An introduction to English sociolinguistics

169 Pages·2010·1.071 MB·English

by  Graeme Trousdale

EDINBURGH TEXTBOOKS ON THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE
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Series Editor: Heinz Giegerich
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This series provides introductions to the main areas of English Language r
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study. Volumes cover aspects of the history and structure of the language d
such as: syntax, phonology, morphology, regional and social variation, Old u
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English, Middle English, Early Modern English and international Englishes. t
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An Introduction to to English Sociolinguistics
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GRAEME TROUSDALE n
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Designed for beginning undergraduates studying for degrees in English, this textbook is
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provides an introduction to a range of sociolinguistic theories and the insights they i
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provide for a greater understanding of varieties of English, past and present. Drawing s
on both qualitative and quantitative approaches to sociolinguistic variation, the book
provides a systematic overview of topics including:
• ’English’ as a social and as a linguistic concept
• English speech communities
• Social and regional dialectology in relation to varieties of English
• English historical sociolinguistics, from Old English to late Modern English
• Sociolinguistics and change in English
• Outcomes ofcontact involving varieties of English
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• English and language planning
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• English, sociolinguistics and linguistic theory. A
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Thebookcontains data drawn from studies of English as it is spoken around the world. E
Throughout, there is an emphasis on facilitating a deeper understanding of linguistic T
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variation in English and the social, political and cultural contexts in which speakers and O
English Sociolinguistics
writers of English operate. U
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Graeme Trousdale is a senior lecturer in English Language atthe University of Edinburgh.
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Graeme Trousdale
Cover design & illustration: River Design, Edinburgh
Edinburgh University Press
22George Square, Edinburgh EH8 9LF E
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ISBN 978 0 7486 2325 9 in
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www.euppublishing.com u
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An Introduction to English Sociolinguistics

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Edinburgh Textbooks on the English Language
General Editor
Heinz Giegerich, Professor of English Linguistics, University of Edinburgh
Editorial Board
Laurie Bauer (University of Wellington)
Derek Britton (University of Edinburgh)
Olga Fischer (University of Amsterdam)
Rochelle Lieber (University of New Hampshire)
Norman Macleod (University of Edinburgh)
Donka Minkova (UCLA)
Edgar W. Schneider (University of Regensburg)
Katie Wales (University of Leeds)
Anthony Warner (University of York)
titles in the series include
An Introduction to English Syntax
Jim Miller
An Introduction to English Phonology
April McMahon
An Introduction to English Morphology: Words and Their Structure
Andrew Carstairs-McCarthy
An Introduction to International Varieties of English
Laurie Bauer
An Introduction to Middle English
Jeremy Smith and Simon Horobin
An Introduction to Old English
Richard Hogg
An Introduction to Early Modern English
Terttu Nevalainen

An Introduction to English Semantics and Pragmatics
Patrick Griffi ths
An Introduction to English Sociolinguistics
Graeme Trousdale
An Introduction to Late Modern English
Ingrid Tieken-Boon van Ostade
An Introduction to Regional Englishes: Dialect Variation in England
Joan Beal
An Introduction to English Phonetics
Richard Ogden
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An Introduction to English
Sociolinguistics
Graeme Trousdale

Edinburgh University Press
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© Graeme Trousdale, 2010
Edinburgh University Press Ltd
22 George Square, Edinburgh
www.euppublishing.com
Typeset in 10.5/12 Janson
by Servis Filmsetting Ltd, Stockport, Cheshire, and
printed and bound in Great Britain by
CPI Antony Rowe, Chippenham and Eastbourne
A CIP record for this book is available from the British Library
ISBN 978 0 7486 2324 2 (hardback)
ISBN 978 0 7486 2325 9 (paperback)
The right of Graeme Trousdale
to be identifi ed as author of this work
has been asserted in accordance with
the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

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Contents
List of fi gures and tables viii
Acknowledgements ix
To readers x
1 What is ‘English’? 1
1.1 Overview 1
1.2 Languages and dialects 4
1.3 Linguistic and social criteria for different languages 6
1.4 Good and bad English 8
1.5 The native speaker of English 10
1.6 Standard English 11
1.7 Summary 14
Exercises 14
Further reading 15
2 Communities, networks and individuals 16
2.1 Overview 16
2.2 What is a community? 16
2.3 The English speech community and social networks 17
2.4 Communities of practice 22

