Verbal Repertoire

 Languages
 Dialects
Regional
Social
 Styles
Formal
Informal
 Registers
Trudgill, Peter. 2000. Sociolinguistics: An Introduction to Language and Society,
4th edition. London: Penguin Books, p. 81.
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 Context of Situation

1. I’m going to give you a prescription for the pain.

2. Cream together butter, sugar and beaten yolks
until smooth.
3. New Tubifast. The tubular dressing retention
bandage. No sticking. No tying. No pinning.
4. Beauty of Velvet at truly Budget Prices. In 16
colours. Send now for full details and actual
fabric samples.
Montgomery, Martin. 1995. An Introduction to Language and Society, second edition.
London: Routledge, p. 106. 2/18
Context-Constrained Language Use

 Where talk takes place (Physical setting)

 When talk takes place (Occasion; Event)
 Who you talk to (Interlocutors)
 What you talk about (Register; Topic)
 How used (Medium)
 Level of formality (Style)

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 Guess the Context

吾 欲 之 北 京。
What does it mean?
Who said it?
To whom?
Where?
When?
How? (written/spoken)
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 Register / Jargon

三 百 六 十 行，
行 行 有 行 話。

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 Second Person Singular
Personal Pronouns
Familiar Polite
French tu vous
Italian tu Lei
Spanish tú / vosotros usted / ustedes
German du / ihr Sie
Dutch jij u
Swedish du ni
Norwegian du De
Greek esi esis
Russian ty vy
Trudgill, Peter. 2000. Sociolinguistics: An Introduction to Language and Society,
4th edition. London: Penguin Books, p. 90.
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 Korean Suffixes
Marked for Status

Intimate: -na
Familiar: -e
Plain: -ta
Polite: -e yo
Deferential: -supnita
Authoritative: -so

Trudgill, Peter. 2000. Sociolinguistics: An Introduction to Language and Society,

4th edition. London: Penguin Books, p. 93.
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 Written vs. Spoken Language

Written Language
IF FORMAL:
1. Longer more complex sentences.
Variety of sentence types
2. Carefully selected vocabulary.
Don’t repeat; Usage rules
3. Standard forms
4. Correct spellings
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 Written vs. Spoken Language

Written Language
IF FORMAL:
5. Adherence to particular grammar rules
Agreement
Prepositions not at end of sentence
Not splitting infinitives
6. Coherence and Cohesion
7. Limited (if any) feedback
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 Written vs. Spoken Language

Spoken Language
IF FORMAL, then all of the above

IF CASUAL, few of the above

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Formal / Informal Sentence Pairs

I require your attendance to be punctual.

I want you to come on time.
Father was somewhat fatigued after his lengthy journey.
Dad was pretty tired after his long trip.
A not inconsiderable amount of time was expended on
the task.
The job took a long time.

Trudgill, Peter. 2000. Sociolinguistics: An Introduction to Language and Society,

4th edition. London: Penguin Books, p. 83.
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 Labov's Elicitation of
Four Levels of Formality

Most Formal
WLS Word list style
RPS Reading passage style
FS Formal Speech
CS Casual Speech
Least Formal

Trudgill, Peter. 2000. Sociolinguistics: An Introduction to Language and Society,

4th edition. London: Penguin Books, pp. 86-88.
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 Labov’s Study of Non-
Prevocalic /r/ in New York City

See graph in textbook.

WLS Word List Style RPS Reading Passage Style

FS Formal Speech CS Casual Speech
Trudgill, Peter. 1995. Sociolinguistics: An Introduction to Language and Society,
third edition. London: Penguin Books, p. 88.
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Switching from Scots Dialect to
Standard Scots English

I’ve kenned yon man eight years.

I’ve known that man eight years.

Trudgill, Peter. 2000. Sociolinguistics: An Introduction to Language and Society,

4th edition. London: Penguin Books, pp. 94-95.
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 Diglossia

“Diglossia is a particular kind of language

standardization where two distinct varieties of a
language exist side by side throughout the
speech community (not just in the case of a
particular group of speakers, such as working-
class Scots), and where each of the two varieties
is assigned a definite social function.”

Trudgill, Peter. 2000. Sociolinguistics: An Introduction to Language and Society,

4th edition. London: Penguin Books, p. 95.
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 Diglossia
Contexts for Variety Selection

High Variety Low Variety

Sermons Conversation with family and friends
Formal letters Radio serials
Political speeches Political and academic discussions
University lectures Political cartoons
News broadcasts ‘Folk’ literature
Newspaper editorials
‘High’ poetry `

Trudgill, Peter. 2000. Sociolinguistics: An Introduction to Language and Society,

4th edition. London: Penguin Books, p. 96.
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 Direct Address Forms:
With Dispensation
Situation 1: Teenager Frank Hardy addresses older Rod
Jimerson politely. Jimerson gives Frank permission to call
him by his first name.
Jimerson: "No, I wouldn't say that. There's a lot to tell, but I've
got to get back to work." He glanced at his watch and added,
"Where are you fellows staying? Maybe I could meet you
tonight."
Frank: "Okay," Frank said, and gave the Indian their address.
"I know you're not getting paid to bat the breeze, Mr. Jimerson."
Jimerson: "Rod."
Frank: "Good enough, Rod." Frank shook his hand.
"Suppose we meet at the motel at nine."
Jimerson: "Suits me."
Dixon, Franklin W. 1970. The Melted Coins. New York: Grosset & Dunlap Publishers,
p. 15. (Previously 1944) 17/18
 Indirect Address Forms:
Without Dispensation
Situation 2: The setting is 1951 New England. Margie
Hartwell, a young teenage girl, addresses an older woman
by her first name.
Her visitor was now standing in full view.
"Yes?" Fredericka said coldly.
"Oh," said the girl, looking up. "You must be Fredericka Wing.“
"I am. And who, if I may ask, are you?" In spite of herself,
Fredericka was annoyed at the use of her first name by the
stranger, and her annoyance was not relieved by the sight of the
unprepossessing girl who stared back at her. Young, certainly
not more than sixteen, sullen, untidy, her too-full face blotched
with patches of crimson acne.
Norton, Andre and Grace Allen Hogarth. 1992. Sneeze on Sunday. New York:
TOR: A Tom Doherty Associates Book, p. 15.
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