Language Variety

任艷

Abstract：The study of language in its social context starts from the assumption that speech varies in different social circumstances and that there are speech varieties within a speech community.And in this paper，I want to talk about this aspect of the linguistics.

Key words：Language；dialects；variety

Language is one of the most powerful symbol of social behavior.In the normal transfer of information through language，we use language to send vital social messages about who we are，where we come from，and who we associate with.It is often shocking to realize how extensively we may judge a person's background，character，and intentions based simply upon the person's language，dialect，or，in some instances，even the choice of a single word.Given the social role of language，it stands to reason that one strand of language study should concentrate on the role of language in society.

Language Families

Other Germanic languages include Dutch，German，Icelandic，Swedish，and more.All of them arose from a single language，called Proto-Germanic by linguists，which was spoken over 2500 years ago.Proto-Germanic was never written down，but its existence and much of its vocabulary and structure can be confidently inferred from the many systematic correspondences in words and grammatical structures shared by its descendants.

The break-up of Proto-Germanic happened when subgroups of the original speech community became separated：500 to 1000 years of independent changes first produced divergent dialects，and then these became separate languages.The same thing happened to Latin after the Romans spread it over large parts of Europe；it split into dialects that turned into the modern Romance languages，among them French，Spanish，and Italian.Latin and Proto-Germanic were also related.Their ancestor，and the ancestor of many other languages of Europe，India，and points in between，was Proto-Indo-European，the parent of one of the world's most widespread language families.

Language and dialects

Most speakers can give a name to whatever it is they speak.On occasion，some of these names may appear to be strange to those who take a scientific interest in languages，but we should remember that human naming practices often have a large，‘unscientific component to them.Census-takers in India find themselves confronted with a wide array of language names when they ask people what language or languages they speak.Names are not only ascribed by region，which is what we might expect，but sometimes also by caste，religion，village，and so on.Moreover，they can change from census to census as the political and social climate of the country changes.

While people do usually know what language they speak，they may not always lay claim to be fully qualified speakers of that language.They may experience difficulty in deciding whether what they speak should be called a language proper or merely a dialect of some language.We can observe too that questions such as ‘which language do you speak？ or ‘which dialect do you speak？ may be answered quite differently by people who appear to speak in an identical manner.As Gumperz has pointed out，many regions of the world provide plenty of evidence for what he calls a bewildering array of the language and dialect divisions.And socio-historical factors play a crucial role in determining boundaries.

Historically，the standard variety of English is based on the dialect of English that developed after the Norman Conquest resulted in the permanent removal of the Court from Winchester to London.This dialect became the one preferred by the educated，and it was developed and promoted as a model，or norm，for wider and wider segments of society.It was also the norm that was carried overseas，but not one unaffected by such export.Today，Standard English is codified to the extent that the grammar and vocabulary of English are much the same everywhere in the world：variation among local standards is really quite minor，being difference of ‘flavor rather than of ‘substance， so that the Singapore，South African，and Irish varieties are concerned.Indeed，Standard English is so powerful that it exerts a tremendous pressure on all local varieties，to the extent that many of the long-established dialects of England and the Lowlands English of Scotland have lost much of their vigor.

Regional variation in the way a language is spoken is likely to be one of the most noticeable ways in which we observe variety in language.As you travel throughout a wide geographical area in which a language is spoken，and particularly if that language has been spoken in that area for many hundreds of years，you are almost certain to notice differences in pronunciation，in the choices and forms of words，and in syntax.There may even be very distinctive local colorings in the language which you notice as you move from one location to another.So we call it regional dialects of the language.

The term dialect can also be used to describe differences in speech associated with various social groups or classes.There are social dialects as well as regional ones.An immediate problem is that of defining social position，e.g.，occupation，place of residence，education，‘new versus ‘old，money，income，racial or ethnic origin，cultural background，caste，religion，and so on.Such factors as these do appear to be related fairly directly to how people speak.

Conclusion

If languages can differ from one another in these ways，one might ask：Are there any restrictions on the ways in which they can differ from one another？ Are there some general properties that are common to all human languages？ There are.For instance，many languages use differences in the order of elements to carry differences in meaning.Linguists believe that such a relation would violate constraints on humans' linguistic ability.In other words，while languages can be astonishingly different from one another--and this is why it is important for linguists to study languages of as many different types as possible--there are nonetheless features that unite all languages as different manifestations of the human language.

Bibliography

[1]Romaine，Suzanne.Language in society：An introduction to sociolinguistics.Oxford：Oxford University Press.1994.

[2]胡壯麟，劉潤清，李延福：《語言學教程》，北京：北京大學出版社.1988

[3]Trask，R.L.Language change.London and New York：Routledge.1994.

[4]H.H.Stern.Fundamental Concepts of Language Teaching.Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press 1983.

（作者單位：東北大學秦皇島分校外國語言文化學院）