An Introduction to Sociolinguistics

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