Language and society.ppt

Language and society,Downes(sociologist)Sociolinguistics is the branch of linguistics which studies just those properties of languages which require reference to social,including contextual factors in their explanation.,SociolinguisticsHudson(linguist）社会语言学即联系社会对语言进行的研究。Ervin-Tripp(psychologist)系统研究语言形式及其社会意义相互之间关系的学说。Fishman(sociologist)什么人对什么人，为了什么目的，什么时候，说了什么,Nature:language structure social,cultural context,sociolinguistics,People who claim to be users of the same language do not speak the language in the same manner.Variety is the label given to the form of a language used by any group of speakers or used in a particular field.,Standard dialect:Socially prestigious dialect.By the government,mass media,schools.Any member can possibly use.Based on a selected variety.Not acquired naturally,but superimposed.普通话的定义：以北京语音为标准音,以北方话为基础方言,以典范的现代白话文著作为语法规范的现代汉民族共同语。,In Britain,accent=marker of statusRP:a non-localized form of pronunciation,refers to the particular way of pronouncing standard English,an indicator of a public school education and thus a high social status on the part of the speaker.,Regional dialects are linguistic varieties used by people living in different regions.Regional dialect boundaries often coincide with geographical barriers such as mountains,rivers,or swamps.EnglishScottish,It needs washing,It needs washed,Social dialect,or sociolect,refers to the linguistic variety that characterize the speech of different social classes.Social dialect has to do with separation brought about by different social conditions.,Upper class:America,cake,helping,ice,lavatory,looking glass,pudding,relatives,rich,Royalties,scent,scurf,sick,sofa,spectacles,writing paperLower class:the States,pastry,portion,ice-cream,toilet,mirror,dessert,relations,wealthy,Royals,perfume,dandruff,ill,settee,glasses,notepaper,Speaker A Speaker B I did it yesterday.I done it yesterday.He hasnt got it.He aint got it.It was she that said it.It was her what said it When we look at the language used by two speakers A and B,we can estimate roughly their relative social status.,Dialect&Accent,Dialect&accent,Field of discourse:what is going on,purpose and subject-matter of communication,why,whatTechnical vs.non-technicalTenor of discourse:the role of relationship in the situation,who,to whomThe level of formalityMode of discourse:the means by which communication takes place,howthrough speech or writing,Degree of formality(Joos),Frozen tailcoat formal Formal suitConsultative jacket and trousersCasual leisure wear Intimate pajamas informal,Visitors would make their way at once to the upper floor by way of the staircase.(frozen)Visitors should go up the stairs at once.(formal)Would you mind going upstairs please?(consultative)Time you all went upstairs now.(casual)Up you go,Chaps!(intimate),Language in contact,Pidgins and creolesBilingualism&MultilingualismCode-switchingCode mixing,Pidgins（洋泾浜语）:the label for the code used by people who speak different language.learned informally in contact.used esp.as trade language.involves the mixture of two or more Ls.Eg.Nigerian Pidgin English;Vietnamese Pidgin French;New Guinea Pidgin German,etc.,上海话中的洋泾浜英语“蹩脚”（BILGE，船底污水，引申为肮脏的、下三滥的、劣质的）“大兴”（DASHY，浮华的，华而不实的，引申为假的、冒牌的、劣质的）“肮三”（ON SALE，二手货贱卖，引申为垃圾货、形容人的品质低劣）“瘪三”（BEG SIR，乞丐先生，用来形容叫花子、难民、逃荒者等各式穷人，后引申为最广泛的骂人用语之一。“赤佬”是英语“CHEAT”（欺骗）和中文“佬”的混生词语，一个鲁迅时代最流行的洋泾浜俚语（隐语）。,Creole is a mixed language which has become the mother tongue of a speech community.Creoles are not confined to certain functions of language nor reduced in syntax and lexis.Eg.Jamaican Creole,Hawaiian Creole English,Monolingualism:Speakers of a single language control different varieties of that language.Bilingualism:People develop some ability in a second language.Multilingualism:People develop some ability in several languages.,Coordinate bilingualism Subordinate bilingualism,Two forms of bilingualism,Code-Switching:refers to the fact that a speaker changes from one language to the other in different situations or when talking about different topics.Codemixing:refers to the change from one language to the other within the same utterance.,“Hi，你好呀！Thismorning，我们对你的case进行了discuss，我们发现，这对我们没什么benefit。所以我们不得不遗憾地告诉你：与这件事相关的所有Project都将被cancel掉。”“事实证明，Download已经不吃香了，Portal也正在逐渐没落。ISP与ICP都没有什么很Power的招数了。MyGod，我们的前途究竟在哪里？Pageview、Impression，我们真正缺乏的是如何让访问者Onceagain的内容与形式。”