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Rabu, 20 Maret 2013

SOCIOLINGUISTICS


The term ‘sociolinguistics’ is a fairly new one. Like its elder sisters, ‘ethno linguistics’ and ‘psycholinguistics’, it is not easy to define with precision; indeed, these three terms tend to overlap somewhat in their subject matter, and to a certain extent reflect differences in the interests and approaches of investigators rather than differences in material. It is certainly correct to say that sociolinguistics studies, like those carried out under the name of ‘sociology of language’, deal with the relationships between language and society. But such a statement is excessively vague. If we attempt to be more exact, we may note that sociolinguistics differs from some earlier interests in language-society relationships in that, following modern views in linguistics proper, it considers language as well as society to be a structure, rather than merely a collection of items. The sociolinguist’s task is then to show the systematic covariance of linguistic structure and social structure – and perhaps even to show a casual relationship in one direction or the other.

However, although sociolinguists derive much of their approach from structural linguistics, at the same time they break sharply with one linguistic trend. This is the approach which treated languages as completely uniform, homogeneous or monolithic in their structure; in this view , now coming to be recognized as a pernicious one, differences in speech habits found within a community were swept under the rug as ‘free variation’. One of the major tasks of sociolinguistics is to show   that such variation or diversity is not in fact ‘free’, but is correlated with systematic social differences. In this and in still larger ways, linguistic DIVERSITY is precisely the subject matter of sociolinguistics.

example of interaction
If we want to study about sociolinguistics, we must know what the definition of sociolinguistics itself is. From the explanation above, we know that sociolinguistics ware taken from socio that means of people and linguistics that means language. So, we can conclude that sociolinguistics is language that is connected with pupil condition.

We must know that sociolinguistics have some dimensions, among other:
1.      The social identity of the SENDER or speaker is illustrated most clearly by cases of ‘class dialect’, where speech differences are correlated with social stratification – such differences perhaps reaching their extreme form in the caste dialects of India. The same dimension is relevant in cases of difference between men’s and women’s speech (1944).

2.      The social identity of the RECEIVER or person spoken to is relevant wherever special vocabularies of respect are used in addressing superiors. Another special style of speech conditioned by this factor is ‘baby talk’ as used in English and many other languages – where this term refers, not essentially to the way that babies talk, but to the way that adults talk to babies. Still other types of speech determined y the identity of the receiver are the special styles used by the Nootka in addressing children, dwarf, hunchbacks, one-eyed people, and uncircumcised males. In many cases, a special style used in speaking TO a person is also used in speaking ABOUT him; but the identity of the person spoken about is rarely, if ever, correlated with an independent dimension of linguistic variation.


3.      The third conditioning dimension that of SETTING, comprehends all possibly relevant elements in the context of communication other than the identities of the individuals involved. This is exemplified by the special linguistic usage of Apaches when on the warpath, or by the differences between formal and informal style which are determined by social setting in most (perhaps all) languages. Where sharp differences in form and function exist between formal and informal style, we speak of a situation of DIGLOSSIA; this is found in the Arabic-speaking countries, in modern Greece, Haiti, German-speaking Switzerland, and in most of South India (Ferguson 1959).

It should be understood, of course, that the three dimensions which have been listed are by no means mutually exclusive, but commonly intersect to condition a particular type of sociolinguistic behavior. Thus the so-called male and female speech of the Yana involved considerations of both sender and receiver: ‘male speech’ was used whenever a man was either the ender or the receiver, while ‘female speech’ was used only between women. The complex linguistic etiquette of Javanese involves the factors of sender, receiver, AND setting. It should also be understood that each of these dimensions may have to be broken down into smaller ones in particular cases. For example, usage determined by the identity of the sender or receiver may involve a complex interaction of such factors as age, social rank, and closeness of kin ties, as is illustrated by Friedrich’s paper in this volume.

4.      Other dimensions of sociolinguistics are based not so much on the actual diversity of linguistic behavior, but rather on the scope and aims of the investigator. Thus, as in other fields, sociolinguistic research can be SYNCHRONIC or DIACHRONIC. In the realm of the caste dialect of India, we ca point to studies of both types: focuses primarily on the present-day differences and functions of caste dialect in a Hindi-speaking village; tries to find historical causes for the differences between caste dialects of South India.

