Sercan ALABAY

SOCIOLINGUISTICS OF ENGLISH: A LITERATURE REVIEW

İngilizce Sosyolinguistiği: Bir Edebiyat Değerlendirmesi

Sercan ALABAY✳

ABSTRACT As many other languages, English has experienced a lot

It is a well-known fact that language is a vehicle for of changes and these changes were due to some variations.
people to communicate with each other. It is obvious These can be classified these in two categories and these
that languages change because of a number of reasons. categories are;
One of those reasons is social factors. In a community or -Intralingual variation
in a society, there are many different people with many -Interlingual variation
different backgrounds. Where they come from, where they “Intralingual variation” stands for the variations that
work and the other reasons will affect their use of language. are found in language itself. “Interlingual variation” is the
There is a branch of linguistics that deals with these social variation that occurs as a result of interaction of English
variations and it is called “sociolinguistics”. According to with other languages.
another description of sociolinguistics, it is a term which is It is suggested to understand the intralingual
used for the study of the relationship between language and variation firstly. This consists of “variables such as
society. Sociolinguistics sees language as a varied system demographic, psychological, social and continental
that changes from speaker to speaker, not a monolithic diversity”(Çelik,2009).
one. So it studies all of these psychological, demographic,
and other social perspectives. Thus, this article aims to 2. Demography
have a look at these perspectives. Age and Gender
Keywords: Sociolinguistıque, linguistıqeu, French, It is clear that language use varies from adults to
English. children, men to women. This is the case not only for
English but for Turkish and French as well, and this is valid
ÖZET for all languages in the world. If we consider the “age factor”
Dilin insanların birbirleriyle iletişim kurmaları için bir in the first place, we should identify three main categories
araç olduğu bilinen bir gerçektir. Dillerin bir dizi nedenden : “Children”, “Teenagers” and “Adults” . Children are the
dolayı değiştiği açıktır. Bu nedenlerden biri sosyal kids who are between the ages of 0 and 11 or 12 when they
faktörlerdir. Bir toplulukta veya bir toplumda, birçok farklı experience puberty. Teenagers are between the ages of 12
geçmişe sahip birçok farklı insan vardır. Nereden geldikleri, and 18, and the other ones are called as adults.
nerede çalıştıkları ve diğer nedenler dil kullanımlarını It is possible to hear different language use in my daily
etkileyecektir. Dilbilimin bu sosyal varyasyonlarla life in Turkish. For example, elder people mostly use the
ilgilenen bir dalı vardır ve buna “sosyodilbilim” denir. word “ talebe” in Turkish nstead of “öğrenci” that means
Sosyodilbilimin başka bir tanımına göre, “dil ve toplum “student” , or he uses “imtihan” for “sınav” that is “exam”
arasındaki ilişkiyi araştırmak için kullanılan bir terimdir” in English. The similar examples can be given for English.
(Yule, 2006). Sosyodilbilim, dili monolitik değil, Teens use “laters” instead of “see you later”, “bro” for
konuşmacıdan konuşmacıya değişen çeşitli bir sistem “friend” , “aight” for “alright” , “peeps” for “people” and
olarak görür. Bu yüzden tüm bu psikolojik, demografik ve “hot-car” for “stolen car”(Çelik,2009). These differences in
diğer sosyal bakış açılarını inceler. Dolayısıyla bu çalışma, language usage that result from gender will be summarised
bu bakış açılarına bir göz atmayı amaçlamaktadır. below.
• Gender: The other variable about demography that
INTRODUCTION effect language is gender. Women and men use language in
1.Sociolinguistics Variation in English different ways. Especially use of vocabulary changes from

