Definition of Language and Linguistic Variant

1. Language refers to a specific set of words made up of sounds and combinations characteristics, used as an instrument of oral and/or written communication by a community specific. When it is officially recognized by a country, it can be called a language.

2. Anatomy. Muscular structure -organ- highly sensory, located in the initial portion of the digestive system, whose function is connected to speech, swallowing and taste.

3. by analogy. Term used to name elements whose physical or functional similarity can be reminiscent of a language. Examples: A) 'Language of fire (forms in which flames appear)'. B) 'Language of water (way in which water moves along the coast of the beach or river)'.

Etymology: Language, from Latin tongue. For its part, variant, formed from the verb to vary, by the Latin will vary, and the suffix -nte, according to the deverbal construction; Linguistics, for French linguistic, regarding linguiste, whose root goes back to Latin tongue.

Cat. grammatical: noun fem.
in syllables: len-gua / va-rian-te + lingüís-ti-ca.

Language and Linguistic Variant

Indira Ahmed Fernandez
Bachelor of Hispanic Letters

Language is the communication system used by a human group in a consensual and standardized manner that represents an important part of the culture of its speakers. Although the language used to communicate is the same for all humanity, not all of us use it in the same way.

The sound and graphic signs are different according to certain geographical areas and the groups of people that compose them. The system of signs used by Castilian -the Spanish or Castilian language- to write a word is different from the one used by Japanese - the Japanese language - even if they both mean the same thing. same.

It is common to find a variety of speech within the same language, without this use changing the official or common language too much and this is what we call a linguistic variant. In general, regional idioms are added - known as dialect - or what we can identify as slang popular, which are specific terms used by people of the same social groupsuch as lawyers or doctors.

Some individuals are able to assimilate various sign systems, but the one they learned first, the one that is recognized as theirs, is recognized as the mother or native language. These individuals are known as multilingual and the language is used as a way to expand their culture and vision of the world, which today is much more globalized with the possibilities it offers Internet. Manuel Seco maintains that "knowing the name of a thing is a way of knowing it."

Linguistics is the science that dedicates its studies and research to language, language, rules grammar and evolution, adding and disseminating important knowledge for communicative relationships such as we see them today. It is worth noting that while there are different ways to divide language studies, such as morphology, syntax, phonetics, semantics, etc., the way each language was structured is so complex, with a mixture of so many peoples, that to this day many linguists discuss the extent to which some classifications are correct.

Language X Language

The phenomenon that originates the various languages ​​and languages ​​is a complex issue for whose analysis a superficial approach does not reach. However, it is important to know how to differentiate the two concepts, despite being similar, in order to correctly interpret each system. While, as mentioned above, language refers to an ordered set of sound and graphic signs assembled in specific orders to form words that are joined according to certain rules to present a meaning. Language is any form of communication that transmits a concept or an idea -signs, drawings, sounds, words, etc.- capable of promoting interaction between two or more individuals.

Now, what we know as language is not exclusive to human beings, but is the means for communication to work among animals as well. This is because both one and the other have intelligence, defined by Seco as the ability to understand, make sense of things and adapt to situations. But human beings have something else: reason, which consists of judging and deciding. This makes us rational beings and has enabled the means of communication that characterizes us to evolve so much.

Historically, studies have focused on the evolution of language as a means of expression and alluding to the multiple forms it takes in different times and geographical areas.

The use of sound signals as a means of communication in language has very varied forms and extensions. However, as these sounds by themselves do not mean anything, man, over thousands of years, gradually articulated characteristic combinations of these, which today we call language.

Saussure states in his Course on General Linguistics that "the language is not directly subject to the spirit of the speakers”, which for him means that no family of languages ​​belongs to right to a specific group. For example, Spanish descends directly from Vulgar Latin at the end of the Middle Ages and was standardized as a language in Spain thanks to the management of Isabel de Castilla, but it has evolved a lot since that epoch.

linguistic variant

People live in different groups that over the years divide into new groups, which naturally and unconscious causes the same language to gain variations in its elements, whether in pronunciation, vocabulary, syntax or morphology. This is because human language is versatile enough to embrace new words, expressions, and sounds that arise from the interaction of their speakers, so it is impossible to define what the "correct way" would be, since they all follow the necessary rules to allow communication effective.

Among the factors capable of driving these changes, we highlight the geographical location, the social class, the level of education, sex, age and the degree of formality required by the situation.

Other factors that also influence the use of one variant or another are history, contact with indigenous languages, and migration. Let us remember, for example, that Spanish in America had contact with the Amerindian languages ​​that were the means of communication in the area, and which left more or less deep traces in the linguistic unity of the language. Taking into account the above, we can divide the variations into:

diastratic or social

This variety affects words at a morphosyntactic or phonological level as a consequence of educational level or direct contact with a certain social group known as popular slang.

It is the speech of the most educated people that makes the language a fairly uniform pattern, but in countries, regions or the same cities, the speech of people with a lower educational level is varied. The conclusion in this regard, comments Seco, is that the greater the prevalence of variations outside the rule educated, the more the variety of speech will predominate and with this there is a greater risk of breaking the unity of the language.

Diaphasic or situational

They are given based on the situation or communicative context presented, that is, it varies from formality to informality according to the needs of the interlocutor. For example, the way someone talks to friends is informal, while with the boss more formal language is needed.

Diachronic or historical

This variation reflects the time in which the speakers lived, which ends up taking several words or grammatical rules out of use. They are distinguished between archaic and modern.

Diatopic or geographic

Also known as dialect, it is the most complex of the variations, since it represents the differences in the speech of the inhabitants of different regions or different countries who use the same language. We know that, although Spanish is spoken in many parts of the world, an Argentine, a Colombian, or a Mexican do not speak the same; there are important differences with the form of use in Spain.

It is considered a system of signs, separated from the common language, with characteristics aligned with other dialect systems and generally delimited to a geographical area.