2.5 Virtual communities 24
2.6 The individual 25
2.7 Summary 26
Exercises 27
Further reading 27
3 English and language planning 28
3.1 Overview 28
3.2 How to plan a language 29
3.3 Planning English in England 32
3.4 English in Kenya, Sri Lanka and the European Union 35
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vi AN INTRODUCTION TO ENGLISH SOCIOLINGUISTICS
3.5 How has the globalisation of English affected language
planning? 38
3.6 Summary 39
Exercise 40
Further reading 40
4 Regional and social variation 41
4.1 Overview 41
4.2 Aims and methods of traditional dialectologists 42
4.3 Aims and methods of variationist sociolinguists 45
4.4 The linguistic variable 46
4.5 A fi rst example of quantitative variation in English 49
4.6 The issue of style 51
4.7 The three waves of variationist sociolinguistics 53
4.8 Synthesising regional and social variation 56
4.9 Summary 57
Exercises 57
Further reading 58
5 Change in English 59
5.1 Overview 59
5.2 What is linguistic change? 59
5.3 An example of variation in the past 61
5.4 The linguistic behaviour of older and younger speakers
in a community 63
5.5 Other social factors in change 66
5.6 Beyond the urban west 72
5.7 Summary 74
Exercise 75
Further reading 75

6 English historical sociolinguistics 76
6.1 Overview 76
6.2 Methodology 77
6.3 Variation in Old English 78
6.4 Variation in Middle English 81
6.5 Variation in early Modern English 83
6.6 Variation in late Modern English 86
6.7 The future of English? 88
6.8 Summary 89
Exercise 90
Further reading 90
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CONTENTS vii
7 Language contact 92
7.1 Overview 92
7.2 Pidgin and creole varieties 92
7.3 Some features and examples of English- lexifi er pidgins
and creoles 95
7.4 Code- switching 97
7.5 Deanglicisation and conventionalisation 100
7.6 Summary 103
Exercises 104
Further reading 104
8 Dialect contact 105
8.1 Overview 105
8.2 Dialect contact in Britain 105
8.3 Dialect contact beyond Britain 112
8.4 Networks and dialect contact 115
8.5 Summary 116
Exercise 116
Further reading 118
9 Sociolinguistics and linguistic theory 119
9.1 Overview 119
9.2 The relationship between biolinguistics and
sociolinguistics 121
9.3 What do speakers know? 121
9.4 The problem of Standard English and dialect syntax 123
9.5 (Socio)linguistic modelling 124
9.6 The modular approach 126
9.7 The usage- based model 127
9.8 What about ‘English’? 130
9.9 Summary 131

Exercise 132
Further reading 132
10 Conclusion 134
Appendix 136
References 138
Index 149
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Figures and tables
Figures
4.1 Map taken from the Linguistic Atlas of England showing variation
in pronunciation of the vowel in the word man 43
4.2 Traditional dialect areas of England 44
4.3 (h) in Yorkshire 50
5.1 Percentage of (hw):[w] in central Canada by age 64
5.2 Variation in (uh) among Detroit adolescent groups 71
8.1 TH-Fronting in Glasgow 117
Tables
8.1 MOUTH in Milton Keynes and surrounding villages 111

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Acknowledgements
I would like to thank Lynn Clark, Heinz Giegerich, Richard Hudson,
Paul Kerswill, Remco Knooihuizen, Miriam Meyerhoff, Emma Moore
and Joan Swann for very helpful comments on an earlier, draft version
of this book. I would also like to thank both Sarah Edwards and Esmé
Watson at Edinburgh University Press for their unwavering support
and advice.
I am grateful to various publishers for permission to use copyright
material in the following fi gures:
a the University of Leeds for Figure 4.1 (taken from Orton, Harold,
Stewart Sanderson and John Widdowson. 1978. The Linguistic Atlas of
England. Leeds: University of Leeds)
b Wiley-B lackwell for: Figure 4.2 (taken from Trudgill, Peter. 1999.
The Dialects of England. 2nd edition. Oxford: Blackwell, p. 34); Figure
5.1 (taken from Chambers, J. K. 2002. Patterns of variation including
change. In J. K. Chambers, Peter Trudgill and Natalie Schilling-
Estes (eds), The Handbook of Language Variation and Change. Oxford:
Blackwell, p. 360); and Figure 8.2 (based on data from Stuart- Smith,
Jane and Claire Timmins. 2007. Talkin’ Jockney: Accent change in
Glaswegian. Journal of Sociolinguistics 11, p. 236)

c Cambridge University Press for Figure 5.2 (taken from Eckert,
Penelope. 1988. Adolescent social structure and the spread of linguis-
tic change. Language in Society 17, p. 200)
d Andre Deutsch for Figure 4.3 (based on data from Petyt, K. M. 1980.
The Study of Dialect: An Introduction to Dialectology. London: Deutsch,
p. 189).
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