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Insociolinguistics, avariety, also known as alect or anisolect,[1] is a specific form of a language orlanguage cluster. This may includelanguages,dialects,registers,styles, or other forms of language, as well as astandard variety.[2] The use of the wordvariety to refer to the different forms avoids the use of the termlanguage, which many people associate only with the standard language, and the termdialect, which is often associated withnon-standard language forms thought of as lessprestigious or "proper" than the standard.[3] Linguists speak of both standard and non-standard (vernacular)[4] varieties as equally complex, valid, and full-fledged forms of language.Lect avoids the problem in ambiguous cases of deciding whether two varieties are distinct languages or dialects of a single language.
Variation at the level of thelexicon, such asslang andargot, is often considered in relation to particular styles or levels of formality (also calledregisters), but such uses are sometimes discussed as varieties as well.[2]
O'Grady et al. definedialect: "A regional or social variety of a language characterized by its ownphonological,syntactic, andlexical properties."[5] A variety spoken in a particular region is called a regional dialect (regiolect, geolect[6]); some regional varieties are called regionalects[7] or topolects, especially to discussvarieties of Chinese.[8] In addition, there are varieties associated with particular ethnic groups (sometimes calledethnolects),socioeconomic classes (sometimes calledsociolects), or other social or cultural groups.
Dialectology is the study of dialects and their geographic or social distribution.[5] Traditionally, dialectologists study the variety of language used within a particularspeech community, a group of people who share a set of norms or conventions for language use.[2]
In order to sidestep the vexing problem of distinguishingdialect fromlanguage, some linguists have been using the termcommunalect[9][10] – defined as "a neutral term for any speech tradition tied to a specific community".[11]
More recently,sociolinguists have adopted the concept of thecommunity of practice, a group of people who develop shared knowledge and shared norms of interaction, as the social group within which dialects develop and change.[12] SociolinguistsPenelope Eckert andSally McConnell-Ginet explain: "Some communities of practice may develop more distinctive ways of speaking than others. Thus, it is within communities of practice that linguistic influence may spread within and among speech communities."[13]
The wordsdialect andaccent are often used synonymously in everyday speech, but linguists define the two terms differently.Accent generally refers to differences inpronunciation, especially those that are associated with geographic or social differences, whereasdialect refers to differences in grammar and vocabulary as well.[14]
Many languages have astandard variety, some lect that is selected and promotedprescriptively by either quasi-legal authorities or other social institutions, such as schools or media. Standard varieties are accorded moresociolinguistic prestige than other,nonstandard lects and are generally thought of as "correct" by speakers of the language. Since the selection is anarbitrary standard, standard forms are the "correct" varieties only in the sense that they are tacitly valued by higher socio-economic strata and promoted by public influencers on matters oflanguage use, such as writers, publishers, critics, language teachers, and self-appointed language guardians. As Ralph Harold Fasold puts it, "The standard language may not even be the best possible constellation of linguistic features available. It is general social acceptance that gives us a workable arbitrary standard, not any inherent superiority of the characteristics it specifies."[15]
Sociolinguists generally recognize the standard variety of a language as one of the dialects of that language.[16]
In some cases, an authoritativeregulatory body, such as theAcadémie Française,[17] maintains andcodifies the usage norms for a standard variety. More often, though, standards are understood in an implicit,practice-based way. Writing about Standard English, John Algeo suggests that the standard variety "is simply what English speakers agree to regard as good".[18]
Aregister (sometimes called astyle) is a variety of language used in a particular social setting.[19] Settings may be defined in terms of greater or lesser formality,[20] or in terms of socially recognized events, such asbaby talk, which is used in many western cultures to talk to small children or as a joking register used inteasing or playingThe Dozens.[19] There are also registers associated with particular professions or interest groups;jargon refers specifically to the vocabulary associated with such registers.
Unlike dialects, which are used by particularspeech communities and associated with geographical settings or social groupings, registers are associated with particular communicative situations, purposes, or levels of formality, and can constitute divisions within a single regional lect or standardized variety. Dialect and register may thus be thought of as different dimensions oflinguistic variation. For example, Trudgill suggests the following sentence as an example of anonstandard dialect that is used with the technical register of physical geography:
There was two eskers what we saw in them U-shaped valleys.[16]
Most speakers command a range of registers, which they use in different situations. The choice of register is affected by the setting and topic of speech, as well as the relationship that exists between the speakers.[21]
The appropriate form of language may also change during the course of a communicative event as the relationship between speakers changes, or different social facts become relevant. Speakers may shift styles, as their perception of an event in progress changes. Consider the following telephone call to theEmbassy of Cuba inWashington, DC.
Caller:¿Es la embajada de Cuba? (Is this the Cuban embassy?)
Receptionist:Sí. Dígame. (Yes, may I help you?)
Caller:Es Rosa. (It's Rosa.)
Receptionist:¡Ah Rosa! ¿Cóma anda eso? (Oh, Rosa! How's it going?)
At first, the receptionist uses a relatively formal register, as befits her professional role. After the caller identifies herself, the receptionist recognizes that she is speaking to a friend, and she shifts to an informal register ofcolloquialCuban Spanish.[21] The shift is similar tometaphoricalcode-switching, but since it involves styles or registers, it is considered an example of style-shifting.
Anidiolect is defined as "the language use typical of an individual person".[22] An individual's idiolect may be affected by contact with various regional or social dialects, professional registers and, in the case ofmultilinguals, various languages.[23]
For scholars who view language from the perspective oflinguistic competence, essentially the knowledge of language and grammar that exists in the mind of an individual language user, the idiolect, is a way of referring to the specific knowledge. For scholars who regard language as a shared social practice, the idiolect is more like a dialect with a speech community of one individual.[24]
