VARIETIES OF

LANGUAGE

Presenter: Elnaz Nasseri

Set of linguistic items with similar social distribution _ they are used by the same speakers or community. (Hudson, 1996, p. 22)

Any body of speech patterns which is homogeneous to be analyzed. (Ferguson, 1972, p. 30)

Any identifiable kind of a Language.

(Spolsky, 1998)

Linguistic items: Lexical items, Sounds and Constructions.

The term language varieties refers to any form of a

language---whether a regional or social dialect, a pidgin,

creole, or some other language code. (Trumbull and

Pacheco's, 2005) 

Linguists commonly use language variety (or simply

variety) as a cover term for any of the overlapping

subcategories of a language, including dialect, idiolect,

register, and social dialect. (Tom McArthur, 1992)

Two broad types of variety: "(1) user-related varieties, associated with particular people and often places, . . . [and] (2) use-related varieties, associated with function, such as legal English (the language of courts, contracts, etc.) and literary English (the typical usage of literary texts, conversations, etc.).” (Tom McArthur, 1992)

Conclusion:If we consider language as a global phenomenon

which includes all the languages of the world, variety of a language refers to different manifestation of a language. (Hudson, 1996, p. 22)

DiglossiaThe term was introduced by Charles Ferguson, (1959),

and refers to the language situation in which two varieties of the same language is used in different situations.

Ferguson lists nine specific characteristics of a diglossic language situation ( involving the Functions, Prestige, Literary heritage, Acquisition, Standardization, Morphology, Syntax, Lexicon, and Phonology of the H and L varieties). (Ferguson, 1996)

Superposed /Standard/High Variety

It is used for Literacy and Literary purposes and for formal, public and official uses (Spolsky, 2008)

Regional Dialect/Vernacular/Low Variety

It is used for informal conversation and daily use. (Spolsky, 2008)

Holmes in his book, An introduction to Sociolinguistics, (2008), stated that Diglossia has three crucial features:

1. Two distinctive varieties of the same language: High/Standard and Low/Vernacular

2. Unique function of the varieties

3. Not using H Variety in everyday conversations.

Diglossia refers to the societies with two distinctive codes of speech which are employed in different situations. (Wardhaugh, 2006)

Diglossia is the characteristic of a speech community_ groups of people with common rules of speaking _ rather than individuals. (Holmes, 2008)

REFERENCE

Ferguson, C, A. (1996), Sociolinguistics Perspectives. New York: Oxford University Press.

Ferguson, C, A. (1972), Language Structure and Language Use. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.

Holmes, J. (2008), An introduction to Sociolinguistics. 3rd edn. London: Longman.

Spolsky, B. (2008). Sociolinguistics. 6th edn.

New York: Oxford University Press.

Tom, M. (1992), The Oxford Companion to the English Language. New York: Oxford University Press.

Wardhaugh, R. (2006). An Introduction to Sociolinguistics. 5th edn. UK: Blackwell Publishing.

Thanks

For

your attention