Affirming Differences, Valuing Variation and Dismissing Dialects in Modern Linguistics
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Ricardo Otheguy
Abstract
Dialectology and sociolinguistics have given rise to the notions of dialect difference and sociolinguistic variation. An evaluation of these concepts in terms of usefulness to scholars, social relevance to laymen, and solid intellectual coherence and soundness yields high marks on the first two criteria, while pointing to problems with regard to coherence. The scientific and social contributions made possible by the concept of dialectal difference are clear, but serious questions must be raised as to the coherence of the notion of dialect. The concept of variation, while also facilitating important contributions, raises questions of its own on the criterion of coherence. Dialects can be safely dismissed from our conceptual repertoire, while dialectal difference and sociolinguistic variation should remain, demanding, however, that considerable effort be expended in finding a better fit with more traditional areas of research in linguistics. These areas are not exempt from the task, as their coherence too requires greater engagement with variation.
© 2015 by Walter de Gruyter Berlin/Boston
Articles in the same Issue
- Front Matter
- Contents
- From the Editor’s Desk
- Research Articles
- El abundante agua fría: Hermaphroditic Spanish Nouns
- Vítimas e perpetradores: Discurso reportado e identidade em narrativas de discriminação racial
- Integración conceptual (blending) en el proceso de gramaticalización de construcciones nominales cuantificativas en español
- A Tale of Two Borders: 19th Century Language Contact in Southern California and Northern Uruguay
- Book Reviews
- Segmental and Prosodic Issues in Romance Phonology
- State of the Discipline. Topic: Corpus Linguistics
- New Directions in Spanish and Portuguese Corpus Linguistics
- Viewpoints. Topic: The Place of Dialectology in Modern Linguistics
- Some Thoughts on Dialectology and Spanish Historical Linguistics
- Viewpoint from Sociolinguistics and Contact Linguistics: On the Role of Dialectology in Modern Linguistics
- Homeless in Post-Modern Linguistics? (Re/Dis)placing Hispanic Dialectology
- Affirming Differences, Valuing Variation and Dismissing Dialects in Modern Linguistics
- Dissertation Notices
- A macro- and microsociolinguistic study of language attitudes and language contact: Mercosur and the teaching of Spanish in Brazil
- The acquisition of probabilistic patterns in Spanish phonology by adult second language learners: The case of diphthongization
- The role of lexical frequency and phonetic context in the weakening of syllablefinal lexical /s/ in the Spanish of Barranquilla, Colombia
- Register and style variation in speakers of Spanish as a heritage and as a second language
Articles in the same Issue
- Front Matter
- Contents
- From the Editor’s Desk
- Research Articles
- El abundante agua fría: Hermaphroditic Spanish Nouns
- Vítimas e perpetradores: Discurso reportado e identidade em narrativas de discriminação racial
- Integración conceptual (blending) en el proceso de gramaticalización de construcciones nominales cuantificativas en español
- A Tale of Two Borders: 19th Century Language Contact in Southern California and Northern Uruguay
- Book Reviews
- Segmental and Prosodic Issues in Romance Phonology
- State of the Discipline. Topic: Corpus Linguistics
- New Directions in Spanish and Portuguese Corpus Linguistics
- Viewpoints. Topic: The Place of Dialectology in Modern Linguistics
- Some Thoughts on Dialectology and Spanish Historical Linguistics
- Viewpoint from Sociolinguistics and Contact Linguistics: On the Role of Dialectology in Modern Linguistics
- Homeless in Post-Modern Linguistics? (Re/Dis)placing Hispanic Dialectology
- Affirming Differences, Valuing Variation and Dismissing Dialects in Modern Linguistics
- Dissertation Notices
- A macro- and microsociolinguistic study of language attitudes and language contact: Mercosur and the teaching of Spanish in Brazil
- The acquisition of probabilistic patterns in Spanish phonology by adult second language learners: The case of diphthongization
- The role of lexical frequency and phonetic context in the weakening of syllablefinal lexical /s/ in the Spanish of Barranquilla, Colombia
- Register and style variation in speakers of Spanish as a heritage and as a second language
