Unnatural bedfellows? the sociolinguistic analysis of variation and language documentation
Sociolinguistics and language documentation are both sub-fields of linguistics dealing with variation in natural language, but how they approach variation differs. This paper suggests that sociolinguistic studies of probabilistic variation can contribute not only to more thorough documentation of th...
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| Materialtyp: | Journal article |
| Språk: | English |
| Publicerad: |
Taylor & Francis
2019
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| _version_ | 1826312003713499136 |
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| author | Meyerhoff, M |
| author_facet | Meyerhoff, M |
| author_sort | Meyerhoff, M |
| collection | OXFORD |
| description | Sociolinguistics and language documentation are both sub-fields of linguistics dealing with variation in natural language, but how they approach variation differs. This paper suggests that sociolinguistic studies of probabilistic variation can contribute not only to more thorough documentation of the structure of a lesser-known language, but also contribute to the advancement of linguistic theory and language change over time. Conversely, central concepts in sociolinguistics may need to be reconsidered when researchers begin to look beyond urban, monolingual communities of speakers. Two case studies are presented: the first case study of Bislama pronouns and subject agreement shows that documenting the structure of a lesser-studied language can help elucidate what might have happened in the past. It also shows how an analysis of variation can address outstanding questions about the fundamental linguistic structure of an under-documented language and the ways that variation feeds into grammaticalisation. The second case study presents an analysis of another variable in Bislama that problematises the alleged simplicity of creole languages, and proposes a general principle of transformation of constraints in situations of language contact. The paper suggests that, although the combination of sociolinguistics and language documentation may always be uneasy, they can make surprisingly congenial bedfellows. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-07T08:19:39Z |
| format | Journal article |
| id | oxford-uuid:15cb0355-fdf1-438f-a7be-3f042b61bcd8 |
| institution | University of Oxford |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-07T08:19:39Z |
| publishDate | 2019 |
| publisher | Taylor & Francis |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | oxford-uuid:15cb0355-fdf1-438f-a7be-3f042b61bcd82024-01-29T12:22:15ZUnnatural bedfellows? the sociolinguistic analysis of variation and language documentationJournal articlehttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_dcae04bcuuid:15cb0355-fdf1-438f-a7be-3f042b61bcd8EnglishSymplectic ElementsTaylor & Francis2019Meyerhoff, MSociolinguistics and language documentation are both sub-fields of linguistics dealing with variation in natural language, but how they approach variation differs. This paper suggests that sociolinguistic studies of probabilistic variation can contribute not only to more thorough documentation of the structure of a lesser-known language, but also contribute to the advancement of linguistic theory and language change over time. Conversely, central concepts in sociolinguistics may need to be reconsidered when researchers begin to look beyond urban, monolingual communities of speakers. Two case studies are presented: the first case study of Bislama pronouns and subject agreement shows that documenting the structure of a lesser-studied language can help elucidate what might have happened in the past. It also shows how an analysis of variation can address outstanding questions about the fundamental linguistic structure of an under-documented language and the ways that variation feeds into grammaticalisation. The second case study presents an analysis of another variable in Bislama that problematises the alleged simplicity of creole languages, and proposes a general principle of transformation of constraints in situations of language contact. The paper suggests that, although the combination of sociolinguistics and language documentation may always be uneasy, they can make surprisingly congenial bedfellows. |
| spellingShingle | Meyerhoff, M Unnatural bedfellows? the sociolinguistic analysis of variation and language documentation |
| title | Unnatural bedfellows? the sociolinguistic analysis of variation and language documentation |
| title_full | Unnatural bedfellows? the sociolinguistic analysis of variation and language documentation |
| title_fullStr | Unnatural bedfellows? the sociolinguistic analysis of variation and language documentation |
| title_full_unstemmed | Unnatural bedfellows? the sociolinguistic analysis of variation and language documentation |
| title_short | Unnatural bedfellows? the sociolinguistic analysis of variation and language documentation |
| title_sort | unnatural bedfellows the sociolinguistic analysis of variation and language documentation |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT meyerhoffm unnaturalbedfellowsthesociolinguisticanalysisofvariationandlanguagedocumentation |