Language Variety

Language Variety

Abstract：The study of language in its social context starts from the assumption

that speech varies in different social circumstances and that there are speech varieties

within a speech in this paper，I want to talk about this aspect of the

linguistics.

Key words：Language；dialects；variety

Language is one of the most powerful symbol of social the normal

transfer of information through language，we use language to send vital social

messages about who we are，where we come from，and who we associate is

often shocking to realize how extensively we may judge a person’s background，

character，and intentions based simply upon the person’s language，dialect，or，in some

instances，even the choice of a single the social role of language，it stands

to reason that one strand of language study should concentrate on the role of language

in society.

Language Families

Other Germanic languages include Dutch，German，Icelandic，Swedish，and

of them arose from a single language，called Proto-Germanic by linguists，

which was spoken over 2500 years -Germanic was never written down，but

its existence and much of its vocabulary and structure can be confidently inferred

from the many systematic correspondences in words and grammatical structures

shared by its descendants.

The break-up of Proto-Germanic happened when subgroups of the original

speech community became separated：500 to 1000 years of independent changes first

produced divergent dialects，and then these became separate same

thing happened to Latin after the Romans spread it over large parts of Europe；it split

into dialects that turned into the modern Romance languages，among them French，

Spanish，and and Proto-Germanic were also ancestor，and

the ancestor of many other languages of Europe，India，and points in between，was

Proto-Indo-European，the parent of one of the world’s most widespread language

families.

Language and dialects

Most speakers can give a name to whatever it is they occasion，some of

these names may appear to be strange to those who take a scientific interest in

languages，but we should remember that human naming practices often have a large，

‘unscientific component to -takers in India find themselves confronted

with a wide array of language names when they ask people what language or

languages they are not only ascribed by region，which is what we might

expect，but sometimes also by caste，religion，village，and so er，they can

change from census to census as the political and social climate of the country

changes.

While people do usually know what language they speak，they may not always

lay claim to be fully qualified speakers of that may experience

difficulty in deciding whether what they speak should be called a language proper or

merely a dialect of some can observe too that questions such as ‘which

language do you speak？ or ‘which dialect do you speak？ may be answered quite

differently by people who appear to speak in an identical Gumperz has

pointed out，many regions of the world provide plenty of evidence for what he calls a

bewildering array of the language and dialect socio-historical factors

play a crucial role in determining boundaries.

Historically，the standard variety of English is based on the dialect of English

that developed after the Norman Conquest resulted in the permanent removal of the

Court from Winchester to dialect became the one preferred by the

educated，and it was developed and promoted as a model，or norm，for wider and

wider segments of was also the norm that was carried overseas，but not one

unaffected by such ，Standard English is codified to the extent that the

grammar and vocabulary of English are much the same everywhere in the world：

variation among local standards is really quite minor，being difference of ‘flavor

rather than of ‘substance， so that the Singapore，South African，and Irish varieties

are ，Standard English is so powerful that it exerts a tremendous

pressure on all local varieties，to the extent that many of the long-established dialects

of England and the Lowlands English of Scotland have lost much of their vigor.

Regional variation in the way a language is spoken is likely to be one of the most

noticeable ways in which we observe variety in you travel throughout a

wide geographical area in which a language is spoken，and particularly if that

language has been spoken in that area for many hundreds of years，you are almost

certain to notice differences in pronunciation，in the choices and forms of words，and

in may even be very distinctive local colorings in the language which

you notice as you move from one location to we call it regional dialects of

the language.

The term dialect can also be used to describe differences in speech associated

with various social groups or are social dialects as well as regional

immediate problem is that of defining social position，e.g.，occupation，place

of residence，education，‘new versus ‘old，money，income，racial or ethnic origin，

cultural background，caste，religion，and so factors as these do appear to be

related fairly directly to how people speak.

Conclusion

If languages can differ from one another in these ways，one might ask：Are there

any restrictions on the ways in which they can differ from one another？ Are there

some general properties that are common to all human languages？ There

instance，many languages use differences in the order of elements to carry differences

in sts believe that such a relation would violate constraints on humans’

linguistic other words，while languages can be astonishingly different from

one another--and this is why it is important for linguists to study languages of as

many different types as possible--there are nonetheless features that unite all

languages as different manifestations of the human language.

Bibliography

[1]Romaine，ge in society：An introduction to

：Oxford University Press.1994.

[2]胡壯麟，刘润清，李延福：《语言学教程》，北京：北京大学出版社.1988

[3]Trask，ge and New York：Routledge.1994.

[4]ental Concepts of Language ai Foreign

Language Education Press 1983.