Examples of Social Variants

In linguistics, under the name of social variants It is recognized the different variations that exist between the ways of speaking of the people, different from the idiomatic differences. For example: geographic variants, ethnic variants, gender variants.

It happens that speech is in no way a exact science, but on the contrary, its use depends on a family and social transmission, and therefore on certain processes that influence the learning that a person's language has and its use.

The name of ‘social variants’ encompasses an enormous range of differentiations that influence the way people speak, within which the socioeconomic stratum in which each one is found stands out.

In general, the social relationship that is presented is that the wealthiest people have reached education levels that allow you to have a richer vocabulary and to be able to express with a very wide range of concepts something that a less educated person can only achieve with a smaller spectrum of words, which makes them begin to use new expressions that with the passage of time become their own. Many of the words known as "popular" and transformed into typical of the different regions owe their origin to these new "terms".

The category of ‘social’ can only be discussed since the linguistic variations they also have a lot to do with what geographical. It happens that it is easy to notice that in the different countries that handle a language it is common for large differences to appear in the way of communicate: expressions, typical words or rhythmic forms of speaking vary according to each country (or even regions within of the same). In any case, this variation is considered a social one, since it ultimately occurs with regard to different societies.

In that sense, each reason why language is modified constitutes a social variant. They are listed below, detailing their scope.

Examples of social variants

1. Geographic variants. As said, the area of ​​residence (and especially that of internalization of language) is fundamental for people's speech. The particular way that each society has to perform speech is called dialect, although lately the term was limited to the speech of peoples that no longer exist, and was replaced by geolect.
2. Ethnic variants. Beyond geographical borders, ethnic groups share modes of expression that sometimes give rise to so-called ethnolects.
3. Gender variants. Although it happens less and less in the West, at some point it was common for men to communicate in a different way than women. These characteristics are known as sexolect.
4. Diachronic variants. Language transformations take place over time, so it is to be expected that two people from different eras do not share major codes in language.
5. Age variant. Within the same moment, it is common for people of different ages to know different terms. Youth or adolescent slang are part of this variation. These variations are known as chronolects.
6. Professional variants. People engaged in the same activities often share ways of expressing themselves. The technicalities of the different scientific disciplines, known as technolects, are included here.
7. Instructional variants. As said, the level of education achieved by a person is a determining factor in their way of communicating.
8. Contextual variants. The same people in certain contexts speak in one way and in others in another. The well-known ‘record’ shows this, constituting a new variant.
9. Sacred languages. Common in a few tribes, they are different ways of communicating that people have only for acts of greater religious content, according to their beliefs.
10. Marginal variants. It is common for areas where people are marginalized (mainly prisons, but also in some cases slums) form slang own, which represent a new social variant.