An Introduction to Sociolinguistics LEARNING ABOUT LANGUAGE General Editors: Geoffrey Leech & Mick Short, Lancaster University Already published: Analysing Sentences (2nd edition) Noel Burton-Roberts Words and Their Meaning Howard Jackson An Introduction to Phonology Francis Katamba Grammar and Meaning Howard Jackson Realms of Meaning: An Introduction to Semantics Th. R. Hofmann An Introduction to Psycholinguistics Danny D. Steinberg An Introduction to Spoken Interaction Anna-Brita Stenström Watching English Change Laurie Bauer Meaning in Interaction: An Introduction to Pragmatics Jenny Thomas An Introduction to Cognitive Linguistics Friedrich Ungerer and Hans-Jörg Schmid Exploring the Language of Poems, Plays and Prose Mick Short Contemporary Linguistics: An Introduction William O’Grady, Michael Dobrovolsky and Francis Katamba Analysing Sentences Noel Burton-Roberts An Introduction to Natural Language Processing Through Prolog Clive Matthews An Introduction to Child Language Development Susan Foster-Cohen The Sounds of Language: An Introduction to Phonetics Henry Rogers An Introduction to Foreign Language Learning and Teaching Keith Johnson An Introduction to Sociolinguistics (4th edition) Janet Holmes An Introduction to Sociolinguistics Fourth Edition JANET HOLMES First published 1992 by Pearson Education Limited Second edition published 2001 Third edition published 2008 Fourth edition published 2013 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 © 1992, 2001, 2008, 2013, Taylor & Francis. The right of Janet Holmes to be identified as author of this Work has been asserted by her in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. 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. Notices Knowledge and best practice in this field are constantly changing. As new research and experience broaden our understanding, changes in research methods, professional practices, or medical treatment may become necessary. Practitioners and researchers must always rely on their own experience and knowledge in evaluating and using any information, methods, compounds, or experiments described herein. In using such information or methods they should be mindful of their own safety and the safety of others, including parties for whom they have a professional responsibility. To the fullest extent of the law, neither the Publisher nor the authors, contributors, or editors, assume any liability for any injury and/or damage to persons or property as a matter of products liability, negligence or otherwise, or from any use or operation of any methods, products, instructions, or ideas contained in the material herein. ISBN 13: 978-1-4082-7674-7 (pbk) 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 catalog record for this book is available from the Library of Congress Typeset in 9/12.5pt Stone Serif by 35 For Rob This page intentionally left blank Brief Contents Preface xii Author’s Acknowledgements xvi Publisher’s Acknowledgements xvii 1 What do sociolinguists study? 1 Section I Multilingual Speech Communities 17 2 Language choice in multilingual communities 19 3 Language maintenance and shift 53 4 Linguistic varieties and multilingual nations 76 5 National languages and language planning 100 Section II Language Variation: Focus on Users 129 6 Regional and social dialects 131 7 Gender and age 159 8 Ethnicity and social networks 186 9 Language change 206 Section III Language Variation: Focus on Uses 237 10 Style, context and register 239 11 Speech functions, politeness and cross-cultural communication 274 12 Gender, politeness and stereotypes 301 13 Language, cognition and culture 337 14 Analysing discourse 363 15 Attitudes and applications 409 16 Conclusion 439 References 454 Appendix: phonetic symbols 475 Glossary 477 Index 479 vii This page intentionally left blank Contents Preface to Fourth Edition xii Preface to Third Edition xiii Preface to Second Edition xiv Preface to First Edition xv Author’s Acknowledgements xvi Publisher’s Acknowledgements xvii 1 What do sociolinguists study? 1 What is a sociolinguist? 1 Why do we say the same thing in different ways? 2 What are the different ways we say things? 4 Social factors, dimensions and explanations 8 Section I Multilingual Speech Communities 17 2 Language choice in multilingual communities 19 Choosing your variety or code 19 Diglossia 27 Code-switching or code-mixing 34 3 Language maintenance and shift 53 Language shift in different communities 53 Language death and language loss 58 Factors contributing to language shift 60 How can a minority language be maintained? 