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Updated Mar 25, 2026

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Language Fun: How Social Groups and Age Change the Way We Speak

Jessey💕

@jessey_xo

Language and social groupsplay a crucial role in shaping... Show more

ECKER

- There are three forms of age:
1) Chronological- how long someone
has been alive
2) Social-how someone interads
socially; e.g. like

Age and Language Variation

This page explores the relationship between age and social interaction in language variation, highlighting key theories and studies in sociolinguistics.

Eckert's Three Forms of Age:

Chronological: How long someone has been alive
Social: How someone interacts socially (e.g., marriage, birth of first child)
Biological: Physical maturity

Reading Study Findings:

Examined children's use of non-standard forms, including multiple negation and "ain't"
Boys were more likely to approve of criminal activity
Children approving of criminal activity were more likely to use non-standard forms
Link between covert prestige and use of non-standard forms

Vocabulary:

Expletives: Swear words

Multiple Negation: Using more than one negative in a sentence (e.g., "I ain't done nothing")

Standard forms: Socially accepted way of saying things (using Standard English)

Overt Prestige: Social value gained from using standard forms

Covert Prestige: Social value gained from using non-standard forms

Language and age theorists provide valuable insights:

Parrott: Teenage identity is characterized by rebellion, forbidden behavior, exclusion, and idolization.

Eckert: Teenspeak distances teenagers from adults.

Tagliamonte: Teenagers use more intensifiers online, with no evidence of grammar decline.

Definition:

Convergence: Language becomes more similar

Divergence: Language becomes more different

Code: A form of language

Genderlect: The language of a gender

Sociolect: The language of a social group

Ethnolect: The language of an ethnic group

Teenspeak: The language of teenagers

Bernstein's Code Theory:

Two types of codes: Restricted and Elaborated
Restricted code: Uses conjunctions, context-dependent language, and non-standard syntax
Elaborated code: Uses more standard English
Research findings:
- All children understand both codes when spoken to
- Working-class children speak using restricted code
- Middle and upper-class children speak using elaborated code but can use restricted code
- This disadvantages working-class children in formal situations

Highlight: The language group examples presented here demonstrate how social groups language diversity impacts communication and identity formation across different age groups and social classes.

Sexuality and Language:

Leap coined "lavender linguistics" to study language and sexuality
Lakoff: Gay men adopt deficit features to mirror women's language
Baker: Gay speech uses puns, acronyms, and specific lexical items
Kulik: Language alone cannot determine sexuality
Butler: Language use and behavior can perform an identity

Stenstrom's Teenspeak Features:

Slang
Expletives
Contractions
Name-calling
Insult battles

Zimmerman's Teenspeak Influences:

Media
Music
Internet

Labov's Studies:

New York Stores Study:
- Examined presence of post-vocalic rhotic /r/ in different class stores
- Found class-based differences in pronunciation
Martha's Vineyard Study:
- Younger members converged to older members' vowel pronunciation when tourists arrived

Multicultural London English (MLE):

Variety of English popular among young Black teenagers in London
Features:
- Lexical: "peng" $pretty/good$ , "creps" (shoes)
- Grammatical: Unique sentence structures
- Phonological: th-stopping

Example: In MLE, "Why you eating that for?" demonstrates a unique grammatical structure.

Theories on MLE:

Kerswill: MLE will replace Cockney
Rampton: MLE spreads through friendship groups
Drummond: Identified Multicultural Urban British English (MUBE) in Manchester
Khan: Ethnicity is a central factor influencing language
Rampton & Harris: Four ways to categorize ethnolects: Deficit, Difference, Dominance, and Crossing

Quote: "Does the language you speak affect your identity?" This question is central to understanding the complex relationship between language and social groups.

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Updated Mar 25, 2026

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1 page

Language Fun: How Social Groups and Age Change the Way We Speak

Jessey💕

@jessey_xo

Language and social groups play a crucial role in shaping communication patterns and identity. This summary explores key concepts in social groups language diversity, focusing on age, social interaction, and language variation.

Age influences language use through chronological, social,... Show more

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Age and Language Variation

This page explores the relationship between age and social interaction in language variation, highlighting key theories and studies in sociolinguistics.

Eckert's Three Forms of Age:

Chronological: How long someone has been alive
Social: How someone interacts socially (e.g., marriage, birth of first child)
Biological: Physical maturity

Reading Study Findings:

Examined children's use of non-standard forms, including multiple negation and "ain't"
Boys were more likely to approve of criminal activity
Children approving of criminal activity were more likely to use non-standard forms
Link between covert prestige and use of non-standard forms

Vocabulary:

Expletives: Swear words

Multiple Negation: Using more than one negative in a sentence (e.g., "I ain't done nothing")

Standard forms: Socially accepted way of saying things (using Standard English)

Overt Prestige: Social value gained from using standard forms

Covert Prestige: Social value gained from using non-standard forms

Language and age theorists provide valuable insights:

Parrott: Teenage identity is characterized by rebellion, forbidden behavior, exclusion, and idolization.

Eckert: Teenspeak distances teenagers from adults.

Tagliamonte: Teenagers use more intensifiers online, with no evidence of grammar decline.

Definition:

Convergence: Language becomes more similar

Divergence: Language becomes more different

Code: A form of language

Genderlect: The language of a gender

Sociolect: The language of a social group

Ethnolect: The language of an ethnic group

Teenspeak: The language of teenagers

Bernstein's Code Theory:

Two types of codes: Restricted and Elaborated
Restricted code: Uses conjunctions, context-dependent language, and non-standard syntax
Elaborated code: Uses more standard English
Research findings:
- All children understand both codes when spoken to
- Working-class children speak using restricted code
- Middle and upper-class children speak using elaborated code but can use restricted code
- This disadvantages working-class children in formal situations

Highlight: The language group examples presented here demonstrate how social groups language diversity impacts communication and identity formation across different age groups and social classes.

Sexuality and Language:

Leap coined "lavender linguistics" to study language and sexuality
Lakoff: Gay men adopt deficit features to mirror women's language
Baker: Gay speech uses puns, acronyms, and specific lexical items
Kulik: Language alone cannot determine sexuality
Butler: Language use and behavior can perform an identity

Stenstrom's Teenspeak Features:

Slang
Expletives
Contractions
Name-calling
Insult battles

Zimmerman's Teenspeak Influences:

Media
Music
Internet

Labov's Studies:

New York Stores Study:
- Examined presence of post-vocalic rhotic /r/ in different class stores
- Found class-based differences in pronunciation
Martha's Vineyard Study:
- Younger members converged to older members' vowel pronunciation when tourists arrived

Multicultural London English (MLE):

Variety of English popular among young Black teenagers in London
Features:
- Lexical: "peng" $pretty/good$ , "creps" (shoes)
- Grammatical: Unique sentence structures
- Phonological: th-stopping

Example: In MLE, "Why you eating that for?" demonstrates a unique grammatical structure.

Theories on MLE:

Kerswill: MLE will replace Cockney
Rampton: MLE spreads through friendship groups
Drummond: Identified Multicultural Urban British English (MUBE) in Manchester
Khan: Ethnicity is a central factor influencing language
Rampton & Harris: Four ways to categorize ethnolects: Deficit, Difference, Dominance, and Crossing

Quote: "Does the language you speak affect your identity?" This question is central to understanding the complex relationship between language and social groups.