Transcript for:
Understanding Dialects and Sociolects

Hello and welcome to the topic: "Difference between  Dialect and Sociolect". What is dialect? Let's   first discuss about it. A 'dialect' refers to a  geographical variety of language. It determines   the language on the basis of geographical location,  that is to say, geographical variety of language.   And in the map you can see how English language is  divided into different geographical locations. We   move on to the next. In other words, we can say  that, a 'dialect' is spoken in a certain area, in   a certain geographical location. For example:  Yorkshire, East Midland, South Eastwest   country. So, in different geographical areas, we  have different way of speaking, that is to say,   a 'dialect' is spoken in a certain area. We  have the same idea in a different way. It   differs in some linguistic forms from other  geographical varieties of the same language.   Language is the same, for example, English is spoken  almost all over England but English is not used, is   not spoken, in every geographical area in the same  manner as we can see in the map. Now let's talk   about 'Examples of English dialects': And this will  make the concept much clearer. Northern Dialect,   Western Dialect, Eastern Dialect, South Eastern  Dialect, East Anglian, and Southwestern Dialect.   So, we can see how English in England are divided  into different dialects based on its geographical   location. Now, let's talk about: 'What is Socialect?' Sociolect is also known as 'social dialect'. It is   associated with a particular class. We have  some more ideas. A form of language used by   a socio-economic class, a profession, an age group  or other social groups or categories...you can say   in that way. We have another important point in  this direction. Sociolect links individuals with   the community of its users and assigns prestige  to a group. 'Sociolect': Your gender, that is to say,   the difference between the way men and women  speak, the way they use language, may determine   your sociolect. Your age, your race, your social  association with a particular group of people   and so on. Let's have examples of 'sociolect'  to understand this concept in a much better way.   Your profession is a factor in your sociolect or  the way you use language. For example: you may have   these different people coming from different  professions like...the first one is 'doctor'. The   second one is 'engineer', 'farmer ' and 'shopkeeper'. They  all belong to different professions. So, in the way,   they use language, in the way doctor uses the  language will differ from in the way engineer   uses the language, farmer uses the language,  and shopkeeper uses the language. These are the   best examples of sociolect on the basis of  profession. We have some more examples of sociolect.   Your race may also be a factor in your sociolect  or the way you use language. For example: if   you are coming from different races like if you  are Indian, British, African and Korean. So, in the   way, Indian use the language or in the way the  British and the African and the Korean. So, your   race also determines the way you use the language.  This could also be a factor in your sociolect.  So, what is to keep in mind is that 'dialect' is  the geographical variety of a language whereas   'sociolect' is your identity of language based  on your profession, based on your job, based on   your race, based on the age group, and so on. That  is basically the difference between 'dialect' and   'sociolect'. Dialect is all about location. It's all  about how people speak the same language slightly   different in another location. But 'sociolect' is your position in the society, your class, your   race, your profession...all this determines the way  you use the language. And, that is basically the   difference between 'dialect' and 'sociolect'. Hope  you understand the concept. Thank you and goodbye.