Sociolinguistic variation: Theories, methods, and applications (review)

Language ◽  
2009 ◽  
Vol 85 (3) ◽  
pp. 690-693
Author(s):  
Richard Cameron
Keyword(s):  
Sociolinguistic Variation

Cross-dialectal variation in Arabic: Competing prestigious forms

1987 ◽  
Vol 16 (3) ◽  
pp. 359-367 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hassan R. Abd-El-Jawad
Keyword(s):  
Social Groups ◽  
Standard Variety ◽  
Adequate Description ◽  
Sociolinguistic Variation ◽  
Dialectal Variation ◽  
Standard Arabic ◽  
Arabic Sociolinguistics ◽  
Informal Settings ◽  
Spoken Arabic ◽  
Modern Standard

ABSTRACTMost researchers of Arabic sociolinguistics assume the existence of a sociolinguistic continuum with a local vernacular at the bottom and the standard variety at the top. Those researchers seem to equate the terms “prestige” and “standard”; consequently, they tend to consider Modern Standard Arabic (MSA) as the only prestige variety in all settings. This article presents evidence showing that if an adequate description of sociolinguistic variation of spoken Arabic is to be met, it is necessary to posit not only one standard speech variety, MSA, but also other prestigious local or regional varieties which act as local spoken standards competing with MSA in informal settings. It will be shown in the reported cases that in certain contexts speakers tend to switch from their local forms – though these latter may be identical to MSA – to other local features characteristic of other dominant social groups and that happen to be marked [–MSA], These local prestigious norms act like the standard spoken norms in informal settings. (Diglossic model, prestigious varieties, stereotypes, dominant social groups, competing standards, spoken Arabic).

Affect and iconicity in phonological variation

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-23
Author(s):  
Annette D'Onofrio ◽  
Penelope Eckert
Keyword(s):  
Experimental Evidence ◽  
Empirical Evidence ◽  
Essential Role ◽  
Sound Symbolism ◽  
Linguistic Variation ◽  
Phonological Variation ◽  
Sociolinguistic Variation ◽  
Production Studies ◽  
Basic Level

Abstract The study of iconic properties of language has been marginalized in linguistics, with the assumption that iconicity, linked with expressivity, is external to the grammar. Yet iconicity plays an essential role in sociolinguistic variation. At a basic level, repetition and phonetic intensification can intensify the indexicality of variables. Iconicity plays a further role in variation in the form of sound symbolism, linking properties of sounds with attributes or objects. Production studies have shown some phonological variables exhibiting sound symbolism, particularly in the expression of affect. In some cases, the observation of sound symbolism has been largely interpretive. But in others, stylistic variability as a function of speaker affect has provided empirical evidence of iconicity. This article examines the role of iconicity and performativity in transcending the limits of reference, reviews iconicity in production studies, and provides experimental evidence that sound symbolism influences how listeners attribute affect to linguistic variation. (Variation, iconicity, affect)

Identity Markers and L2 Pronunciation

1988 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 33-49 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jane Zuengler
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
American English ◽  
Spanish Speakers ◽  
American Identity ◽  
Native Spanish Speakers ◽  
Sociolinguistic Variation ◽  
English Pronunciation ◽  
Identity Markers ◽  
Social Markers ◽  
Social Marking

This is a report of a study of social marking in second language pronunciation. In particular, it tested out Trudgill's (1981) suggestion that sounds that are most likely to undergo sociolinguistic variation, that is, that may become social markers, are those that Labov (1972a, 1972b), calls stereotypes. This study sought to determine whether there were certain aspects of English pronunciation that native Spanish speakers would, at some level of awareness, associate with American English/American identity. The speakers were asked to perform several tasks, including a mimic of an American speaking Spanish with an American accent (following Flege & Hammond, 1982). Among the results, speakers displayed a tacit awareness of English-Spanish sound distinctions (in particular, allophonic differences) in performing the mimic (supporting Flege & Hammond, 1982). Additionally, some of the alterations they were very conscious of held as stereotypes of American English. Support was found for Trudgill's (1981) suggestion.

