Scribd
Upload
240 views2 pages

Brief History of Sociolinguistics and Branches

This document provides a brief history and overview of sociolinguistics. It discusses how sociolinguistics emerged in the 1960s through the work of Labov and Trudgill who studied language variation in urban areas. It notes there were earlier studies of rural dialects but with a focus on preservation rather than social factors. The document outlines the two main branches of sociolinguistics: interactional sociolinguistics which studies language use in conversations and how social identities are expressed; and variationist sociolinguistics which examines how and why linguistic variations arise regionally and culturally.

Uploaded by

yikes
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
240 views2 pages

Brief History of Sociolinguistics and Branches

This document provides a brief history and overview of sociolinguistics. It discusses how sociolinguistics emerged in the 1960s through the work of Labov and Trudgill who studied language variation in urban areas. It notes there were earlier studies of rural dialects but with a focus on preservation rather than social factors. The document outlines the two main branches of sociolinguistics: interactional sociolinguistics which studies language use in conversations and how social identities are expressed; and variationist sociolinguistics which examines how and why linguistic variations arise regionally and culturally.

Uploaded by

yikes
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 2

Brief history of sociolinguistics

Sociolinguistics, or the study of language in relation to society, is a relative newcomer to the linguistic
fold. It wasn’t until the early 1960s, largely as a result of William Labov’s work in America, and Peter
Trudgill’s in Britain, that it developed into a recognised branch of linguistics. Before then there had been
a long tradition of studying dialects, usually in remote rural areas, as part of language surveys, but with
an agenda largely dictated by concerns to record and preserve historical features of the language. This
kind of dialectology was inherently conservative and was part of larger, comparative language studies
pursued under the discipline of philology. Labov was one of the first linguists to turn his attention away
from rural, to urban, subjects, in an attempt to analyse the contemporary features of American
speech.William Labov (1927-present day), an American psychologist, is widely considered the founder
of sociolinguistics. Labov drew on linguistics, sociology, psychology, and anthropology to apply a
scientific approach to the study of language varieties. (this paragraph needs paraphrasing and
summarising)

Branches of sociolinguistics
There are two main branches of sociolinguistics: interactional sociolinguistics and variationist
sociolinguistics.
Interactional sociolinguistics
Interactional sociolinguistics studies how people use language in face-to-face interactions. It has a
specific focus on how people manage social identities and social activities as they interact.
Interactional sociolinguistics may investigate something like how 'contextualization cues' are used to
adapt conversational style to different situations.
For example, in the course of a conversation a speaker might say 'unbelievable'. In one context it might
mean that the speaker does not believe in something. In another context, such as a closing of the eyes, a
shake of the head and a raising the hands so the finger tips touch the forehead might 'translate'
'unbelievable' into 'how astonishingly stupid was that!'.

Variationist sociolinguistics
Variationist sociolinguistics is interested in how and why variations arise.
For example:
Ethnography is a term for the study of culture, including social and speech patterns and variation
within a culture.
Concept Words Used
A collective term for a group of people •You guys
•You
•Y'all
•You all
The shoes that people might wear in gym class •Sneakers
•Trainers
•Runners
•Running shoes
•Tennis shoes
•Gym shoes
A circular intersection where cars drive around a central barrier •Traffic circle
•Roundabout
•Rotary

These changes in language use are caused primarily by geographical separation and to a lesser extent by
cultural identity. People who live in different areas are more likely to develop different ways of
speaking. These examples are all to do with vocabulary, which are usually the easiest differences to
spot, but regional variation can also influence pronunciation, grammar, and syntax.

You might also like

pFad - Phonifier reborn

Pfad - The Proxy pFad of © 2024 Garber Painting. All rights reserved.

Note: This service is not intended for secure transactions such as banking, social media, email, or purchasing. Use at your own risk. We assume no liability whatsoever for broken pages.


Alternative Proxies:

Alternative Proxy

pFad Proxy

pFad v3 Proxy

pFad v4 Proxy