31 Community-based sociolinguistic variation
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Kayla Palakurthy
Abstract
Linguistic variation is found in all living languages, and sociolinguistic research reveals how variants can carry social meaning and reflect ongoing linguistic changes. Attitudes towards such linguistic heterogeneity may vary significantly within and across speech communities, with implications for how variants are evaluated and presented in pedagogical contexts. This chapter presents findings from representative studies of sociolinguistic variation in North American languages, alongside those analyzing attitudes towards variation. When considered together, this body of work reveals that the demographic categories of age, region, and gender meaningfully pattern with some language-internal lexical, phonological, and grammatical variation, and research shows that an increased understanding of sociolinguistic variation can inform community- based language projects. Beyond their potential relevance to maintenance and reclamation efforts, these studies expand the typological diversity of the field of sociolinguistics by including communities representing different sociocultural contexts than those that are typically the focus of sociolinguistic research.
Abstract
Linguistic variation is found in all living languages, and sociolinguistic research reveals how variants can carry social meaning and reflect ongoing linguistic changes. Attitudes towards such linguistic heterogeneity may vary significantly within and across speech communities, with implications for how variants are evaluated and presented in pedagogical contexts. This chapter presents findings from representative studies of sociolinguistic variation in North American languages, alongside those analyzing attitudes towards variation. When considered together, this body of work reveals that the demographic categories of age, region, and gender meaningfully pattern with some language-internal lexical, phonological, and grammatical variation, and research shows that an increased understanding of sociolinguistic variation can inform community- based language projects. Beyond their potential relevance to maintenance and reclamation efforts, these studies expand the typological diversity of the field of sociolinguistics by including communities representing different sociocultural contexts than those that are typically the focus of sociolinguistic research.
Chapters in this book
- Frontmatter I
- Preface V
- Table of contents VII
- List of North American families, languages, and dialects XIII
- Maps XLI
-
I Sounds and sound structure
- 1 Acoustic phonetics 1
- 2 Articulatory phonetics 39
- 3 Tone 63
- 4 Segmental phonology 89
- 5 Prosodic morphology 109
- 6 Word prosody 135
- 7 Prosody beyond the word 155
-
II Words
- 8 What is a word? 183
- 9 Word classes 205
-
III Sentences
- 10 Syntax within the clause 247
- 11 Negatives 267
- 12 Questions and requests in North American languages 283
- 13 Information structure 305
- 14 Clause-combining: Relative clauses 323
- 15 Clause combining: Syntax of subordination and complementation 345
- 16 Switch-reference and event cohesion 363
-
IV Discourse
- 17 Verbal art 385
- 18 Conversation structure 421
-
V Meaning
- 19 Lexicalization and lexical meaning 453
- 20 Lexicography 479
- 21 Evidentiality 497
- 22 Pluractionality and distributivity 511
- 23 Mass and count nouns 527
- 24 Sense of place: Space, landscape, and orientation 547
- 25 A sense of time and world 577
- 26 Pragmatics 599
-
VI Languages over space and time
- 27 Languages as dynamic systems: How grammar can emerge 619
- 28 Language contact and linguistic areas 647
- 29 Language classification 669
- 30 Archival-based sociolinguistic variation 689
- 31 Community-based sociolinguistic variation 701
Chapters in this book
- Frontmatter I
- Preface V
- Table of contents VII
- List of North American families, languages, and dialects XIII
- Maps XLI
-
I Sounds and sound structure
- 1 Acoustic phonetics 1
- 2 Articulatory phonetics 39
- 3 Tone 63
- 4 Segmental phonology 89
- 5 Prosodic morphology 109
- 6 Word prosody 135
- 7 Prosody beyond the word 155
-
II Words
- 8 What is a word? 183
- 9 Word classes 205
-
III Sentences
- 10 Syntax within the clause 247
- 11 Negatives 267
- 12 Questions and requests in North American languages 283
- 13 Information structure 305
- 14 Clause-combining: Relative clauses 323
- 15 Clause combining: Syntax of subordination and complementation 345
- 16 Switch-reference and event cohesion 363
-
IV Discourse
- 17 Verbal art 385
- 18 Conversation structure 421
-
V Meaning
- 19 Lexicalization and lexical meaning 453
- 20 Lexicography 479
- 21 Evidentiality 497
- 22 Pluractionality and distributivity 511
- 23 Mass and count nouns 527
- 24 Sense of place: Space, landscape, and orientation 547
- 25 A sense of time and world 577
- 26 Pragmatics 599
-
VI Languages over space and time
- 27 Languages as dynamic systems: How grammar can emerge 619
- 28 Language contact and linguistic areas 647
- 29 Language classification 669
- 30 Archival-based sociolinguistic variation 689
- 31 Community-based sociolinguistic variation 701
