In the multilingual centres of Northern Europe's major cities, new varieties of the host languages are emerging. While some analyse these ‘multiethnolects’ as youth styles, we take a variationist ...approach to an emerging ‘Multicultural London English’ (MLE), asking: (1) what features characterise MLE; (2) at what age(s) are they acquired; (3) is MLE vernacularised; and (4) when did MLE emerge, and what factors enabled this? We argue that innovations in the diphthongs and the quotative system are generated from the specific sociolinguistics of inner‐city London, where at least half the population is undergoing group second‐language acquisition and where high linguistic diversity leads to a heterogeneous feature pool to select from. We look for incrementation (Labov 2001) in the acquisition of the features, but find this only for two ‘global’ changes, BE LIKE and goose‐fronting, for which adolescents show the highest usage. Community‐internal factors explain the age‐related variation in the remaining features.
Dans certaines villes importantes de l’Europe de Nord, on observe l’émergence de nouvelles variétés de la langue hôte dans les quartiers multilingues. Tandis que certains ont analysé ces variétés multiethniques comme appartenant au langage des jeunes, nous adoptons ici une approche variationniste pour analyser une telle variétéémergente à Londres, que nous appelons Multicultural London English (MLE), en nous posant les questions suivantes: (1) quels traits structuraux caractérisent le MLE; (2) à quel(s) âge(s) sont‐ils acquis; (3) le MLE est‐il vernacularisé; et (4) à quel moment le MLE est‐il apparu, et quels facteurs lui ont permis àémerger? Nous soutenons que les innovations dans les diphtongues et le système du discours rapporté résultent de la situation sociolinguistique spécifique des quartiers multilingues et déshérités de Londres, où au moins 50 pour cent de la population acquiert l’anglais comme langue seconde au sauvage avec des amis, et où la grande diversité linguistique entraîne un réservoir de traits linguistiques (feature pool) hétérogène. En ce qui concerne l’acquisition des traits, nous ne trouvons le phénomène labovien d’incrémentation que pour deux changements globaux (BE LIKE et l’avancement de la voyelle en goose), ces deux formes nouvelles étant les plus fréquentes chez les adolescents. Pour les autres traits linguistiques, la variation selon l’âge des locuteurs s’explique plutôt par des facteurs internes à la communauté. French
Dialect Change Auer, Peter; Hinskens, Frans; Kerswill, Paul
06/2005
eBook
Dialects are constantly changing, and due to increased mobility in more recent years, European dialects have 'levelled', making it difficult to distinguish a native of Reading from a native of ...London, or a native of Bonn from a native of Cologne. This comprehensive study brings together a team of leading scholars to explore all aspects of recent dialect change, in particular dialect convergence and divergence. Drawing on examples from a wide range of European countries - as well as areas where European languages have been transplanted - they examine a range of issues relating to dialect contact and isolation, and show how sociolinguistic conditions differ hugely between and within European countries. Each specially commissioned chapter is based on original research, giving an overview of work on that particular area and presenting case studies to illustrate the issues discussed. Dialect Change will be welcomed by all those interested in sociolinguistics, dialectology, the relevance of language variation to formal linguistic theories, and European languages.
Koineization – the development of a new,
mixed variety following dialect contact – has well-documented
outcomes. However, there have been few studies of the phenomenon
actually in progress. This ...article describes the development
of a new variety in the English New Town of Milton Keynes,
designated in 1967. The article is structured around eight
“principles” that relate the process of koineization
to its outcomes. Recordings were made of 48 Milton Keynes-born
children in three age groups (4, 8, and 12), the principal
caregiver of each child, and several elderly locally born
residents. Quantitative analysis of ten phonetic variables
suggests that substantial but not complete focusing occurs
in the child generation. The lack of linguistic continuity
in the New Town is demonstrated, and the time scale of
koineization there is discussed. Finally, it is shown that
demography and the social-network characteristics of individuals
are crucial to the outcomes of koineization.
Have wireless, mobile communication technologies - phones, laptops and tablets - changed the way people talk to one another? What does it mean to be able to speak or write to anyone, anywhere, ...24/7/365, and get an immediate response? And what does the current profusion of these technologies mean for the study of language in social life? Do we need to develop new approaches, methodologies and theories? Taking a global perspective, this volume provides readers with a nuanced, ethnographically-informed understanding of mobile communication and sociolinguistics. The text explores a wide range of digital applications, including SMS, email, tweeting, Facebook, YouTube, chatting, blogging, Wikipedia, Second Life and gaming. It raises important questions about the nature of language, the role of multimodality and intertextuality in creating meaning, the realities and consequences of digital linguistic inequality. The formation of virtual communities, ways of online socialising and the performance of the 'self' are explored. Based on a multicultural and multilingual approach, the volume provides a comprehensive and intriguing overview of digital communication for both students and researchers.
The article models the spread of linguistic change by taking precise account of the ages of the acquirers and transmitters of change. Several studies, some original, are reviewed in order to address ...the following questions: “What types of linguistic feature can an individual acquire at different ages?” “How much influence do people of different ages exert on the speech of other individuals?” The article is organized around three key interlocutor combinations: parent-infant/young child, peer group-preadolescent, and older adolescent/adult-adolescent. The studies suggest that borrowings are the easiest to acquire, while lexically unpredictable phonological changes are the most difficult. In between are Neogrammarian changes and morphologically conditioned features. The age of the speaker is critical; only the youngest children acquire the “hardest” features. However, adolescents may be the most influential transmitters of change. A difficulty hierarchy for the acquisition of second dialect features is then presented; it is suggested that this predicts the nature of linguistic change found under different sociolinguistic conditions. The approach presented here allows for a more detailed understanding of the spread of linguistic change.
Bringing the study of writing to the heart of sociolinguistic inquiry, this textbook illustrates and challenges the 'great divide' between speech and writing and raises questions about what's ...involved in viewing any stretch of language as 'written/writing'. The book is organised around four main areas: 1) socially oriented text analyses of written texts; 2) modality inflected analyses of texts and practices; 3) writing as identity and performance; and 4) the analysis of literacy practices in relation to networks, access, participation and resources. Further topics covered include: what we mean by 'writing'; specific functions of writing and written texts within academic knowledge in sociolinguistics; and key practical questions about carrying out research into writing from sociolinguistic perspectives. Core sociolinguistic approaches to writing are explored throughout the book, including, for example, different aspects of the politics of orthography and writing systems.
This study contributes to innovation and diffusion models by examining phonetic changes in London English. It evaluates Sapir's notion of “drift,” which involves “natural,” unconscious change, in ...relation to these changes. Investigating parallel developments in two related varieties of English enables drift to be tested in terms of the effect of extralinguistic factors. The diphthongs of price, mouth, face, and goat in both London and New Zealand English are characterized by “Diphthong Shift,” a process that continued unabated in New Zealand. A new, large data set of London speech shows Diphthong Shift reversal, providing counterevidence for drift. We discuss Diphthong Shift and its “reversal” in relation to innovation, diffusion, leveling, and supralocalization, arguing that sociolinguistic factors and dialect contact override natural Diphthong Shift. Studying dialect change in a metropolis, with its large and linguistically innovative minority ethnic population, is of the utmost importance in understanding the dynamics of change.
There is much that any sociolinguist would agree with in Peter Trudgill's essay. It is written in his usual lucid style, and supported by a wealth of detail, reflecting his extensive knowledge, ...research, and scholarly expertise. However, it is stimulatingly provocative on the issue of why particular variants win out in dialect contact situations. Our response falls into two sections: (i) the identity issue, and (ii) the New Zealand situation.
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