Sociolinguistic History Research Articles

DICTIONNAIRE DE LA SOCIOLINGUISTIQUE. DIRIGÉ PAR J. BOUTET & J. COSTA. LANGAGE ET SOCIÉTÉ, № 1 HORS-SÉRIE 2021, 348 P.

Until recently, the history of the Francophone sociolinguistics has known two dictionaries of sociolinguistic terms. The article provides the context of the development of a new dictionary of sociolinguistics edited by J. Boutet and J. Costa, published in Paris in 2021, the main purpose of which, according to the authors, is to reflect the current state of sociolinguistics. The brief description of the structure, as well as of the word-list of the dictionary, the analysis of the composition of the dictionary entry and specific examples of definitions allow us to draw conclusions about the peculiarities of the reviewed issue. In addition, this collective publication seems to be essential not only as a new tool for further research, but also as the confirmation of the active development of sociolinguistics as the independent branch of the science of language.

“[An] old battle constantly re-fought”: Why Language Matters when Editing Early Modern Women’s Letters: A Case Study Of the Holograph Letters of Margaret Tudor, Queen of Scots (1489–1541)

ABSTRACTThrough a case study of the holograph letters of Margaret Tudor, Queen of Scots (1489–1541), this article examines the centuries-old editorial debate of whether to modernise or preserve the old-spelling of early modern texts. I examine how historical biographers and editors have approached and presented the language of Margaret Tudor’s letters and consider the implications their editorial approaches have on how readers perceive the figure and epistolary voice of Margaret Tudor. I then draw upon two recent studies in the field of linguistics to show how the detailed analysis of diplomatic transcriptions of Margaret Tudor’s holograph letters can provide important new insights and a fuller understanding of Margaret’s sociolinguistic history, her dual identity as English princess and Queen of Scots, and the processes and agents involved in the production of her holograph correspondence. This article argues for the necessity of diplomatic editions and for an editorial approach that carefully attends to and contextualises the language of early modern women’s letters. The article contends that such an approach is central to developing more advanced and nuanced understandings of early modern women and their letters.

Tres gramàtiques per a tres moments de la història de la llengua del vuit-cents

This paper proposes to divide the sociolinguistic history of the Catalan language in the 19th century into three periods: a first period that would still be characterized by the linguistic ideologies of the Ancien Régime; a second period in which the ideology of the Renaixença, of regionalist Catalanism, would predominate; and a third period in which Catalanism, already consolidated, would promote a recovery of all sociolinguistic spheres for Catalan. To illustrate the ideologies of each of these three periods, a representative grammar is analysed ideologically: Josep Pau Ballot for the first, Antoni de Bofarull for the second and Pompeu Fabra for the third.

Heming Yong and Jing Peng. 2022. A Sociolinguistic History of British English Lexicography

British English lexicography, which can be traced back to the Anglo-Saxon period, has a history of at least 400 years (Cowie 2009). Since the 1970s, many books have conducted an in-depth investigation into English lexicography from various perspectives. Some books intend to provide a comprehensive account (e.g. Zgusta 1971; Landau 1989; Svesnén 1993; Atkins and Rundell 2008; Fontenelle 2008; Svesnén 2009); some aim at a historical description (e.g. Collison 1982; Cowie 2002, 2009; Béjoint 2010; Miyoshi 2017); and some endeavour to reveal the current limitations of present-day English dictionaries and propose some solutions to these limitations (e.g. Dixon 2018). There are also some books focusing on the history of world lexicography (e.g. Considine 2019), or the lexicography of one single language (e.g. Yong and Peng (2008) on Chinese lexicography). However, most existing studies of British English lexicography are confined to individual lexicographic works of a particular period of time and pay little attention to the impacts of changes in society, culture, science, and technology on the evolution of lexicography. They lack historical continuity, subject coverage, and interdisciplinary perspectives, failing to fully reveal the evolutional characteristics and patterns of British English lexicography over different periods of time (p. 4).

Heming Yong and Jing Peng. <i>A Sociolinguistic History of British English Lexicography.</i>

Review of Heming Yong and Jing Peng. A Sociolinguistic History of British English Lexicog­raphy.

Les scriptae de l’ancien Velay : essai de caractérisation

Abstract The aim of this study is to document the scriptae of the ancient Velay, a historical region belonging to the Northern Occitan linguistic space (Auvergne), which are not represented in the scriptological syntheses on Gallo-Romance. The critical updating of the inventory of texts produced in Velay, initiated by Pierre Nauton for his thesis published posthumously in 1974, allows us today to present the characteristic scriptological features of the written language of this area. Starting from the notion of contrastivity efficient in scriptology, we have in particular proceeded to the systematic comparison of lexemes and grammatical words of the Velay corpus with the lemmas of the DOM (Dictionnaire de l’occitan médiéval), which offers a minimal contrastive basis. From this, it is possible to highlight at least fifty-eight graphic, phonological and morphological features which are the clearest markers of the language of these texts. The results of this study are intended to place Velay in the linguistic historiography of the Gallo-Romance area in a historical perspective. The inventory of texts also provides evidence for a sociolinguistic history of the written varieties in North Occitan up to ca. 1600.

