LanguageandSociety介绍.pptVIP

Chapter 8 Language and Society Language Change: Synchronic or Diachronic? Contents Language Society 2. The scope of sociolinguistics 3. Speech Community and Speech Variety 4. Varieties of language 5. Register 6. Degree of formality 7. Standard dialect 8. Pidgin and creole 9. Bilingualism and Diglossia 1. Introduction The movie My Fair Lady (1964) was adapted from the novel Pygmalion (1912) by George Bernard Shaw. The story concerns Eliza Doolittle, a Cockney flower girl who takes speech lessons from Prof. Henry Higgins, a phonetician, so that she may pass as a well born lady. Audrey Hepburn Videoclip Appreciation Once you open your mouth, you are placed. The way you speak contains a lot of information about yourself (e.g. your place of birth, your education, work experience, personal interest, your state of mind, etc.), thus revealing your identity. Language problems and social factors are closely related. Sociolinguistics a sub-field of linguistics that studies the relation between language and society, between the uses of language and the social structures in which the users of language live. 2. Scope of sociolinguistics P112 — two approaches to socio-linguistic studies Macro-sociolinguistics a bird’s-eye view of the languages used in society to look at society as a whole and consider how language functions in it and how it reflects the social differentiations Micro-sociolinguistics / ~ proper a worm’s-eye view of language in use to look at society from the point of view of an individual member within it Macro-sociolinguistics 1. Language is often used to establish and maintain social relationships. 2. Language, especially the structure of its lexicon, reflects both the physical and the social environments of a society. 3. As society is reflected in language in this way, social change can produce a corresponding linguistic change. Example Eskimos have more words for types of snow than English s