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Glite Dictionary
sociolinguistically

sociolinguistically

8.9
In a way that looks at how people use language
  • adverb
  • /ˌsoʊsiəˈlɪŋɡwɪstɪkli/
  • Specialized
: sociolingüísticamente
  • Kira Hall's (1995) work on women's paid sexual talk on "fantasy lines" is an interesting, contemporary example of sociolinguistically informed research on telephone interactions.

Examples

  • The study examined how accents can change sociolinguistically depending on the region.

  • Researchers analyzed how sociolinguistically diverse communities influence language learning.

  • The conference focused on the variations in language use among sociolinguistically distinct groups.

Surface Forms

sociolinguistically positive

Morphology

sociolinguistically = sociolinguistic (semi-transparent) = socio + linguistic + socio + ally

Forming an adverb from the adjective is regular and transparent, but the adjective 'sociolinguistic' is a technical compound built from the combining form 'socio-' and 'linguistic', which may not be familiar to general learners.

Etymology

The word sociolinguistically comes from socio- meaning 'social', like in society, and lingu- meaning 'tongue' or 'language', like in linguist, with -ally meaning 'in a way'. So, to look at something sociolinguistically is to look at how language works in social life.