Language variation

Umm-e-Rooman Yaqoob
Roll no. 3
B.S (English)
4th semester
Language Variations And Varieties Of Language
What is variation:
Variation in a language use among speakers or groups of speakers is a notable
criterion or change that may occur in pronounciation (accent), word choice (lexicon) or even preference for
particular grammatical patterns. Variation is a principal concern in sociolinguistics.
Language variations:
Language variations means regional, social or contextual difference in the way a
particular language is used. Since the rise of sociolinguistics in the1960s, interest in linguistic variations
has developed rapidly.
"We now realize that variation, far from being peripheral and consequential, is a vital part of ordinary
linguistic behavior." (Language and linguistics: key concepts, 2007) .
Language varies in many dimensions. Some of which are as follows:
a) Geographical
b) Social
c) Style
d) Function
Language varies with distance. It is said that language changes after every ten miles. All aspects of
language (including phonemes, morphemes, syntactic structure and meaning) are subject to
variation. Language varies at three levels:
I. Pronounciation level
II. Grammatical level
III. Vocabulary level
Varieties of language: What make one variety of language different from another is the linguistic items
that it includes so we may define a variety of language as:
"A set of linguistic items with similar social distribution."
This definition allows us to call any of the following as varieties of language: English, French, London
English, English of football commentaries, the language or languages used by a particular person. There
are following types of varieties of language:
1) Standard Language:

Standard language is a variety of language that is used by government, in the media, in schools and for
international communications. There are different varieties of English in the world such as North
American English, Australian English and Indian English. Although these varieties differ in terms of their
pronounciation, there are few differences in grammar between them.
In contrast there are non-standard forms of language that are used for example in different regional
dialects and in these non-standard varieties of language are different from each other. The only difference
between standard and non-standard language is that we consider that language standard which is right
according to our own value judgments.
2) National or official language:
The official language of a country, recognized and adopted by its government and spoken and written by
majority of people in a country. National language may for instance represent national identity of a nation
or country. It brings people of a nation together and creates a sense of brotherhood and patriotism.
3) Dialect:
It is a complex concept, for linguists a dialect is the collection of attributes(phonetics, phonological,
syntactic, morphological and semantic) that make one group of speakers noticeably different from another
group of speakers of the same language. For example Banjar Hulu and Banjar Kuala are two dialects
of Banjar’s language. So dialect is a variety related to user. It involves differences in pronounciation,
vocabulary and grammar. It varies at three levels:
a. Regional level
b. Social level
c. Individual level
4) Register:
Every native speaker is normally in command of several different language styles, called register, which
are varied according to the formality of the occasion and the medium used (speech, writing or sign).
Halliday, the father of register, defines it as:
"The relationship between language (and other semiotic forms) and the feature of the
context."
Register is also used to indicate degrees of formality in language use. This kind of variety is based
on speciality of language use. Registers are sets of vocabulary items associated with discrete occupational
and social groups e.g. surgeons, airline pilots, bank manager, lawyers excuse different vocabularies. A
person's register can tell us about his profession. A person may control a number of registers. Registers
are usually characterized solely by vocabulary differences; neither by the use of particular words, or by
the use of words in a particular sense.
5) Pidgin:
A pidgin is a new language which develops in situation where speakers of different languages need to
communicate but don't share a common language. The vocabulary of a pidgin comes mainly from one
particular language, called the 'lexifier'. It is a language with no native speaker; it is no one's first

language but it is a contact language. It is restricted in use; it is a reduced variety of
language.
6) Creole:
When two pidgin language speakers marry and their children start learning pidgin as their first language
and it becomes the mother tongue of a community, it is called a creole. Creole has its own grammatical
rules. Unlike a pidgin, a creole is not restricted in use and is like any other language in its full range of
function. Examples are Gullah, Jamaican creole and Hawai'i creole English.
7) Classical language:
It is a language with a literature that is classical. . Some languages have classical form as well as they
have everyday modern variety e.g. Arabic language. Greek and Latin are classical languages but not
modern. Some Latin vocabulary is used by medical and legal professions.
According to U.C Berkeley linguist George L.Hart,it should be ancient, it should be an independent
tradition that arose mostly on its own, not as an offshoot of another tradition, and it must have a large and
extremely rich body of ancient literature
8) Lingua Franca:
It is defined as "a language which is used habitually by people whose mother tongues are different in
order to facilitate communication between. It may refer to a trade language, a contact language, an
international language. It is a language which has developed in response to the need of the people, being
using two different languages in everyday communication. It is an auxiliary language e.g. Urdu in
Pakistan and Swahili in East Africa. English is world lingua franca followed by French.
Lingua fracas may be spoken in different ways. They are not only spoken differently in different places,
but individual speakers varied widely in their ability to use language.
9) Diglossia:
Furgosonhas defined diglossia as,
"It is relatively a stable language situation in which, in addition to the primary dialect of the language
there is a very divergent highly codified super posed variety."
He identifies four language situations which show the major characteristic of the diglossia; they are
Arabic, Swiss, German, Haitian and Greek. In each situation there is high language and low language.
Each variety has its own special function and each is viewed differently by those who are aware of both.
Often one variety is literary or prestige dialect and the other is a common dialect spoken by most of the
population.
10) Style:
The term style refers to a language variety that is divided based on speech or speak situation into formal
or informal styles. One can speak very formally or very informally; our choice of style is governed by
circumstances. The level of formality depends on number of factors:-
o the kind of occasion;
o the various social, age and other differences that exist between the participants;
o the particular task that is involved e.g. writing or speaking and

o the emotional involvement of one or more of the participants.

Language variation

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