Sociolinguistics is a subfield of linguistics, which not only studies the relationship between language and society, but also the relationship between language using and the social structure of language users.

社会语言学是语言学中的一个次领域，它研究语言与社会的关系，以及语言的运用与语言使用者所在的社会结构之间的关系。

2 The relevance of language and society（语言和社会的相关性）

(1) Language is mainly used to convey meaning, other than that, it is used to establish and maintain social relations as well.

(2) In a sense, users of the same language actually speak in different ways. It is partly because if his social background that they choose to use the certain language.

(1)语言主要用来传达意义，同时也用来确立和保持社会关系。

(2)从某种意义上来讲，同一语言的使用者说话的方式都不尽相同。他们每个人所选择使用的语言部分上是由他的社会背景所决定的。

3 Speech community and speech variety（言语社团和言语变体）

【考点：名词解释】

(1) Speech community: Social groups that are separately divided for special research.

(2) Speech variety: which is also called language variety, referring to any distinctive speech form used by one speaker or a group of them. In the lexical level, the phonological level, the morphological level, or the syntactical level of the language, linguistic features of a speech variety appears.

(1)言语社团：单独划分出来用以进行特殊研究的社会群体。

(2)言语变体：或语言变体指的是由一位言者或一群言者所使用任何具有区别性的言语形式。言语变体的语言特征可以从语言的词汇层、音位层、形态层或句法层上找到。

4 Two methods of sociolinguistic research（社会语言学研究的两种方法）

(1) Macro-sociolinguistics or linguistic sociology: Regarding the society as a whole, examining how language functions in it and how social differentiations are showed, that is, a general view of the language used in society.

(2) Micro-sociolinguistics or sociolinguistics proper: in the strict sense: Observe society from the perspective of individual members, or make a specific and detailed observation of the language in use.

(1)宏观社会语言学或语言社会学：将社会看作一个整体，考察语言是如何在其中运作的，以及它是如何反映社会差异的，即对社会中所使用的语言的一个总观。

(2)微观社会语言学或严格意义的社会语言学：从其中的个体成员的角度来观察社会，或者对使用中的语言作一个具体的详细的观察。

Ⅱ. Varieties of language（语言变体）

1 Dialectal varieties（方言变体）

【考点：名词解释，分析原因，特点】

(1) Regional dialect（地域方言）

①Definition: Regional dialect refers to the language variants used by people who live in the same geographical area.

②Features: (a) The boundaries of regional dialects often coincide with geographic barriers (the lack of communication due to inconvenient transportation); (b) Under most circumstances, the regional dialects of two adjacent regions are largely mutal-acceptable. They understand each other, and one dialect often changes to another gradually rather than abruptly.

③Reasons: Though it is geographical barriers that mainly cause regional variations of languages, however, one’s loyalty to his native languages and the resistance to changes both physical and psychological, are also reasons for such variations.

①定义：地域方言是指生活在同一地理区域的人所使用的语言变体。

②特点：(a)地域方言的边界线往往与地理障碍重合(由于交通不便造成沟通交流缺失)；(b)在大多数情况下，两个相邻地区的地域方言在很大程度上是可以彼此理解的，而且一个方言到另一个方言的变化往往是一个渐进的，而非突变的过程。

③原因：尽管地理障碍是语言的地域变体的主要源泉，但是，对本族语的忠诚和对变化的生理和心理上的抵制也是形成这种变体的原因。

(2) Sociolect（社会方言）

①Definition: Sociolect, which is also called social-class dialect, referring to a particular social class’ language variant with certain characteristics. It is related to the separation caused by uneven social conditions.

②Features: T Born and raised up in a same geographic area, two people speak the same regional dialect may speak in different ways due to some social factors. Their social background will consciously or unconsciously affects their choice of language form, and which language features they use will also expose their identity.

③Sociolect’s significant sign—Accent. The so-called “Received pronunciation” (RP) in British English is a good proof. By the 19th century, it had become a feature of the upper class around whole the country. Therefore, this unique way of non-localized standard English pronunciation became a sign of public school education, and it has also become a sign of the speaker’s high social status.