5.      A dimension introduced to the discussions of the UCLA Conference by Hoenigswald’s paper was that of the difference between how people USE languages and what they BELIEVE about the linguistic behavior of themselves and others. The latter topic, aptly labeled ‘folk-linguistics’, is of frequent concern to the sociolinguist. In many past of the world, for example, the native view tend to confuse ‘high vs. low’ speech, in the sense of formal vs. informal, with ‘high vs. low’ as referring to the social status of the sender. In such cases, the investigator must not be deceived into accepting the folk-view as corresponding to actual linguistic behavior; at the same time, he should realize that the folk-view is itself a part of the sociolinguistic situation, and worthy of study in its own right.

6.      Another dimension is that of the EXTENT of diversity. This term should not be understood as referring to purely geographical measures, not to simple linguistic measures, such as the number of shared words. Rather it refers to difference between parts of a single society or nation as apposed to the difference between separate societies or nations, and to the difference between varieties of a single language as against the difference between separate languages.

7.      A final dimension to be recognized here is that of APPLICATION – the broader implications which are inherent in descriptions of sociolinguistic diversity. Again, three categories may be recognized, corresponding to the interests of three types of investigator.
The first, reflecting the interest of the sociolinguist. The second type of application reflects the interest of the HISTORICAL linguist. The third type of application is that made by the LANGUAGE PLANNER – the linguist, educator, legislator or administrator who must work with official policies regarding language use.
Some problems in sociolinguistics are:
  1. Language, dialect, and idiolect
The difference of these three terms is the definitions of each. If the spoken language of a person or characteristic possessed by an individual in a language is called idiolect. Idiolect an individual will vary with individual idiolect another. If idiolects others can be classified in a category set is called dialects. So, it is a typical dialect group of individuals / communities in using the language.
  1. Verbal repertoire
The term verbal repertoire is defined as the ability to communicate is owned by the speakers. That is, the speakers are able to communicate in a variety of languages ​​to others in a variety of speech, it will be verbal repertoire increasingly broad is owned by the speakers.
  1. Community languages
Language community is a group of people using the same language signaling system. Community languages ​​can occur within a group of people who use the same language and a group of people who use different languages ​​with terms between them a mutual understanding.
  1. Duality
Duality means skills / habits possessed by speakers of the language.
  1. The function of the language and sociolinguistic profile
Language has a certain function in the association among members in accordance with the group / tribe. For example, the Indonesian language can be the national language, the language of the country, the official language and the language of unity between the tribes of the nation. Similarly, the Minangkabau language can be a local language, the language of instruction at the elementary level grade one and two, the official language in the event customs, and more.
  1. The use of language / language ethnographic
In the use of language, speakers must pay attention to the elements contained in the acts of language and its relation to or influence on the shape and the election of regional variations.
  1. Language attitudes
The attitude of the language associated with the motivation to learn a language. In essence, the language is a courtesy gesture to react to a situation. Thus, the attitude of language refers to the mental attitude and behavior on language attitudes. Language attitudes can be observed between the behavior of others through language or behavior recalled.
  1. Language planning
Language planning processes associated with language development, language development, and the politics of language. And afterwards arranged language planning based on the terms outlined by the policy language.
  1. Interaction sociolinguistic
Interact sociolinguistic here means talking about the communicative abilities of speakers. In addition, also discussed the true meaning of the elements of language as a word / language can have multiple meanings. That is, the meaning of a word / language depending on the context of the wearer.
  1. Language and culture
Language is strongly influenced by culture; everything that exists in the culture will be reflected in the language.
Differences in the use of language describing different social circumstances. Certain circumstances can change the pattern of the language used. This is called sosiolingistics which previously described above.


REFERENCES
Bright, William, “Sociolinguistics”,  Proceedings of the UCLA Sociolinguistics Conference, (The Hague-Paris, 1964)
Aslinda and Leni, “Pengantar Sosiolinguistik”, PT Refika Aditama, (Bandung, 2010)



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