Ar. Gör., Uludağ Üniversitesi Eğitim Fakültesi Fransız Dili Eğitimi

35 ARALIK 2017, YIL 2, EK SAYI
[email protected]
 Sercan ALABAY

men to women. In Turkish we can see this variation very adapt their vocabulary or grammar to the people around
clearly, and this is same for English. According to the study them. It can sometimes be considered as an impolite
done by Leet-Pregrini(1980) and Lakoff(1975); women behaviour, though.
swear less while men swear more, women propose while It is known that “hypercorrection” is speakers’
men order, women speak more politely while men speak correction of their language use as appropriate to the
less politely, women change the topic too often but men context. Another description for hypercorrection is “being
do not and women react a comment while men initiate so concerned with getting the grammar right that you get it
a comment. These are some of the examples for gender wrong.”(Lynch,2008). This occurs mostly for pronunciation
variable. differences.
• Sexist Usage vs. Gender Neutral Usage: English society,
as well as Turkish society and a number of other societies, 4. Social Variation:
was a male-dominant one. This situation affected language Social variation is a very important topic to cover in
use. Some lexical and grammatical usages were affected, sociolinguistics. Because it is obvious that social variation
too. For example “chairman”, “mankind”, “manhood”, is like “basis” of sociolinguistics. We can classify this topic
“fireman”, etc. Instead of these words “chairperson”, by looking at style, varieties, standard, dialect, jargon,
“humankind”, “adulthood” and “fire fighter” can be used mode and so on.
in English (Çelik,2009).In Turkish, we use “insanoğlu” for •Style: The language that is used changes depending
humans, “oğul” for kids. I think we should also change this on contextual factors. Listener, context, subject and even
usage. purpose affect the language. There are three styles for
Also, there is one main problematic usage and it is language usage. These are “formal”, “casual” and “intimate”.
the usage of 3rd person singular pronouns. In English, in These styles affect our grammar structures, lexical choices
some grammatical structures, “he” is used for expressing and even intonation. In communication, identifying our
unknown pronouns. When referring to “anybody”, style in accordance with context is of great importance.
“anyone”, “everybody” and so on, “he” is used. But for Because it makes communication polite or impolite. I can
gender-neutral usage , using “they” instead of “he” is give some examples for style differences. For “mother”,
offered. Some examples for this can be : “mum” is used as casual one and “mummy” as intimate
-Each student must complete his assessment by Friday one. In Turkish, we say “N’aber?” as intimate, “ Nasılsın?”
Students must complete their assessment by Friday as casual, and “Nasılsınız?” as formal one.
and • Appropriate Language: As mentioned above, using
-One man’s poison is another man’s poison appropriate language in appropriate context is very
What is food to one is poison to another (University important in communication. So, while communicating,
College Cork Committee,1994). people should be careful with the language they use. There
After talking about these points, it is recommended are two types of language suggested by Çelik. These are;
to discuss linguistics of socio-psychology. “Public Language (Polite)” and “Slang (Argot)”. Public
language, as it can be understood from its name, it is
3. Linguistics of Socio-Psychology: the language that is publicly accepted, polite and mostly
•Attitudes towards Linguistic Diversity: The attitudes formal. But “slang” is different. It is the language that can
that speaker and listener in a communication is very be accepted only certain contexts such as between very
important when it comes to linguistic diversity. Building close friends, members of group, etc. It is informal and not
up sincere and strong relationships can depend on both so polite, and the perception of slang usage can differ as
speaker and listener’s behaviours. These behaviours a result of generation gap. Elder people can see the way
make up linguistic attitudes. These attitudes can be teenagers speak as impolite and slang. Here are some
divided into three groups and these are “linguistic examples for slang use in English:
convergence(accommodation)”, “linguistic divergence” What’s up, dude? for How are you?
and “hypercorrection”. “Linguistic convergence” occurs Are you pissed? for Are you upset?
when the speakers change their vocabulary, grammatical To describe madness; “loony, nuts, psycho”, to describe
usage to comply and cooperate with the other speakers in drunkenness; “sloshed, plastered, stewed, looped, trashed,
the community. Another description is “it is our ability to smashed” are used.
modify our speech style toward the perceived style of the Vulgar and Taboo: These two terms should be
person(s) we’re talking to”(Yule,2006). In my opinion, for mentioned while discussing the subject of “slang”. Because
“linguistic divergence”, it is possible to say that situation is if we have a closer look to the slang language, it is quite
vice versa. For divergence, the speakers refuse to change or possible for us to encounter these two terms. “Vulgar” is

