DOCSLIB.ORG

Applied Sociolinguistics Applied Language Studies Edited by David Crystal

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Applied Sociolinguistics Applied Language Studies Edited by David Crystal Applied Sociolinguistics Applied Language Studies Edited by David Crystal Directions in Applied Linguistics, Crystal, D. 1981 The Nature of Phonological Disability in Children, Grunwell, P. 1981 Information and Meaning in Child Communication, Lloyd, P. and Beveridge, M. 1981 Perspectives in Communicative Language Teaching, Johnson, K. and Porter, D. 1982 Current Developments in Language Testing, Hughes, A. and Porter, D. 1983 Lexicography: Principles and Practice, Hartmann, R. R. K. 1983 Analysis of Structural Learning, Jeeves, M. A. and Greer, B. 1983 Applied Sociolinguistics, Trudgill, P. 1983 Applied Sociolinguistics Edited by Peter Trudgill Department of Linguistic Science University of Reading 1984 ACADEMIC PRESS, INC. Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, Publishers London Orlando San Diego Austin New York Toronto Montreal Sydney Tokyo Cf 50599925 '301.il -3,oc.o ·44- ACADEMIC PRESS INC. (LONDON) LTD. 24/28 Oval Road LondonNWJ United States Edition published by ACADEMIC PRESS INC. (Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, Inc) Orlando. Florida 32887 Copyright <' 1984 by ACADEMIC PRESS INC. (LONDON) LTD. All Rights Reserved No part of this book may be reproduced in any form by photostat, microfilm, or any other means, without written permission from the publishers British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data Applied sociolinguistics. -(Applied language studies) l. Sociolinguistics I. Trudgill, Peter II. Series 401 '.9 P40 ISBN 0-12-701220-6 LCCCN 83-71853 PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA 85 86 87 88 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 Contributors Allan Bell 4/6 Parau Street, Mt. Roskill, Auckland 4, New Zealand Jenny Cheshire Department ofApplied Linguistics, Birkbeck College, University of London, Malet Street, London WCI, UK John Edwards Department of Psychology, St. Francis Xavier University, Antigonish, Nova Scotia, Canada Ralph Fasold Department of Linguistics, Georgetown University, Washington D. C. 20057, USA Howard Giles Department of Psychology, Bristol University, Berkeley Square, Bristol BSB JHH, UK James Milroy Department of Linguistics, Sheffield University, UK Lesley Milroy Department of Speech, The University, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, UK Michael Stubbs Department of Linguistics, Nottingham University, University Park, Nottingham, NG7 2RD, UK Peter Trudgill Department of Linguistic Science, Faculty of Letters and Social Sciences, University of Reading, Whiteknights, Reading, RG6 2AA, UK Alastair Walker Nordfriesische Worterbuchstelle, Neue Universitiit Kiel, Olsenhousenstrasse 40-60, 2300 Kiel, West Germany Foreword Sociolinguistics, more than any other branch of linguistics, has in recent years been simultaneously pulled in several different directions. Most of its practitioners are primarily concerned with the theoretical question of how to explain the linguistic variation which society manifests, and with the meth­ odological question of how to explore it. But, because their field encounters the social implications and repercussions of language use much more immediately than other branches of linguistics, sociolinguists have regularly found themselves called upon to participate in language decision-making: evaluating or planning linguistic proposals related to a wide range of local or international issues. Some sociolinguists have avoided the publicity which often ensues from such encounters, preferring that their research be directed towards the publication of statements along conventional academic lines. Others have willingly become involved in social encounter, feeling that the application of their skills in the public domain is a responsible and desirable step. Yet others have taken this step with reluctance, believing that the application of sociolinguistic knowledge in this domain is premature, given the limited theoretical and empirical development of the subject to date. I believe that there have now been sufficient moves in these various directions to permit a clearer analysis of the subject-matter of sociolinguistics than has hitherto been possible or desirable; and that the distinction between "general" and "applied", which has proved so useful in other fields, might prove to be a realistic and fruitful model in the present case also. The general field is well-represented by the several textbooks and monographs; but there has been no corresponding attempt to bring togther the various topics that could be construed as applications: in effect, to address the question, "What problems can sociolinguistics help to solve?". It might be that there are parallels in the way sociolinguists have approached these topics, such that the problems enountered in one area might be illuminated by the findings of another. It might be that a systematic consideration of what is involved in viii FOREWORD '"applying" sociolinguistics might bring to light neglected topics which could usefully be studied along such lines. At the very least, I would hope that the juxtaposition of topics will lead to the discovery of correspondences in approach which are theoretically or methodologically interesting. And if the existence of a field of applied sociolinguistics can be usefully demonstrated, it may thereby provide a perspective within which the concerns of the general field can be more coherently defined. The present book is a pioneering work, in its intention and scope, and one whose appearance in a series on applied language studies I warmly welcome. Reading David Crystal October 1983 Preface Sociolinguistics is the science