①定义：社会方言, 或社会阶层方言，是指具有某一特定社会阶层特征的语言变体。它与由不同社会条件所造成的分离有关。

②特点：两个在同一地理区域出生长大，操同样地域方言的人可能因为一些社会因素而以不同的方式说话。他们的社会背景有意识或无意识地影响着他们对于语言形式的选择，并且他们所使用的语言特征也揭示了他们的身份。

③口音是社会方言的一个重要标志。英国英语中所谓的“标准发音”( RP )就是个很好的佐证，到19世纪，它已成为全国上层阶级的一个特点。因此，这种非地方化的发标准英音的独特方式就是私立学校教育的标志，并且也因此成为言者社会地位高的标志。

(3) Language and gender（语言与性别）

There’re language variations between genders:

不同性别语言也有差异：

①Female speech is closer to standard variants than male speech.

②In the use of intonations: Female speakers have a wider range of intonation; moreover, women use falling and rising tones much more frequently than men in statements.

③In the use of certain vocabulary items, women generally use the word girls as an appellation for women, while men mainly use ladies. Women use evaluative adjectives and certain strength words more frequently than men, such as nice, lovely, cute, fantast, awfully.

④On the whole, female speech is not very dogmatic, so it sounds more polite than male speech. Female speakers are more inclined to use disjunctive questions sentences and syntactic forms like I doubt… and I’m not convinced but…

①女性的言语比男性言语更接近标准变体。

②在语调的使用上：女性言者的语调范围更广一些; 而且，女性在陈述时用降升调的频率要比男性高得多。

③在某些词汇项的运用上，女性一般用girls这个词作为对女性的称谓语，而男性主要用ladies。女性使用评价性形容词及某些强度词的频率高于男性，如nice, lovely, cute, fantast, awfully。

④从整体来看，女性言语的独断性不强，因此，听起来比男性言语要礼貌。女性言者更倾向于用反意疑问句，以及像I doubt…和I’m not convinced but…这样的句法形式。

(4) Language and age（语言与年龄）

In some ways, the language used by the elders is different from that used by the younger generation in many societies and communities.

①The differences are most obvious at the lexical level.

②The change of vocabulary across three generations is more significant than that across two generations.

在许多社团中，老一代人所使用的语言与年轻一代所使用的语言

在某些方面存在差异。

①词汇层面的差异最明显。

②跨三代人的时间段的词汇变化要比跨两代的变化要显著。

(5) Idiolect（个人语言）

①Definition: Idiolect is an individual speaker’s personal dialect, combining the variant elements of region, society, gender and age.

②Features: the regional and social background, gender and age of an individual speaker jointly determine his/ her way of speaking. The language he/ she uses with its own distinctive characteristics is his/ her personal language. The composition of a person’s personal language also includes such characteristics as sound quality, pitch, speech speed and rhythm.

①定义：个人语言是个体言者的个人方言，它结合了有关地域、社会、性别和年龄的变体成分。

②特点：个体言者的地域和社会背景、性别和年龄共同决定了他/她说话的方式。而这种他/她所使用的、带有其自身的区别性特征的语言就是他/她的个人语言。一个人的个人语言的构成也包括像音质、音高、言语语速和韵律这些特征。

(6) Ethnic dialect（种族方言）

①Definition（定义）

Ethnic dialect is a social dialect not the same as regional differences;

It’s mainly used by people who have experienced forms of social isolation such as racial discrimination or segregation and have few privileges.

种族方言是一个不同于地域差别的社会方言;主要是那些经历过像种族歧视或隔离这种形式的社会孤立，没有多少特权的人群使用这种语言。

②The Characteristics of Black English（黑人英语的特点）

a) A dialect mainly used by African Americans who are not middle class.

b) The simplification of final consonant clusters is an obvious phonemic feature of Black English.

c) The omission of the copula “be” is a syntactic feature often used to explain its illogicality in black English.

a)一种主要由大部分非中产阶级的美国黑人所使用的方言。

b)黑人英语一个突出的音位特征是词尾辅音丛的简化。

c)黑人英语中经常用来说明其非逻辑性的一个句法特征就是系动词“be”的省略。

2 Register（语域）

【考点：名词解释，分析文段的语域特征】

(1) Halliday’s Register Theory（韩礼德的语域理论）

Halliday believes that, “Language varies as its function varies: it differs in different situations.” The selected

language type that is suitable for the situation type is the register.

