Language, society and culture

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Language, society and culture

• Gonzalo Edward González Cornejo

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Group of people who share a set of norms, rules
and expectations regarding the use of language.
Speech community

Anthropology (investigation of language and
culture)
Sociolinguistics
Sociology (role that language plays in social
groups and institutions)
Psychology (how attitudes and perceptions are
expressed)
Inter-relationships between language and society
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Social Dialects

• Are
• According to

Varieties of language used by groups defined
Class
Education
Other social parameters
Age
Sex
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In social dialects
Over prestige
Positively valued ways pf speaking in social
communities
Prestige
Non standard forms and expressions by certain
sub-groups
Covert prestige
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SOCIAL DIALECTS
EDUCATION
SOCIAL CLASS
A person who spends a long time going through
college or university will tend to have spoken
language features.
Differences in pronunciation among social classes
from the same place.
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Differ in form and pronunciation
Tend to use more complicated forms
Upper class and more educated
Tend to simplify the way of speaking
Lower class and less educated
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Are also factors that can determine language
variety
Age and gender
Age
Gender
MALESPEAKERS
FEMALE SPEAKERS
Elder people may talk a bit different from
youngers
Tend to use simpler ways of speaking
Tend to use more sophisticated language
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ETHNIC BACKGROUND

• 
  Example

Importan form to determine languages
Is easy to identify peoples belonging place
Black English Vernacular (speech of many African-
Americans)
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IDIOLECT
Dialect of each individual speaker of a language
Voice quality
Physical state
Contribute to identifying features in an
individuals speech
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Formal Spoken or Written
Job interview, business letters, etc.
Style
Informal Spoken or Written
Speaking to a friend or writing to him.
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Examples of style in letters
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Jargon
Thechnical vocabulary associated with a special
acitivty or group
Register
Legal
Unlikely to incorporate some of the expressions
you are becoming familiar with from the
linguistic register
Variation according to use in specific situations
Religious
Expressions not found elsewhere
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Dialects