On Languagevariety

ZhaoShu FangMiao

【Abstract】There exist various answers to the question “What is language？” The commonly adopted view is that language is essentially systematic symbols used for the purpose of human communication.It is used not only to fulfill a kind of social function but also as the reflection of physical and also social environments of society.Based on the combination of different theories of Social Linguistics，Functional Linguistics and Functional Grammar，it is logical to think that there exist varieties of the same language： dialect – language variety concerning the user，and register – language variety related to the use，and the notion of a language is not monolithic.In the thesis，a wide coverage has been given to the illustration of various dialects and the features of three register variables—field，tenor and mode.It ends up with the conclusion that language should be viewed as a social semiotic resource that people use to accomplish their purpose by expressing meaning in context.All the factors related to the language user and to the language use ought to be taken into consideration.

【Key words】language variety； dialect； register； field； tenor； mode

【摘要】对于“语言是什么？这个问题的回答，不同的语言学派别有着不同的回答。目前，广为大家接受的一种观点是：语言是人们用于实现一定交际目的的符号系统。本论文作者从分析语言的本质特性入手，概要地论述了语言与社会的关系。一方面，语言是人们实现社会功能的重要手段；另一方面，语言功能的完成离不开社会这个大背景和特定的语言环境。文章糅合了社会语言学，功能语言学，功能语法研究等相关理论，构建出以下理论框架：语言并非一个单一独体，存在着不同的语言变体，即与语言使用者相关的语言变体和与语言使用相关的语言变体。前者指地域方言，会话方言和标准方言；后者则指包括语场，基调，方式这三个语域变体的语域。文章用了较大的篇幅，详细论述了语域理论的内涵、语域变体的特点及其在真实交际环境中的具体体现，并由此得出結论：语言应当被视为人们在特定的语言环境下完成特定的交际目的的一种社会符号资源，所有与语言使用者相关的或与语言使用环境相关的因素均应考虑在内。

【关键词】语言变体 方言 语域 语场 基调 方式

1.General Introduction

1.1 Language and Society.What is language？ Many philosophers，linguists and historians contributed varied answers with stress on different aspects of language.To Sapir，language is non-instinctive but a method of communication via voluntarily produced symbols purely for human，while Chomsky stressed a language as a set of sentences constructed finite in length and on a finite set of elements.It is universally maintained that language is most importantly an organized set of symbols intended for human communication.

Certain linguistic events can be interpreted only when they are related to society，and social factors must be taken into account in describing a language.For one thing，language is not necessarily used to communicate information，but rather occasionally to perform its important social function of maintaining social relationship between people.For another，users of the same language use it differently and the choice for use mainly depends on their social background.Language，in its turn，plays the role of conveying information about its speaker.And language，its lexicon structure in particular，is the reflection of both physical and social environment of society.For instance，while there is only one word in English for “snow”，there are several in Eskimo，for it is essential for Eskimoes to be able to distinguish between different types of snow.

1.2 Language Variety.As mentioned above，users of the same language actually do not speak it in the same way，and the language of the same user varies with circumstances.Language is not monolithic and there exist types or varieties of the same language.Language varieties are just the demonstration of the overall notion of the language，relating to language user and also to language use.Varieties related to the former are generally counted as dialects and those related to the latter as registers.

2.Language Variety in Terms of User --- Dialect

As far as such factors as regions，social status，sex and age of the user are concerned，there exist regional dialect，social-class dialect，dialect preferred by males or females and dialect preferred by certain generation.

2.1 Regional Dialect and Social-class Dialect.The language variety selected by people in different regions is called regional dialect.In the old days the travel was difficult and there was little communication between rural communities separated by geographical barriers.In most cases the regional dialects spoken in two neighboring areas are rather mutually intelligible and the change from one dialect to another is very often a gradual rather than an abrupt process.

However，with a marked increase in communication because of mass media and the development of modern transport，the stability of local dialects seems to be decreasing.Young people are less likely to speak their local dialect all the time and are more likely to be influenced by the language spoken in town or on radio and TV.This results in the decreasing of geographical variation in language.On the other hand，different social conditions bring about different dialects，that is，social-class dialect.For example，the language used by the following two speakers A and B can reflect roughly their relative social status.

Speaker A Speaker B

I did it this morning. I done it this morning.

It was he that said it. It was his what said it.

