Globalising sociolinguistics: challenging and expanding theory

Description

This book challenges the predominance of mainstream sociolinguistic theories by focusing on lesser known sociolinguistic systems, from regions of Africa, Asia, the Caribbean, South America, the European Mediterranean, and Slavic regions as well as specific speech communities such as those speaking Nivkh, Jamaican Creole, North Saami, and Central Yup’ik.In nineteen chapters, the specialist authors look at key sociolinguistic aspects of each region or speech community, such as gender, politeness strategies,speech patterns　and the effects of social hierarchy on language, concentrating on the differences from mainstream models.The volume, introduced by Miriam Meyerhoff, has been written by the leading expert of each specific region or community and includes contributions by Rajend Mesthrie, Marc Greenberg and Daming Xu. This publication draws together connections across regions/communities and considers how mainstream sociolinguistics is incomplete or lacking. It reveals how lesser-known cultures can play an important role in the building of theory in sociolinguistics.Globalising Sociolinguistics is essential reading for any researcher in sociolinguistics and language variation and will be a key reference for advanced sociolinguistics courses. Cover Half Title Title Page Copyright Page Table of Contents List of figures List of tables Notes on contributors Preface Acknowledgements Map of places discussed 1. “Tings change, all tings change”: the changing face of sociolinguistics with a global perspective 1.1 Introduction 1.2 The multilingual reality 1.3 Standards, norms and local vernaculars 1.4 “Native speakers” and inclusion/exclusion 1.5 The waves of sociolinguistics 1.6 Cross-cultural collaboration 1.7 Conclusion 2. The Westernising mechanisms in sociolinguistics 2.1 Mainstream theory and exceptions 2.2 Chapter overview 2.3 Variation within “the (Anglo-)West” 2.4 Available introductory books and journals 2.5 Influential names in sociolinguistics 2.6 The language background of authors 2.7 Relative contribution of authors from different regions 2.8 The economic background of authors 2.9 The languages investigated 2.10 Summary 2.11 Discussion Part I: Developing countries Introduction to Part I 3. Ala! Kumbe? “Oh my! Is it so?”: Multilingualism controversies in East Africa 3.1 Introduction 3.2 The sociolinguistics of East Africa 3.3 Walk the talk: language policy versus societal practice 3.4 A storm in a teacup: seemingly random code-switching as the norm 3.5 Back to the drawing board: defining the standard language 3.6 What is the relationship between standard languages and dialects? 3.7 Conclusion 4. A sociolinguistic mosaic of West Africa: challenges and prospects 4.1 West Africa: a history of colonialism 4.2 Sociolinguistic studies in West Africa 4.3 The consequences of complex multilingualism in West Africa 4.4 Conclusion 5. Southeastern Asia: diglossia and politeness in a multilingual context 5.1 Linguistic profile of Southeastern Asia 5.2 Politeness in the Malay-speaking world 5.3 Language policy, multilingualism and diglossia 5.4 Conclusion 6. Towards a distributed sociolinguistics of postcolonial multilingual societies: the case of Southern Africa 6.1 The languages of Southern Africa 6.2 Issues pertaining to standardisation 6.3 Issues concerning the prestige of dominant languages 6.4 Issues pertaining to sociolinguistic variation 6.5 Issues pertaining to multilingual norms and code-switching 6.6 Conclusion Part II: Less developed countries Introduction to Part II 7. Speech community and linguistic urbanization: sociolinguistic theories developed in China 7.1 Introduction 7.2 China’s language situation 7.3 Sociolinguistics in China 7.4 The Theory of Speech Community 7.5 Conclusion 8. Language variation and change: the Indian experience 8.1 Introduction 8.2 The Indian sociolinguistic setting 8.3 Issue 1: style shift 8.4 Issue 2: Local social factors other than class: caste, clan and gender 8.5 Conclusions 9. Gender in a North African setting: a sociolinguistic overview 9.1 The linguistic and historical context of Northern Africa 9.2 Sociolinguistic research in the region 9.3 Methodological challenges and theoretical implications 10. The Creole-speaking Caribbean: the architecture of language variation 10.1 Introduction 10.2 The specific areas under investigation 10.3 Separate language varieties, separate language functions: the case for conquest diglossia 10.4 The structure of the Haitian diglossia: a theoretical framework 10.5 Bridging the linguistic extremes: the Creole continuum 10.6 Conclusion: apart at extremes, yet part of a whole Part III: Developed countries Introduction to Part III 11. Class in the social labyrinth of South America 11.1 The sociolinguistic situation of South America 11.2 Social class as a sociolinguistic category 11.3 The social labyrinth 11.4 The importance of neighbourhood 11.5 Other mismatches of South American sociolinguistic research related to social class 11.6 Conclusion 12. The Slavic area: trajectories, borders, centres and peripheries in the Second World 12.1 Introduction 12.2 The Slavic language situation 12.3 Conclusion 12.4 Postscript (March 2014) 13. The study of politeness and women’s language in Japan 13.1 Introduction 13.2 Indigenous and Western approaches to sociolinguistics 13.3 Women’s language 13.4 Politeness 13.5 Discussion 14. Positive politeness in the European Mediterranean: sociolinguistic notions 14.1 Introduction 14.2 Politeness in the European Mediterranean 14.3 The interplay of language and gender 14.4 Conclusions Part IV: Unstable multilingual communities Introduction to Part IV 15. Nivkh writing practices: literacy and vitality in an endangered language 15.1 Introduction 15.2 The Nivkh language and people 15.3 Literacy as an indicator of language vitality 15.4 The historical context of Nivkh writing practices 15.5 Nivkh writing practices against the background of Soviet language policies 15.6 The sociolinguistic relevance of the Nivkh situation 15.7 Conclusion 16. The Jamaican language situation: a process, not a type 16.1 Typologizing the Jamaican language situation – diglossia 16.2 Typologizing the Jamaican language situation: the (post-)Creole continuum 16.3 Jamaica: (post-)Creole continuum, diglossic and bilingual 17. Nutemllaq Yugtun Qaneryararput: our very own way of speaking Yugtun in Alaska 17.1 Introduction 17.2 The sociolinguistic situation in the community of Toksook Bay 17.3 Dance as a factor in communication 17.4 Language ideology in education 17.5 Conclusion 18. Variation in North Saami 18.1 Introduction 18.2 Dialectal variation and bilingualism 18.3 Speaker-level variation 18.4 Summary and discussion 19. Gaelic Scotland and Ireland: issues of class and diglossia in an evolving social landscape 19.1 Introduction 19.2 Sociohistorical background 19.3 Social class as a sociolinguistic variable 19.4 Diglossia 19.5 Conclusion Concluding remarks Index