Sociolinguistic Variation in Seventeenth-Century France: Methodology and Case Studies

by Wendy Ayres-Bennett

• ISBN13: 9780521129039
• ISBN10: 0521129036
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2010-02-04
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Summary

This book provides a systematic study of sociolinguistic variation in seventeenth-century France. Drawing on a range of case studies, Wendy Ayres-Bennett makes available data about linguistic variation in this period, showing the wealth and variety of language usage at a time that is considered to be the most 'standardising' in the history of French. Variation is analysed in terms of the speaker's 'pre-verbal constitution' - such as gender, age and socio-economic status - or by the medium, register or genre used. As well as examining linguistic variation itself, the book also considers the fundamental methodological issues that are central to all socio-historical linguistic accounts and, more importantly, addresses the question of what the appropriate sources are for linguists taking a socio-historical approach. In each chapter, the case studies present a range of phonological, morphological, syntactic and lexical issues, which pose different methodological questions for sociolinguists and historical linguists alike.

Table of Contents

Introduction: methodological issues

Spoken and written French

Social and stylistic variation

Women's language

Age, variation and change

Conclusion

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