An Introduction to Sociolinguistics

Abstract

Contents Preface to Fourth Edition Preface to Third Edition Preface to Second Edition Preface to First Edition Author's Acknowledgements Publisher's Acknowledgements 1. What do sociolinguists study? What is a sociolinguist? Why do we say the same thing in different ways? What are the different ways we say things? Social factors, dimensions and explanations Section I: Multilingual Speech Communities 2. Language choice in multilingual communities Choosing your variety or code Diglossia Code-switching or code-mixing 3. Language maintenance and shift Language shift in different communities Language death and language loss Factors contributing to language shift How can a minority language be maintained? Language revival 4. Linguistic varieties and multilingual nations Vernacular languages Standard languages Lingua francas Pidgins and creoles 5. National languages and language planning National and official languages Planning for a national official language Developing a standard variety in Norway The linguist's role in language planning Section II: Language Variation: Focus on Users 6. Regional and social dialects Regional variation Social variation Social dialects 7. Gender and age Gender-exclusive speech differences: non-Western communities Gender-preferential speech features: social dialect research Gender and social class Explanations of women's linguistic behaviour Age-graded features of speech Age and social dialect data Age grading and language change 8. Ethnicity and social networks Ethnicity Social networks 9. Language change Variation and change How do changes spread? How do we study language change? Reasons for language change Section III: Language Variation: Focus on Uses 10. Style, context and register Addressee as an influence on style Accommodation theory Context, style and class Style in non-Western societies Register 11. Speech functions, politeness and cross-cultural communication The functions of speech Politeness and address forms Linguistic politeness in different cultures 12. Gender, politeness and stereotypes Women's language and confidence Interaction Gossip The linguistic construction of gender The linguistic construction of sexuality Sexist language 13. Language, cognition and culture Language and perception Whorf Linguistic categories and culture Discourse patterns and culture Language, social class, and cognition 14. Analysing Discourse Pragmatics and politeness theory Ethnography of speaking Interactional sociolinguistics Conversation Analysis (CA) Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) 15. Attitudes and applications Attitudes to language Sociolinguistics and education Sociolinguistics and forensic linguistics 16. Conclusion Sociolinguistic competence Dimensions of sociolinguistic analysis Sociolinguistic universals References Appendix: phonetic symbols Glossary Index