Routledge Dictionary of Language and Linguistics.pdf

A-Z 1089sociolect (also social dialect)In analogy to ‘dialect,’ ‘sociolect’ describes a language variety that is characteristic for asocially defined group. ( code theory, sociolinguistics)sociolinguisticsScientific discipline developed from the cooperation of linguistics and sociology thatinvestigates the social meaning of the language system and of language use, and thecommon set of conditions of linguistic and social structure. Several areas ofsociolinguistic investigation are differentiated. (a) A primarily sociologically orientedapproach concerned predominantly with the norms of language use. (When and for whatpurpose does somebody speak what kind of language or what variety with whom?) Herelanguage use and language attitudes as well as larger and smaller social networks are inthe foreground. These facets are studied mainly by using quantitative methods;connections between socioeconomics, history, culture, ethnic differentiation, social classstructure, and language varieties are included in the investigation ( diglossia, codetheory). (b) A primarily linguistically oriented approach that presumes linguistic systemsto be in principle heterogeneous, though structured, when viewed within sociologicalparameters. For an appropriate description of linguistic variation, a new type of rule—differentiated from rules found in generative grammar—is proposed, the so-called‘variable rule,’ which expresses and establishes the probability that a particularlinguistic form will result from the influence of different linguistic and extralinguisticvariables, e.g. social class, age, etc. ( variational linguistics). The results of thissociolinguistic approach have particularly important implications for the theory oflanguage change: in a series of empirical investigations the relevance of socialconditions to the processes of language change was demonstrated and proved, such thatsynchronically present variational structures can be seen as a ‘snap shot’ of diachronicchanges. (c) An ethnomethodologically oriented approach with linguistic interaction asthe focal point, which studies the ways in which members of a society create socialreality and rule-ordered behaviour. Here a formal distinction must be drawn betweenconversation analysis, which deals with the structure of conversations, and ethnographicconversation analysis ( ethnography of speaking), which investigates interactiveprocesses in the production of meaning and understanding ( contextualization).ReferencesAger, D. 1990. Sociolinguistics and contemporary French. Cambridge.Ammon, J., N.Dittmar, and K.J.Mattheier (eds) 1987. Sociolinguistics: an international handbookof the science of language and society, 2 vols. Berlin and New York.