scholarly journals Sociolinguistic variation of parameters of oral spontaneous text

2021 ◽  
pp. 169-182
Author(s):  
Ekaterina S. Khudyakova ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Statistical Modeling ◽  
Social Factors ◽  
Average Length ◽  
Education Level ◽  
Sociolinguistic Variation ◽  
Level Of Education ◽  
Variation Of Parameters ◽  
The Social ◽  
Factor Type ◽  
And Gender

The article examines the social factors influence on prosodic manifestation of syntactic and macrosyntactic units. The data collected during suprasegmental analysis of spontaneous speech are used, which are directly related to the syntactic level, namely: the average length of a phrase in words and in syntagmas and the average length of a syntagma in phonetic words, as well as parameters associated with the design of the whole text: the number of composition blocks in the text, their length in phrases, the length of the whole text in phrases and words. The results of statistical modeling of the influence of the factors "age", "type of education", "level of education" and "gender" clearly indicate that the factors "type of education" and "gender" significantly influence the variation of syntactic and macrosyntactic parameters of an oral text. The factor "type of education" significantly affects the number of phrases in the text and the length of the text block in phrases – both parameters are significantly higher for the speakers who specialize in Humanities compared to those who specialize in Sciences. The length of the syntagma depends on the speaker’ gender – syntagmas produced by male speakers are longer.

scholarly journals FERNÁNDEZ GARAY, Ana; CENSABELLA, Marisa (eds.) (2009). Estudios fonológicos de continua dialectales: mapuche y wichí. Santa Rosa: Universidad Nacional de La Pampa, 224. Pp. 2

2011 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 173
Author(s):  
William Alfred Pickering
Keyword(s):  
South America ◽  
Theoretical Perspective ◽  
Indigenous Languages ◽  
Research Institutions ◽  
Sociolinguistic Variation ◽  
Systematic Survey ◽  
The Past ◽  
Dialect Variation ◽  
Phonological Change

This book is a collection of articles dealing with the phonology and dialectology of Wichí (referred to in the past as Mataco) and Mapuzungun (also called Mapudungun or Mapuche), two unrelated Amerindian languages of South America. Published by the Universidad Nacional de La Pampa, it is the end result of a three-year project funded by the Argentine government, the purpose of which was to study dialect variation in these languages. All of the authors are specialists in the indigenous languages of Argentina, and all but one are teachers or researchers at Argentine universities or research institutions. Adopting the “dynamic synchrony” approach of the French functionalist school as a methodological-theoretical perspective, the book pretends to give an overall view of the dialectical continua of the Argentine varieties of the languages under study and at the same time to provide some understanding of sociolinguistic variation and ongoing phonological change in both languages. The four articles on Wichí and the single article on Mapuzungun found in this volume, while falling short of constituting a systematic survey, make significant steps toward achieving these difficult and important goals.

Perspectives on sociolinguistic variation (Review article)

1985 ◽  
Vol 14 (4) ◽  
pp. 515-526 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ralph W. Fasold
Keyword(s):  
Social Context ◽  
Review Article ◽  
Speech Community ◽  
Sociolinguistic Variation ◽  
Language Structure ◽  
The Social ◽  
General Linguistics

This chapter [of Sociolinguistic patterns – RWF] will deal with the study of language structure and evolution within the social context of the speech community. The linguistic topics to be considered here cover the area usually named “general linguistics,” dealing with phonology, morphology, syntax, and semantics (Labov 1972:184). Surely, this is too narrow a conception of the role of sociolinguistic research (Romaine 1982:6).

Sociolinguistic Variation in Nigerian English

1986 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 47-74 ◽  
Author(s):  
Munzali Jibril
Keyword(s):  
Sociolinguistic Variation
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