Sociolinguistic Factors Research Articles

Okpameri Language: A Moribund Language

The Okpameri language, a minority language spoken in Nigeria, is gradually heading towards extinction due to sociolinguistic factors such as the dominance of languages like Yoruba and English. Language death is a slow process driven by the diminished use of a language across generations, often due to social, economic, and political pressures that force speakers to switch to more dominant languages. This study examines the stages of language death in Okpameri land, focusing on how language contact with English and Yoruba is contributing to the language's decline. The research utilizes a survey method, gathering data from 100 Okpameri multilinguals to analyze attitudes towards language loss and its impact on cultural identity. Findings indicate that Okpameri is in serious decline, with a significant portion of the population unable to speak the language fluently. There is widespread concern about its potential extinction, and most respondents believe that the dominance of other languages is detrimental to Okpameri's survival. The study underscores the urgency of language revitalization efforts, particularly through education and community engagement, to preserve Okpameri and its cultural significance.

The Use of Humor, Irony, and Metaphors in Everyday Communication: An Exploratory Investigation

This study explores the role of humor, irony, and metaphors in everyday communication among college students at Mindoro State University (MinSU). These rhetorical strategies are integral to social interactions, helping individuals convey emotions, form connections, and simplify complex ideas. Using an exploratory, qualitative approach, the researchers examined how selected students employ these techniques across various social contexts, including family, friends, and academic settings. Data collection involved in-depth interviews, allowing for analysis of sociolinguistic factors, such as age, gender, and social class, that influence humor, irony, and metaphors. The findings suggest that humor fosters camaraderie, while irony subtly critiques or expresses contradictions, and metaphors enhance comprehension by linking abstract ideas to familiar experiences. Cross-cultural insights reveal unique interpretations of these elements, manifesting the potential for misunderstandings in diverse settings. This research highlights the adaptive nature of these rhetorical tools, revealing how they bridge social gaps, reinforce group identity, and support communication. The study contributes to understanding language use in regional academic settings, offering implications for effective communication and cultural sensitivity in multicultural environments.

Comparative Syntactic Analysis of Basic Sentence Structures in Tausug and English: Implications for Language Teaching and Learning

This study investigates the basic sentence patterns of Tausug (Bahasa Sug) and English, exploring their structural similarities and differences through a descriptive research design. The research involved 80 native Tausug speakers with advanced English proficiency from Jolo, Sulu, Philippines, and used Paul Roberts's (1956) seven basic sentence patterns as an analytical framework. The study addressed three primary research questions: (1) the contemporary significance of Tausug language studies, (2) the integration of Tausug jargon and idiomatic expressions in language standardization efforts, and (3) the syntactic variations between English and Tausug grammatical structures. Data were collected using an 82-item survey instrument examining Tausug jargon, idiomatic expressions, basic sentence patterns, and sociolinguistic factors such as Tausug's role as a regional lingua franca, its influence on neighboring ethnolinguistic groups, and its significance in governance and education. Statistical analysis employed descriptive methods and weighted means. The results revealed a significant language shift among younger Tausug speakers, leading to a decline in formal Tausug proficiency, despite its status as the lingua franca of the Sulu Archipelago. Although there are structural parallels between Tausug and English basic sentence patterns, notable syntactic variations were identified, particularly in word order and sentence structure. These findings suggest that while Tausug retains some structural similarities to English, the syntactic differences could impact second language acquisition, particularly for those learning English as a second language. Moreover, the decline in Tausug proficiency underscores the need for efforts to preserve and standardize the language, integrating its unique jargon and idiomatic expressions into educational and governance contexts to promote its continued use and development.

Sociolinguistic study of kilba personal names

This paper delves into the sociolinguistic factors and semantic implications of Kilba names and naming systems. It explores how names are given in Kilba community, explaining the cultural and social meanings attached to names .The research method involves primary data collection from aged parents in the Hong local government of Adamawa State, as well as secondary sources such as books, journal articles, and online materials. Contextual and conventional theories of meaning were used as guide for the study. The analysis categorizes Kilba names names into five main groups based on their significance and origins. The findings highlight the importance of names as identifiers of individual personalities and reflect the unique circumstances or situations surrounding a child’s birth. This study concludes that the significance of names to Kilba people is beyond mere labels, but a reflection of socio-cultural values, beliefs, and experiences.

