教程教案文体学-9varieties according to region and social group

1、2022/9/41 Presented by Luo ZhaohuiVarieties of Contemporary English (I) 2022/9/42Major contents of this sectionRegional dialects and social dialectsStandard and Non-standard EnglishStandard American and British EnglishThe use of non-standard English2022/9/43 Variety According to Region and Social Gr

2、oupIn sociolinguistics, language variety is a general term for any distinctive form of a language or linguistic expression.Linguists commonly use language variety (or simply variety) as a cover term for any of the overlapping subcategories of a language, including dialect, idiolect (a variety of lan

3、guage unique to one individual person), register, and social dialect.2022/9/44General introduction: Some major types of verities (Fig.5, P.118) and their interrelationship (p. 119) Dialect vs. Register Dialect a variety determined by regional and social background and adopted as a speakers permanent

4、 form. Register a variety determined by what he/she is doing in a social activity and adopted to suit a specific occasion. (e.g.: classroom English, teacher talk, etc.)2022/9/45Regional Dialects and Social DialectsA regional dialect is a variety habitually adopted by people in a certain region.A soc

5、ial dialect refers to the language variation determined by its speakers social background, such as education, socioeconomic status, ethnic origin, and even age and gender (sex), etc. It is a variety of speech associated with a particular social class or occupational group within a society. Also know

6、n as sociolect.2022/9/46Some general observations concerning social dialects: (pp.122-123)1. regional dialect & uneducated speech ; standard English & educated English A class-conscious opinionregional features usually appear in speech by those who have little schooling and come from lower classes.2

7、022/9/47The higher the education, the stronger the tendency to use forms learned from books, e.g. polysyllabic Latinate words.(文绉绉，咬文嚼字, 之乎者也)2.There is a tendency to use jargon related to ones profession or hobbies(三句不离本行).3.Gender difference in the use of language 2022/9/48Women: more status-consc

8、ious; more prestigious forms; higher proportion of intensifier (very, absolutely, so, extremely, awfully, ), euphemisms, and diminutives (表示“小”的后缀或加表示“小”的后缀构词的词；昵称，爱称，e.g. kitchenette)Men: more likely to use non-standard variants, which are usually associated with values of masculinity and toughness

9、. Research work after class on “gender and language” is suggested if you are interested in the topic concerned.2022/9/494. Age and language Gap between age groups of young and old; Young: fashionable words, fresh slang expressions or coined words, new net words (examples ?)Old: more words not in cur

10、rent use5. It is difficult to separate regional from social dialect: everyone speaks both a regional and a social dialect. A persons speech style often manifests an interaction of features of several dialects.2022/9/410Standard and Non-standard EnglishStandard English refers to the particular social

11、ly-favored variety which is based on the speech and writing of educated users of the language, with a widely accepted and codified grammar and vocabulary. It is primarily used for public communication, in books and newspapers, official documents and news broadcasts; taught in schools to non-native s

12、peakers of the language.Cf. definition of Standard Chinese (Mandarin)2022/9/411 普通话 （Mandarin/standard modern Chinese） ：即现代标准汉语“以北京语音为标准音，以北方话为基础方言，以典范的现代白话文著作为语法规范，是通用于中国大陆、港澳台和海外华人间的共同语言，并作为官方、教学、媒体等标准语。”普通话是中华人民共和国的官方语言，是新加坡四种官方语言之一，也是联合国六种官方工作语言之一。中华人民共和国宪法第19条规定：“国家推广全国通用普通话”。中华人民共和国国家通用语言文字法确立

13、了普通话作为“国家通用语言”的法定地位。2022/9/412Standard English can be spoken with an accent from any region. (Cf. Standard Mandarin/ Putonghua and Putonghua with any regional accent, etc.) Received Pronunciation (RP) in British English non-regional accent, originated in the East Midland of England. It has greater p