The sociolinguistic dynamics of Russian and English in post‐1990 Lithuania

AbstractThe paper describes the sociolinguistic history of English in one of the post‐Soviet Eastern European countries ‐ Lithuania ‐ covering three post‐1990 decades. The aim is to examine the dynamics of the spread of English in relation to the ‘non‐native’ Russian, the main lingua franca and L2 in this region after WWII until 1990. Based on a set of attitudinal, educational and self‐assessment data as well as mixed language use for identity construction, the study shows that English was not accepted as rapidly as is sometimes claimed. With lower English scores and additional Russian, the ‘periphery’ of the Expanding Circle remains noticeably distinct from the European context. In demographic terms, however, the end of the third post‐1990 decade can be considered a turning point in the sociolinguistic development of the community, led by the youth generations born around 1990 and after.

Representing the social through language: Theory and practice of sociolinguistics and discourse analysis

The article reviews research traditions and new findings pertaining to the issue of ‘language in society’ over the period from circa 2005 to 2020. Specifically, we discuss some of the tenets and analytical toolkits of American and Western European traditions of sociolinguistics and linguistic anthropology, as well as the strands of discourse analysis that integrate the former and/or the latter into their theoretical framework. Such contemporary schools of thought are represented, among others, by Michael Silverstein, Penelope Eckert, and Asif Agha in the USA, by Mary Bucholtz, Kira Hall, and Nikolas Coupland in the UK, by Jan Blommaert in the Netherlands, and by Jürgen Spitzmüller and Barbara Soukup in Austria. The topics and concepts discussed in the article include social indexicality of linguistic signs, enacting social relations between speakers, ethno-metapragmatics, and (social) styles. We begin with an overview of the ‘third wave’ of sociolinguistics, which has been focused on exploring linguistic variation as a medium used by individuals or groups for evoking or (re)constructing the ‘social world’. It is discussed how sociality is being enacted by individuals, how semiotic ties are set between a linguistic sign and social value, how persistent social attribution is created, and how all these phenomena can be explored through analysis of indexical tokens and types. Indexicality is seen here as the capacity of a (linguistic) sign to ‘point to’ a variable of the context of its usage. Social indexicality is thus seen as evoking such social value as forms of identity and communicative roles and social relations drawing on these forms. An overview of the history of sociolinguistics also serves to illustrate the transformation of views on agentivity, identity, and linguistic/semiotic objects: from the static view of identity as predefined by the social structure and (passively) projected through various semiotic media, including language, to a more perforative contemporary view of identity as (creatively) stylized in social encounters. It is further contended that a crucial prerequisite for such stylization is the malleability and mutability of social/indexical meanings, with so-called ethno-metapragmatics — reflexive activity targeting said meanings and signs carrying them — being the process driving the change. Finally, we show how these theories and methods can be traced to ideas expressed by Russian/ Soviet scholars of early and mid twentieth century.

“Présenter aux lecteurs français la littérature orale telle qu’elle sortait de la bouche des paysans”

The study of the language of publication of folklore offers a unique perspective on the sociolinguistic history of regional languages in 19th century France as well as on the wider cultural context of contemporary folklore collection. Regional languages had a subordinate sociolinguistic status vis-à-vis French, yet they had preserved a richer folklore heritage, which, during the golden age of folklore collection, was also considered to be a valuable part of French national cultural heritage. The fact that the folktales of regional languages were often published first or only in French translation reflects both the hegemonic position of French and the prevailing contemporary perception of folktales primarily as a universal human cultural inheritance rather than as the literary heritage of specific cultures; folktale publications were typically aimed at a wider national readership and the perceived universal content – tale types and motifs – was considered more important than the linguistic form and cultural context. However, the fact that folktale and above all folksong collections were also published in the original regional languages shows that there was a genuine choice of language of publication. The publication of folktales only in translation was controversial because the lack of original texts – as well as a lack of transparency concerning the collection process – potentially undermined the authenticity of the published folklore. The publication of folklore only in translation also resulted in the loss of an important part of the cultural heritage of the regional languages and its effective appropriation as French national and French language cultural heritage.

