Sociolinguistics

SOCIOLINGUISTICS refers to the study of how language is used in different social contexts or situations. For example, would you talk to your parents or a professor using the same speech and speech patterns you use when you talk to your friends?

Studying words and grammar can tell us much about the formality or informality of a setting or situation. You would not likely call a professor named John Collins by his first name, for fear of sounding disrespectful. More likely you would use Professor Collins, Dr. Collins or Mr. Collins. His friends, however, would be very comfortable calling him by his first name. If you were on very good terms with Professor Collins, perhaps you might call him Mr. "C" or Dr. "C." This would signal that your relationship with him was less formal than with other professors, whom you refer to as Dr. Smith or Mr. Doe, but still formal enough to require the use of a formal title.

It is clear that first names alone signify informality in a relationship, while titles signal formality. As a person's status increases in a given setting, language can clue us into the change. For example, graduate students are recognized by their teachers as deeply interested in gaining the knowledge that they are experts in. Graduate students rely on their professors for lessons, advice, and contacts in the professional world. Professors similarly rely on graduate students for help in research, teaching courses and grading papers. This greater level of professional involvement, and feelings of mutual respect, generally leads to a more informal relationship. This informality is signaled in language, when graduate students and professors refer to each other on a first-name basis.

Sometimes we use different speech to try to manipulate other people to see things our way. For example, we can use language to try to make things or ideas that some people might look upon as bad, appear to be good. This is called EUPHEMISMS. Click here for more information on euphemisms.