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The first introduction to the field of Arabic sociolinguistics, this book discusses major trends in research on diglossia, code-switching, gendered discourse, language variation and change, and language policies in relation to Arabic. In doing so, it introduces and evaluates the various theoretical approaches, and illustrates the usefulness and the limitations of these approaches with empirical data. The book shows how sociolinguistic theories can be applied to Arabic and, conversely, what the study of Arabic can contribute to our understanding of the function of language in society.

Research in code-switching, undertaken against the backdrop of very negative attitudes towards the concurrent use of two or more languages within the same conversation, has traditionally been geared towards rehabilitating this form of language use. From being seen as a random phenomenon reflecting the user’s lack of competence, code-switching is currently seen as sign of an advanced level of competence in the languages involved and as serving different interactional functions. However, as a result of its success, the research tradition now faces an entirely new challenge: Where to from here? How can research in code-switching continue to be relevant and interesting now it has largely achieved its original purpose? This books seeks to answer this programmatic question. The author argues that, in order to overcome this challenge, the notion of bilingualism (multilingualism) itself must be redefined. Bilingualism must be seen as consisting of multiple interactional practices. Accordingly, research in bilingualism and in code-switching in particular must aim to describe each of those practices in its own right. In other word, the aim should be an empirically based understanding of the various interactional practices involving the use of two or more languages. In the book, this new research direction is illustrated by means of three case studies: language choice and speech representation in bilingual interaction, language choice and conversational repair in bilingual interaction and language choice and appositive structures in written texts in Rwanda.

Contact discusses the ways in which linguistic contact between closely related varieties differs from contact between fully discrete varieties. Particular focus is given to the development of English. Case studies are taken from recent contact of this type – such as the creation of New Zealand and Australian English. These are then compared with similar contact areas, such as Irish English, Ulster Scots and the Scots dialects of Orkney and Shetland. Finally, the rapid breakdown of inflection in late Old English and early Middle English will be considered as an example of near-relative contact. Throughout, the concept of koine is used as a means by which near-relative contact can be understood. Near-relative contact between varieties perceived to be dialects of the same language and similar contacts between closely related varieties perceived as being discrete languages are postulated to be of highly similar types.

The book provides an accessible state-of-the-art discussion of current trends in the theory, method and tools for the language-focused analysis of text and discourse. The exposition is combined with close analyses of a wide range of texts, e.g. narrative and non-narrative, spoken and written, from a variety of communication contexts and discourse types. The presentation is based on the fundamental distinction of two discourse modes, namely the narrative and non-narrative modes. The book is suitable for students and teachers of linguistics, including discourse analysis, textlinguistics, pragmatics and sociolinguistics, as well as for students across humanities and social science disciplines with an interest in the linguistic methods of discourse analysis. It includes guided activities for self-study or use in a classroom and suggestions for further reading at the end of each chapter.

This volume is a description of English as it is used in India. The complex nature of Indian English, which is a second language to most of its speakers, is discussed in the book. Even though the variety is not monolithic, there are still several common features across the country. The volume focuses mostly on pan-Indian features and regional variations are touched upon wherever relevant. Indian English is classified in this book as standard, non-standard and informal, and features of these, often relating them to sociolinguistic and cultural factors, form the core of the book. At the same time, the attempt has been to cover standard Indian English as much as possible. Three chapters deal with linguistic features—phonetics and phonology, morphosyntax, lexis and discourse. The first chapter provides the context and current position of English especially in relation to the cultural factors of the country and provides some statistical details and demographics. One chapter deals with history in relation to the institutionalisation of English in India, bringing it up to modern times. One chapter provides an annotated bibliography of select works. Several samples of written and spoken Indian English are provided in the last chapter.

This book focuses on the sociolinguistic consequences of historical contact between indigenous Irish peoples and newer English and Scottish settlers in what is now the territory of Northern Ireland (NI). The contact varieties that resulted represent the oldest L2 ‘Englishes’ globally. Moreover, the degree of admixture from English, Irish and Scots in the contemporary dialects of NI reflects various external forces. Naturally, these varieties share certain structural features with sister Celtic Englishes and indeed with other vernacular Englishes globally (partly because of extensive emigration from NI post-1700 and partly due to universal tendencies of various types). However, there are other linguistic traits that seem to be unique and therefore essentially local. Irish English, Volume 1: Northern Ireland aims to provide insights into the evolution of language in 21st century NI and to promote an understanding of linguistic diversity in this region in the context of World Englishes.

Language, this book argues, is political from top to bottom, whether considered at the level of an individual speaker's choice of language or style of discourse with others (where interpersonal politics are performed), at the level of political rhetoric, or indeed all the way up to the formation of national languages. By bringing together this set of topics and highlighting how they are interrelated, the book functions as a textbook on any applied or sociolinguistic course in which some or all of these various aspects of the politics of language are covered. The chapter headings include: how politics permeates language (and vice-versa); language and nation; the social politics of language choice and linguistic correctness; politics embedded in language; taboo language and its restriction; rhetoric, propaganda and interpretation; and power, hegemony and choices.

This book explores the dynamics of language and social change in central Europe. One of the outcomes of the profound social transformations that this region has witnessed since the Second World War has been the reshaping of the relationship between particular languages and linguistic varieties, especially between ‘national’ languages and regional or ethnic minority languages. Previous studies have investigated these changed relationships from the macro perspective of language policies, while others have taken an ethnographic approach to individual experiences with language. This book brings together these two perspectives for the first time, with a focus on the German language, which has a uniquely complex and problematic history in this region. By drawing on a range of theoretical, conceptual and analytical approaches – language ideologies, language policy, positioning theory, discourse analysis, narrative analysis and linguistic ethnography – and a wide range of data sources (from European and national language policies to individual language biographies) the authors show how the relationship between German and other languages has played a crucial role in the politics of language and processes of identity formation in the recent history of central Europe.

