The Age of a Person: How does it Influence the Language

Abstract

The article concerns the prospects of describing ideolects from the point of view of the Speaker’s age, in other words of the sociolect that is formed by a generation. Physiological aspects of the age (e.G. language in onthogenesis or apprehension of L1) are also taken into consideration. Some other moments as traditions of children’s or teenager’s speech behavior (yammi in children’s speech etc.) are also taken into considerarion. Still slangs are put aside because of their specifics for marking ‘we - they’ difference. So the most important difference is connected with the age in sense of a generation. The difference in lexis, pronunciation, citing of people born in different epochs in Russia, Germany, the UK and the USA are mentioned. The connections of age with other social demographic characterictics (as social state and territory of inhabitance) are also highlighted with the accent on the difference between former inhabitants of the West Germany and the GDR. Some attempts of distinguishing generations in Russia and the USA are made.