Introducing Sociolinguistics

381 Pages·2018·4.878 MB·English

by  Miriam Meyerhoff

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Meyerhoff, M. (2018). Introducing sociolinguistics. ProQuest Ebook Central <a onclick=window.open('http://ebookcentral.proquest.com','_blank')
href='http://ebookcentral.proquest.com' target='_blank' style='cursor: pointer;'>http://ebookcentral.proquest.com</a>
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Introducing Sociolinguistics
This third edition of Miriam Meyerhoff’s highly successful textbook provides a solid, up-to-
date appreciation of the interdisciplinary nature of the field and covers foundation issues,
recent advances and current debates. It presents familiar or classic data in new ways, and
supplements the familiar with fresh examples from a wide range of languages and social
settings. It clearly explains the patterns and systems that underlie language variation in use,
as well as the ways in which alternations between different language varieties index personal
style, social power and national identity.
New features of the third edition:
■ Every chapter has been revised and updated with current research in the field, including
material on sexuality, polylanguaging and lifespan change;
■ Additional Connections with theory and Facts: No, really? are included throughout;
■ Data from sign languages, historical linguistics and Asia-Pacific sociolinguistics have
been revised and expanded;
■ A brand new companion website featuring more examples and exercises can be found at
www.routledge.com/textbooks/meyerhoff.
Chapters include exercises that enable readers to engage critically with the text, break-out
boxes making connections between sociolinguistics and linguistic or social theory, and brief,
lively add-ons guaranteed to make the book a memorable and enjoyable read. With a full
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se need for an excellent command of sociolinguistics. It can also be used in conjunction with The
r sth Routledge Sociolinguistics Reader, Doing Sociolinguistics and the online resources shared by
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rolya language and gender and language contact. She is Professor of Linguistics at Victoria
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Meyerhoff, M. (2018). Introducing sociolinguistics. ProQuest Ebook Central <a onclick=window.open('http://ebookcentral.proquest.com','_blank')
href='http://ebookcentral.proquest.com' target='_blank' style='cursor: pointer;'>http://ebookcentral.proquest.com</a>
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‘Fizzing with examples from around the world and presenting cutting-edge theoretical
wisdom, this book is an absolute must for all students of sociolinguistics.’
David Britain, University of Bern, Switzerland
‘This book is my text of choice for undergraduate modules because it introduces all the
fundamental aspects of sociolinguistics and LVC, also in multilingual contexts and with
varieties other than English. The online resources are great and the students are particu-
larly fond of the glossary with accessible definitions for complex subject matter.’
Nanna Haug Hilton, University of Groningen, The Netherlands
PRAISE FOR THE FIRST EDITION
‘Here is a welcome introduction to sociolinguistics by a leading researcher in the field.
Users will be inspired by the breadth and sweep of Meyerhoff’s treatment.’
William Labov, University of Pennsylvania, USA
‘Although the audience of this textbook . . . is primarily meant to be undergraduates, the
.d exercises are so rich with stimulating ideas that students can develop these into theses . . .
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gir llA Dinha T. Gorgis, Jadara University, Jordan
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sicn English-speaking countries . . . the author presents complex studies in a very clear man-
arF ner without simplifying too much.’
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Meyerhoff, M. (2018). Introducing sociolinguistics. ProQuest Ebook Central <a onclick=window.open('http://ebookcentral.proquest.com','_blank')
href='http://ebookcentral.proquest.com' target='_blank' style='cursor: pointer;'>http://ebookcentral.proquest.com</a>
Created from uunl on 2021-01-30 23:16:10.
