8.2 Varieties of a language

　 The term variety is the label given to the form of a language used by any group of speakers or used in a particular field. A variety is characterized by the basic lexicon, phonology, syntax shared by members of the group. Varieties of a language are of four types: the standard variety, regional (geographical) dialects, sociolects (social dialects) and registers (functional varieties).

　 The standard variety is the form of a language used by the government and communication media, taught in schools and universities and is the main or only written form. The standard variety is the most widely used in a community. It is more fixed than other varieties, allowing less variation in pronunciation, spelling/writing and grammar. Mandarin Chinese (pu tong hua) and RP (Received Pronunciation) English are both standard varieties of the two languages.

　 A regional dialect is a variety of a language spoken by people living in an area. This kind of language variation is most noticeable. When we travel throughout a wide geographical area where the same language is spoken, we are sure to notice differences in pronunciation, in the choices and forms of words, and even in syntax. Such a situation is often referred to as dialect continuum. Dialectologists may gather data from speakers of different regions and draw a dialect atlas.

　 The English language has many regional dialects. British English, American English, Australian English, Indian English, South African English, etc. are all regional varieties of the language. One dialect is distinctive from another phonologically, lexically and grammatically. Between British English and American English, differences can be easily found in pronunciation, in spelling, in words and in syntactic structure. The word hot, for example, is pronounced differently in the two regional dialects. The vowel is a mid back in British English, while in American English it is a low back. The same word is spelt differently, such as labour and labor. The same concept or object is represented by different lexis (dialectal synonyms, such as flat and apartment). In some sentences, the constituents are different. The auxiliary do may not be necessary in a yes/no question in British English if the predicate verb is have. For example “Have you a match?” is equivalent to “Do you have a match?”

　 Regional varieties of a language may have their sub-varieties. British English has its standard form, which can be represented by the BBC broadcast, as well as other varieties of British English, those of Lancashire, Yorkshire, Glasgow, etc. The same is true with American English and other regional dialects. American English can be divided into North, Mid-north and South. A video tape on varieties of American English shows that people in these different regions use different syntactic structures. The sentence “My hair needs combing” in the north becomes “My hair needs to be combed” in the mid-north, and “My hair needs combed” in the south.

　 The term dialect denotes a wider notion than the term accent. A dialect is a variety of a language that is distinctive from other regional varieties in vocabulary, grammar and pronunciation. The term accent is used for less drastic differences which are restricted to variation in pronunciation.

　 Sociolects are forms of a language that characterize the speech of different social classes. This correlation between language and socio-economic status is often referred to as social stratification of language. A pioneering investigation was done by William Labov in 1966. He studied the pronunciation of postvocalic [r] as in words like car, floor, four, etc. Labov (1966: 64) predicted: “If any two subgroups of New York City speakers are ranked in a scale of social stratification, they will be ranked in the same order by their differential use of [r].” In order to test this hypothesis, he recorded his conversations with the salespeople of three large department stores in Manhattan. They are ranked in the order: (1) Saks Fifth Avenue; (2) Macy's; (3) S. Klein. He believed that jobs in the three stores would be socially evaluated in the same order and the salespeople would talk the way the customers do. He elicited the response by asking questions like “Excuse me, where are the ...?” The answer would be “Fourth Floor”. The results are as predicted. The salespersons, ranked according to the three stores, could also be ranked by their pronunciation of [r]. The percentages of occurrence of [r] pronounced in his conversations with the salespersons are as follows:

　　　　Saks 　　　　　　Macy's　　　　　　S. Klein
　　　　62%　　　　　　　51% 　　　　　　　21%

S. Klein is a department store for lower class customers, Saks is one for upper middle class customers, and Macy's for middle class people. There is a clear correlation between pronunciation of postvocalic [r] as a prestigious form and the socio-economic status of the speakers.

　 While some sociolinguists focus on socio-economic status as a correlate, others look at gender as a factor for social variation of language. Some Australian sociolinguists find that there is a striking difference between men and women in the pronunciation of -ing. The standard pronunciation is [-i], which is paralleled by [-in], a nonstandard form. It has been found that women tend to use the standard form while men are inclined to use the nonstandard.

　 Register is a term widely used in sociolinguistics to refer to “varieties according to use”, in contrast with regional dialects and sociolects, both of which are “varieties according to user” (Halliday, McIntosh & Strevens 1964). To put the distinction in simple terms, we may say that one's dialect shows who you are and where you are from, while the register shows what you are doing and with whom.

　 Register, as a variety of language in use, is analyzed on three dimensions: field, mode and tenor. Field is concerned with the purpose and subject-matter of communication. Mode refers to the means by which communication takes place, through speech or writing. Tenor depends on the relations between the participants. If you are doing an experiment, you may ask your partner: “Would you please pass me the sodium chloride?” If you are having dinner with that person, you may say: “Please pass me the salt”. Sodium chloride and salt denote the same substance, but the two terms differ in field of communication. When you greet your friend face-to-face, you may select from expressions like “Hi”and “Hello”. In writing to your friend you will not use these expressions for greeting. This shows that mode of communication determines the choice of linguistic items. When you write to your boss you will not use the same expressions which you use in a letter to your close friends. The relation between the participants is another important factor that affects the choice of linguistic items. When you start a conversation with someone, the very first thing to consider is how to address the person. The appropriate form of address is determined largely by your personal relation with that person. To generalize: field is concerned with why and about what we communicate; mode is related to how we communicate; tenor is about with whom we communicate. All the three dimensions function simultaneously in determining the variety of language in use.

　 Having discussed dialectal varieties and functional varieties (also called diatypic varieties), a question may arise: How is it possible that people speaking different dialects understand each other? The question presupposes that all dialects are mutually intelligible. That is not true. Some dialects of a language are not. Cantonese, for example, is a dialect of Chinese, but is not understood by speakers of other dialects. With regard to languages of which dialects are mutually intelligible, the answer is: there is a common core in the language. English has a common core of phonology, lexicon and grammar that underlie all the dialects of the language.