Linguistic insecurity

Sociolinguistics
Key concepts
Code-switching Language change Language ideology Language planning Multilingualism Prestige Variation
Areas of study
Accent Bilingual pun Dialect Diglossia Homophonic translation Macaronic language Phono-semantic matching Register Discourse analysis Language varieties Linguistic description Loanword Pragmatics Pidgin Soramimi
People
Sociolinguists
Related fields
Applied linguistics Historical linguistics Linguistic anthropology Sociocultural linguistics Sociology of language
Category Linguistics portal
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Linguistic insecurity comprises feelings of anxiety, self-consciousness, or lack of confidence in the mind of a speaker surrounding their use of language. Often, this anxiety comes from speakers' belief that their speech does not conform to the perceived standard and/or the style of language expected by the speakers' interlocutor(s). Linguistic insecurity is situationally induced and is often based on a feeling of inadequacy regarding personal performance in certain contexts, rather than a fixed attribute of an individual. This insecurity can lead to stylistic, and phonetic shifts away from an affected speaker's default speech variety; these shifts may be performed consciously on the part of the speaker, or may be reflective of an unconscious effort to conform to a more prestigious or context-appropriate variety or style of speech.^[1] Linguistic insecurity is linked to the perception of speech varieties in any community, and so may vary based on socioeconomic class^[2] and gender. It is also especially pertinent in multilingual societies.^{[citation needed]}