Sociolinguistics
Sociolinguistics
Sociolinguistics (pronounced: soh-see-oh-ling-gwist-iks) is a branch of linguistics that studies how language varies and changes in social groups.
Etymology
The term "sociolinguistics" is derived from the words "society" and "linguistics". "Society" comes from the Latin word "societas", which means "association, fellowship, company", and "linguistics" comes from the Latin word "lingua", meaning "language".
Definition
Sociolinguistics is the descriptive study of the effect of any and all aspects of society, including cultural norms, expectations, and context, on the way language is used, and the effects of language use on society. Sociolinguistics differs from sociology of language, which focuses on the effect of language on society.
Related Terms
- Dialect: A particular form of a language that is peculiar to a specific region or social group.
- Code-switching: The practice of alternating between two or more languages or varieties of language in conversation.
- Linguistic anthropology: The interdisciplinary study of how language influences social life.
- Language variation: The use of different forms of language across different geographical or social groups.
- Language change: The phenomenon by which phonetic, morphological, semantic, syntactic, and other features of language vary over time.
See Also
External links
- Medical encyclopedia article on Sociolinguistics
- Wikipedia's article - Sociolinguistics
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