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Sociology of Language
The Sociology of language is the study of language’s effect on society. It is closely related to the field of sociolinguistics. Of course, the history of language itself has gone back thousands of years. For example, the Ancient Romans interest in latin. The Oxford English Dictionaryitself goes back to 1884. So, of course, with the interest of language always being present in our culture, it became natural to explore language within the context of culture and society. The term Sociology of Language first came about the summer of 1964. During this summer, the Committee on Sociolinguistics of the Social Science Research Council decided to get linguists and social scientists together in one room to discuss and perform research for eight weeks. After this had happened, they decided that the term, sociology of language, does possess purpose in the scholarly community. Despite this meeting, the term Sociology of Language has faced trouble building up its field of study. This is in part due to the fact that the term and field of sociolinguistics was used first. Many scholars don’t see the need for the sociology of language because its meaning is so relevant to sociolinguistics. In Sociolinguistics by Bernard Spolsky, he chooses to use both terms interchangeable. Although he recognizes the difference between the terms, he dismisses those and emphasizes the connection they share with language and society. The sociologist, Joshua A. Fishman is associated with the sociology of language as a field of study. Fishman believes the sociology of language is a broader field of study than sociolinguistics. He also strongly feels the need to be a distinct difference between how this term is used. Subsequently, Fishman addresses the differences in these two terms. However these terms are so closely related that scientists, sociologists and other scholars alike have trouble defining both terms and their uses. In Fishman’s book, Advances in the Sociology of Language, he compares and contrasts the meanings of these two terms:

Sociolinguistics Sociolinguists are known for pinpointing the act of speech down to the very event and circumstance it takes place. This technique is more in tune with the work of linguists in general. Leading to some sociolinguists to admit that their work was really linguistic work but adding the use and meaning of societal units and constructs.

Sociology of Language This term, in summary, is viewed with “language varieties as targets, obstacles, and facilitators, and with the users and uses of language varieties as aspects of more encompassing social patterns or processes”(Fishman, p.9). This is a term used in order to study the role of language in society.

Sociolinguistics and Sociology of Language There is a fine line of differences between these two terms and as seen above, the differences are small, but vital aspects to each field. Each field is concerned with how language, its uses and users, are affected by society in a particular unit and pattern. Also, how the pattern of society affects its members language. The basic similarities between these two terms are its purposes to study language and society.

Subdivisions of Sociology of Language
There are two subdivisions of the sociology of language. These two divisions make this field a whole, which as Fishman puts it, “is greater than the mere sum of its parts.” The first division is descriptive sociology of language. This entails the answer to questions such as: “who speaks (or writes) what language (or what language variety) to whom and when and to what end?”(Fishman, 219). The purpose of descriptive sociology of language is to discover and recognize the norms of a society. The second division is named dynamic sociology of language. This seeks the answer to such questions like: “what accounts for different rates of change in the social organization of language use and behavior toward language?”(Fishman, 219). This division wants to discuss why there can be differences in language in the same social networks. How can similar social networks create different conclusions about language use and attitudes toward language?

Concepts in Sociology of Language
Language-Dialect Variety Varieties in language are studied using the above subdivions of sociology of language. Varieties in language can be contributed to many different issues in a society or culture. For example, a person may speak a different variety of language based on their socioeconomic status, ethnicity, occupation, etc. Another type of variety in a language can deal with geographic location. This is referred to as a dialect. In order for a dialect to occur, it must be a part of a bigger language. A dialect cannot begin on its own. It is a subunit of a particular language. The interest that the sociology of language has over this is merely to know how societies form these dialects, why and who defines them. One thing to be known about varieties is their ever-changing status. A national language may become downgraded to an independent language. Or vice versa. Perhaps a rural community spreads its dialect across the land. Or perhaps they stop using their dialect and speak a more well known language used across their country.

Common Attitudes and Behaviors toward Language A major concept of attitudes and behaviors towards language is “standardization” (Fishman, 228). The standardization of language includes large social institutions, such as: government, media, education, religious systems, instigating rules of their language to its people. In order for them to create such rules for language, they need scholars to analyze the common set of rules, or norms, of society and then form guidelines for correct usage of the language. Once those are established and the social institutions have purported those guidelines, society will soon come to relate such rules with each social institution that supports it. Another common attitude and behavior toward language is a language’s autonomy. To be an autonomous language is considered a good sign. If a language has succeeded in becoming independent of other languages it would show it through dictionaries and grammar books. To achieve that is to be autonomous from other languages. The reason this is important to achieve is because without independence, a language might be seen as a dialect or perhaps just part of a bigger language. Each language seeks to be unique in its own way. The last common attitude or behavior toward language is the speech community. A speech community is simply, a group of members of a language. These communities can be large, encompassing countries, or small, encompassing only small clans.