2.1    Varieties of Language Related to the User 与语言使用者有关的变体
a)    Regional dialect 地域方言
Regional dialects are linguistic varieties used by people living in different regions. Regional dialect boundaries often coincide with geographical barriers such as mountains, rivers, or swamps.
b)    Social-class Dialect 社会阶级方言
Just as regional dialect is associated with separation caused by physical conditions, social dialect has to do with separation brought about by different social conditions. Social-class dialect, or sociolect, refers to the linguistic variety characteristic of a particular social class.
Received Pronunciation (RP), a non-localized form of pronunciation, refers to the particular way of pronouncing standard English, which is an indicator of a public school education and thus a high social status on the part of the speaker.
c)    Language and Sex 语言与性别
It is interesting to know that the language used by men and women have some special features of their own. Women are usually more status-conscious than men in English speaking world. Sex differentiation is also reflected in the use of certain intonation patterns and certain lexical items.
d)    Language and Age 语言与年龄
In many communities the language used by the older generation differs from that used by the younger generation in certain ways. Certain linguistic features occur more frequently in the speech of one generation than that of the other.
2.2    Standard Dialect 标准方言
The standard dialect is a particular variety of a language. It is not related to any particular group of language users; it is possible for any member of a speech community to use the standard variety regardless of his social and geographical backgrounds, his sex and age.
The standard dialect has a number of features:
(1)    The standard dialect is based on a selected variety of the language.
    (2)The standard dialect has a widely accepted codified grammar and vocabulary. It is a superimposed variety and it is the variety which is taught and learnt in schools, not the variety of a language any child acquires naturally.
    (3)The standard dialect is usually used in print, and spoken by educated native speakers and used in news broadcasts, official documents and publications and on other formal occasions.
2.3    Varieties of Language related to the use 与语言使用有关的变体
a)    Register 语域
Language is a very variable phenomenon, and this variability is not haphazard as is usually assumed, but it is also rule-governed, and constrained by social variables. It varies with the circumstances under which the language is used.
Any native speaker of a language is in possession of a variety of ways in using the language. The totality of linguistic varieties possessed by an individual constitutes his linguistic repertoire.
A well-known model describing the relationship between social variables and linguistic features is Halliday’s register theory. According to Halliday, Language varies as its function varies; it differs in different situations. The type of language which is selected as appropriate to a type of situation is a register. Register is determined by the following three social variables:
(1)    Field of Discourse 话语范围
 It refers to what is going on: to the area of operation of the language activity. It is concerned with the purpose and subject-matter of communication. It answers the questions of ‘why’ and ‘about’ what’ communication takes place. Field of discourse may be non-technical (shopping, personal letters) and technical (scientific report…).
 Field of register determines to a great extent the vocabulary to be used in communication and it also determines the phonological and grammatical features of the language.
(2)    Tenor of Discourse 话语风格
 It refers to the role of relationship in the situation in question: who the participants in the communication group are and in what relationship they stand to each other. It answers the question of ‘to whom’ the speaker is communicating. To a great extent, it determines the level of formality and the level of technicality of the language we use.
(3)    Mode of Discourse 话语方式
 It mainly refers to the means of communication. It is concerned with ‘how’ communication is carried out. Fundamental to the mode of discourse is the distinction between speaking and writing. Spoken language may be spontaneous or prepared beforehand and written language may be intended to be read with the eye or to be spoken.
 The three variables are the features of the context of situation which determine the features of language appropriate to the situation, i.e. register.
b)    Scales of Formality 正式程度
Language used on different occasions differs in the degree of formality, which is determined by the social variables. Martin Joos distinguishes five stages of formality: intimate, casual, consultative, formal, and frozen.
Different styles of the same language can be characterized through differences at three levels, namely, syntactic, lexical and phonological.
3.    Communicative Competence
Dell Hymes defined in 1970 communicative competence as consisting of four sectors:
(1)    the ability to judge whether something is formally possible, i.e. whether something is grammatical.
(2)    the ability to judge whether something is feasible, i.e. whether something is psychologically acceptable.
(3)    the ability to judge whether something is appropriate, i.e. whether something is suitable in a certain social context.
(4)    the ability to judge whether something is done, i.e. how often something occurs.
   Hymes’ competence covers a wider range than Chomsky’s. While Chomsky takes competence to mean the knowledge of a user about his language. Hymes extends it to cover both tacit knowledge and ability for use.
4.    Pidgin and Creole 皮钦语和克里奥耳语
Pidgins are mixed or blended languages used by people who speak different languages for restricted purposes such as trading. Pidgins typically have a limited vocabulary and a very reduced grammatical structure characterized by the loss of inflections, gender and case.
When a pidgin has become the primary language of a speech community, and is acquired by the children of the speech community as their native language, it is said to be a creole. The structure of the original pidgin is expanded to enable it to fulfil its new functions. The vocabulary is vastly enriched, and new syntactic-semantic concepts developed.
5.    Bilingualism and Diglossia 双语现象和双语
In some speech communities, two languages are used side by side with each having a different role to play; and language switching occurs when the situation changes. This constitute the situation of bilingualism.
The term diglossia refers to a sociolinguistic situation similar to bilingualism. But instead of two different languages, in a diglossic situation two varieties of a language exist side by side throughout the community, with each having a definite role to play.



Exercises
I.    Match each of the following terms in column A with one of the appropriate definitions in column B:
      Column A                 Column B
1.    macro-sociolinguistics       A. Pidgins are mixed or blended languages used by people who
                              speak different languages for restricted purposes such as trading.
2.    social class dialect          B. Regional dialects are linguistic varieties used by people living in
                            different regions.
3.    standard dialect        C. When a pidgin has become the primary language of a speech
                         community, and is acquired by the children of the speech community
                         as their native language
4.    diglossia              D. Two languages are used side by side with each having a different role
                          to play; and language switching occurs when the situation changes.
5.    bilingualism           E. It is possible for any member of a speech community to use the
                          standard variety regardless of his social and geographical