What are Lexical Variants? Types and Examples

The Lexical variants Are the variations that are made to a language Depending on the region in which we are.

Different words are used to refer to an object, or the same word to refer to different objects. The lexicon is the vocabulary of a language, or a region.

Types of lexical variants.

So we can define lexical variations as the use of linguistic elements instead of others without the meaning changing.

Variations of lexical variants

Within the lexical variations, we find the geographic or dia- tototic variations, the social or diastráticas variations, the contextual or diaphasic variations and the historical or diachronic variations.

Geographical variations

Geographic or diatopic variations are those variants used by speakers of the same language and subject to communicative adjustments.

As speakers often have closer contact with people from neighboring locations, variations within an adjoining area are more or less uniform.

The geographic variant that has homogeneous features is known as geolecto, and some authors know it as a horizontal dialect.

When speakers are in distant locations, the readjustment process will be more difficult, so there will be greater variation in the use of language.

Geolecto is also known as dialect. The dialect refers to one of the possible varieties of a language in a region.

If the speech region of the dialect is very large, the dialect may in turn have subdialects or speak.

It is the case of the region of Asturias, where there is the dialect of Bable or Asturian, there are different lexical variations depending on the area from which the speaker comes, distinguishing the central area, the western and the eastern.

Social Variations

The social or diastráticas variations are those that occur in the environment of the same social group. Within a similar social group, a similar and more uniform lexicon is used.

Within a group that has socioeconomic characteristics or perform a similar job, socio-sociology may emerge.

The study of sociolects tries to discover how the social relations of a group of individuals can affect the use of language.

In this variation of the language, we can find people using a cultured language, which is usually related to a background of education and culture; The normal or standard language, which uses the majority of the population in normal situations and the uncultured language where speakers misuse the language lexicon.

Contextual variation

The contextual or diaphasic variation is applied when the lexicon is modified depending on the situation to which the speaker is subjected.

They can be formal situations in which a more technical use of language or social situations where the lexicon is much more relaxed is needed.

The diaphasic variation is conditioned by four factors: the listener, the speaker, the framework where the exchange takes place and the subject matter.

This variation is not only included in the spoken language, but also has a greater incision in the written language.

People often use a much richer and more correct language in written form, since they need to give all the details that in spoken language could be displayed through body expressions.

Within this variation, we distinguish the language records applied to each occasion. We have ultra-formal registration; In which we include legal jargon or medical jargon, etc.; And is characterized because not all the population understands it and even uses words from Greek and Latin.

These registers are the cult record, where more elaborate grammar and complex syntax are used; The technical register, applied to a specific science or the standard register, used by the majority of the population.

There is also the colloquial or familiar register characterized by a simpler and informal vocabulary; The vulgar register, which is characterized by lexical poverty and the misuse of language and slang, which is a specific colloquial language related to the social category.

Historical variation

Historical or diachronic variation is closely linked to social and geographical variations. It reflects the linguistic changes that have occurred in a language over time.

The same change in the lexicon will not always affect different geographical areas. Social and geographical factors influence the evolution of language and, depending on their location, can diffuse change more or less quickly.

For example in Spanish we can distinguish the lexicon based on the time of history, so we have the old Castilian, medieval Castilian, the Golden Age, modern Spanish...

There are some authors who affirm that the history of the language is also conditioned by the political and cultural history of the country.

Examples of lexical and cultural variants of Spanish-speaking peoples

Within the geographic variations we can attend variations that occur to a greater or lesser extent.

These may be the differences between Spanish spoken in Spain in different regions or autonomous communities, or Spanish spoken in South America compared to Spanish spoken in Spain.

Variations between Spain and South America

What are Lexical Variants?  Types and Examples

Example of variations in peninsular Spanish

Asturleonés-castellano variants

What are Lexical Variants?  Types and Examples 1

References

  1. Alvar, Manuel (dir.) (1996): Manual of Hispanic dialectology. The Spanish of Spain, Barcelona, ​​Ariel.
  2. Batllori, Montserrat (2012):"Constitutive or historical variants", handwritten version, Girona, UdG.
  3. García de Diego, Vicente (1978):"Handbook of Spanish dialectology", Madrid, Ediciones Hispanic culture of the Ibero-American Center for Cooperation.
  4. Labov, William (1972):"The social stratification of (r) in New York City department stores,"University of Pennsylvania Press, Philadelphia, 43-54.
  5. Menéndez Pidal, Ramón (1950): Origins of Spanish. Linguistic state of the Iberian Peninsula up to the 11th century, 3rd ed., Highly corrected and added, Madrid, Espasa-Calpe.
  6. Navarro Tomás, Tomás (1962): Linguistic Atlas of the Iberian Peninsula (ALPI), I: Phonetics, Madrid.
  7. Penny, Ralph (2000):"Variation and Change in Spanish", Cambridge, Cambridge University Press. 80.


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