Sociolects Flashcards
Sociolect
How you speak in a social group. Eg Friends, online groups and work colleagues.
Idiolect
Your unique way of speaking
Dialect
The way you speak based off of your geographical location.
Prescriptivism
Rules are prescribed and should be followed to have the correct use of language.
Change within a language is corruption and causes the degradation of language.
Descriptivism
Language shifts and changes naturally overtime and should be allowed to do so. The people who use the language decide the rules. There is lots of variety in language (Idiolects and sociolects etc.)
Linguistically all languages are equal.
Why do we use slang?
- Distance ourselves from other generations
- Changes in fashion and technology
- Differentiate from other sociolects
- For humour, ironically/ to annoy people
- Social bonding
Neologism / coinage
New words or slang that is becoming part of the English language. Created / spread due to influential people, the media or being in school.
Polari
Form of slang used by gay men in the 1960’s to protect themselves from others discovering them. However it quickly fell out of use in the 70’s after the decriminalisation of homosexuality.
Polari examples
Fruit - homosexual man
Slap - makeup
Mince - walk affectedly
Twitchers
Birdwatching
Those who travel to spot rare birds.
Birdwatchers.
Mainly consists of jargon (specialised slang)
Twitchers examples
Blocker - Very elusive bird
Sprawk - Sparrow and hawk (blending)
Mega - an unusual find
Teenspeak
Created to differentiate themselves from the older generations, as well as fitting in with those around them. Exists both in person, in areas such as school and, out with friends, and online, heavily based around social media and texting.
Teenspeak examples
LOL - laugh out loud
bae
BTW/TBH
(mainly acronyms and compounding)
