Language, place and class Regional and social variation

A story A man migrated from Wales to southern England in the 1920s. He took his 5 year old daughter to the village school and introduced her to the headmaster saying “I’ve brought you a new scholar” . The headmaster replied “She’ll be the first one we’ve ever had here”. The man was not a coward – he had a dangerous job and had fought in France and Palestine in WW I. --

continued but he was very afraid since he was obviously in the presence of a raving lunatic He could clearly see a hundred scholars running around the playground. Was the headmaster really insane?

continued No. There was a difference in dialect. In Wales a scholar was someone who went to school. In England it referred to a knowledgeable person.

Study of social and regional differences 19th and early 20th studies based on studies of old men Geographical rather than social Drew isoglosses on maps

continued isoglosses separated dialects Based on family tree model Assumed real dialects spoken by older males

Continued See handout for English dialects Often highly accurate Info collected 1948-61 – men born 1890-1920 but can still identify place of origin of someone who left 40 years ago

Malaysia Can similar maps be constructed for Malaysia?

Dialect continuum Gradual changes from one place to another in England Western Romance Southern Slavic West Malaysia

Problems with Dialect Studies Ignored social change – assumed no social variation in dialect areas ignored variation by gender – not interested in women or assumed followed men

continued ignored variation by age Ignored urban areas – “not real dialects” Non-random sampling

Language and class Class Differences in status, prestige, respect, power Found in all societies, even “classless” ones Until 500years ago based mainly on violence

continued In western societies – mainly & increasingly income, wealth, occupation and education International stratification – economic increasingly an educational, digital and linguistic gap

Social Variation Languages vary by class – often formalised Words for royalty and others in Thai, Javanese, Malay, English – criminal offence in Thailandfor foreigners to use words for parts of the King’s body

continued Pronouns European tu/vous, du/sie systems Phonology – most persistent kind of social variation

Social structure of English Social dialect -- dialect of a social group Accent – variations in phonology English – many regional dialects Standard English is a written and spoken dialect Most writing is in SE

continued Slight national variations Spoken by minority of native speakers – understood by most Target language for NNSs – model in phonetics textbooks RP (BBC) is an accent

Status of RP/BBC High prestige Hostility – US films spoken by vampires, aliens and Shere Khan Status may be declining – prestige speakers – Sean Connery (Scottish), Hugh Grant (RP), Trevor Phillips (Caribbean)

Recent Changes in RP Linking /r/ klO:T -- klQT Final glottalisation – noted in Diana, but not Charles or Blair Some features of Cockney

continued Emergence of Estuary English Intermediate between Cockney and RP Spreading geographically and up and down social structure

Social Aspects of American English No equivalent to RP – closest is Network English (mid-western?) US presidents retain regional accents – Bush (Texas) Kennedy (Boston), Clinton (deep South) Social variations within regions African Americans distinct

Labov’s Study Language varies by class as well as place Labov studied NYC department stores Asking same questions in 3 stores of different status

continued Found post-vocalic /r/has high status in NYC Use increases in middle and upper middle classes Not in Boston reverse Not in England – found in regional dialects

continued Within English – a sign of low status In Reading used more by working class In Malaysia? – a sign of high status --- teacher induced

Other Findings Studies in UK found variation by class E.g. Reading and Norwich – post vocalic /r/, /h/ deletion, /n/ rather than /ng/

continued Differences between men and women Any high status form used more frequently by women Overt and covert prestige

continued African-Americans distinctive Do not participate in the Northern Cities vowel shift British Asians – regional varieties Afro-Caribbeans – revival of patois

Stylistic Variation Fixed – e.g. /n/ vs /ng/, post-vocalic /r/ Graded – e.g. types of glottalisation Part of a stylistic repertoire ranging from formal to casual

Gender, Class and Language Explanation of class and gender patterns Women’s status dependent on male partner Women can choose partners freely Status marked by linguistic features Women’s status can improve by adopting certain features Does this apply everywhere?

Conclusion Language is closely linked to social class Traditional patterns may be replaced by phonological variation within a language or dialect What is happening in SE Asia?

Question Are there social dialects in Asian languages?