Linguistic variety

The “pyramid” that presents the relations between the geographical and social varieties of a language.

A variety or linguistic modality is a specific form of natural language, characterized by a set of linguistic features used by a certain community of speakers linked to each other by social relations. geographical or cultural.

Linguistic varieties are different forms that the same language acquires according to the place where the speaker lives (this variety is called dialect), his age (this variety is called chronolect) and his social group where the level also influences of education (sociolect). The differences may be related to vocabulary, intonation, pronunciation or the making of expressions; and in general they are more clearly manifested in orality than in writing. In this way, when listening to someone speak, it is possible to assume in which region they reside (whether in the Metropolitan area or the rural area, for example), which age group they belong to (it is a child, an adolescent, an adult, an elderly person, etc.) and what level of education they have.

The term variety is a neutral way of referring to linguistic differences between speakers of the same language. The use of the term variety is intended to avoid ambiguity and lack of consensus in the use of terms such as language or dialect, since there are no univocal criteria to decide when two varieties they must be considered as the same language or dialect, or as different languages or dialects.

Types of linguistic varieties

Varieties can be distinguished, in addition to their vocabulary, by differences in their grammar, phonology, and prosody. There are several possible variation factors associated with geography, linguistic evolution, sociolinguistic factors or the linguistic register.

• Diatopic varieties or geographical. The changes of this type belong to the Diatopic variation and consist of variants in the way of speaking the same language due to the geographical distance that separates the speakers. Thus, for example, in Spain they tell matches the object that is called in America phosphorus.

These geographical changes are called dialects (or rather geolects) and, to their study, dialectology. It is important to clarify that this term has no negative meaning, since it has been common to call dialects to languages that are supposedly “simples” or “primitive”. It must be borne in mind, above all, that all the languages of the world, from a grammatical point of view, are on an equal footing and that no language is more evolved than another. That is why it is illogical to say that one language is better than another.

The dialects are then the particular form with which a community speaks a particular language. From this point of view, we usually talk about British English, Australian English, etc. However, it must be borne in mind that dialects do not have precise geographical limits, but on the contrary, they have been seen to be blurred and gradual. Hence it is considered that dialects that constitute a language form a continued without precise limits. It is often said that a language is a set of dialects whose speakers can be understood among themselves. However, this can be approximately valid for Spanish, it does not seem to be for German, since there are dialects of this language that are inintelligible to each other. On the other hand, it is usually cited as an example to speak of Scandinavian languages, when, in fact, a Swedish speaker and a Danish one can be understood using each one's own language.

With regard to Spanish, it has traditionally been considered that there are two general varieties: Spanish and Spanish.

• Diachronic Varieties. This type of variation is related to linguistic change, when comparing texts in the same language written in different times there are systematic differences in grammar, lexicon and sometimes in spelling (frequently as a reflection of phonetic changes). These differences are clearly growing as more separate texts are compared in time. Each of the stadiums, more or less homogeneous circumscribed at a certain time, is called a diachronic variety. For example, for the Spanish language modern Spanish (which in turn presents geographical and social diversity), medium Spanish and ancient Spanish can be distinguished.

• Social or diastromatic varieties. This type of variation includes all changes in the language produced by the environment in which the speaker is unfolded. Within this area, it is particularly interested in the study of the sociolects, which are due to factors such as social class, education, profession, age, ethnic origin, etc. In certain countries where there is a very clear social hierarchy, the socio-lect of the person is what defines what social class it belongs to. This implies, of course, a barrier to social integration.

• Situational gaps. Also known as variations diaphase, this type of variant involves changes in language from the situation in which the speaker is located. As you know, we don't talk the same at a party of friends than in a religious activity. From this point of view, what causes change is the degree of formality of circumstances. The degree of formality is understood as the strict observance of rules, norms and customs in linguistic communication.

Taking this factor into consideration, specialists speak of the existence of various records or styles. Thus, the statements “To those who were there laughed when they heard what the speaker said” and “The words issued by the speaker provoked the hilarity of the auditorium” differ in their record. Speakers, at the time of expressing themselves, must choose a proper record of the circumstances in which it is found.

There is no agreement as to how many and which types of records exist. Generally, the following are distinguished: solemn, worship or formal, standard, professional, colloquial, vulgar and jergal. An example is a formal and informal conversation that can be between a group of friends who speak not so politely and a group of coworkers who speak in a very polite way.

In many regions of America, the use of pronouns you and you are within this type of variation, as the first is used in informal contexts, while the second is used in formal situations. Thus, we are all susceptible to be interpelled with you or you depending on the event we meet.

Vulgarisms and idioms are sometimes considered as forms of style, being limited to lexical variations, while slang can be included both in the concept of variety like style.

Other variation factors

Some scholars maintain that physical and biological aspects of individuals, such as belonging to a gender or sexual identity, can become factors of variation within a language; however, there are no definitive data on these aspects.

Other linguistic varieties

In sociolinguistics, the following terms are also used, among others, to differentiate forms of speech that are not shared by all the speakers of a language or dialect:

• Argot, a variety characterized by the use of special lexical forms, which may exist or not in the standard variety, by which many things are usually designated by different words as they are called in common language or standard variety.
• Cronolecto, variety of a language or a geographical dialect used by an age group, cronolectos (especially among adolescents) tend to have argotal characteristics. The most studied cronolectos are child and youth language. In situations of linguistic change, the chronolects of different age groups may differ considerably in traits that are in the process of change.
• Ecolecto, variety of a language or dialect used by a very small number of people (e.g., members of a family, a group of friends).
• Etnolecto, variety spoken by members of an ethnic group, term very little used, since it is usually a geographical dialect.
• Geolecto, variety of a spoken language or dialect in a very determined geographical area, and only in that area. For example the pixueto, asturian dialect that is spoken only in the village of Cudillero, or the dialect monegasco of the ligur language, which is only used in the Principality of Monaco.
• Idiolecto, variety of language spoken by a person, that is, the term refers to the set of peculiarities that a person uses systematically and in which it differs from the use of members of his/her linguistic community.
• Sacred languagesome ethnic groups such as the dogons, a people established in Mali and Burkina Faso (Africa), have two languages, one of everyday use and another, secret, for religious ceremonies. Latin has been the liturgical language of Catholicism for centuries.
• Sociolecto, group of peculiarities of typical speaking of a class or a social stratum.
• Tecnolecto, set of words and implications of professional language.