Sociophonological Gender Variations of EFL Iraqi Students

This study employs a mixed-methods approach to examine the phonological challenges faced by Iraqi EFL learners, focusing on gender-based differences and the influence of Iraqi Arabic phonology on English pronunciation. Iraqi Arabic presents unique phonological characteristics—such as dark [??], trilled [r?], and vowel length distinctions—that can complicate the acquisition of English phonology. The study explores two research questions: (1) What phonological features do Iraqi EFL learners struggle with, and how do these differ by gender? (2) How does Iraqi Arabic phonology influence English pronunciation among male and female learners? A quantitative methodology was employed, analyzing speech samples from 50 participants, with frequency counts used to identify patterns. The findings show that both genders struggle with phonological features such as dark [??], trilled [r?], vowel lengthening, monophthongization, and epenthesis. However, gender differences are evident, with males showing higher frequencies of traditional phonological features, while females tend to approximate English norms more closely. These results confirm the significant influence of Iraqi Arabic phonology on English pronunciation, with sociolinguistic factors shaping learners' adaptation strategies. The study contributes to sociophonology and Arabic sociolinguistics and offers practical insights for EFL pedagogy, suggesting targeted pronunciation instruction to address specific challenges faced by Arabic-speaking learners.Keywords: Iraqi EFL learners, phonological variation, gender differences, Iraqi Arabic phonology, sociophonology, pronunciation challenges

An Analysis of Code Mixing Used by Maudy Ayunda on Her Youtube Channel

This study aimed to identify and analyze the types and functions of code mixing used by Maudy Ayunda on Her YouTube Channel. Using a qualitative descriptive research design, it consist of 15 videos from Maudy’s YouTube channel. Data was collected through observation and documentation techniques, and analyzed using Hoffmann’s (1991) theory to determine the types of code mixing, and Hoffmann (1991), Saville-Troike (1986), and Holmes (2013) theories to identify the functions of code mixing. The findings showed that most frequently used types of code mixing was intra-sentential code mixing. Followed by Intra-lexical code mixing and Involving a change of pronounciation was not found in the videos. The function of emphasis was the most common function found in the videos, followed by Lexical Needs, Quoting Somebody Else, Repitition Use for Clarificayion, Talking about Particualr Topic, and Being Emphatic about Something. There are three functions which is not found on Muady’s videos are interjection, Expressing Group Identity or Solidarity, and Clarifying the Speech for the Interluctor. These findings suggest the importance of considering sociolinguistic factors in language education.

To compound or not to compound?

Abstract A characteristic trait of Vedic as well as Classical Sanskrit is the use of nominal compounds. Diachronic linguistic studies have observed an increasing use of compounds in Vedic texts. It is also generally accepted that compounds should be read as syntactic phrases and that they can be equivalent to subordinate clauses. However, it has not been studied so far whether and to which degree compounds replaced competing syntactic structures such as relative clauses or participial constructions over time. Using data from a syntactic treebank of Vedic and early Classical Sanskrit, this paper addresses the questions whether compounding replaced equivalent constructions and which textual and sociolinguistic factors may have driven this process. The paper studies compounds used as adnominal and adverbial modifiers, and compares their frequency distributions with those of subordinate clauses, adjectives, converbs, and participial constructions. Since the number of relevant cases is limited and the sociolinguistic factors driving the use of compounds are not well understood, the observed distributions are modeled with a hierarchical Bayesian framework that extracts an optimal subset from a set of possible explanatory factors (chronology, geography, poetry/prose alternation, genre, and school affiliation of Vedic texts).

Word order change in German infinitival complementation

Abstract The present article discusses whether processing factors might play a role in the reduction of word order variability in German infinitival complements of control verbs, connecting evidence from a diachronic corpus study to processing considerations and psycholinguistic findings. We show that intraposition, a linearization pattern that has been claimed to be costly in comprehension due to both center-embedding and temporary ambiguity, became less frequent in language use over time. Findings from language production experiments show that present-day German speakers avoid producing intraposition patterns even following repeated exposure to this pattern. Taken together, our findings are consistent with the hypothesis that processing factors can influence the distribution of word order variants. Looking at the diachronic dimension, however, reveals that the effect of processing factors can be modulated by sociolinguistic factors and the impact of language modality.

