There is a tension between the observers and quantifiers. The classical example is the two famous sociolinguists Joshua Fishman and John Gumpertz who were working together on a study of bilingualism among Puerto Ricans in the Jersey City. Joshua Fishman had his background in sociology and psychology and used mostly statistical calculation, while Gumperz, trained as an ethnographer, would discovered his data through observation of the use of language in a natural setting. Whatever method they choose, what sociolinguists are looking for is evidence of socially accepted rules accounting for variations in speech. Some of these data can be collected by observation, some by elicitation. Whether to trust the observation is of course a problem: the speaker might be pretending or lying. All of these methodological problems are inevitable in the study of a living phenomenon like language in its social use. Many studies make use of multiple data collected in a number of different ways.
Describe the main methods of collecting sociolinguistics data.
In practice a number of workable solutions have been found to the ‘observer’s paradox’ of collecting natural speech samples. To analyze variation in pronunciation, sociolinguists studying microlinguistic variation regularly count the frequency of occurrence of a linguistic feature under defined social conditions. For finer differences, they may make precise instrumental measurements of significant speech sounds. In order to obtain the samples for this analysis, natural speech must be recorded on tape. This produces the methodological problem.
15 Explain the difference between the terms of "variable", "variant", and "variety".
The sociolinguistic variable is, Fasold says, a set of alternative ways of saying the same thing, although the alternatives, or variants, have social significance. More specifically, a sociolinguistic variable is a linguistic element that co-varies not only with other linguistic elements, but also with a number of extralinguistic independent variables like social class, age, sex, ethnic group or contextual style. The concept of the sociolinguistic variable is theoretically significant because it allows quantitative statements to be made about language use. For instance, one speaker might be said to use more or less of a particular variant than another speaker, rather than categorically to use it or not. Variant - changing, changing - one of several editions of a work (literature, music, etc.), or an official document; modification of any part of the work (different interpretations of individual words, lines, stanzas, chapters). Origin of variants due to a number of subjective and objective reasons. The former include the reasons are rooted in the very literary art, the creative process. In sociolinguistics a variety, also called a lect, is a specific form of a language or language cluster. This may include languages, dialects, accents, registers, styles or other sociolinguistic variation, as well as the standard variety itself. "Variety" avoids the terms language, which many people associate only with the standard language, and dialect, which is associated with non-standard varieties thought of as less prestigious or "correct" than the standard. Linguists speak of both standard and non-standard varieties. "Lect" avoids the problem in ambiguous cases of deciding whether or not two varieties are distinct languages or dialects of a single language. Variation at the level of the lexicon, such as slang and argot, is often considered in relation to particular styles or levels of formality (also called registers), but such uses are sometimes discussed as varieties themselves
Tell about Dell Hymes and his idea about ethnography of communication. How is it used in sociolinguistics.
The study of the ethnography of communication was initiated by Dell Hymes in the early 1960s and numerous studies of the communication patterns in various societies around the world have been conducted since. A central concept is the speech community. 'Speech community' is difficult to define, but most ethnographers would agree that it refers to a group of people who share the same rules and patterns for what to say, and when and how to say it.
Is the following division of the speech repertoire functional or spatial?: 2. Studies of Germany after reunification have shown signs of new linguistic differentiation between the Western and the Eastern half.
The notion of speech repertoire and community is also useful in looking at variation within a single language. In a Palestinian village that between 1949 and 1967 was arbitrarily divided in half, with half in Israel and half in the Jordanian West Bank, there is still evidence, twenty-five years after the division was ended, of the existence of two quite distinct varieties of spoken Arabic. Studies of Germany after reunification have shown signs of new linguistic differentiation between the Western and the Eastern half, something added to the older North-South dialectal variations. New York or London studied as speech communities show not just regional variation but also social variation.
18 If a language is no being passed on to children as native language, but is spoken by a contracting and aging group of adults, it is called…' Give examples.
Many people nowadays have become troubled by the extinction of various species of animals and birds, and lists of endangered species are regularly publicized. Linguists have noticed that languages too are in danger of dying, and for some time have been studying language loyalty, the ability (or lack of it) of speakers of a language to stand up to the pressure of more powerful languages. They have expressed distress at the threatened fate of endangered languages, languages that are no longer being passed on to children as native languages, but are spoken by a contracting and aging group of adults. One early major study looked at what happened to the immigrant and indigenous languages of the United States when faced by the inexorable power of English. Most American immigrant languages were slowly sapped of their strength as younger speakers shifted to English not just in the public domains, but also in their own community and homes. Some factors appeared to speed up the process or slow it down. The greatest resistance to language shift was found in groups that chose to isolate themselves both linguistically and culturally from the mainstream. Two clear cases were isolationist Mennonite Christian groups (especially Hutterian and Old Order Amish) and the ultra-orthodox Hassidic Jews, both of whom rejected not just the language but also the dress and social conduct of their new country. In these cases, the isolation was self-imposed.
19 Continue the sentence: 'The ability (or lack of it) of speakers of a language to stand up to the pressure of more powerful languages is …' Give examples.
Many people nowadays have become troubled by the extinction of various species of animals and birds, and lists of endangered species are regularly publicized. Linguists have noticed that languages too are in danger of dying, and for some time have been studying language loyalty, the ability (or lack of it) of speakers of a language to stand up to the pressure of more powerful languages. They have expressed distress at the threatened fate of endangered languages, languages that are no longer being passed on to children as native languages, but are spoken by a contracting and aging group of adults. One early major study looked at what happened to the immigrant and indigenous languages of the United States when faced by the inexorable power of English. Most American immigrant languages were slowly sapped of their strength as younger speakers shifted to English not just in the public domains, but also in their own community and homes. Some factors appeared to speed up the process or slow it down. The greatest resistance to language shift was found in groups that chose to isolate themselves both linguistically and culturally from the mainstream. Two clear cases were isolationist Mennonite Christian groups (especially Hutterian and Old Order Amish) and the ultra-orthodox Hassidic Jews, both of whom rejected not just the language but also the dress and social conduct of their new country. In these cases, the isolation was self-imposed.