Contrast, Contact, Convergence? Afrikaans and English Modal Auxiliaries in South African Parliamentary Discourse (1925–1985)

Abstract This article investigates modal auxiliaries in original and translated Afrikaans and South African English parliamentary discourse in the period 1925–1985. Against the background of the sociolinguistic history of language contact in the bilingual South African parliament (1910–1994), it analyses (a) the contrastive differences in the use of modal auxiliaries in South African English and Afrikaans, (b) potential cross-linguistic influence in the use of modals between the two languages, and (c) the way in which contrastive differences and cross-linguistic influence are reflected in translations. In both languages, modal auxiliaries are more common in parliamentary discourse than in general usage. There is little evidence of overall convergence; there are, however, cross-linguistic similarities in specific pragmatic uses of modals in parliament. Translations show a large degree of shining-through from the source text, alongside adjustment to target norms; the tension between these two forces is variable, and influenced by social factors.

Deaf students’ linguistic access in online education: The case of Trinidad

ABSTRACT Comparatively little research on linguistic access in deaf education has occurred in the Caribbean when compared to the rest of the world. During the COVID-19 pandemic, many Caribbean countries attempted large-scale e-learning for the first time. This study investigates how an emergent system of e-learning that started during crisis conditions affects the linguistic access of deaf students in Trinidad and Tobago. The framework for investigation encompasses the learning management system, course materials and language and communication involved in e-learning. A phenomenological method of inquiry is employed to understand the processes of receiving and providing online deaf education in terms of those who experience it. Data are triangulated from deaf primary and secondary school students, their teachers, interpreters and parents. Deaf learners encountered unique modality-specific barriers since e-learning in the country was not prepared to convey the full range of communication available in sign language. Challenges also stemmed from institutional support issues, existing social inequalities and the unique sociolinguistic history of the local deaf community. These conditions have implications for deaf students’ language learning and academic success. These are important considerations of e-learning or blended learning practices for deaf learners that deserve further empirical scrutiny.

Dissemination Dynamics of Receding Words: A Diachronic Case Study of Whom.

We explore the relationship between word dissemination and frequency change for a rapidly receding feature, the relativizer whom. The success of newly emerging words has been shown to correlate with high dissemination scores. However, the reverse—a correlation of lower dissemination scores with receding features—has not been investigated. Based on two established and two newly developed measures of word dissemination—across texts, linguistic environments, registers, and topics—we show that a general correlation between dissemination and frequency does not obtain in the case of whom. Different dissemination measures diverge from each other and show internally variable developments. These can, however, be explained with reference to the specific sociolinguistic history of whom over the past 300 years. Our findings suggest that the relationship between dissemination and word success is not static, but needs to be contextualized against different stages in individual words’ life-cycles. Our study demonstrates the applicability of large-scale, quantitative measures to qualitatively informed sociolinguistic research.

Robert McColl Millar. 2020.A Sociolinguistic History of Scotland.Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, xiii + 252 pp., 6 maps, £ 75.00.

Article Robert McColl Millar. 2020. A Sociolinguistic History of Scotland. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, xiii + 252 pp., 6 maps, £ 75.00. was published on June 1, 2021 in the journal Anglia (volume 139, issue 2).

Foreigners, Brahmins, Poets, or What? The Sociolinguistics of the Sanskrit Renaissance

A puzzle in Sanskrit’s sociolinguistic history is that texts with authenticated dates first appear in the 2nd century CE, after five centuries of exclusively Prakrit inscriptions. Various hypotheses have tried to account for this fact. Senart (1886) proposed that Sanskrit gained wider currency through Buddhists and Jains. Franke (1902) claimed that Sanskrit died out in India and was artificially reintroduced. Lévi (1902) argued for usurpation of Sanskrit by the Kshatrapas, foreign rulers who employed brahmins in administrative positions. Pisani (1955) viewed the ‘Sanskrit Renaissance’ as a brahmins’ attempt to combat these invaders. Ostler (2005) attributed Sanskrit victory to its ‘cultivated, self-conscious charm’; his acknowledgment of prior Sanskrit use by brahmins and kshatriyas suggests that he did not consider the victory a sudden event. The early-CE public appearance of Sanskrit as a sudden event hypothesis is revived by Pollock (1996, 2006). He argues that Sanskrit was originally confined to ‘sacerdotal’ contexts; that it never was a natural spoken language, shown by its inability to communicate childhood experiences; and that ‘the epigraphic record (thin though admittedly it is) suggests ... that [tribal chiefs] help[ed] create’ a new political civilization, the “Sanskrit Cosmopolis,” ‘by employing Sanskrit in a hitherto unprecedented way’. Crucial is his claim that kāvya literature was foundational to this new civilization and that kāvya has no significant antecedents. I show that Pollock’s arguments are problematic, as he ignores evidence for a continuous non-sacerdotal use of Sanskrit, as in the epics and fables. The employment of nursery words like tāta ‘daddy’/tata ‘sonny’ (also used as general terms of endearment), or ambā/ambikā ‘mommy; mother’ attest to Sanskrit’s ability to communicate childhood experiences. Kāvya, the foundation of Pollock’s “Sanskrit Cosmopolis”, has antecedents in earlier Sanskrit (and Pali). Most importantly, Pollock fails to show how his powerful political-poetic kāvya tradition could have arisen ex nihilo. To produce their poetry, the poets would have had to draw on a living, spoken language with all its different uses, and that language must have been current in a larger linguistic community beyond the poets, whether that community was restricted to brahmins (as commonly assumed) or also included kshatriyas (as suggested by Ostler). I conclude by considering implications for the “Sanskritization” of Southeast Asia and the possible parallel of modern “Indian English” literature.