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used to describe the four-letter, dirty and obscene words. when the speakers in regional area reflect their mother
These words are acceptable to some extent. Using them can tongue in terms of pronunciation and morphology while
be problematic. While “taboo” words are totally banned. speaking English. Some examples of these dialects are
Because these words can harm the listener emotionally. Black English (by Afro-American people), Chicano English
(by Spanish-speaking Mexicans) and German English (by
5. Dialectal Variation: German immigrants in Pennsylvania).
It is high time to have a look at dialectal variations • Standard Dialects vs. Nonstandard Dialects: Having
in English language. Dialect is a language variety which so many different dialects in a language can sometimes
shows obvious differences which result from geographical, cause problems. So, in order to organize the smooth
educational, ethnic and socioeconomic background of communication in the areas of government, education, law,
speakers. From another point of view, it is “any regional, broadcasting and so on, there should be standardized usage
social or ethnic variety of a language”(Eble,2005). of language. This dialect includes standard pronunciation
The most important thing about dialects is that they do and grammar usages. And this standard dialect is defined
not hinder the communication between two interlocutors according to the choices of elite or ruling class.
of same language. Dialectal differences can be about The standard dialects of English should be clarified. In
pronunciation, lexical items and grammatical structure. UK, it is Received Pronunciation (RP); in USA, it is General
However, the differences that result from just pronunciation American (GA). For Turkish, it is “Istanbul dialect” that
is mostly called as “accent”. is accepted as the standard dialect. Lastly, for French it
There are three main dialectal variations. These are is “Parisien accent”. To keep in mind, it is important that
“regional dialects and accents”, “socioeconomic dialects” in spite of these dialectal variations speakers of the same
and “ethnic dialects”. language can understand each other with the help of
• Regional Dialects and Accents: These dialects and written code, alphabet.
accents are the ones in Great Britain and United States. • Jargon (Register): The term “jargon” refers to the
Here are some examples for dialects of English both in UK language which is understandable only to the people who
and USA. deal with that profession to which the lexemes belong.
-British English: Jargon is also seen as technical language. Some examples
Received Pronunciation-RP (Standard Dialect) are; “onomatopoeia, morpheme, hat trick, grand slam, stat”
English of England (Northern, Yorkshire, Birmingham, etc.
Southern, etc. ) • Mode: This term refers to the way or medium we use
Scottish English to communicate. There are two ways to communicate. One
Irish English of them is Oral (speaking) and the other one is Written
Welsh English (text). It is quite interesting that sometimes, in some
-American English: languages these two media can show great differences, and
Midwestern/General American (Standard Dialect) sometimes people cannot understand one of these media
Boston English that leads to “diglosia”.
California English
New York English (Çelik,2009) 6. Continental Variation:
• Socioeconomic Dialects: This dialectal variation English is spoken in a very large scope. It is spoken
results from the class distinction due to economic reasons. from USA to Pakistan, from Canada to Australia. It is
There are four economic classes in England. These are clear that there are great geographical distances between
Royal Class (The Royal Family, members of the House of these countries. Because of this fact, language varies in
Lords, the Dukes), Upper Class(business people, company terms of phonology, vocabulary and syntax. All of these
executives, etc), Upper Middle Class(government workers, countries were invaded by British armies in the history, so
the educated, etc) and Lower Class(labourers, blue they spread English to these places. But, of course, the
collar workers, etc) (Çelik,2009). Between these classes “Englishes” that were spoken in these countries did not
, language use differs. For example, the pronunciation of stay same with the one that was spoken in England. And
postvocalic /r/ differs between classes. In New York, %32 as a result, there are different continental dialects. Some
of upper middle class people pronounce it but only %12 of these dialects are; British English, American English,
of upper working class pronounce it(Yule,2006).Another Canadian English, Australian English and New Zealand
pronunciation difference is dropping [h], as in “I’m ‘ungry English. The most important thing for us to keep in our
I could eat a ‘orse”(Yule,2006) minds’ is that Received Pronunciation which is spoken in
• Ethnic Dialects: These dialects are the ones that occur the southeast of England and which is a variety of British