14、restige. Estuary Englishthe forms of English widely spoken in and around London, in the southeast of England, along the river Thames and its estuary.2022/9/413Non-standard Englishthe dialectal English that differs from standard English in grammar and vocabulary.Though linguistic studies have shown t

15、hat all dialects are equally good as linguistic systems and they are all structured, rule-governed and serve the needs of communications, standard English has higher status and enjoys more prestige than any other English dialect, esp. in Britain, where speech has been traditionally used as a measure

16、 of social standing. E.g.: “Dialect words are those terrible marks of the beast to the truly genteel.” (by Thomas Hardy; “beast” here means something that is difficult or unpleasant to deal with.)2022/9/414Differences between Standard American and British EnglishA Video clip: Experiencing the differ

17、ence between BrE and AmE.Differences in pronunciation, spelling, grammar and vocabulary (pp.125-130)More examples:2022/9/415More examples of grammatical difference:Am.EBr.Eburned burntsmelledsmeltdreameddreamtkneeledkneltregularizedirregular2022/9/416More examples in vocabulary differenceAm.EBr.Epur

18、sehandbagcandysweetscornmaizebasementcellarfaucettaprailroadrailwaysidewalkpavementpublic schoolcouncil schoolbartenderbarmansales-girlshop-girlvestwaistcoatflashlighttorch2022/9/417P. 140: Read Extracts A & B and judge whether they belong to AmE or BrE.Supplementary : Canadian English, Australian E

19、nglish, New Zealand English (Qin, 2002: 220)2022/9/418The Use of Non-standard EnglishMarkers indicating non-standard speech in literature graphological markers, grammatical markers, lexical markers (pp.131-134)Exercise pp.142 : Extract C & D.Functions of non-standard speech: to portray characters (c

20、haracterization: see the next slide); to provide local color; to create humorous effects.More and more people argue that dialectal/non-standard English is more vigorous and impressive than standard English.2022/9/419Dialect forms are used as:markers of social statusconventionally, social inferiority

21、, the humble origin of characters, etc. (e.g.1, 2, 3, pp. 134-5)clues to characters relationshipan identity in a regional or social group membership; social or emotional closeness of relationship or distance (e.g.: pp.136-8)an aid to individualize charactersp.136-140, example from the Adventures of

22、Huckleberry FinnCharacterization 人物刻画2022/9/420The Ruined Maid (by Thomas Hardy) O Melia，my dear，this does everything crown！Who could have supposed I should meet you in Town？And whence such fair garments， such prosperity？“ O didnt you know Id been ruined？ said she. You left us in tatters，without sho

23、es or socks，Tired of digging potatoes， and spudding up docks；And now youve gay bracelets and bright feathers three！Yes： thats how we dress when were ruined， said she.（whence: from where；in tatters: in rags; spud:/ spd/用小锄头）2022/9/421 At home in the barton you said thee and thou， And thik oon， and th

24、e？s oon， and tother； but now Your talking quite fits ee for high compa-ny！ Some polish is gained with ones ruin， said she. Your hands were like paws then， your face blue and bleak But now Im bewitched by your delicate cheek， And your little gloves fit as on any la-dy！ We never do work when were ruin

25、ed， said she.（barton：农家的庭院；Polish：优雅，光泽）2022/9/422You used to call home-life a hag-ridden dream， And youd sigh， and youd sock； but at present you seem To know not of megrims or melancho-ly！ True. Ones pretty lively when ruined， said she. I wish I had feathers， a fine sweeping gown， And a delicate fa

26、ce， and could strut about Town！ My dear a raw country girl， such as you be， Cannot quite expect that. You aint ruined， said she.Hagridden: 受噩梦惊扰的；megrim /migrim/: 沮丧2022/9/423“The Ruined Maid”, like Hardys novels, comments on the ironies of Victorian morality. It was published in 1901, exactly ten years after he completed Tess of the dUrbervilles, which also revealed the injustices of Victorian morality and womens insecure social position. This poem is an example of a dramatic dialogue, in whic