Sociolinguistics

 There are differences in speeches of different communities which belong to the same country in aspects of words and pronunciation. For example, my friend from Ankara used the words "dız,dızcı,dızmak" this week which I have never heard of. As I have learned, these are all about "stealing". Instead of using "hırsız" to say "a thief", like all of the other countries of Turkey do, they use "dızcı", and instead of saying "çalmak" for "stealing", they use "dızmak". I found it very interesting when I first heard it. I cannot imagine myself using these words but they always use them.

      This week, we have talked about how language changes in different contexts in class. Our speech changes according to some factors such as who we are talking to, where/when/why we are talking and what are we talking about (the topic). While listening to this lesson, I have noticed that I live these changes all the time unconsciously. To give an example; my speech changes when I talk to my boy bestie and my girl bestie. I use "hacı/aga" when I talk to my boy bestie because these words are more masculine, and I use the words "bacım/kız" when I talk to my girl besties because these words are more feminine. I also use "pardon, bakar mısınız?" while asking something to a stranger or an elder person but I use "kankacım/canım" while asking something to my close friends. To sum up, we use much more sincere words to our close ones, and we use more distant words while talking to people we don't know much.