which deals with the relationship between language and society. It is therefore a very broad topic, encompassing the study of social dialects, language attitudes, stylistic variation, conversational interaction, multilingualism, language change, and much more. This book is a reflection of the fact that a great deal of work in this field is of direct or indirect practical relevance in a number of different spheres of life, including education and politics. The book brings together for the first time work by experts in particular branches of sociolinguistics and is intended to demonstrate the range of real-world activities in which the findings of sociolinguistic studies can be of some assistance and interest. Sociolinguistics is an area of study that concerns itself with the ways in which human beings actually use language in social interaction in their everyday lives. It is therefore no surprise that it turns out to be of concern for workers in a wide range of fields. Applied Sociolinguistics should be of interest to sociolinguists, language teachers, social psychologists, educationists, media specialists, lawyers, and just about anybody else who speaks a language. Reading Peter Trudgill October 1983 Contents Contributors v Preface VII 1. Introduction by Peter Trudgill Social Issues 2. Comprehension and Context: Successful Communication and Communication Breakdown by Lesley Milroy 7 3. The Relationship between Language and Sex in English by Jenny Cheshire 33 4. Sociolinguistic Methodology and the Identification of Speakers' Voices ;n Legal Proceedings by James Milroy 51 5. Good Copy - Bad News: The Syntax and Semantics of New Editing by Allan Bell 73 Educational Issues 6. Applications of the Social Psychology of Language: Sociolinguistics and Education by John Edwards and Howard Giles 119 7. Applied Sociology of Language: Vernacular Languages and Education by Alastair Walker 159 8. Applied Discourse Analysis and Educational Linguistics by Michael Stubbs 203 xii CONTENTS 9. Variation Theory and Language Leaming by Ralph W. Faso Id 245 Index 263 1 Introduction Peter Trudgill As is well-known, the term "Applied Linguistics" has acquired, in the literature, both a narrow and a broad interpretation. In its narrow inter­ pretation, the term has come to refer to the application of the results of theoretical linguistic research to the teaching and learning of foreign and second languages. In its broad interpretation, on the other hand, "Applied Linguistics" refers to the application of linguistic research to the solution of practical, educational and social problems of all types. In the title of this book, Applied Sociolinguistics, (used here, we believe, for the first time), the term "applied" is employed in the second, wider sense. This book is an attempt to present information on the ways in which sociolinguistic findings and sociolinguistic insights can be and have been of assistance in the tackling of real-world problems. As a field of study involving the interaction of language and society, sociolinguistics has naturally been a form of linguistics which has typically been more "applied" than most. We believe, nevertheless, that it is per­ fectly legitimate to point to a distinction between "pure" or "theoretical" sociolinguistics, on the one hand, and its applications, on the other. Socio­ linguistics is a science which has among its objectives (some would say its only objective) the achievement of a greater understanding of the nature of language, as well as (others would say), and at least in some of its manifesta­ tions, a greater understanding of the nature of society. At its most linguistic, sociolinguistics is a way of doing linguistics, a methodology referred to by William Labov as "secular linguistics". And even at its most social and least linguistic, sociolinguistics is a subject which has some linguistic objectives. "Applied sociolinguistics", however, is clearly to be interpreted as re- APPLIED SOCIOLINGUISTICS Copyright© 1984 by Academic Press, London ISBN: 0-12-701220-6 All rights of reproduction in any form reserved 2
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Chapter X. Language and Social Class1
    1 Chapter X. Language and social class Paul Kerswill 1. Introduction In the Preface to Pygmalion (1913), George Bernard Shaw wrote: ‘It is impossible for Comment [p1]: Capitial initial I think, don’t you? I can’t an Englishman to open his mouth without making some other Englishman hate or understand why this file is so huge despise him’. This was stated in the context of the famous play, in which a phonetics when saved as rtf. What was the picture?? No, there shouldn’t be professor, Henry Higgins, trains Eliza Doolittle, a young Cockney (or working-class one! Londoner), to use what would today be known as Received Pronunciation (RP). Under some protest, Eliza acquiesces to this because she sees the tremendous social advantage of a middle- or upper-class accent. But the play is about more than accent. Eliza has to use ‘correct’ grammar and she mustn’t swear. And she has to dress and comport herself in a way befitting a lady. What underlies all the changes Eliza undertakes is the notion that society is stratified (layered) and, moreover, that there is a direct correspondence between this stratification and all levels of language and language use (grammar, pronunciation, pragmatics, even which language is used). Stratification is not neutral: it implies inequality, and Eliza reluctantly sacrifices her social identity as a working-class Londoner in order to gain what she perceives as the advantages of a higher social class. All human societies – not just London’s – are internally differentiated, whether by gender, age, ethnicity, caste or class. These are all at a ‘macro’ level, that is, broad groups into which people can be categorized.