韩礼德的语域理论：韩礼德认为，“语言随其功能而变; 因其场合而异”。选择的与情景类型相适应的语言类型就是语域。

(2) Three social variables that determine register（决定语域的三个社会变量）

①The field of language refers to what is being done: the field of language activity operation. It involves the purpose of communication and thematic events.

②Tenor refers to the role of the relationship in the situations involved in these issues: who are the participants in the communicative group and what kind of relationship they are.

③Mode of speech mainly refers to the way of communication. It involves “how” the communication unfolds. The basic principle of mode is the distinction between spoken language and written language.

①语场是指所正在进行的事物：语言活动操作的领域。它涉及交际的目的和主题事件。

②语旨是指这些问题所涉及的场合中关系的作用：交际群体中的参与者是谁，他们彼此之间是何种关系。

③语式主要是指交际的方式。它涉

及到交际是”如何”展开的。语式的基本原理在于口头语和书面语之间的区分。

3 Degree of formality（正式程度）

(1) Features（特点）

On various occasions, the language is used differently in the degree of formality, decided by social variables, such as who we are talking to and what we are talking about.

在不同场合所使用的语言在正式程度上是不同的，它是由社会变量来决定的，如我们在与谁交谈，以及我们在谈些什么。

(2) Five stages（五个阶段）

Namely: 1. intimate; 2. casual; 3. consultative; 4. formal; 5. frozen. As is said by José, it is normal to switch between two adjacent styles within this level in the same conversation.

即：1. 亲密的；2. 随意的；3. 客气的；4. 正式的；5. 冷淡的。根据裘斯的说法，在同一个交谈中这个阶内相邻的两种风格之间的变换是正常的。

Ⅲ. Standard dialect（标准方言）

【考点：名词解释，特征】

1 Definition（定义）

The standard variant is a coercive and socially superior dialect in the language. It is not only adopted by the government and the judicial system, but is also used by the mass media, and even as a foreign language or a second language taught in educational institutions.

标准变体是语言中一门带有强制性的、具有社会优越感的方言。它是政府和司法系统所采用的语言，被大众传媒所使用，在教育机构，包括把这门语言当作外语或第二语言传授的学校环境中所教授的语言。

2 Nature（性质）

Standard dialect is a special variant of language, because it has nothing to do with any specific language user group. However, it is a variant that any member of a language community can use, no matter what their social and geographic background, gender and age are.

标准方言是语言的一个特殊变体，因为它与任何特定语言使用者群体都无关，而是一个语言社团的任何成员都有可能使用的变体，无论其社会和地理背景、性别和年龄如何。

3 Features（特点）

(1) The standard dialect is a selected variant of the language, which is usually considered to be the local language of the region in the political and commercial center of the country.

(2) Standard dialects are not dialects acquired naturally by children like regional ones but are a kind of compulsory variation, which is imposed on the scope of regional dialect.

(3) Standard dialects have some special functions. As a language that is used in any formal occasion, those standard dialects designated as the official and national languages of a country are also used in official needs, such as government documents, education and news reports.

(1)标准方言是基于该语言的经过选择的一种变体，通常被认为是国家政治和商业中心的地区的地方言语。

(2)标准方言并不是像地域方言那样由孩子自然习得的方言。它是一种强制性变体，是一种强加于地域方言范围之上的变体。

(3)标准方言具有一些特殊的功能。被指定为一个国家官方和民族语言的标准方言也被用于像政府文件、教育和新闻报道这样的官方需求中;它是一种在任何正式场合都被使用的语言。

Ⅳ. Pidgin and Creole（洋泾浜语和克里奥耳语）

【考点：名词解释，分析原因，特征】

1 Pidgin（洋泾浜语）

(1) Definition（定义）

Pidgin, mixed or integrated with several languages, is a special language variety using by people who speak different languages for certain limited purposes, such as trade.

洋泾浜语是将几种语言混合或者融合在一起的一种特殊语言变体，它是由操不同语言的人为了有限的目的，如贸易而使用的语言。

(2) Origin（起源）

Pidgin originated from the fusion of several languages, because the grammar and vocabulary of some pidgin languages were acquired from the European language used by businessmen and missionaries to communicate with those who did not understand their language.