This volume spans a number of theoretical fields including language variation, language policy and literary stylistics and provides a coherent way of triangulating these fields by the introduction and elaboration of the notion of performative metalanguage. This volume as a whole offers insight into the role of writers in the broader social and political context of language culture in contemporary Russia and into the various ways in which the linguistic and aesthetic practices of literary art can engage in questions related to the negotiation of linguistic norms.

This book conveys insights into the social and political motivations and driving forces behind Norwegian language planning. Norwegian language development from 1814 has, since Einar Haugen’s book Language conflict and language planning: the case of modern Norwegian (1966), been one of the most celebrated examples of language planning in the world. This book not only tells the rest of the story till 2014, but also introduces a new analysis of the Norwegian development altogether, drawing heavily on the development and results of sociolinguistic and language contact research. The year 2014 marks the 200th anniversary of the birth of the Norwegian nation following centuries of Danish rule. This book thus gives an account of that entire 200-year period, and analyses how Norwegians defined, fought over and developed their own independent Scandinavian language (with two written standard varieties, Bokmål and Nynorsk), differentiating it from Danish and Swedish, through language planning. Nearly two centuries of Norwegian language planning and conflict have encompassed an extraordinary and politically motivated sociolinguistic experiment (1938) which led to decades of intense linguistic struggle and which has had no parallel anywhere in the world. It contributes to language planning theory as well as to the rapidly emerging field of historical sociolinguistics.

This volume constitutes the first comprehensive overview of the variety of Canadian English spoken in Newfoundland and Labrador, long recognized as linguistically distinct within North America. It provides an accessible introduction to the phonetic, grammatical, lexical and discourse features of contemporary Newfoundland English, along with the speech of the province’s continental portion, Labrador. Newfoundland English is shown to be a generally conservative variety, which has preserved a number of features that have undergone attrition elsewhere. Likewise, the region’s close ties with Britain and Ireland (Newfoundland constituted an independent British dominion until its union with Canada in 1949) are shown to be reflected in the many linguistic features it shares with its two chief European founder varieties, southwest British English (West Country English) and southern Irish English. The volume also describes the extensive regional and social variation that characterizes Newfoundland English, and relates this to historical, geographical, demographic and social factors. It outlines how the considerable socioeconomic and cultural change experienced by the region since the mid 20^th century is reflected in ongoing linguistic change. Language change is also contextualized relative to insider and outsider attitudes to local speech varieties. In addition, the volume provides illustrative speech samples, in the form of nine texts representing both contemporary and traditional regional varieties of Newfoundland and Labrador. These texts are accompanied by online audio files. It also includes a survey of published work on Newfoundland English from the late 16^th century to the present.

Arabic became a minority language in Israel in 1948, as a result of the Palestinian exodus from their land that year. Although it remains an official language, along with Hebrew, Israel has made continued attempts to marginalise Arabic on the one hand, and secutise it on the other. The book delves into these tensions and contradictions, exploring how language policy and language choice both reflect and challenge political identities of Arabs and Israelis. It combines qualitative methods not commonly used together in the study of Arabic in Israel, including ethnography, interviews with journalists and students, media discussions, and analysis of the production of knowledge on Arabic in Israeli academia.

Romani is one of Britain's oldest and most established minority languages. Brought to the country by Romani immigrants from continental Europe in the sixteenth century or even earlier, it was spoken in its old, inflected form as a family and community language until the second half of the nineteenth century, when it yielded to English. But even after its decline as the everyday language of English and Welsh Gypsies, Romani continues to survive in the form of a vocabulary that is used to express an ‘emotive mode’ of communication among group members. This book examines British Romani in its historical context and in its present-day form, drawing on recordings and interviews with speakers. It documents the Romani vocabulary and its usage patterns in conversation, offering insight into the processes of language death and language revitalization. The book includes an extensive lexicon of Angloromani as a reference.

The first decade of the new Scottish Parliament has seen the emergence of a new-found national confidence. ‘Scottishness’ is clearly alive and flourishing. This book offers new and detailed insights into Scottish language and its usage by the Scottish press. To what extent does the use of identifiably Scottish lexical features help them to maintain their distinctive Scottish identity and appeal to their readership? Which Scottish words and phrases do the papers use and where, is it a symbolic gesture, do they all behave in the same way and has this changed since devolution? Combining analysis of broad trends with detailed discussion of individual Scottish words and phrases, the book's publication coincides with a period when interest in things Scottish is at an all-time high.

Why are doctors’ prescriptions illegible and why is the language of the law considered impenetrable to outsiders? Need they be so? Is it more difficult for non-native speakers of English than native speakers to access the discourse of professions such as law and medicine? These are some of the questions covered by this book, which uses the lens of stylistics to shed light on how the discourse of professional communities is used not just to convey meanings, but also to construct identity and demark membership. Thus the volume explores the relationship between linguistic competence and membership of professional communities, and also addresses some related issues, such as the evolving nature of professional discourses under the effects of globalisation, as well as linguistic inequality and marginalisation caused by a lack of communicative competence. In particular, it focuses on the stylistic features of a number of different domain-specific areas, for example: vagueness (and precision) in legislative texts; communicative success (and failure) in healthcare discourse; the language of educational reform. The use of case studies from a range of professional communities enables the book to show how and why a stylistics perspective can provide the key to accessing the discourse of these communities, which now are increasingly no longer the exclusive preserve of their native speaker members. The volume also emphasises the pedagogical importance of a stylistics-oriented approach in the education of future professionals (both native and non-native speakers), suggesting ways in which teachers can draw on a stylistics-oriented methodology to prepare students to participate in academic and professional discourse communities.