LANGUAGE, DIALECT and

VARIETIES
LANGUAGE, DIALECT and
VARIETIES
Wardhaugh(1992) states that all
languages exhibit a great deal of
variety.
 What’s variety?
• Hudson(1980) defines it as ‘a set of linguistic
items with similar distribution’
• Then English, French, London English, the
English of football commentaries are all
varieties...
• This definition leads to the idea that all the
languages of a multilingual speaker or
community is a single variety.
Then a variety is something less than a “dialect”
• According to Ferguson(1971) variety is
• ‘any body of human speech patterns which is
sufficiently homogenous to be analyzed by
available techniques of synchronic description
and which has a sufficiently large repertory of
elements and their arrangements or processes
with broad enough semantic scope to function in
all formal contexts of communication.’
• They allow us to call a whole language as
“variety” and also any special set of linguistic
usages that we associate with a particular
region or social group.

• Bilingual or multicultural communities too

will each have their varieties.
 What is important?
• Variety is defined in terms of a specific set of
‘linguistic items’ or ‘human speech’ patterns
which can be associated with external factors.
Then Standard English, Lower Class New
York City speech, cocktail party talk are all
varieties of English...
 Language and Dialects
• How do we differentiate both?
• Haugen(1966) says that they are
ambiguous terms and they represent a
simple dichotomy in a situation that is
almost indefinetely complex.
• Greek Language was a group of distinct
varieties.(Ionic+Doric+Attic=Athenian
Greek)
• Language can be used to refer to a single
linguistic norm or to a group of related norms.

• Dialect refers to one of the norms.

 LET’S START CONFUSING! 

• French makes a distinction between

dialecte and patois.
• Dialect and Patois

• Regional variety

• No literary tradition Literary Tradition

• In English dialect is used both for local
varieties of English (Yorkshire dialect) and for
various types of informal, lower class or rural
speech.
• Dialects are often thought to stand outside of a
language.
• Sometimes in English ‘dialect’ and ‘language’
can be used interchangebly.
 What is the criteria?
• Gumperz(1982) points out that although Hindu
and Urdu are the same languages they differ
from eachother just in the writing direction but
due to political and religious reasons they are
accepted as different LANGUAGES.
• On the contrary mutually unintelligible
Chinese languages called as “Dialect” by
chinese are united.
 7 Languages in a country!
• In Yugoslavia Serbo-Croatian, Slovenian,
Macedonian, Albanian,Turkish, Bulgarian and
Hungarian are spoken.
• Is Serbo-Croatian 1 language?
• They have different manuscripts(Roman for
Croation and Cyrillic for Serbian) and they
differ in vocabulary selection, but grammar
and pronunciation are same.
• Religion and idea of separate nationhood is
also effective on Croatian.
• On the contrary,although people in
Alsace(France) speak varieties of German,
their loyalty is to France.
• However, in Brittany a movement for
autonomy is centered on Breton
language(Celtic remnant).
 Netherlands and Germany
• Standard Dutch and Standard German were
once varieties of a language but now they are
separated because they are not intelligeble.
• In the border area people in Dutch claim
speaking a variety of Standard Dutch and in
Germany a variety of Standard German. But
these varieties share more similarities with
eachother rather than with the main language.
 Scandinavia and China
• Danish, Norwegian and Swedish are spoken.
• If you know just one of them you will have
difficulty in understanding.
• Cantonese and Mandarin are same languages?
• They claim they are dialects not different
languages although they do not understand
eachother.
 What about English?
• Is everything we see standard English?
• We have Indian English, New York English,
non-Standard English, public school English
and etc.
• So a language is a unitary system of linguistic
communication which subsume a number of
mutually intelligible varieties. Then it is bigger
than a dialect or variety( with few exceptions)
 Are all languages dialects?
• From historical point of view: YES.
• All languages are labelled under Indo-
Europian Language.
• When they lost contact with each other they
became languages.
• However convergence may occur even among
unrelated languages: Indo-Europian and
Dravidian.
 So...
• No proper definition for language because we
tend to subsume different types of
communication systems under one label. We
can admit that there are different kinds of
languages and try to discover how they differ.
Then, we can say a dialect is a sub-variety of a
language.
• What criteria do we have for discussing
differences among languages?
Bell’s criteria for different kinds of languages:

•Standardization
•Vitality
•Historicity
•Autonomy
•Reduction
•Mixture
•De Facto Norms

(Bell, 1976, pp.147-57)

 Standardization

It refers to the process by which a language has

been codified in some way. This process usually
involves the development of such things as
grammars, spelling books, dictionaries and literature.

(Wardhaugh,1992,pp.31-34)
 Standardization

In the standardization process, there must be

some steps as Haugen states(1966a).

