Social Variation

The Cambridge Encyclopedia of The English Language

Summary
Social Variation
Social language variation is focused on the social group you belong to and the social role you perform. Sex, age and socio-economic class have been important when it comes to explaining the way sounds, construction and vocabulary. Attitudes to social stratification are different among countries where English is used as a first language. For instance, Britain is thought to be linguistically much more class-conscious than other countries.

Occupational varieties
Occupational dialect is distinctive such as regional and class dialects, but it is usually used temporarily; when you stop work, you stop using the language. However, it permanently influences your behavior both linguistically and socially if you are always on the job. Several Dickens’s characters fall into this category and it is part of his satire.


New words
-The monarchy is still respected in England.
-I found the rigid social stratification in the country.
-We should know the cultural norms of behavior in this country.
-A thermometer is used as a indicator of temperatures.
-The TV show was a satire on political leaders.
-The shops sell a various array of traditional souvenirs and crafts.
-We want you to take over the department’s administrative position.

My Idea
I read articles related to Charles Dickens. I understood occupational varieties as one of the social variation. But I didn’t understand the Dickens’s example well because I did not have enough knowledge about Dickens’s works.