Non-Verbal Signs and Secret Communication as Universal Signs of Intercultural Communication

The article is devoted to the study of the national cognitive nature, the hidden essence of non-verbal techniques. The main purpose of the study is to prove that, based on materials on nonverbal uses in language, they are used to convey a confidential, hidden message, to show that in international communication there is a change in the semantics of nonverbal actions depending on the culture and individual knowledge of each nation. Methods In human life, in parallel with verbal communication, an experiment was conducted on nonverbal techniques, sometimes used in pure form and used to convey a secret and hidden message. The article presents an analysis based on a statistical method compared with some kinemes used in a common language. In the studies on non-verbal techniques, it is noted that they perform a main function in the relations between people. In this article, in the course of analyzing the nature of nonverbal techniques, we characterized some kinemes used depending on the worldview of the Kazakh people, and concluded that their background is directly related to the mystery. Application of the study: the results, materials, and conclusions of the work can be used in the history of language, sociolinguistics, and paralinguistic studies, and allow researchers of gesture semantics to explore nonverbal techniques from a new perspective. Scientists-linguists, psychologists have created many works related to the definition of human nature, character, and the place of nonverbal techniques in the speech act. However, it was not said that auxiliary means located outside the language will be used to transmit confidential, non-public information. In this work, we stopped at the place of nonverbal methods of transmitting confidential, hidden information and analyzed the functions in confidential communication.

The past is a future priority

AbstractA sensitisation to the disciplinary past offers a way forward for sociolinguistic inquiry. Historicisation may add reflexive distance to our current concerns and debates. It may serve to detect, put into perspective and ease epistemological and ideational tensions. It is equally useful for determining the extent to which past ideas and practices linger among us, and for clarifying the effects of such forms of retention. Historicisation may be brought to bear on the ways in which we engage with our objects of study, and on the ways in which we understand our acts of engagement. A critical interest in the disciplinary past could provide a shared historical ground for all strands of sociolinguistic inquiry. It could help us to counteract disciplinary fragmentation, while at the same time stimulate disciplinary renewal and constructive exchange. For these reasons – I argue – a sensitisation to the history of sociolinguistics is of immediate relevance to the readership of the IJSL.

A Sociolinguistic History of British Sign Language in Northern Ireland

A Sociolinguistic History of British Sign Language in Northern Ireland

Langue française et arts du spectacle à Montréal : aperçu de deux parcours biographiques

In 2018 the biographies of two women who have shaped and animated the city's theatrical life since the 1930s were published in Montréal: one, Madame Jean-Louis Audet, dedicating herself to the training of actors through her diction courses, the other, Monique Miller, playing key roles in the Montreal and the international theatre scene. The paths of the two women are outlined in two volumes – signed respectively by Muriel Gold and Pierre Audet – rich in iconographic documents that allow to relive some important episodes of Québec's sociolinguistic and cultural history. The aim of this contribution is to highlight how the two writings can be useful sources for the study of some of the changes that marked the advent of the ‘Révolution tranquille’: the first signs of women's emancipation, the emergence of Québec's cultural production, the advent of television and its correlations with the other performing arts (theater, radio, cinema), the role of some actors in Québec's linguistic, ideological and artistic evolution

The Persianization of English in multilingual Tehran

AbstractThis article examines the uses of English in the multilingual cityscape of Tehran, the capital city of Iran. Drawing from photographic data of 400 publicly visible signs in Tehran, this study aims to understand the various ways in which English, as both a linguistic and cultural resource, operates in tandem with emergent Iranian cultural practices in the context of globalization, especially in relation to the centrality of Persianness to contemporary Iranian national identity. The article, in addition to offering a sociolinguistic history and contemporary portrait of English in Iran, demonstrates how English is used not only to index Western cultural influences and ideals but also how English is relocalized in accordance with the local communicative needs of contemporary Iranians in Tehran. We refer to this phenomenon as the Persianization of English, in which English operates in a discursive field delinked from its indexes to Western culture.

Linguistics: importance, history and challenges of sociolinguistics

The article investigates the meaning of the term "sociolinguistics" in modern linguistics, the problems of sociolinguistics, as well as the history of development and the reasons for the relevance of sociolinguistic research. The article discusses the problems of sociolinguistics in the study of the state language of different countries and interethnic communication.