First of all; there should be development of

things such as grammar, dictionaries, literature,
education, commerce etc....

(Wardhaugh,1992,pp.31-34)
 Standardization

Then the community should select a norm.

However; selecting a variety as a norm is a
difficult one because, it diminishes the other
varieties and those who use them. Sometimes,
people cannot agree on a single norm and so, it
is difficult to talk about a standard language.

(Wardhaugh,1992,pp.31-34)
 Standardization

In standardization process, governments also

take place by establishing official bodies,
regulating language matters and encouraging
changes. And, this process can be very quick.
For example; what Turkish government had
done in 20th century is an example both for
standardization and modernization of the
language.

(Wardhaugh,1992,pp.31-34)
 Standardization

At the end of the standardization process,

sometimes more than one standard variety are
chosen.

For example; Norwegian has two standard

varieties, Nynorsk and Bokmal.

(Wardhaugh,1992,pp.31-34)
 Vitality

The existence of a living community of

speakers.

This is used to distinguish languages that are

alive from those that are dead.

When the last speaker of a language is dead,

the language itself becomes a ‘dead language’
like Cornish, Latin or Hebrew.

(Wardaugh, 1992, pp.34)

 Vitality

However this doesn’t mean that the language

is not important anymore.

For example; even if it is not spoken as a first

language, Latin has still a considerable force
especially in Western world.

(Wardaugh, 1992, pp.34)

 Historicity

It means that a particular group of people finds

a sense of identity through using a particular
language, it belongs to them.

Speakers of different varieties of a language

like Arabic can find the language most important
tie among them.

(Wardaugh, 1992, pp.35)

 Autonomy

It means that a language must be felt different

from other languages. However, it is a very
subjective criterion.

For example; Ukrainians say that their

language is not Russian.

(Wardaugh, 1992, pp.35)

 Reduction

It refers to the fact that a particular variety may

be regarded as a sub-variety rather than as an
independent entity.

For example; Cockney is seen as a variety of

English not representative of that language.

(Wardaugh, 1992, pp.35)

 Mixture

It refers to the feelings of speakers about the

‘purity’ of the variety they speak.
This criterion is more important for some
speakers like French than others like English
speakers.
It partly explains why pidgins and creoles have
difficulty in classifying what they speak as full
languages.

(Wardaugh, 1992, pp.35)

 De Facto Norms

It means that many speakers of a language

have the feeling that there are both ‘good’ and
‘poor’ speakers of a language and the good
ones represent the norms of proper usage.

For example; Florentine variety of Italian.

(Wardaugh, 1992, pp.35-36)

 Vernacular and Koine

Vernacular

It is a from of speech transmitted from parent

to child as a primary medium of communication.

For example; if the form is Standard English,

then it is the vernacular of that child. If it is a
regional dialect, then the dialect is vernacular.

(Wardaugh, 1992, pp.37)

 Vernacular and Koine

Koine

It is a form of speech shared by people of

different vernaculars.

A koine does not have to be a standard dialect,

it is the common language.

For example; Hindi is a koine for many people

in India.
(Wardaugh, 1992, pp.37)
REGIONAL DIALECTS
Wardhaugh, 1992
• Languages differ in pronunciation, in the
choices and forms of words, and in syntax,
as you move from one location to another.
• Such distinctive varieties are usually called
regional dialects of the language.
• In the absence of difference in writing the term
“patois” may be used to describe the variety.
ex: In France, as the language of Paris asserted
itself from the 14th century on, it spread
throughout France and it reduced the
importance of local varieties. They have become
disfavoured socially and politically; they are
patois to those who extol the virtues of standard
French.
 DIALECT VS. PATOIS
• Patois is usually used to describe only rural forms of
speech; we may talk about an urban dialect, but to talk
about an urban patois seems strange.
• Patois also seems to refer only to the speech of the
lower strata in society: we may talk about a middle class
dialect but not middle class patois.
• A dialect usually has a wider geographical distribution
than a patois; regional dialect and village patois seem
unobjectionable, the same cannot be said for regional
patois and village dialect.
• A person begin a journey speaking one
language and ended it speaking
something entirely different from the south
of Italy to the north of France.
• Such a situation is often referred to as a
dialect continuum.
• The hardening of boundaries in the modern
world as a result of the growth of states,
particularly nation-states rather than
multinational or multi-ethnic states, has led to
the hardening of language boundaries.
• Various pressures-political, social, cultural, and
educational- serve to harden current state
boundaries and to make the linguistic
differences among states more pronounced.
• When a language is recognized as being
spoken in different varieties, the issue
becomes one of deciding how many
varieties and how to classify each variety.
• Dialect geography is the term used to
describe attempts made to map the
distributions of various linguistic features
so as to show their geographical
provenance.
• Sometimes maps are drawn to show
actual boundaries around such features,
boundaries called isoglosses, so as to
distinguish an area in which a certain
feature is found from areas in which it is
absent.
• When several such isoglosses coincide,
the result is sometimes called a dialect
boundary.
• Finally the term dialect, particularly when it
is used in reference to regional variation
should not be confused with the term
accent.
REGIONAL VARIATION

