Language and Society

In the 1930s, the direction of sociolinguistics began in the epoch of structuralism. She was interested in how a person uses language. The first studies focused on the systematization of languages, the creation of writing and alphabets. Sociolinguists tried to fix the relationship between language and society.

Problems :

1. The problem of the functioning of language in society - what is the purpose of language in society? The language is polyfunctional:

1. Communicative function. Many consider this feature unique. Language can be used in communication, in professional activities, in international communication.

2. The function of the formation and expression of thought. Language and thinking are closely related. Inner speech is a mediator.

3. Nominative function. Through the word language calls the objects of the surrounding reality.

4. Cognitive (epistemological). The world is known through the word. In different languages, the processes of knowledge proceeded differently (language picture of the world).

5. Pragmatic function. The function of the impact of the word on the person (we are using a word to achieve a certain result).

6. Phatic function. This is the contact setting function.

7. Aesthetic function. Commonly used in fiction to evoke empathy. In different situations, the language is implemented in a particular function.

2. Language and structure of society . The problem of how structuring in society is reflected in language.

1. Territorial division of a society - languages ​​differ in the territory of functioning. The longer the territory is limited, the longer the dialect will remain. The word in the dialects may coincide with the literary, but have a different meaning.

2. Social division of society. Options:

1. Estates differences. Now in the Russian language are relations related to social status.

2. Age differences (language of children and adults). In a child, words may have a situational or diffuse meaning. The metaphorical meaning of children is not perceived. In 4 years, children come up with their words. The child is looking for a false etymology. Teens use slang.

3. Gender differences. The speech of men and the speech of women is not the same. Speech differs physiologically (voice timbre, etc.). Greater and lesser degree of emotionality. Women have a distraction from the topic. The difference in topics. There are still languages ​​in which such differences can be traced (taboo for women, different forms of addressing men and women).

4. Professional differences. Any language has professional vocabulary. Three groups:

1) terms - designation of concepts (actual division, phoneme),

2) nomenclature words - the names of the items with which the person (s) works,

3) professional jargons - emotionally expressive words found in the spoken language of people of a particular occupation.

Corporate languages ​​- arise in groups of people with something related to each other (age, common interests).

Argot, argotisms differ from slang. The absurdities are used to break the communication. The purpose of the jargon is to express emotionally. Many argotisms go back to literary. Such words are formed grammatically according to the laws.

Social stratification in society is directly reflected in the language - primarily in the lexical background.

3. Language and culture . 2 aspects: a) the relationship of language and nature; b) the relationship of language and culture as a product of social activity of people.

What determines nature in language? Patterns of generation and speech perception. The human body and speech apparatus is built so that it is easy to pronounce words.

The operational memory of a person determines the volume of the active dictionary (about 8000 - in an adult). In the structure of the phrase a person has 7- + 2 words.

What defines culture in a language?

1. Culture determines the outline of the content of the language. In any culture there is something national and international. In accordance with this, in any language there are universal elements that reflect international elements. In any language there is a purely national. And it manifests itself at the level of vocabulary.

Exotism - the words that call reality, not characteristic of our culture.

2. The national originality of culture is reflected in the features of the division of the reality of the word. That is, we call the same phenomena of reality differently.

3. The national component is manifested in the actual LZ. National specificity manifests itself as a connotative component of the word (emotional evaluation). In denotative terms, words may coincide.

Portable names may show national specificity. For example, zoomorphisms are names of animals in a figurative sense (a swallow is a person who dances well).

National specificity is manifested in phraseology. Some phraseological units in Russian have analogues in other languages.

In the peculiarity of the process of communication is manifested national specificity. That is: how we build our communication with the interlocutor.

The interrelation of language and society is manifested in the national-cultural originality of the dictionary, in the typological features of the normative-stylistic system of the language, in the peculiarity of speech behavior and, related to this, the phenomena of vocabulary and grammar.

Humboldt was one of the first to talk about these issues.