What is Sociolinguistics? -It is aspects of linguistics applied towards connections between language and society -It is the way use language in different social situations Society Language

Society : Any group of people who live together for a certain purpose Language : The members of a particular society speak Social : How and where the members of a society interact and communicate Language Social Society Three components of Sociolinguistics

The area being studied in sociolinguistics: Sociolinguistics Micro- sociolinguistics Macro- sociolinguistics

Macro-sociolinguistics: -The society attitudes toward the functional distribution of speech forms in society; language shift and maintenance; replacement and interaction of speech communities. -In other words macro-sociolinguistics moves alongside with other human cultural phenomena - Macro-sociolinguistics focuses more on society as a whole, in relation to language. -In short, macro-sociolinguistics, the emphasis is on society.

Micro-sociolinguistics: It influences the way people talk and how language varieties and patterns of use correlate with social attributes such as class, gender and age. In a simplistic term micro-sociolinguistics explores the ways in which society influences a speaker's idiolect. The specific language of a person - and how people communicate with one another in line with different social variables/factors. For example: BriEnglish, AmEnglish and Singlish. Micro - sociolinguistics, the emphasis is on language.

How do people’s identity affect the way they speak, and how does the way they speak ‘create’ their identity? What happens to languages and their speakers when people of different language backgrounds find themselves living and working in the same community? How governments and institutions can maintain or revitalise languages, while at the same time maintaining effective communication in a community? How do attitudes and ideologies about language affect the way a language is spoken?

For example: Context A: Ray: Hello mum Mum: Hi. You are late. Ray: Yeah, that bastard sootbucket kept me in again. Context B: Ray: Good afternoon, sir Principal: What are you doing here at this time? Ray: Mr Sutton kept us in, sir

Speak to mother: ‘Hello’ – to greet ‘mum’ – as an address form ‘bastard’ and ‘Sootbucket’ – nicknames for teacher This conversation describes a relationship : intimate and friendly tone. Speak to the Principal: ‘Good afternoon’ – to greet ‘sir’ – as an address form ‘Mr. Suton’ – to refer to the teacher This conversation describes a relationship : formal, distant and respectful tone

For example: At 5 o’clock, Norhayati Merican, a manager, leaves her office. As she leaves... Business partner: Goodbye, Norhayati Norhayati: Goodbye, Mike Her secretary: Goodbye, Ms Norhayati Norhayati: Goodbye, Maria Caretaker: Goodbye, Puan Norhayati Norhayati: Goodbye, Sunita

Daughter, Suzana: Hi mum Norhayati: Hello dear. Taken your dinner? Husband: You are late again! Norhayati: Oh…stop complaining A close friend, Aiman calls: Hello, Yati Norhayati: Hi, man. What’s up? The conversation when Norhayati Merican arrives home:

Different ways of addressing people depends on who we are speaking to: Mother to children of different ages Employee to employer Colleague – degree of closeness Factors that influence the choice of expression: Family norms Audience (who is listening?) Social context (formal or informal) The relationship (how well they know each other)

All these areas offer different linguistic styles to be used in different social context

Woman: Give ‘im something ! Man: ‘Knock ‘is ‘ead off’ Woman: The man knocked ‘er down and just walked away. The above examples show obvious linguistic variation pronunciation by dropping the ‘h’ initial consonant. Refuse should be deposited in the receptacle provided. Put your rubbish in the bin, Kamal The use of the passive grammatical structure and avoids any mention of the doer (1st sentenc) An imperative verb form ‘Put’ and an address form ‘Kamal’ is used (2nd one)

Sociolinguistics is the study of language as it affects and is affected by social relations. Sociolinguistics examines different dialects, accents, and levels of diction in light of social distinctions among people. Sociolinguistics studies how language varieties differ between groups separated by certain social variables, e.g., ethnicity, religion, status, gender, level of education and age.