Language Variety:

Specific language or specific form of

language used by a particular
community:

French, Italian, etc…or Appalachian

English, African-American English,
Southern English

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Language (s)
• Is a system of arbitrary signals:
- voice sounds
- gestures
- written symbols
which communicate thoughts or feelings

• Human spoken – written languages:

- system of symbols (lexemes) and the
grammar (rules)
- can be manipulated

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 Learning language – normal – human childhood
- use patterns of sound and gesture – communication
- thousands of languages – share certain properties

Human and computer programs – constructed other languages:

- Constructed languages:
Esperanto, Ido, Interlingua, Klingon, programming languages and
various mathematical formalisms

Ido: Me ne havas libro

means, “I do not have a book”
Esperanto: Mirinda Amo
means Wonderful Love
Klingon: a constructed language used in ‘Star Trek’ spoken by
Klingon

- not necessarily restricted to the properties shared by human

languages

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Standard Language
• a particular variety of a language that has
been given legal or quasi-legal status
• the most correct dialect of a language
• Generally which is written, has undergone
some degree of regularisation, and
recognised as a prestigious variety by a
community

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Steps of standardising language

• Selection
• Codification
• Elaboration of function
• Acceptance

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• Selection
- a variety or combination of varieties can be
selected and developed
- great social and political significance –
recognised as prestigious by community

• Codification
- agencies or academies – produce dictionaries
and grammar – define what is correct and
incorrect
- For example: DBP
- decisions made by these organisations –
shared and accepted – users of the language

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• Elaboration of Function
- selected variety must cater for various functions and
situations
- such as government, educational, business, scientific and
others
- require additional linguistic items – process of borrowing

• Acceptance
- must be accepted as the standard language
- acceptance is achieved : three factors may take place –
(a) serve as a strong unifying force
(b) symbol of independence from other states
(c) serve as a marker to differentiate one state from
another

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Features of standard language
Some features that identify a standard language:
• A recognised dictionary which embody a
standardised spelling and vocabulary
• A recognised grammar – records the forms, rules
and structures
• A standard system of pronunciation – free from
regional marking
• An institution promoting the use of the language
– given authority in defining the norms of its use
• Constitutions – language an official legal status in
a country’s system of law

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Examples of the Development of
Standard Languages

(a) In British English, the standard

Received Pronunciation
– based on the upper class – London
area
(b) In Spain – Standard Spanish not based
on the speech of Madrid
- the northerly province of Valladolid
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(c) In Argentina and Uruguay, the Spanish
standard is based on local dialects of Buenos
Aires and Montevideo
- known as Rioplatense Spanish – different
from other standards of Spanish
(d) The US, federal government has no official
language
- many US states and territories have
designated English – official language
- Louisiana, New Mexico, Hawaii, Puerto Rico,
Guam and America Samoa – recognise English
and an additional language
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Language Variation

Factors that influence:

(a) Dialect
(b) Style
(c) register

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Dialects
• A variety of a language used by people
from a particular geographic area
• Number of speakers and area itself can
be of arbitrary size
• Dialect in larger area can contain plenty
of sub-dialects

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• A complete system of verbal
communication – own vocabulary and
grammar
• Concept of dialects – distinguised from:
(a) sociolects : a variety of a language
spoken by a certain social class
(b) standard languages : are
standardised for public performance

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 Dialects

Regional Social

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Regional Dialect
- Travel from one region to another –
encounter noticeable changes – language:
- Pronunciation, choice of words and syntax
- Distinctive varieties – regional dialects
- Not a distinct language but rather a variety
of a language spoken in a particular area of a
country

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Social Dialects
- The variety of social group or social
class -the differences in speech
- Can be used to refer to
(a) ethnic
(b) occupation
(c) status
(d) caste
(e) education, income, racial etc

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For example:
Ethnic variation – the identification of a
dialect associated with a specific ethnic
group such as “Black dialect” in cities
such as New York, Detriot and Buffalo

In India, social caste – Brahmins and non-

Brahmin caste – influence – variety of
language – social differences

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Style

Below are two excerpts of two good friends, Ahmad and

Jim, conversations at two different occasions.

(a) Having tea at the café

Ahmad: Jim, what’s all this?
Jim: Sorry! I will explain everything to you later.

(b) In court, where Ahmad is a lawyer and Jim, the judge

Ahmad: Your honour, I would like to request for an
extension.
Jim: Extension, denied

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In both situations, Ahmad – making a request.
However, the form of request changes –
according to the context.

In situation (a) – Both – having tea in a café,

and the form is casual
In situation (b) – Both – are in – court
and the form – formal, despite having
established relationship

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Change and language varies:
(a) the place
(b) occasion

affects the choice of form – leads –

stylistic differences

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Variables that influence style:

(a) Addressee
(b) Social class
(c) Context and social roles
(d) Ethnics groups

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(a) Addressee
Familiar person –
(i) More casual
(ii) Relaxed style is used
(iii)More vernacular forms (non-standard)

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Letter A Letter B
Hi! How are you? How are you?

Thanks for writing to me It’s has been a while since I last

heard from you.

