Book cover

LANGUAGE IN SOCIETY
AN INTRODUCTION TO SOCIOLINGUISTICS.
(Oxford University Press, 2000)


Table of Contents


Description

Why have 1,500 separate languages developed in Melanesia? Why do Danes understand Norwegian better than Norwegians understand Danish? Why is a Cornish accent rated higher than Cockney speech but lower than Oxford English? Linguistics tends to ignore the relationship between languages and the societies in which they are spoken, while sociology generally overlooks the role of language in the constitution of society. Suzanne Romaine provides a clear, lively, and accessible introduction to the field of sociolinguistics, emphasizing the constant interaction between society and language. She discusses both traditional and more recent issues such as language and gender, language in education, pidgins and creoles, and language change. She shows how our linguistic choices are motivated by social factors, and how certain ways of speaking come to be vested with symbolic value. In her examples she draws on studies of cultures all over the world, including her own extensive fieldwork in Papua New Guinea. This new edition incorporates new material on current issues in the study of gender as well as other topics such as the linguistic dimension to the ethnic conflict in the Balkans, and the controversy over Ebonics in the United States


From the jacket

Go to the Top of the page

Go to my Home page

Go to my Biodata

Go to my Books

Go to my Articles

Go to my Teaching

Go to my Work in Progress