noun · 2 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot
Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.
Sound
Pronunciation
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General-American:/ˌsoʊsi.oʊlɪŋˈɡwɪstɪks/
Received-Pronunciation:/ˌsəʊsi.əʊlɪŋˈɡwɪstɪks/
Received-Pronunciation:/ˌsəʊʃjəʊlɪŋˈɡwɪstɪks/
Southern-England:Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
1
noun
Meaning 1
The study of social and cultural effects on language and vice-versa.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: uncountable
Topics: human-sciences, linguistics, sciences
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
2
noun
Meaning 2
the study of language in relation to its sociocultural context
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: linguistics
History
Etymology
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *sekw- Proto-Indo-European *-h2 Proto-Indo-European *-éh2 Proto-Indo-European *sokwéh2 Proto-Indo-European *-ṓy Proto-Indo-European *sokwh2ṓy Proto-Indo-European *-yós Proto-Indo-European *sokwyós Proto-Italic *sokjos Latin sokios Latin sociusder. English socio- Proto-Indo-European *dn̥ǵhwéh2s Proto-Italic *dn̥ɣwā Latin dingua Latin lingua Proto-Indo-European *-id- Proto-Indo-European *-yéti Proto-Indo-European *-idyéti Proto-Hellenic *-íďďō Ancient Greek -ῐ́ζω (-ĭ́zō) Proto-Hellenic *-tās Ancient Greek -τής (-tḗs) Ancient Greek -ῐστής (-ĭstḗs)bor. Latin -istader. Old French -istebor. Middle English -ist English -ist English linguist Proto-Indo-European *-ikos Proto-Italic *-ikos Latin -icuslbor. Old French -iquebor. Middle English -ik English -ic Old English -as Middle English -es English -s English -ics English linguistics English sociolinguistics From socio- + linguistics.
Across languages
Translations
75 source translations are retained for this English entry.
Afrikaans:
sosiolinguistiek
— the study of social and cultural effects on language
Arabic:
لِسَانِيَّات اِجْتِمَاعِيَّة
(lisāniyyāt ijtimāʕiyya)
— the study of social and cultural effects on language
Armenian:
հանրալեզվաբանություն
(hanralezvabanutʻyun)
— the study of social and cultural effects on language
Asturian:
sociollingüística
— the study of social and cultural effects on language
Basque:
soziolinguistika
— the study of social and cultural effects on language
Belarusian:
сацыялінгвістыка
(sacyjalinhvistyka)
— the study of social and cultural effects on language
Bengali:
সমাজভাষাবিজ্ঞান
(śomajbhaśabiggên)
— the study of social and cultural effects on language
Breton:
sokioyezhoniezh
— the study of social and cultural effects on language
Breton:
kevredadyezhoniezh
— the study of social and cultural effects on language
Bulgarian:
социолингвистика
(sociolingvistika)
— the study of social and cultural effects on language
Carpathian Rusyn:
соціолінґвістіка
(sociolingvistika)
— the study of social and cultural effects on language
Catalan:
sociolingüística
— the study of social and cultural effects on language
Chinese Cantonese:
社會語言學 /社会语言学
— the study of social and cultural effects on language
Chinese:
社會語言學 /社会语言学
(siā-hōe giân-gú-ha̍k)
— the study of social and cultural effects on language
Chinese Mandarin:
社會語言學 /社会语言学
(shèhuìyǔyánxué)
— the study of social and cultural effects on language
Cornish:
yethonieth gowethasek
— the study of social and cultural effects on language
Corsican:
sociolinguistica
— the study of social and cultural effects on language
Czech:
sociolingvistika
— the study of social and cultural effects on language
Danish:
sociolingvistik
— the study of social and cultural effects on language
Dutch:
sociolinguïstiek
— the study of social and cultural effects on language
Esperanto:
sociolingvistiko
— the study of social and cultural effects on language
Faroese:
samfelagsmálvísindi
— the study of social and cultural effects on language
Finnish:
sosiolingvistiikka
— the study of social and cultural effects on language
French:
sociolinguistique
— the study of social and cultural effects on language
Galician:
sociolingüística
— the study of social and cultural effects on language
Georgian:
სოციოლინგვისტიკა
(sociolingvisṭiḳa)
— the study of social and cultural effects on language
German:
Soziolinguistik
