Linguistics 1028A/B Chapter Notes - Chapter 14.0: Mutual Intelligibility, Diaphoneme, Speech Community

• School: Western University
• Department: Linguistics
• Course: Linguistics 1028A/B
• Professor: Stephanie Kelly

Document Summary

Sociolinguistics: the study of the relationship between language structures as they are used in discourse and the social roles and/or situations associated with them. Different features mark speech, some of which are salient. Marker: a linguistic variable that is noticeable to the listener. Salient features: linguistic variables that are easily perceived by a speech community. Indicator: particular linguistic variants used to indicate solidarity with a particular community. The way we use language in terms of word choice, syntax, and pronunciation reveal that we are members of different speech communities. Speech community: any group of people who share a set of conventions for language use. Sociolinguistic norms: conventions for use of language structures in particular social situations. One criteria of english as a speech community, for instance, is that the speakers share norms about putting adjectives before nouns, and that we can more or less understand each other - this is mutual intelligibility.