Understanding Language Varieties and Grammatical Categories
Language and Speech
Language is the human faculty that allows us to communicate through shared symbols that express thought. Language is a structured system of verbal and combination rules common to a community of speakers. Speech is the concrete realization of language by speakers at a specific time and in a particular communicative situation. Standard language is the set of rules and practices accepted by speakers of a language as exemplary forms of speech.
Diaphasic Varieties
People adapt their speech to the communicative situation in which they find themselves. The way of speaking that an individual adopts in a discrete time and situation, being aware of who they are talking to and the situation in which they are found, is called a register. A person can use different registers according to their intent, the relationship with the interlocutor, the topic they want to discuss, and how to convey the message.
- In a formal situation, a formal register is used, characterized by elaborate and precise language.
- In an informal situation, an informal register is used, characterized by a familiar use of language.
Diastratic Varieties
The way of speaking adopted by a social group sharing common characteristics is called a sociolect. There are two types of factors that determine diastratic varieties of a language:
- Biological factors: The sex and age of the speakers determine the use they make of the language.
- Sex: Sociolinguistics has studies showing that men and women do not speak the same way.
- Age: Age also influences the way people speak.
- Non-biological factors: These include the extent of training and profession.
- Depending on the level of training, there are three levels:
The cultivated level is characterized by major correction and property. The average level is common among speakers and is used in the media. The popular level is the furthest from the norm.
Diatopical Varieties
The varieties of a language whose differences are given by the place of origin of the speakers are called dialects. In Spain alone, there are three groups of dialects:
- Southern: Andalusia, Canary Islands, Extremadura, and Murcia.
- Northern: Notable historical dialects of Latin, Asturian-Leonese, and Aragonese.
- Dialects of bilingual areas, whose characteristics are due to Castilian being in contact with languages such as Basque or Catalan.
Grammatical Categories
Nouns
The noun is a variable word class with an independent existence, designating entities. Gender is marked by:
- Heteronyms: Use different nouns (e.g., parent).
- Common gender: Change the gender of the determiner or the adjective (e.g., the male astronaut / the female astronaut).
- Epicene: Add male or female to the noun (e.g., the male chimpanzee / the female chimpanzee).
Pronouns
Variable words that appear in place of a noun and can perform the same functions. They can be: personal (I, me), relative (what, who), demonstrative (this, that), indefinite (none, something), interrogative, and exclamatory (what, which).
Adjectives
A kind of word that expresses an attribute of the noun to which it relates. They are classified according to the meaning they bring to the accompanying noun:
- Specifying: Marks a significant extension of the noun and is often placed after it (e.g., the blue tie).
- Explanatory: Merely adds a note explaining without any constraint (e.g., the white snow, the dark night).
Determinants
These are variable words that accompany the noun to present or clarify its meaning, and they must match in gender and number.
Verbs
The kind of word that expresses an action, a process, or a state.
Prepositions
These words are used to connect other words in the sentence.
Conjunctions
Conjunctions are words that connect words or sentences together.
Adverbs
An invariable word that expresses circumstances of various kinds.