What are different factors that govern language variation?

Answer 1

"FACTORS THAT GOVERN LANGUAGE VARIATIONS"

Any item of change starts as a series of minute variations which spread through the time and area. Language variation and change is used in present-day sociolinguistics to refer to the small variations which occur in language and which are determined by external, social factors. These variations can and do lead in time to language change. They contrast with variations in language which are motivated by internal factors - structural features of a language - which can also lead to change, especially when this internal variation occurs during first language acquisition.

The variation we can observe in language is non-random, i.e. variation in language is socially significant. Language variation is largely determined by social class and status. Variation furthermore correlates with the relative security of a group´s position in society with a general tendency of lower-status groups to imitate higher-status groups as long as this imitation has a chance of leading to an improvement of social status as with the lower-middle classes in all over the world.

· Variables which are subject to stylistic variation as well as class, sex or age variations are referred to as markers.

· Variables which are not involved in systematic style variation are called indicators.

Geographical variation and language contact:

Variation has not only social sources but also spatial ones. When speakers disseminate into new locations, the language they take with them changes with time. These changes very often are connected with the establishment of different standard forms of languages at the new locations.

Furthermore, at overseas locations, English has been subject to language contact and this has in turn led to changes in the forms of the language when this has taken place.

· South Africa is a good example of a contact situation with Afrikaans (a colonial form of early modern Dutch) the language with which English has been in contact.

DIALECT:

· Different language communities have certain ways of talking that set them apart from others. Those differences may be thought of as dialects -not just accents (the way words are pronounced) but also grammar, vocabulary, syntax and common expressions

· . Often a group that is somewhat isolated regionally or socially from other groups will develop a characteristic dialect.

STEPS OF LANGUAGE VARIATION:

1) Origin, a period in which many variants exist for one and the same phenomenon.

2) Propagation, the period in which one of the variants established itself.

3) The conclusion in which the remaining variants are done away with.

Other external factors that accelerate the process of language change:

· The degree of literacy in a community

· The restraining influence of a standard of a language, etc.

The most active Class:

Lower middle class speakers figure prominently in language change as they aspire upwards on the social scale.

The behavior of women;

· Women tend to use a more standard type of language than their male counterparts (due to their uncertain position).

· On the other hand, however, women tend to represent the vanguard in a situation of socially motivated language change.

Answer 2

Language variation can be influenced by geographical location, social status, ethnicity, age, gender, education level, and even personal preferences. These factors can affect pronunciation, vocabulary, grammar, and other aspects of language use. Additionally, historical and cultural factors can also contribute to language variation.