Introduction lecture - describing - Birth of sociolinguistics

6 important questions on Introduction lecture - describing - Birth of sociolinguistics

What were the traditional dialectology in linguistics?

  • Focus on norms
    • non-mobile
    • older
    • rural (in, relating to, or characteristic of the countryside rather than the town.)
    • male
  • small sample sizes
  • questionnaires and interviews

People with these factors were mostly researched, because thought to have the most dialect differences.

What happend with sociolinguistics in 1966

  • Labov
  • soical stratification of English in NYC
  • showed systematic variation based on soical factors like education, income, status, power ect.

The three problems with the social stratification?


  • How to classify speakers by social status
  • How to observe speakers’ ‘natural speech’
  • How to provide a broader range of speech styles
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How to measure social class?


  • Factors of production:
    • Occupation (what work someone does)
    • Income
    • Education
  • Lifestyle:
    • Behaviours
    • Social capital (etiquette)
    • Connections

Which speakers have the most linguistic insecurity?

Generally speakers form the low middle class


In language attitude research standard forms are often
perceived as? And non-standard forms are often perceived as? Why even use non-standard forms?


  • In language attitude research standard forms are often perceived as:
    • Intelligent
    • High social status
  • Non-standard forms are often perceived as:
    • Friendly
    • Trustworthy
  • Why even use non-standard forms?
    • Belonging, identity, local connection
    • Covert norms

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