    [Show full text]
  • Language, Ideology and Politics in Croatia
    Language, Ideology and Politics in Croatia M at e k a p o v i ć University of Zagreb, Department of Linguistics, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, Ivana Lučića 3, HR – 10 000 Zagreb, [email protected] SCN IV/2 [2011], 45–56 Izhajajoč deloma iz osnovnih tez svoje pred kratkim izšle knjige Čiji je jezik (Čigav je jezik?) avtor podaja pregled zapletenega odnosa med jezikom, ideologijo in politiko na Hrvaškem v preteklih dveh desetletjih, vključno z novimi primeri in razčlembami. Razprava se osredotoča na vprašanja, povezana s Hrvaško, ki so lahko zanimiva za tuje slaviste in jezikoslovce, medtem ko se knjiga (v hrvaščini) ukvarja s problemi jezika, politike, ideologije in družbenega jeziko- slovja na splošno. Based in part on his recent book Čiji je jezik? (Who does Language Belong to?), the author reviews the intricate relation of language, ideology, and politics in Croatia in the last 20 years, including new examples and analyses. The article emphasizes problems related to Croatia specifically, which might be of interest to foreign Slavists and linguists, while the monograph (in Croatian) deals with the prob- lems of language, society, politics, ideology, and sociolinguistics in general. Ključne besede: jezikovna politika, jezikovno načrtovanje, purizem, hrvaški jezik, jezik v nekdanji Jugoslaviji Key words: language politics, language planning, purism, Croatian language, language in former Yugoslavia Introduction1 The aim of this article is to provide a general and brief overview of some problems concerning the intricate relation of language, ideology, and politics in Croatia in the last 20 years. The bulk of the article consists of some of the 1 I would like to thank Marko Kapović for reading the first draft of the article carefully.
    [Show full text]
  • Contact and New Varieties
    This is a repository copy of Contact and new varieties. White Rose Research Online URL for this paper: https://eprints.whiterose.ac.uk/75328/ Version: Submitted Version Book Section: Kerswill, Paul orcid.org/0000-0002-6540-9312 (2010) Contact and new varieties. In: Hickey, Raymond, (ed.) The handbook of language contact. Wiley , Oxford , 230–251. Reuse Items deposited in White Rose Research Online are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved unless indicated otherwise. They may be downloaded and/or printed for private study, or other acts as permitted by national copyright laws. The publisher or other rights holders may allow further reproduction and re-use of the full text version. This is indicated by the licence information on the White Rose Research Online record for the item. Takedown If you consider content in White Rose Research Online to be in breach of UK law, please notify us by emailing [email protected] including the URL of the record and the reason for the withdrawal request. [email protected] https://eprints.whiterose.ac.uk/ To appear in an abridged form without Tables 1, 2 and 4 in R. Hickey (ed.) (2010) Handbook of Language Contact. Oxford: Blackwell. Contact and new varieties Paul Kerswill Lancaster University 1 Introduction: “new” varieties The term “new variety” implies the convergence, by a population of speakers, on a set of linguistic norms which are collectively different from previous norms. There are two epistemological issues here. The first is defining what is meant by a “population”. Trivially, this can refer to some set of people who, in our case, stop speaking Variety A and start speaking Variety B.
