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1. How is language related to
society
答：
There
are many indications of the inter-relationship
between language and
society. One of
them is that while language is principally used to
communicate
meaning,
it
is
also
used
to
establish
and
maintain
social
relationships.
This
social
function
of
language
is
embodied
in
the
use
of
such
utterances
as
“Good
morning!”,
“Hi!”, “How's your family”, “Nice day
today, isn't it”.
Another indication is that users of the same
language in a sense all speak
differently.
The
kind
of
language
each
of
them
chooses
to
use
is
in
part
determined
by
his
social
background.
And
language,
in
its
turn,
reveals
information
about
its
speaker.
When
we
speak,
we
cannot
avoid
giving
clues
to
our
listeners
about
ourselves.
Then to some extent, language,
especially the structure of its lexicon,
reflects both the physical and the
social environments of a society. For example
while there is only one word in English
for “snow”, there are several in Eskimo.
This
is
a
reflection
of
the
need
for
the
Eskimos
to
make
distinctions
between
various
kinds of snow in
their snowy living environment.
As a social phenomenon language
is closely related to the structure of the
society in which it is used, and the
evaluation of a linguistic form is entirely
social. To a linguist, all language
forms and accents are equally good as far as
they
can
fulfill
the
communicative
functions
they
are
expected
to
fulfill.
Therefore,
judgments
concerning
the
correctness
and
purity
of
linguistic
varieties
are
social
rather
than linguistic. A case in point is the use of the
postvocalic [r]. While
in English
accents without postvocalic [r] are considered to
be more correct than
accents
with
it,
in
New
York
city,
accents
with
postvocalic
[r]
enjoys
more
prestige
and are considered
more correct than without it.
2. Explain with an example
that the evaluation of language is social rather
than
linguistic.
答：
The
evaluation
of
language
is
social
rather
than
linguistic.
This
is
because
every language or language variety can
express all ideas that its native speakers
want
to
express.
That
is
to
say,
language
and
language
variety
are
equal
in
expressing
meaning. For
example, the much-prejudiced Black English can be
used by the black
people
to
communicate
with
each
other
without
feeling
any
hindrance.
But
many
other
people
think
Black
English
is
not
pure
English
because
it
does
not
conform
to
their
grammar and
not adopted
by educated
people. As a result, many people feel
shameful
to
use
Black
English.
From
this
example
we
can
know
that
the
evaluation
of
language
is social, not
linguistic.
3.
What are the main social dialects discussed in
this chapter How do they jointly
determine idiolect
答：
The main social dialects
discussed in this chapter are regional dialect,
sociolect,
gender
and
age.
Idiolect
is
a
personal
dialect,
of
an
individual
speaker
that
combines
elements
regarding
regional,
social,
gender,
and
age
variations.
These
factors
jointly
determine
the
way
he/she
talks.
While
the
language
system
provides
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