Linguistic inclusivity in the context of the Ecuadorian national version of the Spanish language

The object of this study is linguistic inclusivity in the Ecuadorian national version of the Spanish language. The subject of the study is the language practices used in the Republic of Ecuador, aimed at creating a greater level of gender inclusivity. The paper examines the influence of a number of sociolinguistic factors on language policy, as well as methods of adapting the local national version of the Spanish language, taking into account the requirements of different social groups. Special attention is paid to the study of existing forms of gender-inclusive language, such as the use of neutral endings and neologisms, as well as their perception and dissemination by the local population. In order to achieve the highest possible level of objectivity, a sociological survey was conducted within the framework of the study, which made it possible to identify differences between men and women in understanding and using an inclusive language. The following research methods were used: a sociological survey, the purpose of which was to collect data on the perception of gender inclusivity in the language among different groups of the Ecuadorian population; quantitative and qualitative methods that made it possible to interpret respondents' opinions about the importance and prevalence of inclusive language in the daily life of Ecuadorians. The results of the study clearly demonstrate the importance of the dissemination of gender-inclusive language in Ecuador due to its role in the process of achieving social equality. The novelty of the work is the sociolinguistic analysis of linguistic inclusivity in Ecuadorian Spanish. The conducted survey of the local population of the Republic showed significant differences in attitudes towards inclusive language between men and women. This fact indicates that the policy of establishing maximum inclusivity in society at the moment has not led to the complete elimination of gender inequality. Thus, the need to continue work on the introduction of gender-neutral forms in the educational environment and everyday communication is emphasized, which will contribute not only to the establishment of gender equality, but also to strengthening social solidarity in Ecuadorian society.

From ‘dankgevingsdag' to 'turkey party’: Historical sociolinguistic perspectives on loan strategies in Flemish-American heritage newspapers

Within the domain of historical sociolinguistics, attention for heritage languages has been on the rise in the last decade (see e.g., Brown 2019; Litty 2019). The goal of this paper is to contribute to that growing body of research studying the role of sociolinguistic factors in heritage language use in the past, by looking at the lexical output of Belgian emigrants in the United States using heritage newspapers. We will investigate the borrowing patterns in three Flemish-American newspapers that were published in the 19th and 20th centuries and circulated widely within the Flemish-American communities. We focus on (1) borrowing rate (how many English-origin lexemes are transferred?), and (2) borrowing type (which loan processes are involved?). The findings are interpreted in terms of the social variables time and space to chart diachronic as well as regional differences, besides looking at differences between the newspapers more generally.

The Perspective of Haitian Parents on Heritage Language Maintenance in Children With Speech-Language Disorders

Purpose: This study is part of a larger study that explores the beliefs and attitudes of Haitian parents in the United States regarding heritage language maintenance. The study sought to understand Haitian parents' perspective of heritage language maintenance when the parent has a child with a communication disorder. Method: Semistructured interviews were conducted with seven Haitian parents of children who have or had a speech-language disorder. The interviews were conducted virtually through videoconferencing. A thematic analysis was used to explore the data and determine recurring themes. Results: Participants desired to preserve the heritage language; however, fear of further language delay and sociolinguistic factors influenced their language choice. Furthermore, the results revealed that the lack of Haitian Creole language maintenance led to a communication breakdown with family and parental regret on the missed opportunity to pass on the heritage language. Conclusion: The findings from this study demonstrate a need for continued education with physicians, SLPs, and other related service providers on the issues related to bilingual language development, language maintenance, and counseling families regarding home language practice. Supplemental Material: https://doi.org/10.23641/asha.27190611

Aspects of effective communication (european experience): digital, informational, and sociolinguistic dimensions

Introduction: The modern era of digital technologies and globalization has brought about significant transformations in communication methods. This article explores how digital, informational, and sociolinguistic dimensions influence the processes of effective communication, focusing particularly on European experiences.Objective: The objective of this study is to analyze the impact of digital transformation, information transparency, linguistic diversity, and cultural adaptation on effective communication in modern European society. The research aims to uncover both the benefits and challenges posed by these factors in the context of communication processes.Methods: This research employed a theoretical approach, synthesizing a wide range of literature and conducting psychological and sociolinguistic analyses. Comparative methods were used to assess different strategies of communication in European contexts, while particular attention was paid to understanding how digitalization and sociolinguistic factors interact.Results: The findings suggest that digitalization enhances accessibility and the speed of communication but introduces challenges, such as the digital divide and data protection issues. Information transparency and accessibility have been identified as crucial in building trust and ensuring the effective exchange of information. Moreover, sociolinguistic factors, especially cultural and language adaptation, have proven essential for effective intercultural communication in Europe.Conclusions: The study concludes that successful communication strategies must incorporate digital, informational, and sociolinguistic aspects, particularly in multilingual and culturally diverse contexts. Awareness and adaptation to cultural norms and linguistic nuances are vital for creating more effective communication practices in both international and local interactions. Practical recommendations include focusing on cultural sensitivity and data transparency to further enhance communication processes

