DIALECTS, VARIETIES AND SOCIOLECTS

Variety: In sociolinguistic a variety is a specific form of language. This may include languages, dialects, and
accents, registers, styles or other sociolinguistic variation as well as the Standard Variety itself.
Standard Varieties: Most languages have a standard variety, that is, some variety that is selected and
promoted by either authorities or other social institutions, such as school or the media. Standard varieties
are more prestigious than other, nonstandard varieties and are generally thought of as correct by the
speakers of the language. However, standard varieties are only correct in the sense that they are highly
valued within the society that uses the language.
Dialects: A regional or social variety of a language characterized by its own phonological, syntactic and
lexical properties. A variety spoken in a particular region is called a regional variety. In addition, there is
dialect varieties associated with particular ethnic groups (sometimes called ethnolects), socioeconomic
classes (sometimes called sociolects).
Sociolects or social dialects: is a variety of language (a register) associated with a social group such as the
socioeconomic class, an ethnic group (ethnolect) and age group. Sociolects involve both passive acquisition
of particular communicative practices through association with a local community, as well as active learning
and choice among speech or writing forms to demonstrate identification with particular groups.
Whats the difference between sociolects and dialects?
The main distinction is the setting they are created in. A dialects main identifier is geography where a
certain region uses specific phonological, morphosyntactic or lexical rules. On the opposite side, a sociolects
main identifiers are things such as socioeconomic class, age and ethnicity. For example, things such as the
deletion of the copula (-s) in African American Venacular speech (Ghetto/Ebonics) which is restricted to a
specific ethnic group within the United States.