Chaper 19
Language and social variation
Description
we focused on variation in language use found in
Different geographical areas. However, not
everyone in a single geographical area
Speaks in the same way in every situation. We
recognize that certain uses of
language, such as slang, are more likely to be
found in the speech of some individuals
In society and not others. We are also aware of
the fact that people who live in
the same region, but who differ in terms of
education and economic status, often
Speak in quite different ways. Indeed, these
differences may be used, implicitly or
explicitly, as indications of membership in
different social groups or speech
Communities. A speech community is a group of
people who share a set of norms and
Expectations regarding the use of language. The
study of the linguistic features
that have social relevance for participants in
those speech communities is called
“sociolinguistics.”
reflection
In this chapter we learned a
Whereas the traditional
study of regional dialects
tended to concentrate on
discourse Of people in rural
areas, as noted in Chapter
18, the study of dialects
Mainly with speakers in the
cities. In the social study of
the dialect, Social class that
is mainly used to define
groups of speakers as
something common. The
two main groups are
generally identified as
"middle class", those who
They have more years of
education and do non-
manual work, and "working
class" Those who are less
educated and perform
manual labor of some kind