WHAT ARE SOCIAL VARIANTS? - CULTURE VOCABULARY - 2025

Social variants are the different ways of talking about people within the groups of the same society, or the changes that the same language presents depending on the social, cultural or geographical context in which people operate.

For example, dialects are variants within the same language that are spoken in different geographical areas within the same country. There are also professional variants; in different professions a different vocabulary and way of expressing oneself is used. Also, there are the ethnic variants and the religious or sacred ones.

Sociolinguistic studies focus on the relationship between language and society, and how that relationship is interdependent and dynamic; that is, it is studied how language fulfills a communicative function that is impossible to dissociate with society.

The variants described in these studies are numerous and will always depend on the number of social identities that are handled. For example, sex, religion, gender, age, race, ethnicity, socioeconomic level, education, academic specialty, work environment, among others.

Each identity has a communication system within the same language that is used as a code, when two or more people from that group speak to each other. These differences can be used, implicitly or explicitly, as indicators of membership in a group or community.

These groups are called linguistic communities, where their members share a set of expected norms regarding the use of language. Social variants are a vital part of habitual linguistic behavior.

How are social variants presented in language?

Speech codes within each language community are formed with a combination of specialized uses of the elements or aspects of language.

All are subject to variation: phonetics, morphology, syntax, semantics, pragmatics, intonation, rhythm, cadence, and so on.

The choice of pronunciation, grammar, specific words and even body language, forms a style of speech that over time becomes typical and identifiable from one group to another.

In some cases it is common for people from different communities, groups or cultures to misinterpret what is said and done based on the different ways in which each uses the same language.

A fairly common example of these cases of misinterpretation are the speech codes of people of younger generations when exposed to older adults or the elderly.

Here many references and references in the same language have varied with the generation gap, hindering full understanding.

Dialects

In sociolinguistic studies on dialects, social class or socioeconomic level is the main social variant to define groups that speak using codes with common elements. They are called sociolects and are studied within the same city.

It is generally divided into upper-class language, middle-class language, and lower-class or working-class language.

In communicative terms, these sociolects reflect -in most cases- the access and time devoted to education and the type of work or employment in which they develop.

Only certain elements are treated as relevant in the analysis of these sociolects, among them pronunciation, intonation, word selection and grammatical structures.

Differences between social classes

Taking into account a standard mean of the correct use of a language, the differences between social classes become notable.

In several Latin American countries, the upper classes generally tend to over-pronounce or over-modulate words and letters, and use stronger intonations in their sentences.

Their lexical range may be above standard and they do not usually make grammatical errors.

The language in the lower or working classes tends to develop clumsy structures with grammatical errors of gender, number and conjugation. They also tend to suppress word beginnings or endings and make many connections between the flow of one word to another.

The middle classes are subdivided into upper middle and lower middle classes. This group tends to migrate from one code to another with some ease, being able to adapt its language and understanding with any of the other levels.

Different contexts, different codes

People adjust their speech patterns depending on the context and audience, from relaxed (informal) conversation in familiar settings to more formal settings, between social classes, between professional and casual settings, between adults and children.

In each case, special care is taken - or not - to the way of speaking, to the words that are used, to making or not making spelling mistakes, and so on. These are called style changes, which for linguists is the ability to be a "linguistic chameleon."

These are also considered social variants, but they not only depend on the group or linguistic community, but also the situation. There are several phenomena or aspects related to language styles:

Prestige

Also called open prestige, it is the type of code change associated with high social status, formal situations, or simply better standards in the use of language. This phenomenon is quite common in the middle social classes.

Undercover prestige

Also called hidden prestige, it is a choice not to adapt the code so often towards associations with higher social levels.

Generally these people tend to value their sociolect more without caring much about not sounding like educated people speak.

This phenomenon is quite common in the lower social classes, regionalists and autochthonous.

Convergence

It is the adoption of a language style that seeks to reduce social distance. We try to adapt as much as possible to the dialect of the audience (same words, same accents, same intonation)

Divergence

It is the tendency to use a language that emphasizes the social distance between speakers. This marks individual identities and their differences.

Registry

They are conventional and more appropriate forms of language used in more specific contexts, be they situational, occupational or conversational. It is not the same register of language used in the church as between lawyers and judges.

Jargon

It is a characteristic of the registry or style changes. It is a type of special and technical vocabulary, usually nouns, associated with an area of ​​work or interest.

Jargon works to keep equal individuals connected, and somehow marginalize the rest.

In many cases, learning the proper jargon for a profession is synonymous with being qualified to belong to that particular group.

The language register of doctors, for example, has one of the most common and difficult to understand specialized jargon.

Colloquial language

Also called slang, and in English the famous "slang", is a register of the language most identified with people outside the established upper classes.

The colloquial language has a set of words or phrases that are used in substitution for more common terms or standards typical of groups with more special interests.

It is also influenced by fashion and modern trends, such as music and clothing, which have a huge impact on adolescent populations. It works as a group identity to differentiate yourself from others and to know who does not belong.

These words and phrases tend to get lost over time whenever new generations arrive.

Rudeness

Many times interconnected with colloquial language, this type of language is characterized by the use of obscene, insulting words and taboo terms.

Socially, the use of this lexical register tends to be avoided, but it may vary depending on the context, group or linguistic phenomenon.

References

1. Richard Nordquist (2017). Linguistic Variation - Glossary of Grammatical and Rhetorical Terms. ToughtCo. Recovered from thoughtco.com
2. The MLC Blog. What is Sociolinguistics? MA in Language & Communication. Recovered from mlc.linguistics.georgetown.edu
3. British Library. Social Variation. Recovered from bl.uk
4. Ronald Wardhaugh (1986) An Introduction to Sociolinguistics (Online book). Blackwell Publishing. Australia. Sixth edition (2006) Recovered from books.google.co.ve
5. George Yule (1985). The Study of Language (Online book). Chapter 19 - Social variation in language. Cambridge University Press. Recovered from faculty.mu.edu.sa
6. Shaw N. Gynan. Regional and Social Variation. Western Washington University. Department of Modern and Classical Languages. Recovered from wwu.edu
7. Encyclopedia of Examples (2017). 10 Examples of Social Variants. Recovered from.examples.co.