    [Show full text]
  • One Foot in the Grave
    Phoenix from the ashes?: The death, contact and birth of dialects in England. David Britain Department of Language and Linguistics Essex University COLCHESTER CO4 3SQ Great Britain [email protected] The dialect landscape of England has changed substantially over the course of the past century. There has been such considerable and ongoing dialect attrition that the language use reported across the country by Ellis’ survey of 1889 seems, in many cases and in many places, quite distinct from that spoken just over one hundred years later. Later in this article, I survey some of the recent evidence of this attrition from sociolinguistic and variationist studies carried out in England. In doing so, and by highlighting the origins of some of the ongoing changes in English dialects, I hope to make three claims in particular: firstly, that dialect death is inextricably linked to dialect contact, and hence to understand how it fits into the overall picture of language change in England we need to appreciate the linguistic consequences of contact more generally; secondly, and apparently in contrast with some other speech communities, the attrition process has not led to a wholescale shift by the populace in the direction of RP (the traditional standard pronunciation of English in England) or Standard English. I will argue here, instead, that the dominant trend1 is towards a number of new socially and regionally based, koineised, ‘compromise’ dialects, shaped by contact between local, regional, interregional and other, including standard, varieties. Finally, the developments currently affecting English dialects in England are not necessarily particularly new (see below and Ellis 1889, Nevalainen 2000, Nevalainen and Raumolin-Brunberg 2000), but are noteworthy because of their spatial scale, a scale that has resulted from some rather wide-ranging social and economic developments2 which have accelerated contact between speakers of structurally distinct dialects.
    [Show full text]
  • Dialectology
    CTIA01 08/12/1998 12:34 PM Page iii DIALECTOLOGY J. K. CHAMBERS AND PETER TRUDGILL SECOND EDITION CTIA01 08/12/1998 12:34 PM Page iv published by the press syndicate of the university of cambridge The Pitt Building, Trumpington Street, Cambridge cb2 1rp, United Kingdom cambridge university press The Edinburgh Building, Cambridge cb2 2ru, United Kingdom 40 West 20th Street, New York, ny 10011–4211, USA 10 Stamford Road, Oakleigh, Melbourne 3166, Australia © Cambridge University Press 1980 © Jack Chambers and Peter Trudgill 1998 This book is in copyright. Subject to statutory exception and to the provisions of relevant collective licensing agreements, no reproduction of any part may take place without the written permission of Cambridge University Press. First published 1980 Reprinted 1984 1986 1988 1990 1993 1994 Second edition 1998 Printed in the United Kingdom at the University Press, Cambridge Typeset in Times 9/13 [gc] A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library First edition isbn 0 521 22401 2 hardback isbn 0 521 29473 8 paperback Second edition isbn 0 521 59378 6 hardback isbn 0 521 59646 7 paperback CTIA01 08/12/1998 12:34 PM Page v CONTENTS Maps page ix Figures xi Tables xii Preface to the second edition xiii The international phonetic alphabet xiv background 1 Dialect and language 3 1.1 Mutual intelligibility 3 1.2 Language, dialect and accent 4 1.3 Geographical dialect continua 5 1.4 Social dialect continua 7 1.5 Autonomy and heteronomy 9 1.6 Discreteness and continuity 12 Further information 12 2 Dialect
    [Show full text]
  • Language and Social Class
    This is a repository copy of Language and social class. White Rose Research Online URL for this paper: https://eprints.whiterose.ac.uk/75331/ Version: Submitted Version Book Section: Kerswill, Paul orcid.org/0000-0002-6540-9312 (2009) Language and social class. In: Culpeper, Jonathan, Katamba, Francis, Kerswill, Paul, McEnery, Anthony, Wodak, Ruth and McEnery, Tony, (eds.) English language. Palgrave Macmillan , Basingstoke , pp. 358- 372. Reuse Items deposited in White Rose Research Online are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved unless indicated otherwise. They may be downloaded and/or printed for private study, or other acts as permitted by national copyright laws. The publisher or other rights holders may allow further reproduction and re-use of the full text version. This is indicated by the licence information on the White Rose Research Online record for the item. Takedown If you consider content in White Rose Research Online to be in breach of UK law, please notify us by emailing [email protected] including the URL of the record and the reason for the withdrawal request. [email protected] https://eprints.whiterose.ac.uk/ 1 Chapter X. Language and social class Paul Kerswill 1. Introduction In the Preface to Pygmalion (1913), George Bernard Shaw wrote: ‘It is impossible for Comment [p1]: Capitial initial I think, don’t you? I can’t an Englishman to open his mouth without making some other Englishman hate or understand why this file is so huge despise him’. This was stated in the context of the famous play, in which a phonetics when saved as rtf.
