| Summary: | ABSTRACT
The present study has concentrated on the relationship between language variation and
social structure of society. It has taken into account language usage of speakers and their social background, namely social class and gender. In order to clarify this relationship,the research has been conducted in Turkish society, in particular, Istanbul, and in the Turkish language.
The sociolinguistic view adopted advocates the view that language change is the result of the combination of the internal linguistic factors and external social factors. Thus, a brief overview of internal linguistic rules of /h/ deletion in the Turkish and the external social factors in the Istanbul society has been determined.
A broad picture of the relationship between the internal rule of language variation and the social structure of the society is provided, as well as a discussion of some controversial issues related to language and its social context.
The data for the present study shows that /h/ is a differentiator of social classes and gender in Istanbul. It is worth noting here that the reason of the discrepancy between the speech pattern of the male and female is answered by adopting the term “habitus” as a biopsychosocial process to sociolinguistics. In conclusion, the present study, like many previous studies, demonstrates that language is deeply attached to the social structure of
society.
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