Sociolinguistics

The Sociolinguistics is a branch of linguistics. It is closely related to applied linguistics and general linguistics and is depending on the definition of " used " either expected to one or the other of these two main linguistic disciplines. Become linguistic phenomena from a diachronic point of view examined, there is also a reference to the historical linguistics. The sociolinguistics moreover has professional overlap with sociology, anthropology, social psychology and educational science.

Subject of sociolinguistic studies on the one hand the social, political and cultural importance of linguistic systems and the variations of language use, and on the other hand, the culturally and socially -related influences on the language.

Groundwork

The term sociolinguistics

The word is a scientific neologism and is composed of Linguistics of Linguistics (formed to Latin lingua = tongue, language) and the prefixoid socio - (consisting of the Latin root soci - for social and compositional linking element -o- ) with the importance to society concerning. The term was first used in English as Sociolinguistics in 1952 by Haver C. Currie in his work Projection of Sociolinguistics: used Relationship of Speech to Social Status.

Some important works

The actual beginning of sociolinguistics goes back to the work of Basil Bernstein in the 1960s, who examined the language of the lower class and the middle and upper classes. The result was his so-called deficit hypothesis, which states, in essence, that members of the lower layer, the language only to a limited extent use (lower vocabulary, simpler syntactic structures, etc.). This saw the linguist William Labov, however, as not legitimate assessment and formulated in response to the so-called Bernstein difference hypothesis, which looked at the linguistic differences as equivalent. The agreement in the German speaking difference between " sociology of language " and " sociolinguistics " there was not Anglo-Saxon. The linguist Hugo Steger viewed 1973 Variability in languages ​​and the forms in which they occurred generally. The German Socio- linguist Norbert Dittmar examined at the same time the social conditions and the application of linguistic and social science methods. 1997 Dittmar also emphasized the social importance in language systems out and differentiated socio- linguistic issues. Mentioned are doing sociology ( with their categories of social systems, image, prestige and stigma ), dialectology, the ethnography of communication (also: ethnography of speaking ) and the interaction analysis.

Topics of sociolinguistic research

The categorization models sociolinguistic contents are very different due to the varied relations with neighboring disciplines. In essence, the core domain can be viewed from two perspectives:

  • Macro area:
  • Microscale:

Other ways of classifying sociolinguistic research exist with respect to their neighbors and / or sub-disciplines and are very diverse. Here are:

  • The philosophical- anthropological sociolinguistics considered the language as a carrier of an important function in the areas of worldview, culture and society.
  • The psychological sociolinguistics deals with human thought in relation to language, regarding language acquisition, language education and the relation to language.
  • The sociological and social science sociolinguistics deals with the structure of society. The language within groups, ethnic groups or minorities is a central theme here.
  • The interactionist communication theoretical sociolinguistics is concerned with the analysis of conversations.
  • The actual linguistic sociolinguistics identifies and analyzes the language system.
  • The Germanistic sociolinguistics refers to language in the German society.

The sociolinguistics deals with specific issues, many of which also affect other linguistic disciplines. Priority questions are about:

  • Second language acquisition (eg migrants ), Multilingualism
  • Language change: social factors of language change
  • Public use of language: language in politics, media and advertising, Language, prestige of languages ​​...
  • Dialectology: Distribution of stratischen varieties (Standard language, dialects, Regiolekte ... )
  • Varieties: sociolects, formation of pidgins and creoles, language contact, ...
  • Specialized language research: development and dissemination of technical terminology

In the study of language in relation to social factors are particularly those of importance: Social stratification / class, age, gender, education, social group (special languages), social roles (gender, social status ... )

Since the issues of sociolinguistics affect both the language system itself ( description of the language under social influences ) as well as non linguistic practice ( social impact of language use, language policy implications, ...), the assignment of sociolinguistics to general linguistics or applied linguistics is not clearly.

Particularly with regard to the concerns of feminist linguistics ( " women's language " vs. "Men language" ) or on the issue of the definition of language vs. Dialect and their political implications ( eg struggle for recognition of language varieties as their own " language" and its legitimacy as an official language ) is the term sociolinguistics often equated with the Sociology of Language.

Sources and Literature

  • Bastian, Sabine et al. (Ed.): Sociolinguistique urbaine: identités et mise en mots / [ Agence Universitaire de la Francophonie ]. ( Language - Culture - Society, 6); Munich: Avoid Bauer 2011, ISBN 978-3-89975-231-1
  • Dittmar, Norbert: Sociolinguistics; Heidelberg: Groos 1996, ISBN 3-87276-753-4
  • Hymes, Dell: Sociolinguistics: For the ethnography of speaking; Frankfurt / M. 1979, ISBN 3-518-07899-2
  • Labov, William: The Social Stratification of English in New York City; Washington, D.C. 1966
  • Left, Angelika et al: Study Book linguistics; 5th edition Tübingen: Niemeyer 2004, ISBN 3-484-31121-5
  • Löffler, Heinrich: Germanistische sociolinguistics; 3rd edition, Berlin: Erich Schmidt 2005, ISBN 3-503-07935-1
  • Schlieben - Lange, Brigitte: sociolinguistics. An Introduction; 3rd edition, Stuttgart: Kohl hammer, 1991, ISBN 3-17-011237-6
  • Trudgill, Peter: Sociolinguistics: An introduction to language and society; 4th ed London: Penguin 2000, ISBN 0-140-28921-6
  • Veith, H. Werner: sociolinguistics. A workbook; 2nd edition, Tübingen: Narr 2005, ISBN 3-8233-6198-8
Pedagogy Joshua Fishman Discourse analysis Conversation analysis Political communication
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