I am happy you are enjoying From what I heard, it is an

your holidays exotic place, with long
stretches of white beaches
I really miss the beach and I I wish I were there to soak in
can really do with a vacation the serenity and tranquility

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Letter to the child:
(a) Has shorter sentences
(b) Common vocabulary
(c) Simpler grammar

Letter to the adult:

(a) Uses relatively more complex
sentences
(b) More low frequency words used
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- the same applies to spoken conversation
- Different – spoken interaction :
(i) an adult – child
- opt for parentese (babytalk)
- sing-song intonation

(ii) an adult – adult

- use wider vocabulary
- more complicated strutures

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(b) Social Class
In Norwich, United Kingdom:
- the pronunciation ‘ng’ [ŋ] is used differently.
- More frequently used:
(a) higher the social class
(b) in the formal contexts
- Low frequency used
(a) lower class – speech is more casual

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- Newsreaders – employ different
linguistic styles – cater the need of the
audience
- News – same, concept and context
identical
- Difference in social background –
influence the linguistic style
- Higher end of the spectrum – a more
formal style

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(c) Context and Social Roles

Situation A – At an army camp

Jim, a lance corporal has to report to his
father, a general.
When his father called out his name, Jim
answered, “Yes, Sir!”

Situation B – In a lecture hall

Suzy, the daughter of the respectable lecturer,
Dr Lily
When asking a question, Suzy says, “Dr Lily, can
you please repeat the answer?”

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In both the situations:
Etiquette requires
(a) Jimmy to address his father ‘Sir’
(b) Suzy to address her mother ‘Dr Lily’

This shows – context of the situation – a powerful

influence on speech style.
Formal situations:
(a) the army
(b) the classroom
(c) the court
(d) the church, etc –

override personal relationships

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For example:
(a) In a court:
(i) The judge is the parent of the solicitor –
the judge – addressed as ‘Your honour’, ‘Sir’
or ‘the Bench’
(ii) The child – addressed as ‘Mr’, ‘Mrs’ or ‘Miss’
(b) In a church
The priest – ‘Father’ even by his own father
during religious ceremony

- Social roles determined by the formality of

the contexts

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- Social roles – determined by
(a) a person’s status
(b) Solidarity

For example:
Michael Maddison – a prominent figure
- Addressed by his first name – Michael
or Mike for short – close to him
- Social subordinates and others –
address – using his title and last name
‘Mr Maddison’
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(d) Ethnic Groups
Certain ethnic groups have very distinct styles
of referring to different social groups.

For example:
(i) The Japanese
- Assess the relationship with the addressee
- Adjust their style of speaking
- Employ not only different pronunciation but
also different lexical choice and sentence
structure
- Common to see Japanese exchange business
cards – to find out each other’s social class
and family background
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(ii) The Javanese
- Distinguishes its pronunciation, vocabulary
and sentence structure – social class and
status
- Three stylistic levels:
formal or high (krama inggi) to mid to the least
formal or low (ngoko)
- The pronoun ‘you’ referred as
(a) ‘nandalem’ – formal
(b) ‘sapeyan’ – mid
(c) ‘sliramu’ – casual speech

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Style analysed – formality or situational
factors (addressee, setting, task or
topic)
Register – speech related to a certain
speciality
- concerns with how we use language to
express our social identity and social
competence
For example:
Sports commentators, the language of
pilots, court room and classroom
financiers, disc jockeys
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Registers – language of groups of people with common
interests / jobs
- language used in situations associated with such groups
For example: Sports announcer talk
Cooley – steaming in now – bowls to Karim again – stroking
it out into the covers – just thinking about a single –
Dinesh stuttering steps down the wicket from the bowler’s
end.
Language used – distinguishable from other contexts

Vocabulary - obvious distinguishing feature

Terms : related to cricket
silly mid on, square leg, the covers – describe positions
Off-break, googly, and leg break – describe deliveries

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Grammar – distinctive
Sports announcers uses – ‘play-by-play’
description
- Focus on action
- Involves features such as :
(i) syntactic reduction
(ii) inversion of normal word order in
sentences
(iii) heavy noun modification
(iv) routines and formulas
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(i) Syntactic reduction
(b) [It] bounced to second base
(c) [It’s] a breaking ball outside
(d) Karim [is] in difficulty
(e) [He’s a] guy who’s a pressure player

Sports announcers :
(i) Omit the subject noun or pronoun (a)
(ii) Omit the verb ‘be’ (b) and (d)
(iii) Omit only ‘be’ (d)
However – meaning is not loss

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(ii) Syntactic inversion
(a) In comes Hassan
(b) And all set again is Pat Haden
(c) On deck is big Peter Lim

Reversal / inversion
– another feature of sports announcer talk
- Allows the announcer to focus on the action
- Provides him/her time to identify the subject of the action

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(iii) Heavy noun modification
(a) This much sought-after and very expensive
footballer
(b) First class referee David Foreman
(c) Clark, the new Chelsea skipper and a player
worth every pound they paid for him
Sports announcers – focus on the people instead
of the action
- Heavily modified before the noun (a) and (b) or
after the noun (c).

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(iv) Routines and Formulas
(a) A very good morning to our principal (name),
teachers and friends. First of all I would like to
thank (name) for giving me this opportunity to
speak today. The topic of my speech today is
(title)
(b) A very good afternoon to the adjudicators, the
opposition team, ladies and gentlemen. We, the
government, firmly believe that (title).
Before I proceed any further, please allow me to
define the word (word) Therefore, based on our
definition, we, the government, firmly believes
that the motion of today, (title)

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Routines and Formulas enable :
(a) give the impression of fluency
(b) to convey information with minimal demand on
short term memory
(c) retain the listener’s interest and convey the
drama of the event

In short, the use of specialised registers:

(a) Develop the desire – quick, efficient and
precise communication
(b) Express shared meanings concisely and
precisely
(c) Language to develop more and more
characteristics – lexical, syntactic and
phonological
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