Sociolinguistic Perspectives Papers on Language in Society, 1959-1994

by Ferguson, Charles A.; Huebner, Thom

• ISBN13: 9780195092912
• ISBN10: 0195092910
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 1996-02-15
• Publisher: Oxford University Press

Summary

The work of the linguist Charles A. Ferguson spans more than three decades, and is remarkable for having been consistently at the forefront of scholarship on the relationship between language and society. This volume collects his most influential and seminal papers, each having expanded the parameters of sociolinguistics and the sociology of language. Taken together, they cover a wide range of topics and issues, and, more importantly, reflect the intellectual progress of a founder of the sociolinguistic field. The volume is divided thematically into four sections, and an introduction by Thom Huebner outlines the evolution of Ferguson's ideas and the impact they have had on other scholars. This book is essential reading for everyone interested in the field of sociolinguistics.

Table of Contents

Foreword	p. v
Acknowledgments	p. vii
Introduction	p. 3
References	p. 13
Speech Communities and Language Situations	p. 17
References	p. 21
Diglossia	p. 25
References	p. 38
Language Development	p. 40
Note	p. 46
References	p. 46
The Role of Arabic in Ethiopia: a Sociolinguistic Perspective	p. 48
Notes	p. 57
References	p. 57
Religious Factors in Language Spread	p. 59
References	p. 68
Literacy in a Hunting-Gathering Society: the Case of the Diyari	p. 69
Notes	p. 80
References	p. 81
South Asia as a Sociolinguistic Area	p. 84
References	p. 93
Register and Genre	p. 97
References	p. 101
Baby Talk in Six Languages	p. 103
Notes	p. 113
References	p. 113
Absence of Copula and the Notion of Simplicity: a Study of Normal Speech, Baby Talk, Foreigner Talk and Pidgins	p. 115
Notes	p. 121
References	p. 122
The Collect as a Form of Discourse	p. 124
Notes	p. 131
References	p. 132
The Structure and Use of Politeness Formulas	p. 133
Notes	p. 145
References	p. 145
Sports Announcer Talk: Syntactic Aspects of Register Variation	p. 148
Notes	p. 164
References	p. 165
Genre and Register: One Path to Discourse Analysis	p. 167
Notes	p. 175
References	p. 175
Variation and Change	p. 177
References	p. 179
The Sociolinguistic Variable (s) in Bengali: a Sound Change in Progress? (with Afia Dil)	p. 181
Notes	p. 187
References	p. 188
Standardization as a Form of Language Spread	p. 189
References	p. 197
From Esses to Aitches: Identifying Pathways of Diachronic Change	p. 200
Notes	p. 212
References	p. 213
Then They Could Read and Write	p. 216
References	p. 225
Individual and Social in Language Change: Diachronic Changes in Politeness Agreement in Forms of Address	p. 227
References	p. 238
Notes	p. 238
Variation and Drift: Loss of Agreement in Germanic	p. 241
References	p. 258
Notes	p. 258
Language Planning	p. 261
References	p. 265
The Language Factor in National Development	p. 267
Notes	p. 271
On Sociolinguistically Oriented Language Surveys	p. 272
Sociolinguistic Settings of Language Planning	p. 277
Notes	p. 293
References	p. 293
National Attitudes Toward Language Planning	p. 295
References	p. 302
Conventional Conventionalization: Planned Change in Language	p. 304
References	p. 312
Language and National Development	p. 313
References	p. 322
Ferguson Bibliography, 1985-1995	p. 325
Names Index	p. 329
Topics Index	p. 336
Languages Index	p. 345
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