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English is taught to ones who want to learn English as other interlocutor both know”, “mixing two languages’
second language. vocabulary, morphology and syntax” and “using two
languages for different set of purposes”. These language
7. Dialect vs. Language: usages’ names are respectively “lingua franca”, “pidgin” and
So far, this manuscript discussed what the dialects “code-switching”. I will talk about each one of them.
of English language and what kind of reasons cause • Lingua Franca: Lingua franca is the language which is
these different dialects. But sometimes, for some people, used between the interlocutors of two different languages
differentiating language and dialect is difficult or to communicate. This term was used by Italians firstly.
problematic. Thus, now it is time to talk about what is It means “Frankish tongue” which refers to languages of
language and what is dialect. Western Europe (Çelik,2009). It was used for trading
While discussing what is language and what is dialect, purposes. Today English is lingua franca. Because wherever
some questions will come to our minds. Some of these you go, whoever you want to speak, you can use English to
questions can be “When will a dialect leave to be a part communicate.
of language?”, “When does it turn out to be a language?” • English as an International Language: As mentioned
and “When does a new language occur?”. As suggested previously that English is spoken in a very large scope
by Çelik(2009), three aspects can be used to answer across continents. The speakers of English in these
these questions and these are; intelligibility, historical continents have different demographical characteristics,
relationships and political concerns. different purposes to use English and English has
Firstly, intelligibility will be discussed. As mentioned different developmental processes. When looking at these
in the previous topics, dialects do not hinder the differences, English can be divided into three groups: Inner
communication between the speakers of same language. Circle where English is first language of speakers (USA,
There can be some differences in terms of language use, but UK, Canada, Australia, New Zealand), Outer Circle where
they always understand each other without any difficulties. English is second language of the speakers (India, Pakistan,
But when the interlocutors of the same language do not Nigeria, Singapore) and Expanding Circle where English
understand each other, here a new language is born and a is a foreign language to learn for speakers (Turkey, Japan,
dialect becomes a new language. China, Germany).
Sometimes the societies who spoke the same language • Pidgin and Creole: These two terms are used to define
in the past decided to change their language when they new languages that have been born as a result of two
gained their independence. Even as orally they could interlocutors of two different languages’ effort to be able
understand each other and even they used the same to communicate. Pidgin is “nobody’s native language; may
language, they used different alphabets to represent the arise when two speakers of different languages with no
same language. An example for this situation can common language try to have a makeshift conversation”(
be the Pakistan and India. They were both the colonies Schiffman ,1997). It occurs when both of the speakers do
of British armies. When they gained their independence, not understand each other’s first language and they used
they decided to use different alphabets and named their words from both languages, mix morphology and syntax
languages differently as Urdu and Hindi. But still the and use the simplest sounds from both languages. Creole
speakers of these two languages can understand each other is used for the “pidgin” languages when they become the
easily. This situation is called as “mutual intelligibility”. mother tongue of a speaker .
Some examples for mutual intelligibility are Uzbek and • Code-Switching: This term is used for using two
Uygur, Bosnian and Slovenian, Belarusian and Ukrainian languages by mixing them in terms of structures or
(Çelik, 2009). But sometimes just the speakers of one vocabulary items in succession. It happens in bilingualism
language can understand the speakers of other language, and in oral form. An example for this can be the ones that
not vice versa. And this is called as “one-way intelligibility”. are given by Çelik. “Mom, your friend Alev, geldi. She is at
the door!”.
8. Language Contact: “Code-mixing” is another term to be discussed here.
Today we live in technological era. It is very possible This term is used to define the using two languages but
for us to come across with the speakers of other languages when using them, building up sentences with one language’s
on the net. If we are not bilingual, if we do not know structure and other language’s words or expressions. Here
the language of the person whom we are talking to or is an example which is a mix of Hindu and English:“ Yeh
the person does not know our language, then we should train ka time change ho gaya hai kya”(Ghosh,2009).
find another solution to be able to communicate. These
solutions can be “using a third language that we and the Conclusion:

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Throughout this manuscript, the effects of

sociolinguistic variations on languages and dialects have
been discussed. It is clear that these variations have great
importance in language teaching and language learning
processes. Using appropriate lexical items in contexts,
knowing how to be polite while talking to people whose
grammatical and phonological choices are different from
us or knowing how to adopt our speech to the people
who speak with standard dialect, being able to handle the
problems that can result from speaking different languages
from the people who we are talking to are really very
important to be communicatively competent in a language.
So as “prospective” teachers, “present” language learners,
and linguistics should be aware of these facts and learn
language by concerning them or teach language to our
students by thinking about these variations

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