Ontological status of a “sociolect” notion (on the example of British “Posh” sociolect)

Aim. To identify and specify the concept of a sociolect and its correlation with other concepts used in social linguistics (such as a dialect, a register, a jargon, and slang), based on domestic and Anglo-Saxon linguistics and terminology. To indicate the specifics of sociolects and to consider the features of the British English sociolects on the example of “Posh” sociolect, which is widely known in the UK as the most prestigious variety of spoken language.
Methodology. The article presents theoretical provisions related to the problems of defining the concept of “sociolect” in relation to other varieties of language identified by social factors. The study used the following methods: comparative, descriptive, as well as the method of continuous sampling for the selection of material.
Results. In the course of the research, different approaches to the definition of the “sociolect” concept were established, and “sociolect” was determined as a language variety of language reflecting social background of the speaker. Such significant peculiarities of a sociolect were highlighted as the function of the speaker’s identity marker and the conditionality of belonging to a certain social community; distinctive features of the sociolects of the British English language based on the example of “Posh” sociolect were presented.
Research implications. The results obtained can be of interest for the theory of language (dialectology, language history, language situation and language contacts). They can also be used in the development of study materials in dialectology and social linguistics, as well as by the representatives of linguistic specialties to systematize their knowledge about the dialect features of British English.

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