There exist three important markers of status.Firstly，in Britain one of the most important makers of status is accent.Received Pronunciation （or RP） is a non-area-confined form of pronunciation and standard English pronunciation，symbolizing a public education and thus a high social status of the speaker.Therefore，regional accents and RP have taken on social implications and become social accents.Secondly，there exists the correlation between certain phonetic features and social variables.For example，the result of the investigation of the percentage of –n as opposed to –ng in “walking”，“running” made by speakers of different social classes in Norwich in England is summarized as follows：

Social-class Percentage of speakers

Using[n]for[η]

Middle middle class 31%

Lower middle class 42%

Upper middle class 87%

Middle walking class 95%

Lower walking class 100%

Thirdly，at the grammatical level，the absence of the suffix of the third-person present-tense singular form of verbs and the non-standard use of double negation are both correlated with the social status of the speaker.

2.2 Language Variety in Terms of Sex and Age.On one hand，languages used by males and females have their typical features.In the English-speaking countries，females are more conscious of their social status than males and thus their speech more closely approaches the standard variety than that of males.So it is the same with the difference in the choice of certain lexical items and the range of their intonation.On the other hand，the speech of the older generation is opposite to that of the younger generation.Certain linguistic features existing in the language of one generation may seldom occur in that of the other.For example，reduplication and some short words occur more frequently in the speech of children.

2.3 Standard Dialect of Language.The universally accepted dialect （or the standard dialect） refers to a specific variety of a language，which is taught and learned in schools and to non-native speakers learning the language.It can be used by any member of a speech community with different social and geographical backgrounds，sex and age but doesnt concern any particular group of language users.

Standard dialect arises from a carefully chosen variety of the language，normally the local speech of an area looked on as the political and commercial center of the country.Besides，it has a generally accepted systematic grammar and vocabulary，chosen by educated native speakers in oral speech and on formal occasions.

3.Language Variety in Terms of Use --- Register

The growth of sociolinguistic research mainly arises from the fact that language is a very variable phenomenon and its variability is subject to rule and social variables.Not only language user but also language use circumstances exert influence on the selected language.Obviously people use different linguistic varieties in different situations and for different purposes，and the variety from the linguistic stock of a speaker to be used is restricted by different social variables.

Actually language is not a well defined system or a set of grammatical sentences，but a linguistic system used for meaning potential and exchange of ideas in context.It is also a study exploring how people communicate by means of language and can only exist and be studied in different contexts associated with specific registers.In short，in a certain context，the possible meanings to be expressed and possible language chosen to express these meanings are determined by special aspects like the topics，participants and medium of communication of that context.Functional grammar looks at language in the context of society in which it is produced and language varies with function and situation.The type of language selected as appropriate to a certain situation is a register.According to Halliday，there are three register variables - Field，Tenor and Mode.

3.1 Field of Discourse.Field can be glossed as 'what the language is being used to talk about' （Eggins，1994，p.52）.At a grammatical level it has consequences for the kinds of Participants in the text，the Processes that they are involved in and the Circumstances that surround them.For example Participants may be human or non human，they may be specific or generic and they may be 'everyday' or 'specialized'.Processes too can be realized differently，material or relational.Finally Field will affect choices in Circumstances.

In our daily lives，a wide range of activities involves the use of language.Whatever dialect we speak，it reflects typical features of the language.For example，every day at home，we experience such roles as mother or father，wife or husband，daughter or son and in which we will take advantage of language features unique to the activity involved.When the language activity takes up actually the whole of the relative activity，the field refers to the subject matter，and when the language plays a minor part，the field is the whole occurrence.Field of discourse mirrors the intentional role of the language user.That means the language user selects purposely to show what his/her language is in connection with，what event he/she is expressing or what is occurring in the speech event.

Roles involving bridging individual contact or phatic communion are naturally non-specialist and connected with non-specialist field with the typical topics of weather，health，news，etc.as follows.

John： Mornin'，Stan！

Susan： Hi.How's it goin'？

John： Oh，can't explain，I guess.Ready for the meeting this afternoon？

Susan： Well，I can't have much choice.

Similarly other fields of discourse like gossip，common conversation and private letters are liable to have changes of topic and subject matte，which are unique to non-specialist field of free conversation and deemed as non-technical fields of discourse.By contrast，technical fields of discourse involve such roles as those of teacher，lawyer，sergeant and expert，and thus they are related to specialist fields.The field of scientific discourse with a wide range of subject matter is generally subject to scholarly language and applications of technology.

To a certain degree，the field of a register determines not only the vocabulary to be used in communication but also the phonological and grammatical features of the language.Extreme cases are the languages of parade-ground drills and knitting patterns.On the parade-ground，the army instructor，no matter who he/she is，has to shout at the top of his/her voice such set words of command as

On fours，fall in！

Ready all！

Attention！

Eyes right！

Similarly the language used in legal documents and religious observance are highly subject to situation，in which a specific usage as well as a certain form of wording is needed.On the other hand，the language in informal talk is seldom limited in the case of intention，usage or wording.Some special vocabulary and grammatical patterns are typical of technical fields.Sometimes a specific field can almost be identified by certain lexical items or collocations themselves.For instance，the language in advertisement，newspaper，recipes or prescriptions is characterized by cleanse，probe，tablespoonful respectively，not to mention enormous more peculiar technical ‘jargons.

