SOCIOLINGUISTIC CONCEPT OF “MARGINALIZATION”

Abstract

The article is dedicated to the analysis of sociolinguistic concept of “marginalization”. In the contemporary world community as well as in the particular countries and regions the process of marginalization of individuals and certain social groups is intensified because of economic instability, military-political conflicts and migration streams, so it is important to analyze it from sociolinguistic perspective. One of the main indicators of human position in the society is the achieved social status and if it is transitive and therefore uncertain for a long time a person or a social group is found to be under the negative impact of marginalization. The author examines etymology and various definitions of “marginalization”, “marginal”, “to marginalize” from prominent English general and specialized dictionaries. Marginalized population is restricted or deprived of access to political, economic, social power and decision-making. When a person is marginal or considered to be such according to the “Labeling theory”, he experiences problems with social identity because he is “on the margins” – between two social (economic, national, linguistic, religious) groups, in some cases there can be double identity, or even excluded from the active participation in society. The components of sociolinguistic concept of “marginalization” can include the following social phenomena: “outsider”, “subculture” and “minority”, several of their definitions are represented in the article. Marginal people feel as outsiders or they are perceived in such a way by others. Psychological peculiarities of outsider have negative influence on personality`s self-esteem and general psychological condition. As a result of marginalization process social groups form a specific subculture with unsteady values and norms of social behavior (even deviant one), it is reflected in particular language peculiarities which are important to examine. Usually marginalized social groups are considered to be a minority in the society because otherwise it will lead to total destabilization of social system.