The Origin of North Mesopotamian Arabic

This research paper explores the origin and distinct characteristics of the Noarth Mesopotamian Arabic dialect, specifically the Moslawi dialect spoken in Mosul, northern Iraq. The study begins with tracing the roots of the Arabic language within the Semitic language family tree and examines the emergence of Modern Arabic Dialects. It highlights Ferguson's theory that these dialects originated from a asimplified Koine as the most plausible explanation. The paper then delves into the Mesopotamian dialect group, detailing the division into qeltu and gelet varieties through bedouinization. The phonological and lexical uniqueness of Moslawi is analyzed, emphasizing the persistent use of the phoneme /q/ by Moslawi speakers and the systematic vowel-raising rule that differentiates it from other dialects. Extensive language contact, with Persian, Turkish, Hindi, Kurdish, and English, is also discussed, which explains the numerous borrowed words in Moslawi. This research underscores the complex historical and sociolinguistic factors contributing to the distinctiveness of the Moslawi dialect within the broader context of Arabic dialects.

An Error Analysis of English Verbs in Written Compositions of Students of Selected Tertiary Institutions in Ogun State

The main concern of this paper is to analyse errors of verbs in the written composition of students of selected tertiary institutions in Ogun state. To gather data for the study, written compositions of 150 year-one students of three tertiary institutions in Ogun state were received for analysis. 100 of the essays were purposively selected for analysis. The theoretical framework for the paper is Adegbija (1995) view about error analysis. The selected errors of verbs identified were described, classified, and explained. It was found that students’ errors are characterised by the wrong choice of verbs, wrong tense formation, wrong sequence of tenses, wrong formation of questions/negatives, and wrong use of modal auxiliaries. Others are errors of phrasal verbs such as wrong use of particles, omission of particles, unnecessary use of particles, and wrong use of phrasal/prepositional verbs. The paper concludes with the view that sociolinguistic factors such as problems of interference, wrong transfer, poor educational background of students, and others, led to the errors. To minimise the errors, language educators and students generally are advised to be involved in regular workshops and conferences where these problems are freely discussed for required solutions.

Arabic or English? Multilingual users’ preferences in Dubai ATM transactions

Language choice or preference, that is the deliberate selection of language(s) for different purposes in different contexts, situations and domains, is a complex sociolinguistic phenomenon as it is usually motivated by numerous sociolinguistic factors. This study investigates language choice between Arabic and English during automated teller machine (ATM) transactions in Dubai, a cosmopolitan city in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and aims at exploring the factors influencing these preferences. The data were collected, using a survey questionnaire, from 566 ATM users in Dubai. The findings reveal that nearly all non-Arab participants favor English over Arabic for ATM transactions, irrespective of their length of stay in the country and their proficiency level in English and Arabic, given that Dubai ATMs offer only these two languages. On the other hand, Arab participants, including UAE nationals and Arab expatriates, tend to use Arabic more frequently than English. However, those residing in Dubai show a greater preference for English compared to those living outside Dubai. Additional factors such as age, gender, level of education, occupation, and comfort with technology were also investigated. This research illuminates the prevalent use and elevated status of English in Dubai, affirming its significance among both native and non-native Arabic speakers. Furthermore, it offers insight into the linguistic resources employed by individuals in transactional exchanges, contributing to our understanding of the complex relationship between language contact, language attitudes, language choice, and technology adoption within a multilingual urban setting. The findings underscore the importance of examining linguistic preferences within specific subdomains of multilingual communities.

A multifactorial approach to war and corruption metaphors in South Asian Englishes

AbstractThe present paper provides a corpus‐based study of war and corruption metaphors in South Asian Englishes (specifically Indian English, Bangladeshi English, Nepali English and Pakistani English). Considering the highly news‐relevant nature of these concepts, the South Asian Varieties of English corpus (SAVE2020) serves as the database. In an initial step, we outline the source domains at different levels of schematicity used to construe war and corruption, revealing the salient domains at location and person. By pursuing a multifactorial approach, this study aims at answering the question whether the choice of source domain is governed by the sociolinguistic factors gender and variety, and intra‐linguistic factors, for example, length and semantic prosody of the metaphor‐related words. It furthermore investigates whether multifactorial analyses, which are still a novelty within research on metaphor variation, constitute a suitable methodological approach. By doing so, our research demonstrates the need to complement this quantitative approach with a qualitative one that offers a more fine‐grained description of the source domains used to structure metaphorical concepts like war and corruption.

