ABSTRACT
We want to introduce this chapter in some detail because, in our experience, there are a good many unspoken and unexamined assumptions about language and languages which need unravelling.
Language, Social Structure and Power
First, however, we want to raise a very obvious issue about what language is for and to make the connection between language and social structure. Clearly, language is for the purpose of communication, but it also acts as a vehicle for society’s culture and social structure. A simple but graphic example can be found in words for ‘you’. In French (and many other languages) tu is used when addressing one person and vous when addressing several. (English lost this ability some time ago, thou only surviving in Yorkshire and in the Book of Common Prayer.) In addition, tu is also used when addressing people close to you and, traditionally, for ‘inferiors’ like servants. The use of tu/vous, therefore, illustrates social distance, social status, and formality. It might be considered quite offensive, for instance, if we struck up a conversation on a French train with another passenger and used tu, since it would suggest we were being either overfamiliar or patronizing. A snob, however, might deliberately use tu when buying the ticket, to signify his or her superiority, and the person serving would be risking their job to use tu in return. Thus, with every utterance the customer can assert his or her social power and with every utterance the person serving them has to confirm it.