    [Show full text]
  • When Is a Change Not a Change?: a Case Study on The
    When is a change not a change?: a case study on the dialect origins of New Zealand English. David Britain Department of Language and Linguistics Essex University Wivenhoe Park Colchester Essex CO4 3SQ Abstract: In studying language change, variationists are, naturally perhaps, more interested in the new, innovative form than the old conservative one, and, because of the actuation problem, investigations of changes in progress very rarely are able to shed light on the change in its very earliest stages. In this article, I suggest that we should perhaps pay more attention than we have at present to the origins of the change (in addition to its route and destination) and the nature of the conservative form if we are to chart ongoing changes in an accurate way. Here, I highlight an example of a feature of New Zealand English (NZE) (realizations of the MOUTH diphthong with front mid-open onsets) that has, until recently, been assumed to have resulted from a change of the Southern Shift-kind – a raising and fronting to [èú ã èê] - but which, as I demonstrate using contemporary and past dialectological, as well as socio- demographic evidence, did not undergo this change in this way. Indeed, the supposedly conservative [aú] form has barely been used at all as a conversational vernacular variant in NZE. I argue here that the present-day NZE realization is far more likely to be the outcome of a process of dialect leveling operating on the mixture of forms brought to New Zealand by British and Irish migrants in the 19th century.
    [Show full text]
  • On the Process of New Dialect Formation
    13 How do dialects get the features they have? On the process of new dialect formation RAYMOND HICKEY 1 Introduction The concern of the present chapter is to look at a particular type of situation found historically in the Anglophone world outside of England and to consider the forces which have been instrumental in determining what features the varieties at this location evince. The location in question is New Zealand for what can be termed a new dialect formation scenario (Trudgill et al. 2000a). The present chapter is intended to make explicit the assumptions which lie behind the discussion of new dialect formation and so hopefully clarify the many issues of theoretical importance raised by the recent innovative work on this process by Elizabeth Gordon, Peter Trudgill and their associates. Before beginning it is important to stress that the examination of this scenario rests on a significant premise, necessary for the discussion to be found below: Speakers are unconsciously aware of features in their own variety and those which they are continually in contact with. If this premise is not accepted in principle then the arguments below will be vacuous. With regard to new dialect formation, I am in broad agreement with the statement by Trudgill et al. that “we conclude that the shape of New Zealand English, a fascinating laboratory for the study of linguistic change, can be accounted for in terms of the mixing together of different dialects of English from the British Isles” (Trudgill et al. 2000a: 316). However, the deterministic view which sees the numerical superiority of variants as the main reason for the survival of some and the rejection of others would appear to be too simple and in need of further nuancing to include, at the very least, speakers’ active, though unconscious, participation in the forging of a new variety and a more differentiated assessment of the status of the main ethnic groups in New Zealand society in the second half of the 19th century.
    [Show full text]
  • English Accents and Dialects Trudgill
    ENGLISH ACCENTS & DIALECTS Related titles : World Englishes, Second Edition Gunnel Melchers & Philip Shaw 978 1 444 13537 4 International English: A Guide to the Varieties of Standard English, Fifth Edition Peter Trudgill & Jean Hannah 978 0 340 97161 1 ENGLISH Fifth edition ACCENTS & DIALECTS Arthur Hughes Peter Trudgill Dominic Watt First published in Great Britain 1979 Second edition published in Great Britain 1987 Third edition published in Great Britain 1996 Fourth edition published in 2005 by Hodder Arnold This edition published in 2012 by Hodder Education Published 2013 by Routledge 2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN 711 Third Avenue, New York, NY, 10017, USA Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business Copyright © 2012 Arthur Hughes, Peter Trudgill, Dominic Watt All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers. The advice and information in this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of going to press, but neither the authors nor the publisher can accept any legal responsibility or liability for any errors or omissions. British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the Library of Congress ISBN 13: 978 1 444 121 38 4 (pbk) Typeset by Phoenix Photosetting, Chatham, Kent Contents Preface ...............................................................................................................................................
