Language and society - why this relationship is so important for the development of mankind

Such an interesting discipline, as sociolinguistics, began to develop intensively recently. It also comes into contact with other branches of philology. For example, the language and society of linguistics examines in the framework of several subordinate disciplines: psycholinguistics and ethnolinguistics. Sociolinguistics focuses on the correlations between human speech and society.

What can be and in what aspects are these Relationship? Language and society are inextricably linked. We often talk about speech and society as if they are interdependent, but in fact it is an attitude of influence. Society, obviously, can exist without language, as evidenced, for example, by populations of ants, bees, monkeys. However, the opposite phenomenon is not observed. Language and society are conditioned by each other: it is obvious that the former can not exist without the latter. And about the origin of speech and linguistic diversity, there are a variety of theories, many of which have not stood the test of time or have not been scientifically confirmed. Such are the religious theory or interstitial theory. Other important aspects in the study of the problems of "language and society" are social stratification of speech, language policy, bilingualism, the functioning of multilingual communities, language modifications.

Take, for example, functional styles of speech. The choice of a certain way of expressing one's thoughts and feelings is conditioned by social status and the situation of communication. Turning to officials, with an inquiry to an institution, we are obliged to use the official-business style, in which all the constructions are maximally objectified and impersonal, in which emotionally colored vocabulary or colloquial expressions are not allowed. If we try to address the boss in the same style as we write, say, a text message to a girlfriend, or even just "on you", it is unlikely that our career will continue to develop under his leadership.
If we write a statement, a petition, a certificate or even a summary in verse, at the best, they will laugh at us, and the document will be rejected and will not be considered, because "it is not accepted to write like this." Thus, the situation of communication causes the choice of certain language facilities. In addition, the language and society have certain correlations both in terms of professional characteristics, both ethnic and territorial. If sociolets (for example, jargon of prisoners or argo programmers) consider first of all the vocabulary of a certain social or professional group of people, then dialectology studies the speech from the point of view of territorial restriction.

In Russian there are northern, southern dialects, Ural dialects. Other languages also have certain adverbs, sometimes significantly different from the "literary language". Ethnolinguistics considers language and society from the point of view of national diversity. It is this area of linguistics that deals with the problems of "globalization" and the issues associated with it. For example, the functioning of "pidgin languages" or creole dialects that arise when a large group learns the language of another group in a "simplified" and distorted form.

Also to the tasks of ethnolinguistics is the role of language in society, which differs from the national heterogeneity. In the era of increasingly intensive mixing of ethnic groups, the increasingly active creation of interethnic marriages and families, the problems of bilingualism also come to the fore. European countries are trying at the state level to maintain linguistic diversity, including, to promote rare and endangered languages. For example, in Poland it is possible to study and pass as a test for the certificate of maturity Kashubian language, books and periodicals are published on it. In Germany they support the study of the upper Sorbian language, in Spain - Catalan.

Ideally, the language policy of states and their associations (for example, the European Union) should be based on objective data of linguists dealing with "language and society", then it can be unbiased and democratic. Examples of oppression of national identity, cultural identity, history knows a lot. This is the forcible implantation of the Russian language, for example, in Poland during the Tsarist era, and German - during the Second World War. Any ban on the use of native speech provokes a strong protest from the population, which ultimately leads to social upheavals, insurrections, the overthrow of power. At the same time, the free development of national culture, inextricably linked with language, helps to strengthen democracy and stabilization.