Standard Language and Social Varieties: A Comprehensive Guide

Posted on Sep 30, 2024 in Law & Jurisprudence

1. Standard Language and Social Varieties

Language is an abstraction that exists only in the practice of each individual. Speakers do not use language in the same way, and therefore, language has many variations in implementation. The varieties of a language can occur for different reasons:

  • Social and cultural circumstances: Different levels of education, social roles, and age of speakers contribute to language variation. These are called diastratic varieties.
  • Circumstances arising from the speaker’s intention and the situation: These are called diafastic varieties.
  • Different geographical areas: These are called diatopic varieties.

1.1 The Standard Language and the Law

The standard language is considered the ideal model for all speakers of a language. It represents the set of rules considered correct in language use and is used by media professionals and teachers. The standard language system meets all standards, which serve as guidelines for language use in formal situations, both oral and written.

The standard use of language is not rigid and inflexible and is based on a certain geographical range. The geographic extent of Castilian rule makes it a consensus. The rule arises from the agreements between the academies and is based on forms of literary tradition as models.

1.2 Social Varieties of Language

The degree of culture of a speaker determines their level of language, although it also depends on the socioeconomic status of each individual. In this way, we can distinguish two types of language levels: the cult level and the vulgar level.

The Cult Level

The cult level of language adheres more strictly to the standard language. Increased knowledge of the language allows for a more formal use of language, a wider expansion to different communicative situations, and a superior ability to express emotional nuance and intellectual content.

Main Features of the Cult Level:
  • Correct pronunciation
  • Lexical richness, which makes for clarity and accuracy
  • The use of well-structured syntax, allowing the orderly expression of ideas

The Vulgar Level

This level, unlike the cult level, deviates from the standard language. Due to the lack of adherence to the rules, there are inaccuracies that are called slang. These are due to the low cultural level of the speakers who have little ability to express themselves and to adapt to different communicative situations. Slang is diverse and affects all levels of language:

The Phonic Level:
  1. Confusion of sounds: vowels
  2. Modification: e.g., diabetes for grandfather
  3. Reduction of diphthongs: e.g., sales
  4. Sound loss
  5. Sound addition: e.g., pa me
  6. Change in consonant position and asynchronous
  7. Consonant relaxation: e.g., cocreta for croqueta, it came from
The Morphosyntactic Level:
  1. Uses incorrect verb forms: e.g., you came to
  2. Use of the infinitive in place of the imperative: e.g., sit
  3. Anteposition of determiners to nouns: e.g., Loli The
  4. Alteration of the order of pronouns: e.g., Olvidao me ha
  5. Using intransitive verbs as transitive: e.g., enters the box to your room
  6. Laísmo, leísmo, and loísmo: e.g., do not say anything, leave a book
  7. Dequeísmo: e.g., I think that you are wrong
  8. Anacoluthon: e.g., the house is going to go around
The Lexical-Semantic Level:
  1. Confusion of the meaning of words: e.g., breaking a path to mean inflicting punishment
  2. Incorrect use of prepositions and conjunctions: e.g., The more you say, less if it makes me
  3. Solecisms: e.g., see your room instead of see
  4. Switching to other figurative meanings: e.g., to sleep rub
  5. Use of inadequate dysphemisms: e.g., croak instead of die

Jargon

Jargon is the particular expression used by some social or professional groups. There are a variety of jargons, but we can distinguish two main types: professional and social.

  • Professional jargon: These are linguistic varieties specific to various professions, such as doctors, lawyers, and politicians. They contain lots of technical terms. They serve to reinforce group identity and obscure meaning from people outside the profession.
  • Social jargon: Also called slang, these are employed by marginal social groups. This language tends to be obscure and, in some cases, identifies the most relevant feature of the group.
Main Linguistic Features of Social Jargon:
  1. The creation of neologisms: e.g., plated with the meaning of close
  2. Changes in the meaning of existing words: e.g., parrot to mean stereo
  3. The use of foreign words not used in common language: e.g., it seems very heavy
  4. The creation of new words by adding suffixes
  5. The trend to apocopate keywords: e.g., cop instead of police
  6. The use of wildcards and offensive words: e.g., cool, to joke

We must differentiate underworld slang from youth slang. Among the former are the jargon of the Gypsies (e.g., funk, porridge), prison slang (e.g., wig, sack), and jargon of the drug world (e.g., camel, horse). Among youth slang, the slang used by marginalized urban youth is very popular (e.g., roll up, trunk).