    [Show full text]
  • English and Scots in Scotland
    Edinburgh Research Explorer English and Scots in Scotland Citation for published version: Maguire, W 2012, English and Scots in Scotland. in R Hickey (ed.), Areal Features of the Anglophone World. Mouton de Gruyter, pp. 53-78. <http://www.degruyter.com/view/product/181459?format=G> Link: Link to publication record in Edinburgh Research Explorer Document Version: Publisher's PDF, also known as Version of record Published In: Areal Features of the Anglophone World. Publisher Rights Statement: © Maguire, W. (2012). English and Scots in Scotland. In R. Hickey (Ed.), Areal Features of the Anglophone World. (pp. 53-78). Mouton de Gruyter. General rights Copyright for the publications made accessible via the Edinburgh Research Explorer is retained by the author(s) and / or other copyright owners and it is a condition of accessing these publications that users recognise and abide by the legal requirements associated with these rights. Take down policy The University of Edinburgh has made every reasonable effort to ensure that Edinburgh Research Explorer content complies with UK legislation. If you believe that the public display of this file breaches copyright please contact [email protected] providing details, and we will remove access to the work immediately and investigate your claim. Download date: 29. Sep. 2021 English and Scots in Scotland Warren Maguire University of Edinburgh 1. Introduction The linguistic situation in Scotland is as complex as anywhere in the anglophone world. Scottish Gaelic was spoken throughout most of Scotland in the medieval period, but by the beginning of the nineteenth century had become restricted to the Highlands and Western Isles (MacAulay 1992).
    [Show full text]
  • Mapping the Existing Phonology of English Dialects
    Edinburgh Research Explorer Mapping The Existing Phonology of English Dialects Citation for published version: Maguire, W 2012, 'Mapping The Existing Phonology of English Dialects', Dialectologia et Geolinguistica, vol. 20, no. 1, pp. 84-107. https://doi.org/10.1515/dialect-2012-0006 Digital Object Identifier (DOI): 10.1515/dialect-2012-0006 Link: Link to publication record in Edinburgh Research Explorer Document Version: Publisher's PDF, also known as Version of record Published In: Dialectologia et Geolinguistica Publisher Rights Statement: © Maguire, W. (2012). Mapping The Existing Phonology of English Dialects. Dialectologia et Geolinguistica, 20(1), 84-107doi: 10.1515/dialect-2012-0006 General rights Copyright for the publications made accessible via the Edinburgh Research Explorer is retained by the author(s) and / or other copyright owners and it is a condition of accessing these publications that users recognise and abide by the legal requirements associated with these rights. Take down policy The University of Edinburgh has made every reasonable effort to ensure that Edinburgh Research Explorer content complies with UK legislation. If you believe that the public display of this file breaches copyright please contact [email protected] providing details, and we will remove access to the work immediately and investigate your claim. Download date: 11. Oct. 2021 DiG 20 (2012), 84–107 DOI 10.1515/dialect-2012-0006 Mapping The Existing Phonology of English Dialects Warren Maguire Abstract Given its early date, breadth of coverage (geographical and linguistic) and the huge amount of data it contains, Alexander Ellisʼs The Existing Phonology of Eng- lish Dialects marks an extremely significant episode in British dialectology.
    [Show full text]
  • Language, Dialect and Society
    Language& Communication, Vol. 6, No. 4, pp 271-292, 1986. 0271-5309/86 $3.00 + 00 Printed in Great Britain. Pergamon Journals Ltd. LANGUAGE, DIALECT AND SOCIETY MALCAH YAEGER-DROR Peter Trudgill, On Dialect: Social and Geographical Perspectives, Blackwell, Oxford, 1983. 240 pages. Trudgill’s book is of wide interdisciplinary interest, since Trudgill is one of the most articulate scholars in the field today: his prose is clear, and his arguments are generally self-contained and eloquent. Although one might want a more thorough discussion of his methodological infrastructure, almost every chapter reveals a new methodological technique to extend the horizons of a field already charted by Labov’s ingenious ploys. For this book Trudgill has ‘revised, updated and edited’ carefully chosen articles to present them as ‘a coherent text.’ While some such texts focus on ‘secular’ linguistic topics, and others focus on specific communicative aspects of linguistics, Trudgill has chosen a broad cross-section of papers which run the entire gamut of foci. The first papers are of primary concern to the linguist who realizes that the inclusion of sociological parameters can extend a purely linguistic analysis, and as the book progresses, the articles increasingly emphasize the social variables. Given that the intention was for the book to be read as a coherent text, in a couple of instances more work should have been done to integrate and update the papers. However, on the whole, the volume flows well. While Trudgill has clearly read all the American literature, he uses a primarily British or European data base, and draws conclusions which appear to imply that influences on speech in the U.K.
    [Show full text]