,Taboos and euphemisms,Taboo:refers to a prohibition on the use of,mention of,or association with particular objects,actions,or persons.Euphemism:is an expression that substitutes one which may be seen as offensive or disturbing to the addressee.,Taboos,Private parts of the bodyFunctions of the body Private matters(income,marital status)Distressing things(crisis and unemployment)death,Euphemism,Developing countriesThe underprivilegedEconomic recessionMentally retarded Blue collarSenior citizenHair stylist,Language and culture,What is culture?Broadly speaking,it means the total way of life of a people,including the patterns of belief,customs,institutions,techniques,and language.In a narrow sense,it refers to local or specific practice,beliefs or customs.,文化的定义：文化就是人们关注、探讨感兴趣事物的现象和氛围。文化是人类群体创造并共同享有的物质实体、价值观念、意义体系和行为方式，是人类群体的整个生活状态。,（1）文化是人类群体整个的生活方式和生活过程。主要成分是符号、价值和意义、社会规范。符号是指能够传递事物信息的一种标志，它在生活中代表一定的信息或意义。文化的存在取决于人类创造、使用符号的能力。价值观是人们评判日常生活中的事物与行为的标准，决定着社会中人们共有的区分是非的判断力。社会规范是特定环境下的行动指南，它影响着人们的心理、思维方式和价值取向、行动。（2）文化的内隐部分为价值观和意义系统，其外显形态为各种符号，这些符号主要体现为物质实体和行为方式。（3）对整个人类来说文化是人的创造物，对于特定时间和空间的人而言，文化则是主要体现为既有的生存和发展框架。（4）文化随着人类的群体的范围划分不同而体现出差异。选自 社会学教程 易益典,Nature and culture,Nature:is what is born and grows organically.Culture:refers to what has been cultivated by man.e.g.snow/snowman;rose/love,Nature and culture,To what extent are the world views and mental activities of members of a social group shaped by,or dependent on,the language they use?,Languages do affect the thinking processes of their users language relativity(kramsch,2000:11)Different people speak differently because they think differently and that they think differently because their language offers them different ways of expressing the world around them(Wilhelm von Humbolt)Franz Boas(1858-1942)Edward Sapir(1884-1939)Benjamin Lee whorf(1897-1941),Sapir whorf hypothsis,Our language helps mold our way of thinking and,consequently,different languages may probably express speakers unique ways of understanding the world.Linguistic determinism(语言决定论):Language determines our thinking patterns.Linguistic relativity（语言相对论）:culture affects the way we think through language,esp.in our classification of the experienced world.(Gumperz and Levinson,1996),Experienced world,Physical world(the globe)Social world(the community we are in)Ideological world(the set of values and attitudes that strongly influence the way we behave),The language we speak codifies all the three aspects of our experienced world For different cultures there are significant differences in the three worlds.Underlying different languages are distinctive categorizations of experience.,儒家学说仁义礼智信”“仁义礼智信”为儒家“五常”，孔子提出“仁、义、礼”，孟子延伸为“仁、义、礼、智”，董仲舒扩充为“仁、义、礼、智、信”，后称“五常”。这“五常”贯穿于中华伦理的发展中，成为中国价值体系中的最核心因素。己所不欲，勿施于人”，“君子成人之美，不成人之恶”。君子坦荡荡，小人长戚戚”“君子不忧不惧”“言忠信，行笃敬”,What is the difference between the ability to speak and the ability to talk?,Chomsky proposed the term linguistic competence(referring to a speakers knowledge of his/her language.)Dell Hymes:criticized the concept of competence.Dell Hymes and others propose Communicative Competence as the most general term to account for both the tacit knowledge of language and the ability to use it,经典笑话：是瓜都能吃 一家人正在吃西瓜。儿子问：“爸爸，是瓜都能吃吗?”爸爸说：“是的。”儿子又问：“那傻瓜也能吃吗?”经典笑话：谁是爸爸 三岁的弟弟问爸爸：“为什么你是爸爸而我是儿子呢？”爸爸回答：“因为我比你高呀！”弟弟点点头表示明白。但复又问：“爸爸，你不是说我会越长越高吗？如果我以后长得比你高了，是不是就该你叫我爸爸了？”,This competence,moreover,is integral with attitudes,values and motivations concerning language,its features and uses,and integral with competence for,and attitudes toward the interrelation of language with the other phases of communicative conducts.(Hymes,1972),According to Hypmes(1972),there are four parameters that underlie a speakers communicative competence,namely the ability to judge,Communicative competence1 whether(and to what degree)something is formally possible-语法性2 whether(and to what degree)something is feasible（适合性）3 whether(and to what degree)something is appropriate（得体性）4 whether(and to what degree)something is in fact done.（现实性）Dell Hymes,Tom meets a friend(Joseph)with a girl on the street.TOM:Is this your daughter?Joseph(very embarrassed):oh,no,she is my girlfriend.TOM(also embarrassed):SORRY,you look much older than her,is she pregnant?Joseph(angry):of course not,we are not married.TOM:Terribly sorry,she is too fat and that baggy dress doesnt suit her.Tom is slapped by Joseph,This theory of communication has exerted strong influence on linguistic description and language teaching This theory can not be taken as regulations in language use because of changeable variables in communications 在一定意义上，语言使用能力是一种根据不同情景，不同的交际对象，不同的交际内容和目的，灵活运用语言的应变能力。,