Abstract

This thesis is a study on the language in the movie My Fair Lady from the perspective of sociolinguistic perspective, focusing on how social factors influence language and how language contributes to the construction and reconstruction of one’s social identity. The movie is about how a lower class flower girl named Eliza is turned into an upper class lady by changing her language. From analyzing the language in My Fair Lady, we can further understand the charm of language and its social functions and have a better understanding of the movie. Language and society are closely related, and language is a symbol of society. 

Key words: language, social identity, sociolinguistics

CONTENTS

中文摘要

Abstract

1. Introduction-1

2. Social Factors in My Fair Lady-1

2.1 Dialect-2

2.1.1 Regional dialect-2

2.1.2 Social dialect-3

2.2 Registers-4

2.3 Social class-5

2.4 Gender-6

3. Social Identity Construction in My Fair Lady-8

3.1 Phonology-8

3.1.1 Phonology from a linguistic perspective-8

3.1.2 Pitch, volume, and intonation from a paralinguistic perspective-9

3.2 Grammar-10

3.3 Manners-10

3.4 Vocabulary-11

4. Conclusion-11

Works cited13