英语语言学（教学课件）chapter8 Sociolinguistics.pptVIP

Chapter 8Sociolinguistics 8.1 Introduction “Once you open your mouth, you are placed.” It is convincingly that language problems and social factors are closely related. When we study language in relation to society, it is called sociolinguistics. Sociolinguistics studies the relations between language and society, between the uses of language and the social structures in which the language users live. It is also a field of study that assumes that human society is made up of many related patterns and behaviors, some of which are linguistic. 8.2 Language Varieties Language changes along social changes. Language varieties are related to region, social class, education background, and the degree of formality of a situation in which language is used. The varieties of language include standard language, dialects, registers, pidgins, creoles, and so on. 8.2.1 Standard Language Standard language or standard variety is the variety of a 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. The standard language of Chinese is Putonghua； Received Pronunciation (RP) for British English； Standard American English (SAE) for the American English. A standard language is generally used in government documents, in the news media and in literature, described in dictionaries and grammars, and taught in schools and taught to non-native speakers when they learn the language as a foreign language. 8.2.2 Dialects A variety of a language used recognizably in a specific region or by a specific social class is called a dialect. The major difference between a language and a dialect is that a language has an army behind it. The study of dialects is called dialectology. Dialects can be categorized into the following types: Regional/geographical dialects: varieties of a language spoken in a geographical area. Temporal dialects: varieties of a language used at particular stages in it