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Chapter 1. Modeling variation

Pluricentricity and pluriareality — The debate surrounding both models, and potentials for their complementarity
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Abstract

The question of how to conceptualize variation in languages with more than one standard variety, such as English, Dutch, or German, has been a central one to variation linguistics. Variation in these languages is sometimes modeled according to two opposed approaches: pluricentricity and pluriareality, though not uncontroversially. The present chapter first introduces the pluricentricity/pluriareality debate and then identifies several aspects that warrant a more extensive and thorough discussion of their potential complementarity. It then introduces the volume, which is the first of its kind to consolidate pluricentric and pluriareal perspectives on modeling standard language variation in a systematic manner. A major contribution of the volume lies in the fact that most chapters seek to integrate both concepts in modeling variation.

Abstract

The question of how to conceptualize variation in languages with more than one standard variety, such as English, Dutch, or German, has been a central one to variation linguistics. Variation in these languages is sometimes modeled according to two opposed approaches: pluricentricity and pluriareality, though not uncontroversially. The present chapter first introduces the pluricentricity/pluriareality debate and then identifies several aspects that warrant a more extensive and thorough discussion of their potential complementarity. It then introduces the volume, which is the first of its kind to consolidate pluricentric and pluriareal perspectives on modeling standard language variation in a systematic manner. A major contribution of the volume lies in the fact that most chapters seek to integrate both concepts in modeling variation.

Chapters in this book

  1. Prelim pages i
  2. Table of contents v
  3. Acknowledgements vii
  4. Chapter 1. Modeling variation 1
  5. Chapter 2. Pluriareal languages and the case of German 15
  6. Chapter 3. Conceptualization of German from an Austrian perspective 45
  7. Chapter 4. Regiocentric use and national indexicality 66
  8. Chapter 5. Pluricentricity versus pluriareality? 90
  9. Chapter 6. The pluricentricity vs. pluriareality debate 118
  10. Chapter 7. A Scottish perspective on the pluricentricity/pluriareality debate 141
  11. Chapter 8. Revising the Algemene Nederlandse Spraakkunst 165
  12. Chapter 9. Pluricentricity AND pluriareality 187
  13. Index 197
Pluricentricity and Pluriareality
This chapter is in the book Pluricentricity and Pluriareality
https://doi.org/10.1075/silv.32.01mee

Chapters in this book

  1. Prelim pages i
  2. Table of contents v
  3. Acknowledgements vii
  4. Chapter 1. Modeling variation 1
  5. Chapter 2. Pluriareal languages and the case of German 15
  6. Chapter 3. Conceptualization of German from an Austrian perspective 45
  7. Chapter 4. Regiocentric use and national indexicality 66
  8. Chapter 5. Pluricentricity versus pluriareality? 90
  9. Chapter 6. The pluricentricity vs. pluriareality debate 118
  10. Chapter 7. A Scottish perspective on the pluricentricity/pluriareality debate 141
  11. Chapter 8. Revising the Algemene Nederlandse Spraakkunst 165
  12. Chapter 9. Pluricentricity AND pluriareality 187
  13. Index 197
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