Have you ever heard something along the lines of the following: “It is not just about what you say but how you say it?” This phrase is very relevant to the topic that is going to be discussed in this blog post: sociolinguistics. While it has never been outright addressed in this blog series there are various posts that have fallen under the umbrella of sociolinguistic study. This is why this topic is being addressed today. This post will address what sociolinguistics is and how it relates to anthropology and the study of culture.
Sociolinguistics is an interdisciplinary area of study that draws upon various disciplines, including but not limited to psychology, sociology, anthropology, and more importantly linguistics. It is defined as the study of how cultural values, beliefs, ideas, etc. affect communication patterns and language use. Sociolinguistics also acknowledge that language use is a reflection of culture, meaning how we speak, what we say, and all aspects of language use conveys cultural rules, standards, expectations, and more for our individual selves and the cultures we occupy. This makes sense when you remember and/or realize that language is a key aspect of culture.
We can see the cultural values imbued in communication and language in various ways, which is why sociolinguistics is such a broad area of study. Sociolinguists study language ideology, code switching, gender differences in language, racial and/or ethnic differences in language use, the creation of pidgin and creole languages, focal languages, lexicon (e.g., various meanings of words or how word choices impart specific meaning, e.g., salutations), syntax (sentence structure), phonology (e.g., dialects and pronunciation), and more. Any way in which either a social situation affects language use or a language demonstrates individual or group identity falls under the umbrella of sociolinguistic study.
Sociolinguists must have a keen understanding of the culture they are studying in order to discern the cultural and social aspects of the language(s) used by the cultural group. Therefore, sociolinguists use a variety of ethnographic methods in their studies. The most common are surveys/questionnaires, as well as direct observations. Ultimately, studying language in its various forms, be it through written or oral communication, provides those necessary insights for sociolinguistic study.
This also makes sociolinguistics a widely used area for applied anthropological work. As previously discussed on the blog there are various sociolinguists who are actively working in various fields. This includes Dr. Sarah Carson, who applies her linguistic expertise to helping women in politics, and Dr. Mackenzie Price, a sociolinguist who has worked for various public and private organizations. There are also examples of past sociolinguists who have made their marks in bilingual education and linguistic profiling within housing, which have been used to improve educational settings and rental policies. All in all, an understanding of sociolinguistics is important to any and all career fields since communication is essential in any position.
Works Cited
Eble, Connie. "What is Sociolinguistics? Sociolinguistics Basics." 2005. Do You Speak American? PBS. Electronic. 7 June 2023.
Welsch, Robert L., L. Vivanco and Agustin Fuentes. Anthropology: Asking Questions About Human Origins, Diversity, and Culture. New York: Oxford University Press, 2020. Print.
Wolfram, Walt. "Sociolinguistics." n.d. Linguistics Society of America. Electronic. 7 June 2023.
4 comments:
Before, I did not realize the depth of the study of language. When given the needed information, there is so much that you can learn from a person simply based on the way that they talk. I also never thought about how beneficial it would be for someone who is bilingual to work in a field like this, being able to help even more people communicate and learn from them.
Absolutely! I've definitely heard the saying "It's not just about what you say but how you say it." It's so true, especially when it comes to sociolinguistics. It's fascinating how language reflects cultural values and influences communication patterns. Sociolinguistics encompasses a wide range of topics, from language ideology to code switching, gender and racial differences in language use, and even the creation of pidgin and creole languages. It's a rich field that explores how language and culture intertwine.
The post does good in explaining how sociolinguistics incorporates ideas from linguistics, sociology, and anthropology. This multidisciplinary method deepens our comprehension of how language functions in many cultural situations. The idea that language acts as a mirror of culture, reflecting the values, beliefs, and social structures of a society is appropriately emphasized in the text. This viewpoint highlights how language and culture are intertwined and stresses how crucial sociolinguistics is to understanding these complicated connections.
At First I thought that I completely understood what Sociolinguistics By reading this article I was able to really sit there and understand that Sociolinguistics really is defined as the study of how cultural values, beliefs, and ideas affect communication patterns and language use.
-Ahmesha Johnson
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