Language and Society

Language and Society is a broad introduction to the interaction of language and society, intended for undergraduate students majoring in any academic discipline. The book discusses the complex socio-political roles played by large, dominant languages around the world and how the growth of major national and official languages is threatening the continued existence of smaller, minority languages. As individuals adopt new ways of speaking, many languages are disappearing, others are evolving into hybrid languages with distinctive new forms, and even long-established languages are experiencing significant change, with young speakers creating novel expressions and innovative pronunciations. Making use of a wide range of case studies selected from the Americas, Europe, Asia and Africa, Andrew Simpson describes and explains key factors causing language variation and change which relate to societal structures and the expression of group and personal identity.? The volume also examines how speakers' knowledge of language acts as an important force controlling access to education, advances in employment and the development of social status.? Additional topics discussed in the volume focus on the global growth of English, gendered patterns of language use, and the influence of language on perception.

Auteur

Andrew Simpson is Professor of Linguistics at the University of Southern California. He is the editor of Language and National Identity in Asia (Oxford University Press, 2007), Language and National Identity in Africa (Oxford University Press, 2008), and the author of many articles in linguistic journals on aspects of the languages of South Asia, East Asia, and Southeast Asia. He is also joint general editor of the Journal of East Asian Linguistics.

Contenu

Foreword Chapter 1: Languages and Dialects Chapter 2: Languages with Special Roles/functions: National and Official Languages Chapter 3: Languages Under Pressure: Minority Groups and Language Loss Chapter 4: Diglossia and Code-Switching Chapter 5: Pidgins and Creoles: The Birth and Development of New Languages Chapter 6: The Globalization of English Chapter 7: Language(s) in the USA Chapter 8: Bilingualism Chapter 9: Language and Thought: The Linguistic Relativity Controversy Chapter 10: Language and Gender Chapter 11: Language Variation and Change References Subject Index