洋泾浜语起源于几种语言的融合，因为有些洋泾浜语的语法和词汇是由为了与那些他们不懂其语言的人进行交际的商人和传教士所使用的欧洲语言中获得的。

(3) Characteristics（特点）

①limited at lexical level;

②The grammatical structure is very simple, which is characterized by inflection and the disappearance of gender and case.

①词汇有限；

②语法结构非常简单，其特点为其屈折变化、性和格的消失。

2 Creole（克里奥耳语）

(1) Definition（定义）

As a pidgin language becoming the main language of a language community and is acquired as a native language by its children, it becomes Creole.

当一种洋泾浜语成为了某一言语社团的主要语言，并且由该言语社团的孩子习得作为本族语时，它就成为了克里奥耳语。

(2) Characteristics（特点）

①The original pidgin’s structure has been expanded to perform new functions.

②The vocabulary has been enriched greatly while new syntactic and semantic concepts have got progress.

①最初的洋泾浜语的结构得以扩展，使其能够执行新的功能。

②词汇被极大地丰富，新的句法语义概念也得以发展。

Ⅴ. Choice of Code（选择语码）

【考点：名词解释&辨析—Diglossia和Bilingualism的区别】

1 Diglossia（put forward by Ferguson in 1959）（双语）

Definition: When two variants of a language exist in a community at the same time, and each language has different purposes, then this phenomenon is called diglossia. In most cases, language variants which are more standard are called high variety languages, being used in government, media, education and religious activities. However, the generally unpopular language called low variety language is used for family, friends, shopping and so on.

Feature: the concretization of the functions of the two language variants

定义：当某一种语言的两种变体同时存在于一个社团，并且每一种语言都有不同的使用目的时，这种现象就叫做双语。通常情况下，更标准的语言变体被称作高标准语言，用于政府、新闻媒介、教育和宗教活动。另一种一般是无声望的语言，称低标准语言，用于家庭、朋友之间、购物时等。

特征：两种语言变体功能的具体化。

2 Bilingualism and multilingualism（双语现象和多语现象）

(1) Definition（定义）

Bilingualism refers to the situation in which two languages are used at the same time with different functions. Multilingualism refers to the use of at least two languages by individuals or groups. For example, residents of a certain region or country.

双语指的是两种语言同时使用，且其功能各不相同的情况。多语则是指个人或群体使用至少两种语言的情况。例如特定地区或国家的居民。

(2) Typical Cases of Bilingualism（双语现象的典型例子）

Bilingualism studies have been performed in Paraguay. As well as other bilingual communities like Quebec, Canada is also (English and French).

A case in point of bilingual communities is ethnic slums.

巴拉圭是进行过双语现象研究的地区之一。另外加拿大魁北克也是双语(英语和法语)地区。

双语社团的一个典型例子就是种族贫民窟。

【考点：名词解释&辨析—Diglossia和Bilingualism的区别】

3 Code-switching（语码转换）

Code-switching: the phenomenon that the speaker or writer changes from one language or language variant to another.

(1) Situational code-switching: In the process of discourse, as the participants’ cognition of themselves changes, they use different languages in various situations.

(2) Metaphorical code-switching: the change of topic requires language to change as well.

语码转换是指说话者或写作者从一种语言或语言变体转用另一种语言或语言变体的现象。

(1)情景语码转换发生在所使用的语言随着参与者对他们自身认识的境况发生改变，他们在不同情境下使用不同的语言。

(2)当话题的转变要求语言也随之变化时就叫做隐喻语码转换。

Ⅵ. Taboo and Euphemism（禁忌语和委婉语）

1 Taboos: For reasons including religious, political or sexual ones, words are avoided to use but are usually replaced by euphemisms, such as the word rest room or bath room.

禁忌语是由于宗教、政治或性别原因而避免使用的词汇，通常被委婉语所代替，例如用rest room或bathroom来代替toilet。

2 Euphemism: is a way of using one word to replace the more abrupt and unpleasant one, such as using pass away to instead die.

委婉语是用一词代替比较唐突的令人不快的另一词的表达方法。如用pass away代替die。

学习必须与实干相结合。——泰戈尔