HOLMES, 2001
• According to Holmes(2001), there are
three different categories of regional
variation.
1. International variation
2. Intra-national or intra-continental
variation
3. Cross-continental variation: dialect
chains
International variation
 International variation
• There are vocabulary, pronunciation and
grammatical differences across different
nations where the same language is
spoken.
Example 1:
• A British visitor to New Zealand decided while he was in
Auckland he would look up an old friend from his war days.
He found the address and knocked the door.
‘Gidday’ said the young man who opened the door.
‘What can I do for you?’
‘I’ve called to see me old mate Don Stone,’ said the
visitor.
‘Oh he’s dead now mate,’ said the young man.
The visitor was about to express condolences when he
was thumped on the back by Don Stone himself. The young
man had said, ‘Here’s dad now mate,’ as his father came in
the gate.
(Holmes, 2001: p. 124)
Other examples:

• An American’s “god” sounds like an

English “guard”, and “latter” sounds like a
“ladder” to many non-American English
speakers.
• South Africans use the term “robot” for
British “traffic-light”.
• While Americans prefer the structure “do
you have…”, the traditional British English
speakers use “have you got…”.
(Holmes, 2001: p. 124)
• Let’s check out the extent of American vs
British influence in our region?

• Which one do you prefer?

 AMERICAN VS. BRITISH
ENGLISH
• Do you have match? • Have you got a
cigarette?
• She has gotten used • She’s got used to the
to the noise. noise.

• He dove in, head first. • He dived in head first.

• Did you eat yet? • Have you eaten yet?

(Holmes, 2001: p. 125)

 Intra- national or Intra- continental
variation
• Distinguishing forms of grammatical
usages and lexical items as well as
pronunciation are seen not only across
different nations, but also within a
country.
• Holmes(2001) listed these different
usages within a country under the
category of intra-national variation.
Example 2:
• In the rural Appalachians, one can hear
pronunciations such as “acrosst” and “clifft”,
as well as verbs with a- prefixes, such as
“a-fishin” and “a-comin”.

(Holmes, 2001: p. 127)

Example 3:

• Words for “dragonfly” in the USA include

darning needle, mosquito hawk, spintle,
snake feeder, snake doctor, and snake
waiter, but of these only darning needle is
used in New York.

(Holmes, 2001: p. 127)

Exercise:
• Can you guess the meaning of following
words which are collected from regional
dialects of British English?
– snowblossom
– time for our snap
– the place was all frousted
– a great mawther
– a bairn

(Holmes, 2001: p. 128)

 Cross-continental variation
• Although the languages of Europe and
India are seen mostly different from each
other, in reality they blend into one
another.
• The French spoken in the border towns
and villages of Italy, Spain and
Switzerland has more in common with the
language of the next village than the
language of Paris.
• From one village and town to the next
there is a chain or continuum.
• Besides all these regional variations, it is
important to look at language’s social and
political functions.
STYLES AND REGISTERS
• The study of dialects is further complicated
by the fact that speakers can adopt
different styles of speaking. You can
speak very formally or very informally,
your choice being governed by
circumstances.
• We may try to relate the level of formality
chosen to a variety of factors: the kind of
occasion; the various social, age, and
other differences that exist between the
participants; the particular task that is
involved, e.g., writing or speaking; the
emotional involvement of one or more of
the participants; and so on.
• Register is another complicating factor in
any study of language varieties. Registers
are sets of vocabulary items associated
with discrete occupational or social
groups. Surgeons, airline pilots, bank
managers, sales clerks, jazz fans, and
pimps use different vocabularies.
 Social Dialects
• Holmes(2001) defines dialects as:
“Simply linguistic varieties which are
distinguishable by their vocabulary, grammar
and pronunciation.”
• The speech of people from different social, as
well as regional, groups may differ in these
ways.
• Just as RP is a social accent, standard
English is a social dialect.
• Standard English

(a) I’ve not washed the dishes yet today.

(b) I haven’t washed the dishes yet today.
(Holmes;2001,132)

• A speaker of standard English may produce

either of the sentences above.
• There are other SE dialects also such as
American SE, British and Australian Se…
 Highest class: standard
Social variation

dialect

Lowest class:
most localised
non- standard

Regional variation
• The term “non-standard form” sometimes has a
bad connotation since it is associated with the
speech of less prestigious social groups.

