Language and dialects Free essay! Download now
Home > GCSE > English language > Language and dialects
Language and dialects
You can download this essay for free. All you need to do is register and submit at least one of your essays to us.
Or you can purchase this essay for just $2 instantly without registering
Downloads to date:
N/A
| Words: 3832 | Submitted: 04-Nov-2012
Spelling accuracy:
98.0% | Number of pages: 20 | Filetype: Word .doc
This is what the first 3 pages of the essay look like



Description
Review of language and dialect in ChinaPreview
Language and Dialect
Abstract: This paper aims to probe into the study of language and dialect in the field of sociolinguistics. Part 1 is a general introduction to the issues being covered in the paper. Part 2 centers on the analysis of certain criteria that probably could be applied as to differentiate a language from a dialect. Part 3 and Part 4 introduce two distinguished kinds of dialects, namely, regional dialect and social dialect respectively through detailed examples. Part 5 investigates the different aspects of register which is closely related to the study of language and dialect. Part 6 is the conclusion.
Key words: variety; regional dialect; social dialect; register
Contents
1. Introduction
2. Criteria for differentiating a language from a dialect
2.1 Variety and “mutual intelligibility”
2.2 Other criteria (including Bell’s seven aspects in languages differentiation)
3. Regional dialect
3.1 Definition and characteristics of regional dialects
3.2 Reasons for the appearance of regional dialects
4. Social dialects
4.1 Social dialects in relation to age differences
4.2 Social dialects in relation to sex differences
4.3 Social dialects in relation to difference of social class membership
5. An introduction to register (field, mode and tenor)
5.1 The field of discourse
5.2 The mode of discourse
5.3 The tenor of discourse
6. Conclusion
1. Introduction
In sociolinguistics, language is considered as an abstract notion that is embodied in the form of dialects. It’s not clear-cut to distinguish a language from a dialect of a language. “Mutual intelligibility” seems to be an ideal criterion in terms of telling a language from a dialect of a language, however, we can certainly find some cases that counter-argue this principle. Hence some other criteria should be applied as supplements to distinguish between a language and a dialect, among which, Bell’s seven principles for discussing different languages are of great inspiration.
The varieties of dialects are differentiated according to the places in which they are used, the different social factors that affect their uses, and functions and styles they have when accommodating different situations in language communication. Accordingly, sociolinguists label these dialects as regional, social, and functional dialect respectively. This paper will touch upon the discussion of the different varieties of language in relation to the users, social factors and environment.
2. Criteria for differentiating a language from a dialect
2 .1 Variety and “mutual intelligibility”
In order to further the discussion of the difference between a language and a dialect, let’s first of all center on an important term in the field of sociolinguistics—variety. Then what is the definition of a variety? R. A. Hudson, a famous linguist, defines a variety of language as a set of linguistic items with similar social distribution (1980:24). According to this definition, we can call any of the following items ...
Download this essay in full now!
Just upload at one of your essays to our database and instantly download your selection! Registration takes seconds
Comments and reviews
Reviews are written by members who have downloaded the essay
No comments yet. If you download the essay you can review it afterwards.