Prace komisji nauk.pdf - Instytut Filologii Angielskiej Uniwersytetu ...

talking to a friend. People identify themselves with language. Each person has
their own ways of speaking that is individual for them. Jean Wallwork (1969)
calls this individual speech our idiolect.
What is important in illustrating varieties of language is the “language variety
space” that includes the following theses: 11
(1) There are many varieties of language, text, and discourse.
(2) These varieties are conditioned by groupings of speakers according to region
(dialect), class (sociolect), and occupation (register).
(3) Positions in variety space define a language variety with specific forms, and
specific conventions of meaning and use.
(4) Understanding of text and discourse, from conversation, through letters to
hypertext, requires models of language functions as touchstones of quality.
The theses are a reflection of the establishment of the following figure: 12
Social variation: sociolects
Regional variation: dialects
Functional variation: registers, text sorts
Figure 2. “Language variety space”
The figure presents three variations of language: social variation (sociolects),
regional variation (dialects), and functional variation (registers, text types).
However, for the need of the present research work, only social variation will be
taken into consideration. The social and regional variations are two different
terms. Social modification corresponds to a sociolect and a regional
modification to a dialect. However, Jean Wallwork (1969) characterizes a
11 http://coral.lili.uni-bielefeld.de/Classes/Winter96/Dialects/dialects/node29.html
12 http://coral.lili.uni-bielefeld.de/Classes/Winter96/Dialects/dialects/node29.html
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