— the study of social and cultural effects on language
Greek:
κοινωνιογλωσσολογία
(koinonioglossología)
— the study of social and cultural effects on language
Haitian Creole:
sosyolengwistik
— the study of social and cultural effects on language
Hebrew:
בַּלְשָׁנוּת חֶבְרָתִית
(balshanút khevratít)
— the study of social and cultural effects on language
Hindi:
समाजभाषाविज्ञान
(samājbhāṣāvijñān)
— the study of social and cultural effects on language
Hungarian:
szociolingvisztika
— the study of social and cultural effects on language
Hungarian:
társasnyelvészet
— the study of social and cultural effects on language
Ido:
sociolinguistiko
— the study of social and cultural effects on language
Indonesian:
sosiolinguistik
— the study of social and cultural effects on language
Irish:
sochtheangeolaíocht
— the study of social and cultural effects on language
Italian:
sociolinguistica
— the study of social and cultural effects on language
Japanese:
社会言語学
(shakaigengogaku)
— the study of social and cultural effects on language
Javanese:
sosiolinguistik
— the study of social and cultural effects on language
Kazakh:
әлеуметтік тілтану
(äleumettık tıltanu)
— the study of social and cultural effects on language
Korean:
사회언어학
(sahoeeoneohak)
— the study of social and cultural effects on language
Kyrgyz:
социолингвистика
(sotsiolingvistika)
— the study of social and cultural effects on language
Latin:
sociolinguistica
— the study of social and cultural effects on language
Latvian:
sociolingvistika
— the study of social and cultural effects on language
Limburgish:
sociolinguïstiek
— the study of social and cultural effects on language
Lithuanian:
sociolingvistika
— the study of social and cultural effects on language
Macedonian:
социолингвистика
(sociolingvistika)
— the study of social and cultural effects on language
Malayalam:
സാമൂഹികഭാഷാശാസ്ത്രം
(sāmūhikabhāṣāśāstraṁ)
— the study of social and cultural effects on language
Manx:
sheshengoaylleeaght
— the study of social and cultural effects on language
Norman:
sociolîndgistique
— the study of social and cultural effects on language
Norwegian Bokmål:
sosiolingvistikk
— the study of social and cultural effects on language
Norwegian Nynorsk:
sosiolingvistikk
— the study of social and cultural effects on language
Occitan:
sociolingüistica
— the study of social and cultural effects on language
Polish:
socjolingwistyka
— the study of social and cultural effects on language
Portuguese:
sociolinguística
— the study of social and cultural effects on language
Punjabi:
ਸਮਾਜਿਕ ਭਾਸ਼ਾ ਵਿਗਿਆਨ
(samājik bhāśā vigiāna)
— the study of social and cultural effects on language
Romanian:
sociolingvistică
— the study of social and cultural effects on language
Russian:
социолингви́стика
(sociolingvístika)
— the study of social and cultural effects on language
Scots:
sociolingueestics
— the study of social and cultural effects on language
Serbo-Croatian:
социолингвѝстика
— the study of social and cultural effects on language
Serbo-Croatian:
sociolingvìstika
— the study of social and cultural effects on language
Sicilian:
sociolinguìstica
— the study of social and cultural effects on language
Slovak:
sociolingvistika
— the study of social and cultural effects on language
Slovene:
sociolingvistika
— the study of social and cultural effects on language
Spanish:
sociolingüística
— the study of social and cultural effects on language
Sundanese:
sosiolinguistik
— the study of social and cultural effects on language
Swahili:
isimu jamii
— the study of social and cultural effects on language
Swedish:
sociolingvistik
— the study of social and cultural effects on language
Tagalog:
sosyolingguwistika
— the study of social and cultural effects on language
Turkish:
toplum dil bilimi
— the study of social and cultural effects on language
Ukrainian:
соціолінгві́стика
(sociolinhvístyka)
— the study of social and cultural effects on language
Uzbek:
sotsiolingvistika
— the study of social and cultural effects on language
Vietnamese:
ngôn ngữ học xã hội
— the study of social and cultural effects on language
Walloon:
sociolinwince
— the study of social and cultural effects on language
Welsh:
ieithyddiaeth gymdeithasol
— the study of social and cultural effects on language