CONTENTS
List of figures xi
List of tables xv
Sounds and symbols used in the text xvi
Acknowledgements xix
Maps xxii
Chapter 1 Introduction 1
What is sociolinguistics? 1
How do sociolinguists study sociolinguistics? 2
Making broader connections 3
Sociolinguistic questions 3
Structure of this book 4
On quantitative and qualitative methods 7
On sociolinguistic methods more generally 8
Using this book with The Routledge Sociolinguistics Reader 8
Chapter 2 Variation and language 10
Variables and variants 10
Regional dialectology: Mapping speakers and places 13
Using regional dialect data to inform theory 15
.d Standards, norms and alternations from the norms 18
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r sth Stereotypes, markers and indicators 27
gir llA Factors motivating variation 28
.p Chapter summary 30
u
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sicn
arF Chapter 3 Variation and style 33
&
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lyaT Studying variation in speakers’ style 34
.81 The New York City social dialect survey 35
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Chapter summary 59
Further reading 60
Meyerhoff, Miriam. Introducing Sociolinguistics, Taylor & Francis Group, 2018. ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/uunl/detail.action?docID=5494448.
Created from uunl on 2021-02-11 06:54:08.
VIII CONTENTS
Chapter 4 Language attitudes 62
Introduction 62
Language attitudes in language change 63
Linguistic relativism 68
Reclaiming derogatory terms 71
Perceptual dialectology 73
Attitudes to language: Identities and accommodation 78
Social identity theory 78
Accommodation theory 80
Chapter summary 88
Further reading 89
Chapter 5 Verbal politeness – interactional options 90
Introduction 90
Theories of politeness 92
Applications of politeness theory: Intercultural communication 107
Critiques of politeness theory 109
Chapter summary 112
Further reading 113
Chapter 6 Multilingualism and language choice 114
Introduction 114
Language policy and language planning in multilingual societies 115
Language rights in South Africa’s constitution 116
Language rights in Vanuatu’s constitution 119
Ethnolinguistic vitality 120
Using the model of language vitality 123
Diglossia in a community 126
Is ‘vitality’ the same as ‘prestige’? 128
Code switching and code mixing 129
Speech levels as different codes 139
Chapter summary 141
.d
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.pu Studying change over time 144
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rolya Profiles of change 162
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1
02 Language and ageing 171
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Meyerhoff, Miriam. Introducing Sociolinguistics, Taylor & Francis Group, 2018. ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/uunl/detail.action?docID=5494448.
Created from uunl on 2021-02-11 06:54:08.
CONTENTS Ix
Chapter 8 Social class 175
Introduction 175
Social class 176
Class as a factor in linguistic variation 180
Fine and broad stratification 185
Cross-over effects and change from above/ below 190
Class and historical sociolinguistics 197
The intersection of class and style 201
Chapter summary 203
Further reading 204
Chapter 9 Social networks and communities of practice 206
Introduction 206
Social networks 206
Communities of practice: Highly local networks 212
Case studies of social networks and language variation 214
Not all networks are equal 218
How occupation interacts with social networks 220
Who leads? 222
Chapter summary 224
Further reading 225
Chapter 10 Gender 226
Introduction 226
Sex or gender 227
Exclusive gender differences 228
Preferential gender differences 231
Principles of gender and variation: A historical picture 232
Moving beyond Labov’s principles 246
Gender practices 249
Strategic use of gender differences 255
Gendered style 258
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se Wider implications of rethinking gender 263
r sth Chapter summary 264
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.pu Appendix 265
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rolya Dialect levelling 268
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Meyerhoff, Miriam. Introducing Sociolinguistics, Taylor & Francis Group, 2018. ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/uunl/detail.action?docID=5494448.
Created from uunl on 2021-02-11 06:54:08.
x CONTENTS
Chapter 12 Looking back and looking ahead 297
Variation is what we know 298
Theory in sociolinguistics 301
Interpreting and motivating variation 307
A final word: The triumph of multiple causation 310
Notes on the exercises 311
Glossary 327
Bibliography 339
Index 362
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Meyerhoff, Miriam. Introducing Sociolinguistics, Taylor & Francis Group, 2018. ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/uunl/detail.action?docID=5494448.
Created from uunl on 2021-02-11 06:54:08.
SOUNDS AND SYMBOLS
USED IN THE TEXT
The symbols that are used to represent speech sounds in this text are generally the symbols
used in the IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet). The main vowel symbols used in this text
are shown in the vowel chart over. The main consonant symbols are as follows:
Symbol Example
p pen
b bit
t tell
d die
k cake
g goat
ʔ (glottal stop, replaces final stops in many varieties of English, e.g., hat as [hæʔ])
tʃ church
dʒ judge
f fan
v view
θ thirteenth
ð then
s sick
z zoo
ʃ ship
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evre ʒ measure
se h hat
r sth m moon
g
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.pu ŋ sing
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& j yellow
rolya w wine
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Meyerhoff, Miriam. Introducing Sociolinguistics, Taylor & Francis Group, 2018. ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/uunl/detail.action?docID=5494448.