Інноваційні процеси творення аксіологійних значень в українській лінгвокультурі: проєкція на антропоніми та їхні похід

Some changes connected with sociolinguistic factors, in particular, the Russian-Ukrainian war, that are taking place in the Ukrainian vocabulary are characterized. The trends of rethinking anthroponyms and their derivatives, which, thanks to the linguistic creativity of Ukrainians, are widespread in modern Ukrainian media discourse and recorded in dictionaries of new words and meanings, as carriers of evaluatively marked meanings and senses, are highlighted. The lexical structure of the Ukrainian language is being updated on the basis of the innovative word formation processes system.

Youth Slang as a Social Language Code: Functions and Formation

The article presents numerous functions and special features of slang, which is able to represent a variety of communicative intentions of the speakers. In addition to the desire of communicants to maintain the confidentiality of communication through slang, the latter is used as a means of language economy, as a mechanism for creating new concepts, as a way of emotional release, etc. The factors that determine the popularity of this language substandard and ensure the constant growth of neologisms in national language corpora are presented. The relevance of this study is determined by the great interest in the ways of word formation of non-standard vocabulary and the influence of sociolinguistic factors on this process. Such mechanisms for replenishing the vocabulary of youth slang as semantic, phonological and grammatical ways of word formation, antono-masia and foreign borrowings are presented.

Characterization of agrammatism in Tagalog: Evidence from narrative spontaneous speech

ABSTRACT Background Agrammatism in agglutinative languages exhibits preservation of verb morphology due to their rich morphological paradigms. Tagalog, an agglutinative language mainly spoken in the Philippines, remains uncharacterized in agrammatism yet holds potential for future research that can challenge existing theories and help advance novel ones. Aims The purpose of this study is to quantify and describe the characteristics of agrammatism in Tagalog in narrative spontaneous speech, to examine whether these patterns resemble those reported in other agglutinative languages, and to compare the results obtained to those emerging in literature for non-agglutinative languages. Methods & Procedures Narrative spontaneous speech was elicited from 10 individuals with non-fluent Broca’s aphasia and 12 matched controls. A series of parameters, both conventional and language-specific measures, were selected for analyses. Outcomes & Results Tagalog-speaking individuals with agrammatism exhibited slow and fragmented speech, with a strong preference for minor and simple constructions resulting to decrease in overall grammaticality and sentence complexity. Verb deficits were also found specifically in verbal predication, lexical diversity, and finiteness. There is a prevalent use of bare verb forms, consequently resulting to the decline of verb finiteness and inflections. Code-mixing is found to be extremely variable and statistically non-prominent between groups but patterns may be attributed to personal and sociolinguistic factors. Conclusion Patterns of agrammatism in Tagalog majorly mirror the trends reported in other agglutinative and non-agglutinative languages. Where Tagalog agrammatism departs from other agglutinative languages is the increased use of bare verbs as opposed to the obligatory inflected forms. Although still many questions are unresolved, Tagalog offers an interesting testing ground for variety of topics and issues in agrammatic aphasia.

Aspectual reduplication in Sign Language of the Netherlands: reconsidering phonological constraints and aspectual distinctions

Abstract This study investigates the use of predicate reduplication to express aspectual meaning in Sign Language of the Netherlands (NGT). The study focuses on three aspect types that have been found to be encoded by reduplication across sign languages – habitual, continuative, and iterative – and addresses potential phonological restrictions. Naturalistic corpus data and data elicited from six deaf NGT signers were taken into account. The results suggest that (i) predicate reduplication can express all three aspect types, but it is optional; (ii) reduplication expressing habitual and continuative aspect appears to be phonologically constrained; and (iii) such phonological constraints do not apply to iterative reduplication, whose form is different from the other two aspects, in that the reduplication cycles are separated by pauses. Since there is no formal difference between habituals and continuatives in the data, it is suggested that this semantic distinction may not be grammaticalized in the language, and that, possibly, the inflectional system of NGT instead more broadly distinguishes imperfective/perfective viewpoint. While this latter suggestion is in line with findings reported for many spoken languages, the results are different from what has previously been described for NGT as well as for other sign languages. Potential explanations for these differences can be found in both methodological and sociolinguistic factors.