[cwrdmelv] Dialect differences as a proxy for social divisions

Social divisions, sometimes called social class divisions, are often invisible or difficult to discern.  How often do differences get reflected in language differences?  Hypothesize always.  It of course makes sense: you have a language for the people you communicate with which diverges from the language of people you don't communicate with.

The differences could be extremely subtle: it could happen at any one of the many different levels of language, e.g., phonetic, syntactic, semantic.  Analyze languages and dialects at a much finer level, probably with computers.  This is of course already being done by linguists.  It is tantalizing the prospect of making visible what was previously not, for the ultimate goal of decreasing conflicts in society.

Inspired by AAVE, where two groups live in the same geographic location but have very different language due to social barriers.