64 Language revival 67 4 Linguistic varieties and multilingual nations 76 Vernacular languages 77 Standard languages 78 Lingua francas 82 Pidgins and creoles 85 5 National languages and language planning 100 National and official languages 102 Planning for a national official language 107 Developing a standard variety in Norway 111 The linguist’s role in language planning 115 ix Contents Section II Language Variation: Focus on Users 129 6 Regional and social dialects 131 Regional variation 132 Social variation 139 Social dialects 140 7 Gender and age 159 Gender-exclusive speech differences: highly structured communities 159 Gender-preferential speech features: social dialect research 163 Gender and social class 164 Explanations of women’s linguistic behaviour 167 Age-graded features of speech 175 Age and social dialect data 177 Age grading and language change 180 8 Ethnicity and social networks 186 Ethnicity 186 Social networks 196 9 Language change 206 Variation and change 207 How do changes spread? 214 How do we study language change? 219 Reasons for language change 222 Section III Language Variation: Focus on Uses 237 10 Style, context and register 239 Addressee as an influence on style 240 Accommodation theory 245 Context, style and class 250 Style in non-Western societies 258 Register 261 11 Speech functions, politeness and cross-cultural communication 274 The functions of speech 275 Politeness and address forms 284 Linguistic politeness in different cultures 292 12 Gender, politeness and stereotypes 301 Women’s language and confidence 301 Interaction 310 Gossip 316 The linguistic construction of gender 320 The linguistic construction of sexuality 322 Sexist language 324 x Contents 13 Language, cognition and culture 337 Language and perception 338 Whorf 342 Linguistic categories and culture 347 Discourse patterns and culture 352 Language, social class and cognition 355 14 Analysing discourse 363 Pragmatics and politeness theory 364 Ethnography of speaking 372 Interactional sociolinguistics 378 Conversation Analysis (CA) 384 Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) 393 15 Attitudes and applications 409 Attitudes to language 409 Sociolinguistics and education 424 Sociolinguistics and forensic linguistics 429 16 Conclusion 439 Sociolinguistic competence 440 Dimensions of sociolinguistic analysis 446 Sociolinguistic universals 449 References 454 Appendix: phonetic symbols 475 Glossary 477 Index 479 xi Preface to Fourth Edition The fourth edition of my textbook has provided yet another opportunity to respond to some of the valuable suggestions that readers and reviewers have provided over the years. I have added many new examples and exercises, up-dated the references and recommended readings, and added material on koines and koineisation, linguistic landscapes, new Englishes, Multicultural London English, stylisation, language and sexuality, societal approaches to attitudes research, and forensic linguistics. I have also added some further sociolinguistic concepts, and expanded the discussion of material in a number of places. A number of teachers have told me that they fi nd this book useful for teaching sociolin- guistics to students for whom English is an additional language. Since the book was written, inevitably, with an English-speaking audience in mind, I encourage teachers to adapt the exercises to the situations of their students. However, bearing in mind the needs of speakers of English as an additional language, I have tried to keep the language of this book as clear as possible. I hope the new edition proves useful and that the amendments and additions increase the value of the book both for students and teachers. Janet Holmes Wellington, New Zealand February 2012 xii Preface to Third Edition The third edition of my textbook has provided a further opportunity to respond to some of the many valuable suggestions that readers have sent to me over the last ten years. I have added some new examples, up-dated the references and recommended readings once again, and in response to many requests I have added a new chapter on approaches to the analysis of discourse. I have also added some additional sociolinguistic concepts, and expanded the discussion of material in places. This book uses many examples from a range of sources. When no explicit source is provided, the examples are based on my own experience, and especially on corpora of recorded materials that I have accumulated over