• To avoid this, sociolinguists use the term

“vernacular” instead of “non-standard”.

• This vernacular forms tend to be learned at

home and used in informal contexts.
SOCIAL STATUS
• The language people use generally inform us
about their social and economic status as they
use different social dialects.
Castes
• In countries like India or Indonesia, an
outstanding thing is those caste systems which
are determined by birth and reflect very clear-cut
social divisions. That is also obvious in speech
differences.
• Brahmins : Non-Brahmin castes:
“haalu” - milk - “aalu”

• In Kannada language, these castes use different forms

for the word “milk”.

• In Javanese, social status is reflected not just in choice o

linguistic forms but also in the particular combinations of
forms which each social group customarily uses.

• Things are too much complicated in Javanese. There are

6 different stylistic levels!!!
“You” “Now” Stylistic level

Padjenengan samenika 3a
Sampéjan samenika 3
Sampéjan saniki 2
Sampéjan saiki 1a
Pandjenengan saiki 1a
Kowé saiki 1

(Holmes,2001;135)
SOCIAL CLASS
• It expresses the differences between people which
are associated with differences in social prestige,
wealth and education.

• Research revealed that in many countries there is

a consistent relationship between social class and
language patterns.

• It is claimed that in 1950s in England there were

pairs of words which separated the speech of
upper-class English people and the rest.
• U-speakers non-U speakers

sitting-room lounge

lavatory toilet

writing paper notepaper

(Holmes,2001;136)

• Can you think of a number of words which divide

people up in your speech community?
PRONUNCIATION

• Kim: “Only educated people drop their h’s.”

• Stephen: “Let’s hear you say ‘Have you heard
about Hilda’s new house that her
husband left her? It costs her a heck of

a lot to fix up.’ If you don’t drop a

single ‘h’ in that sentence you’ll sound like one
of Monty Phyton’s upper class twits!”
• Groups are often distinguished by their
frequency with which they use particular
features, rather than by their use of completely
different forms.

• This speech variable is called [h]-dropping. In

many research, it appeared that the highest
social group drops the least [h]s.

• William Laboy first revealed that the way

different pronunciations fall into a pattern reflects
the social class of their speakers.
• Laboy found regular patterns relating patterns
relating the social class of the speakers to the
percentage of standard as opposed to
vernacular pronunciations they produced.

• E.g. An important thing that distinguishes social

groups in every English speaking community in
which it has been investigated is pronunciation
of the “-ing” particle.
• sleepin’ (lower social groups) vs.
• sleeping (higher social groups)
 [r] PRONUNCIATION:
• Example 13:
• “Where are the women’s shoes?”
• There are two variants of [r]
=> either it is present ant pronounced [r]
=> or it is absent.
• car and card,
• for and form.
• The results showed clear stratification of
[r] pronunciation.
• In one city the higher your social class the
more you pronounce postvocalic [r]. In the
other, the higher your social class the
fewer you pronounce.
 VOWELS:
• Example:15
• Sir what is happening to the humble letter ‘i’ in
New Zealandese? In many mouths HIM
becomes HUM, JIM is JUM and TILL is TULL. I
overheard a young girl telling her friend on the
phone that she had been to a doctor and had to
take six different PULLS a day. After four
repetitions, she had to spell it to be understood.
• Many New Zealanders consider RP as an
inappropriate standard accent for New
Zealand, but in practice it is still an
influential prestige norm.
• The higher a person’s social class, the
closer their pronunciation was to RP.
 OTHER LANGUAGES:
• Example 16:
• Jean Charmier is a young Parisian who works as
a laborers on a construction site. His speech is
quite different in many ways from the speech of
the news announcers on national tv. One
difference involves his pronunciation of the as in
words like casser (break). He says sth which
sounds more like cosser for casser.
• The pronunciation of it varies from one
social group to another.
• The higher social groups use more of the
standard forms, while the lowest groups
use the fewest standard forms.
 GRAMMATICAL PATTERNS:
• Example 17:
Form: Example:
Past tense 1) I finished that book yesterday
verb forms 2) I finish that book yesterday
• It was found that children from lower class
families used more vernacular verb forms
than children from middle-class families.
Form: Example:
Negative 1) Nobody wants any chips.
Forms 2) Nobody don’t want no chips.
In every community studied multiple
negation is much more frequent in lower-
class speech than in middle-class speech.
 CONCLUSION:
• The way you speak is usually a good
indicator of your social background.
• Social dialect surveys have demonstrated
that stable variables tend to divide
English-speaking communities sharply
between the middle class and lower or
working classes.( [h] dropping,
grammatical variables)