Sociolinguistics: Interplay of Language, Society, and Variation
Defining Sociolinguistics and Its Scope
Sociolinguistics (SL) analyzes the actual linguistic productions of speakers. This discipline studies and analyzes the connections and uses among linguistic features and social factors (such as age, sex, education, and profession). It questions whether our language uses are connected to our social realities.
Sociolinguistics vs. Dialectology
While sociolinguistics establishes a vertical view from a specific point, dialectology seeks differential analysis from a spatial viewpoint. In sociolinguistics, we analyze different linguistic communication scales within a specific context.
Methodology and Objectives of Sociolinguistics
There are various fields of study, including linguistic variation, which allows us to decide what options are best for us, partly due to variation. The question that arises is whether such features are determined by the social aspects of the concept of “ablauts” (likely a mistranslation or misinterpretation of “speakers” or “variables”).
Sociolinguistics studies the relationships between language and society. We can study the connection between language and society using a different methodology: Quantification. Data are handled using many linguistic examples, and large quantities are worked with. This investigates variations in use, indicating probability.
Within this framework, it is necessary to differentiate between disciplines that coexist with other study perspectives regarding the connection between language and society. Sociolinguistics, as a branch of linguistics, has the ultimate objective of studying societies and the use of languages that coexist in the same space, for example, the functional distribution of a multilingual language in formal or family contexts.
The relationship between sociolinguistics and dialectology clarifies which linguistic features are characteristic of a previously studied or determined area. While these features are not exclusive to the studied area, sociolinguistics delves deeper into the analyses among the distributions of speakers’ features.
Key Terminology in Linguistic Variation
Understanding Variables and Variants
Terminology referring to Linguistic Variation (LV):
- Informants: Users of the language.
- Variable: A clear segment that admits more than one realization.
- Variant: A specific realization of the variable or a sociolinguistic realization.
Types of Linguistic Variables
Linguistic variables can be categorized as:
Phonological Variation
Phonetic differences that do not alter meaning. Often, this involves the use of specific sounds (e.g., the pronunciation of /h/ or /l/).
Morphosyntactic Variation
Syntactic or grammatical variation. Questions arise about whether the meaning is the same, what the meaning is, and its frequency (e.g., “sing,” “chant,” “viacanta”). At the morphosyntactic level, these often have meaning, influencing the discourse content.
Lexico-Semantic Variation
Involves synonymy, discursive frequency questionnaires, and semantic fields. This consists of variation in the use of lexical-semantic levels, where two or more lexical resources are measured, meaning the same thing (e.g., “fridge” vs. “freezer”).
Social Factors Influencing Language Use
These factors serve to understand human and communicative relations:
Gender and Age in Language Variation
- Gender: We ask whether there are differences in speech between men and women, and whether two or more forms exist that depend on a common gender.
- Age: Variations related to age are much more evident than those related to gender in the use of language by speakers.
Socio-Cultural Level and Professional Context
Establishing a definition for socio-cultural level is more complex. We can study levels based on education, economic status, or professional level (e.g., formal or informal contexts).
Spatial Variation and Dialectology
Historical Roots of Dialectology
Spatial variation maintains relations with the origin of dialectology. Studies come from 18th/19th-century historicists, driven by the eagerness to search for the mother tongue and compare it with other Romance languages. This led to results that gave rise to language in specific territories.
Language Evolution and Dialect Formation
A mother language emerges at a certain moment, within which several distributed in space are resolved. Features are recognized for each area, and it is also known how to relate language and society. There are variations depending on the area of the language.
Within the same approach to dialectology, there is a difference between language and dialect from a linguistic viewpoint, influenced by political and economic factors. Every language produces a dialect over time, and the language itself expands. New dialects cannot fragment an existing dialect.
Spanish Language: Modalities and Historical Dialects
The concept of dialect can be applied to Spanish. Spanish is a language with different modalities of speech. Besides Castilian, other dialects of origin that coexist today are historically important. It is essential to know their influence (e.g., Astur-Leonese, Navarrese, and Aragonese).