Essay Example on Idiolect and Sociolects: The Unique Way We Speak

Idiolect

The term 'idiolect' is made up of two Greek words; idio, which means personal, and lect, as in dia(lect) (Nordquist, 2017). Idiolect refers to a person's way of speaking, and it comprises of wording, grammar and sound (Wardhaugh &.Fuller, 2015). A person's speech is determined by the circumstances in their midst. Language variation is, therefore, the resulting effect as people adapt to changing circumstances that determine communication.

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For instance, two people raised in different environments will respond differently, linguistically to the same situation. A good example is a person who is brought up in the suburbs and another one brought up in the ghetto. If both of them are having difficulties in life, this could be a typical response from each one of them to the question stated.

Assume a person asks the question, "how have you been?" to both of them. The person in the suburb is likely to say, "I've been better" while the person from the ghetto is likely to shrug his shoulders first and then say, "We are managing."

Sociolects

There are infinite sources of variation in speech. Sociolect is used in reference to a certain dialect associated with a specific social group. Some of the determinants of social dialects include economic status, gender, ethnicity and age. Ethnic dialect, a common form of social dialect, defines the ethnic background of many people by language (Nordquist, 2017). It is possible to know the identity of a person by just listening to an audio clip. You can guess the ethnic orientation of the speaker. An example of sociolect is the use of double negation or negative concord among black American speakers. Here is a sentence highlighting the sociolect. I don't want no tulips!

Just as different languages often serve a unifying and separating function for their speakers, so do speech characteristics within languages. Older people tend to be more formal and direct with their communication while young people are more casual and secretive. In terms of gender, women are more inclined to use expressions such as 'I suppose' and 'I know, right' while men do not (Scollon, Scollon & Jones, 2013).

Contextual variables

Contextual variables in communication are features that allow a speaker to signal a listener about a response or reaction that is subject to the listener's interpretation. These features may be linguistic, paralinguistic or non-verbal cues. These context variables can also be grammatical, social, or stable (Holmes & Wilson, 2017). Contextual variables allow participants in communication to signal each other about certain responses without actually having to say them. This implies that the listener must have the capacity to interpret the responses correctly. For instance, a person fanning themselves with their hands implies the person is feeling hot. This interpretation will inform the decision to provide a glass of cold water to the person or adjust the air conditioning. A second example would be a person agreeing to something in a strong tone of voice to show acceptance and enthusiasm. A hesitant and low tone may show disapproval or lack of interest.

Social variables

The use of a certain speech feature over another is determined by variables such as age, gender, ethnicity and social background. Such variables are known as social variables. This concept defines one's social identity in terms of who they are in relation to whom they are communicating with. This means that every individual has multiple social identities, which were promoted by their interactions with different people from different social backgrounds.

Example 1: Brian is an American citizen that has received a scholarship to study in London at the London School of Economics. Upon arrival, he is forced to adjust his language from American English to British English. He has to say 'boot instead of the trunk and lift instead of the elevator.'

Example 2: Mary works at the United States Embassy in Kenya. She often receives visitors and delegates from the US to Kenya. In her work reports, she writes using American English instead of British English which is the language used in Kenya. She also uses British English in her everyday interaction. For instance, 'organize instead of organise' and 'color instead of colour.'

Describe some of the activities of language planning agencies.

The government engages in the identification of the official national language, especially in circumstances where the choice of the national language is problematic in the case of a multi-lingual state. Language planning involves a deliberate process of changing or modifying the language. It is done in four main steps; selecting a language, standardizing its structure, elaborating it to the people, and securing its acceptance. It is usually done in order to solve communication problems (Holmes & Wilson, 2017). Language planning may also be done to correct a perceived bias in language, for instance, sexism, or to ensure continuity and efficiency. It is usually done formally by the government or informally by community leaders and language enthusiasts, in this case, scholars who are knowledgeable about linguistics.

Reforming the spelling system and introducing a gender-neutral language, are some of the ways through which the language planning body achieves its mandate (Holmes & Wilson, 2017). For instance, it is common nowadays to hear the use of the word 'partner' in reference to a person's significant other rather than the use of gender-sensitive terminologies such as 'boyfriend' or 'girlfriend.'

Describe some of the factors which lead to EITHER language maintenance OR language shift.

Language shift occurs when economic, political and social factors influence the choice of language. A community can shift from using one language for most purposes to using a different language, or from using two distinct codes in different domains, to using different varieties of just one language for their communicative needs. Migrant families provide an obvious example of the process of language shift. People migrate to pursue opportunities and education. In schools in the USA, Australia and New Zealand, immigrant learners have to use English as the primary means of communication. Another reason for language shift was that during the political era of colonization, colonizers were keen to ensure their colonies learned and adopted their language. Most African countries speak English and French, languages they picked up from their colonizers. The desire to maintain control and influence by colonizers led to a language shift that ensured colonies are influenced by a new language that would also lead to a change in culture. Additionally, a rapid shift occurs when people are anxious to 'get on' in a society where knowledge of the second language is a prerequisite for success.

Explain the difference between the narrow and the extended senses of diglossia, and give an example of each.

Diglossia refers to the use of two languages while ensuring a strict separation in terms of domain (Wardhaugh & Fuller, 2015). There are three distinct features of narrow diglossia:

• Two distinct varieties of the same language are used in the community, with one regarded as a high (or H) variety and the other a low (or L) variety. For instance, in Greece, until late last century, there was an H variety Katharevousa, alongside an L variety, Dhimotiki.
• The H variety is not used in everyday conversations.
• Each variety is used for quite distinct functions; H and L complement each other.

Extended diglossia occurs when two unrelated languages occupy the H and L varieties such that the H is used for religion, education, literacy and other domains that demonstrate prestige, while the L variety is employed in the informal domain (Schiffman, 2012). For example, in Cape Verde, Portuguese serves as the H while Cape Version Creole is the L.

References

Holmes, J., & Wilson, N. (2017). An introduction to sociolinguistics. Routledge.Nordquist, R. (2017). What is an idiolect and where does it come from? ThoughtCo. Retrieved 22 April 2019, from www.thoughtco.com/idiolects-language-term-1691143

Schiffman, H. (2012). Linguistic culture and language policy. Routledge.Scollon, R., Scollon, S. W., & Jones, R. H. (2013). Intercultural communication: A discourse approach. John Wiley & Sons.

Wardhaugh, R. & Fuller, J. (2015). An introduction to sociolinguistics (Vol. 28). John Wiley & Sons.