3.2 Mode of Discourse.In linguistics，mode can be glossed as the role that language is playing in the interaction，which reflects the relationship between the language user and the medium of communication.In written text，mode has consequences for the grammar in terms of message organization，the degree of lexical density and use of nominalization.In daily life，we shift our roles，thus frequently changing the medium of our communication.Comparatively speaking，most of us prefer speaking to writing.For instance，our family relationships，our leisure interests and many occupational interactions are expressed in speech.Whether we do much writing depends on the nature of our job.

Writing is generally deemed as a kind of written form of speech or visual language，while speaking as audible.The two forms with their respective features are applied for different purposes.Its well known that false starts，interruptions，repetitions，grunts，shrieks and er's frequently appearing in spoken language seldom occur in written texts，and those features of written language barely appear in speech.So within the same language some variations can arise from the distinctions in medium.

Certainly，besides the basic spoken language and written language，there maybe exist the sub-divided variations such as conversing and monologueing concerning speaking，the texts written to be spoken as if not written and those ‘written to be read concerning writing.At present，with the wide use of TV sets，the influential audiovisual medium has come into being.

3.3 Tenor of Discourse.Tenor of discourse can be glossed as the role relationships between the communicators，which is related to grammar in terms of Mood，Modality and Appraisal choices.It involves personal tenor and functional tenor.The former refers to the reflection of personal relationship between speaker and writer or hearer and reader，while the latter reflects what the user is trying to do with language for/to his or her addressee（s）.

Personal tenor has much to do with the degree of language formality，which is determined by the social variables like whom we are talking with and what we are talking about.Martin Joos distinguishes five stages of formality，namely，（1） intimate，（2） casual，（3） consultative，（4） formal，and （5） frozen，which can alternate between two styles within a single discourse.An interesting illustration of these five styles was given by Strevens and reprinted in Corder：

（1） Frozen： Visitors would make their way at once to the upper floor by way of staircase.

（2） Formal： Visitors should go up the stairs at once.

（3） Consultative： Would you mind going upstairs right away，please？

（4） Casual： Time you all went upstairs now.

（5） Intimate： Up you go，chaps！

Different styles of the same language can be characterized through differences at three levels，namely，syntactic，lexical and phonological.For example，the use of passive and impersonal constructions accounts for its greater degree of formality and some words in English are more formal than others.Phonological variations can also be found in different contextual styles of individual speech.Generally speaking，whether people speak or write more or less formally or intimately mainly depend on their feeling about their addressee（s）.That ranges from the most intimately way with their own families and rather casual way with their friends and workmates to the formal way in a relatively inferior social position.They will take more or less neutral way when communicating with strangers.

The intention of the user with the language is the focus of functional tenor.That is，whether the language is being used to communicate didactically or non- didactically？ The consistent function leads to typical linguistic characteristics，just as consistent subject matter will.We talk of the language of advertising，not because there is a particular subject matter associated with advertising but because there is a consistent function--to persuade us to buy products or service.

3.4 The Notion of Register.Field，mode and tenor of discourse belonging to contextual categories are closely related to each other.Field has much to with mode.Generally，we prefer to talk about some matters but write about others.Also mode concerns much those personal and functional tenors.It is usually formal and descriptive in the written but informal and phatic in the spoken.In fact many texts are just reflection of a configuration of different contextual features.For instance，a cooking recipe book belongs to a certain field--cooking，a certain mode--written to be read，and certain tenors instructional and formal.

Text varieties based on the concurrence of cases of contextual categories are deemed as registers，whose definition can be given in terms of phonological，lexical and grammatical characteristics.Registers refer to specific varieties of language use on different occasions.Situation type and the registers associated with them are conventionally recognized in a society，which form part of an individual's communicative competence.That is，he/she can speak or write a number of such varieties and recognize many more originating from others including professionals.A church service，an election speech，a science thesis and an economic contract are all distinctive in language.One sentence from any of these and many more such situation types would enable him/her to identify it correctly.

4.Conclusion

To sum up，language should be viewed as a social semiotic resource that people use to accomplish their purposes by expressing meaning in context.All social factors in terms of register are related to variation according to language user.Variation according to use in specific situations should also be taken into consideration.

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