II. Varieties of language

1. The standard variety

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 and RP English are both standard varieties of the two languages.

2. A regional dialect

A regional dialect is a variety of a language spoken by people living in an area. This kind of language variation is most noticeable. Regional varieties of a language may have their sub-varieties.

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.

3. Sociolects

Sociolects are forms of 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. E.g. gender is a factor for social variation of language. Women tend to use the standard form while men are inclined to use the nonstandard.

4. Register – situational variety

Register is a term widely used in sociolinguistics to refer to “varieties according to use”, in contrast with regional dialects and socialects, both of which are “varieties according to user”. Dialect shows who you are and where you are from. The register shows what you are doing and with whom.

Register 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 and writing. Tenor depends on the relations between the participants.

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.