoftheabovecases,isalsodesignatedasthenationalorofficiallanguage.,Butwithsomeothercountries,thestandardlanguageandthenationalorofficiallanguagedonotalwayscoincide.Usually,alanguagevarietygetsstandardizedonlywhenitfunctionsasthenationalandculturalidentityofitsspeakers,orusedbythegovernmentasanofficialtongueforpoliticalandculturalpurposes.However,overtheyearsofvigoroussocialchanges,thestandardized,languageofacountrymayceasetofunctionasanationalorofficiallanguageasitoncedid.Ontheotherhand,aparticulardialectmaybeusedasthestandardandofficiallanguageofacountry,butnotnecessarilyberegardedasthenationallanguageofitscitizens.Thishappenswhenaparticularlanguagevarietyfailstoserveasthenationalandculturalsymbolofacountryinwhichthe,majorityofitspopulationarepeoplewithavarietyofdistinctethnicandlinguisticbackgrounds.(2)Linguafrancasa.Alinguafrancaisavarietyoflanguagethatservesasamediumofcommunicationamonggroupsofpeoplefordiverselinguisticbackgrounds.Forthisreason,alinguafrancamustbeanagree-uponcommontongueusedbypeoplethrowninsocialcontactforvarious,purposes.Thetermlinguafrancaderivesfromahybrid(mixed)language,consistingofItalianmixedwithFrench,Spanish,Greek,Arabic,andTurkish,usedespeciallybytradersintheeasternMediterraneanportsinmedievaltimes.ThislanguagewascalledLinguaFranca.b.Alinguafrancamay,butdoesnotneedto,beanativelanguagecurrentlyspokenbyaparticularpeople.,Whenearlyexplorersortraderswentoutintoanewland,animminentsituationthatconfrontedthemwastheneedtocommunicatewiththenativesofahostcountry,aswellaswithexplorersandtradersfromothercountries.c.Thetermlingualfrancacanbegeneralizedtorefertoanyotherlanguageusedasatradeorcommunicationmedium.Thus,anylanguagecanbealinguafranca.,Forexample,foralongperioduntilabouttheeighteenthcentury,EuropeanscholarsusedLatinasalinguafrancafortreatisesonscienceandotherscholarlysubjects.ArabicwasoncethelinguafrancaofthewholeareaextendingfromCentralAsiatoSpainandPortugalinclusive.Frenchwasoncethelinguafrancaofdiplomacy.ThespokenlanguageofmodernChina普通话,knownasthecommonspeechthatembodiesthepronunciationoftheBeijingdialect,thegrammarofNorthernChinesedialects,andthevocabularyofmoderncolloquialChinese,servesasaneffectivelinguafrancaamongspeakersof56differentnationalities,evenamongspeakersofdifferentdialectsoftheChineselanguage,whosenativedialects,suchasWu,Cantonese(广东话)andNortherndialects,maybeasmutuallyunintelligibleasdifferentlanguages.,d.Alinguafrancamaybeusedinternationallyacrosstheworld.Englishissuchaninternationallinguafranca,usedinnumeroussocialandpoliticalsituationswhereacommonlanguageisaskedfor.Forexample,Englishhasbecomealinguafrancaforinternationalscientificjournalsandinternationalscientificmeetings,acommonmeansofcommunicationbywhichscientificresultsarepresented.,Thus,atamultinationalorinternationalconference,Englishfunctionsasthelinguafrancausedforpresentingscholarlypapers.(3)Pidginsa.Apidginisavarietyoflanguagethatisgenerallyusedbynativespeakersofotherlanguagesasamediumofcommunication.apidginisusedforsomepracticalpurposes,suchastrading,bygroupsofpeoplewhodonotknoweachotherslanguages.,Differentfromalinguafranca,whichmayhavenativespeakerssuchasEnglish,apidginisnotanativelanguageofaparticularregion,butsimplyamarginallanguageusedbypeoplewhoseculturesaresharplyseparatedandwhosebusinesscontactisveryspecialized.Manysuchmarginallanguagesappearedinhistory,whichdevelopedinto,orinfluencedthedevelopmentofotherlanguages.TheoriginalLingua,FrancaisbelievedtobeanItalian-basedpidginusedinMediterraneanports.Malay,thelanguageofIndonesiaandMalaysia,hasbeenhighlyinfluencedbyaDutch-basedpidgin.SomelinguistshaveevensuggestedthatProto-Germanic,ofwhichEnglishisadescendent,wasoriginallyapidgin,arguingthatordinarylinguisticchangecannotaccountforcertainstrikingdifferencesbetweentheGermanictonguesandotherIndo-Europeanlanguages.,b.Mostofthehistoricalpidginshavebecomeextinct.Forexample,apidginspokenonNewZealandbytheMaoriswasreplacedbystandardEnglishastheresultofmassiveeducation.WiththefoundingofthePeoplesRepublicofChins,ChinesePidginEnglishalsodiedoutastheBritishcolonialinfluencelostitsgripinMainlandChina.,c.Althoughmanypidginshavebeeneradicated(putanendtosth.),somepidginlanguagesstillserveasaneffectivemeansofcommunicationincertainareasoftheworld.Theexactnumberofpidginspeakersworldwideisunknown,somewherebetween6and12million.TherehaveexistedaboutsixtyvarietiesofEnglish-basedpidgins,andsomearestillusedtoday.,c.Althoughmanypidginshavebeeneradicated(putanendtosth.),somepidginlanguagesstillserveasaneffectivemeansofcommunicationincertainareasoftheworld.Theexactnumberofpidginspeakersworldwideisunknown,somewherebetween6and12million.TherehaveexistedaboutsixtyvarietiesofEnglish-basedpidgins,andsomearestillusedtoday.,Forexample,TokPisinisaveryactiveandwidelyusedpidginEnglishinPapua,NewGuinea.Ithasitsownwritingsystem,itsownliterature,anditsownnewspapersandradioprograms.ThispidginlanguagehasevenbeenusedtoaddressaUnitedNationsmeeting.d.Asacontactlanguage,apidginmaycontainsignificantgrammaticalfeaturesoftwoormorelanguages.Basedonlinguisticfeaturesoftwoor,moreotherlanguages,apidginusuallyreflectstheinfluenceofthehigher,ordominant,languageinitslexiconandthatoftilelowerlanguageintheirphonologyandoccasionallysyntax.Asasimplifiedlanguage,apidginhasreducedvocabularies,originatingmostoftenfromthehigherdominantlanguage.Thegrammaticalfeaturessuchascase,tense,moodandvoicearegenerallyabsentinpidgins.Apidgintypicallylacks,inflectionalmorphemes,suchasnounswithnoendingstoindicateplurality,andverbswithnoendingstoindicatetenseorsubjectagreement.Inaddition,formsofthecopulaverbtobeareoftenentirelylackinginpidgins,andprepositionsareoftenlimitedtoasmallsetthatservesmultiplefunctions.,Althoughpidginsaresimplifiedlanguageswithreducedgrammaticalfeatures,theyarerule-governed,likeanyhumanlanguage.Forexample,inTokPisin,verbsthattakeadirectobjectmusthavethesuffix-m,evenifthedirectobjectisabsentatthelevelofsurface-structure.Pidginshavestrictrulesfordeterminingwordorderstocompensateforthelackofcaseendingsonnouns.,English-basedpidginsarecharacterizedbyanabsenceofanycomplexgrammaticalmorphologyandalimitedvocabulary.Functionalmorphemesoftentaketheplaceofinflectionalmorphemesfoundinthesourcelanguage.Forexample,insteadofchangingtheformofyoutoyourasinyourbook,Englishpidginsuseaformlikebilong,andchangethewordordertoproducephraseslikebukbilongyu.,(4)Creolesa.Acreolelanguageisoriginallyapidginthathasbecomeestablishedasanativelanguageinsomespeechcommunity.Thatis,whenapidgincomestobeadoptedbyapopulationasitsprimarylanguage,andchildrenlearnitastheirfirstlanguage,thenthepidginlanguageiscalledacreole.ThetermcreoleoriginatedasalabelforpeopleofSpanishorPortuguesedescentbornandbroughtupinSouthAmerica.,Later,itreferredtopersonsofmixedraceorblackslaves.Stilllater,itcametobealabelforthemixtureofFrenchandotherlanguagesspokenbythepopulationinthecolonialHaiti.ThismixedlanguagebecamethefirstlanguageoftheHaitianpopulation.Todaylinguistsusethetermcreolenotforoneparticularlanguage,butasagenericlabelforanypreviouslypidginizedlanguagethatbecameafirstlanguage.,NotableexamplesareEnglish-basedcreolesspokeninJamaicaandSierraLeone,andFrench-basedcreolesspokeninHaitiandLouisiana.b.Withmorelexicalitemsandabroaderarrayofgrammaticaldistinctionsthanpidgins,creolesarefullydevelopedlanguages,ascompleteineverywayasotherlanguages.Whenapidginbecomescreolizedanddevelopsbeyonditsroleasatradelanguage,itundergoesconsiderableexpansionofitsvocabularyandgrammarandbeginstoacquirerulescomparableinnatureandcomplexitywiththerulesofanyotherhumannaturallanguage.AlthoughbothpidginsandCreolesoriginateashighlyrestrictedvernacularsofaparticularkind,Creolescanincertaincircumstancesachievethestatusofstandards.Forexample,MelanesianPidginisnowanofficial,standardlanguageinNewGuinea.,3.DiglossiaandbilingualisimAlthoughmostpeoplelivinginthesameareaconsistentlyspeakonlyoneregionalornationaldialect,itisn