Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- 1 Introduction: notions of language
- Part I Micro-choices
- 2 Standard and dialect: social stratification as a factor of linguistic choice
- 3 Gendered speech: sex as a factor of linguistic choice
- 4 Communicating across generations: age as a factor of linguistic choice
- 5 Choice and change
- 6 Politeness: cultural dimensions of linguistic choice
- Part II Macro-choices
- Glossary of terms
- References
- Internet resources
- Index
- References
2 - Standard and dialect: social stratification as a factor of linguistic choice
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 June 2012
Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- 1 Introduction: notions of language
- Part I Micro-choices
- 2 Standard and dialect: social stratification as a factor of linguistic choice
- 3 Gendered speech: sex as a factor of linguistic choice
- 4 Communicating across generations: age as a factor of linguistic choice
- 5 Choice and change
- 6 Politeness: cultural dimensions of linguistic choice
- Part II Macro-choices
- Glossary of terms
- References
- Internet resources
- Index
- References
Summary
The Standard language was the possession only of the well-born and the well-educated.
J. E. Dobson (1956)A samurai speaks his mind
Dialect differences have been recognized for as long as observations about language have been recorded. A central concern of sociolinguistics is to account for the functions dialects fulfil and how speakers choose their dialects. For, in addition to the horizontal distribution across geographical regions, dialects correlate with social stratification. Consider the following travel report.
After a while I began to feel the lack of someone to talk with, so I stopped a man who looked like a farmer and asked him the way. Probably there was something of the samurai manner in my speech and, without realizing it, I may have sounded commanding. The farmer replied very politely and left me with a respectful bow.
‘Well, this is interesting,’ I thought. I looked at myself and saw that I was carrying but an umbrella; I was plainly dressed too. I thought I would try again, and when another wayfarer came up, I stopped him with an awful, commanding voice:
‘I say, there! What is the name of that hamlet I see yonder? How many houses are there? Whose is the large residence with the tiled roof? Is the owner a farmer or a merchant? And what is his name?’
Thus with the undisguised manner of the samurai, I put all sorts of nonsensical questions on the stranger. The poor fellow shivered at the roadside and haltingly answered, ‘In great awe I shall endeavour to speak to your honour …’ […]
Information
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- SociolinguisticsThe Study of Speakers' Choices, pp. 17 - 35Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2005
References
Breton, Roland J.-L. 1991. Geolinguistics. Language Dynamics and Ethnolinguistic Geography. Translated and expanded by . Ottawa and Paris: University of Ottawa Press.Google Scholar
. 1966. The Social Stratification of English in New York City. Washington, DC: Center for Applied Linguistics.Google Scholar
and . 1992. Social networks and social class: toward an integrated sociolinguistic model. Language in Society 21: 1–26.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
. 1987. Hyōjungo no seiritsu jijō [The circumstances of language standardization]. Tokyo: PHP.Google Scholar
Wolfram, Walt. 1997. Dialect in society. In (ed.), The Handbook of Sociolinguistics. Oxford: Blackwell, 107–26.Google Scholar
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