Created from uunl on 2021-02-11 06:55:24.
SOUNDS AND SYMBOLS USED IN THE TEXT xVII
VOWELS
Front Central Back
i u
Close
ʊ
e o
Close-mid
ə
ε
Open-mid
a ɑ ɒ
Open
Figure 0.1 Where symbols appear in pairs, the one to the right represents a rounded vowel.
Sometimes the text uses the keywords from Wells’s (1982) lexical sets to identify sounds
in English. Wells’s lexical sets are quite useful for identifying sounds across varieties of
English. They were chosen so as to be able to refer concisely to groups of words that generally
share the same vowel in varieties of southern British English and what is known as General
American. The phonetic realisation of the vowel may be rather different in Received Pronun-
ciation (RP) and General American (GenAm), but the set of words identified by the keyword
generally will be the same. A list of Wells’s keywords and the phonetic realisation of the vowel
in those words in RP and GenAm follows:
RP GenAm Keyword Examples
.d ɪ ɪ 1 KIT ship, sick, bridge, milk, myth, busy
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vre e ε 2 DRESS step, neck, edge, shelf, friend, ready
ser sth æ æ 3 TRAP tap, back, badge, scalp, hand, cancel
g ɒ ɑ 4 LOT stop, sock, dodge, romp, possible, quality
ir llA ʌ ʌ 5 STRUT cup, suck, budge, pulse, trunk, blood
.p
uo ʊ ʊ 6 FOOT put, bush, full, good, look, wolf
rG
sicn ɑː æ 7 BATH staff, brass, ask, dance, sample, calf
arF ɒ ɔ 8 CLOTH cough, broth, cross, long, Boston
& ro ɜː зr 9 NURSE hurt, lurk, urge, burst, jerk, term
lya iː i 10 FLEECE creep, speak, leave, feel, key, people
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.8 eɪ eɪ 11 FACE tape, cake, raid, veil, steak, day
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thg ɔː ɔ 13 THOUGHT taught, sauce, hawk, jaw, broad
iryp əʊ o 14 GOAT soap, joke, home, know, so, roll
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uː u 15 GOOSE loop, shoot, tomb, mute, huge, view
aɪ aɪ 16 PRICE ripe, write, arrive, high, try, buy
Meyerhoff, Miriam. Introducing Sociolinguistics, Taylor & Francis Group, 2018. ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/uunl/detail.action?docID=5494448.
Created from uunl on 2021-02-11 06:55:24.
xVIII SOUNDS AND SYMBOLS USED IN THE TEXT
ɔɪ ɔɪ 17 CHOICE noise, join, toy, royal
aʊ aʊ 18 MOUTH out, house, loud, count, crowd, cow
ɪə ir 19 NEAR beer, sincere, fear, beard, serum
εə εr 20 SQUARE care, fair, pear, where, scarce, vary
ɑː ɑr 21 START far, sharp, bark, carve, farm, heart
ɔː ɔr 22 NORTH for, war, short, scorch, born, warm
ɔː or 23 FORCE four, wore, sport, porch, borne, story
ʊə ʊr 24 CURE poor, tourist, pure, plural, jury
In some varieties of English Wells’s keywords are not unique sets (e.g., many speakers
of English do not distinguish foot and strut), or there may be splits within a set (e.g., the
bath set may subdivide, and speakers may have different vowels for dance and grass). So the
keyword system is in no way a substitute for the detail of the IPA. Nevertheless, it is a very
useful system, especially for readers who may not be 100 per cent fluent in the IPA.
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Meyerhoff, Miriam. Introducing Sociolinguistics, Taylor & Francis Group, 2018. ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/uunl/detail.action?docID=5494448.
Created from uunl on 2021-02-11 06:55:24.