Sociolinguistics vs pragmatics
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Janet Holmes
Abstract
Sociolinguists describe the linguistic resources available in speech communities, and provide a systematic account of how social variables influence linguistic choices from among those resources. Pragmatics explains how individuals use linguistic resources to produce and interpret meaning in interaction, and sometimes to change relationships. Certain aspects of each discipline are generally recognized as distinct, but there are also areas of overlap. Using workplace discourse to explore the constraints of egalitarianism and gender in New Zealand society, I illustrate the advantage of drawing on both disciplines, and demonstrate how macro-level (societal) and meso-level (eg. workplace teams, communities of practice) sociolinguistic norms may act as sociopragmatic constraints or as a focus for contestation in interaction at the micro-level in face-to-face workplace interaction.
Abstract
Sociolinguists describe the linguistic resources available in speech communities, and provide a systematic account of how social variables influence linguistic choices from among those resources. Pragmatics explains how individuals use linguistic resources to produce and interpret meaning in interaction, and sometimes to change relationships. Certain aspects of each discipline are generally recognized as distinct, but there are also areas of overlap. Using workplace discourse to explore the constraints of egalitarianism and gender in New Zealand society, I illustrate the advantage of drawing on both disciplines, and demonstrate how macro-level (societal) and meso-level (eg. workplace teams, communities of practice) sociolinguistic norms may act as sociopragmatic constraints or as a focus for contestation in interaction at the micro-level in face-to-face workplace interaction.
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Introduction 1
- Sociolinguistics vs pragmatics 11
- Discourse pragmatics 33
- The interface between pragmatics and conversation analysis 59
- Pragmatics vs rhetoric 85
- Narrative studies versus pragmatics (of narrative) 121
- Translation studies and pragmatics 143
- The interface between pragmatics and gesture studies 163
- Pragmatics and anthropology 185
- Integrative pragmatics and (im)politeness theory 213
- Corpus linguistics and pragmatics 241
- The interface between pragmatics and internet-mediated communication 267
- Pragmatics, humor studies, and the study of interaction 291
- Index 311
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Introduction 1
- Sociolinguistics vs pragmatics 11
- Discourse pragmatics 33
- The interface between pragmatics and conversation analysis 59
- Pragmatics vs rhetoric 85
- Narrative studies versus pragmatics (of narrative) 121
- Translation studies and pragmatics 143
- The interface between pragmatics and gesture studies 163
- Pragmatics and anthropology 185
- Integrative pragmatics and (im)politeness theory 213
- Corpus linguistics and pragmatics 241
- The interface between pragmatics and internet-mediated communication 267
- Pragmatics, humor studies, and the study of interaction 291
- Index 311
