The Handbook of Language Variation and Change

Chambers, J. K. / Schilling, Natalie (Editor)

Blackwell Handbooks in Linguistics

2. Edition August 2013
616 Pages, Hardcover
Handbook/Reference Book

ISBN: 978-0-470-65994-6

John Wiley & Sons

Short Description

Reflecting numerous developments over the last ten years in the study of language change and variation, the second edition of this acclaimed Handbook ensures it will remain the authoritative reference for researchers in this vital field of linguistics. Seven new chapters have been added, while the remainder have undergone thorough revision and updating, and the material has been arranged thematically for convenience. With contributions from a wealth of distinguished researchers, this volume provides a reliable and up-to-date overview of the central topics and methods in language variation and change.

Further versions

Reflecting a multitude of developments in the study of language change and variation over the last ten years, this extensively updated second edition features a number of new chapters and remains the authoritative reference volume on a core research area in linguistics.
* A fully revised and expanded edition of this acclaimed reference work, which has established its reputation based on its unrivalled scope and depth of analysis in this interdisciplinary field
* Includes seven new chapters, while the remainder have undergone thorough revision and updating to incorporate the latest research and reflect numerous developments in the field
* Accessibly structured by theme, covering topics including data collection and evaluation, linguistic structure, language and time, language contact, language domains, and social differentiation
* Brings together an experienced, international editorial and contributor team to provides an unrivalled learning, teaching and reference tool for researchers and students in sociolinguistics

List of Illustrations ix

List of Contributors xiii

Preface to the Second Edition xv

Studying Language Variation: An Informal Epistemology 1
J.K. Chambers

Part I Data Collection 17

1 Entering the Community: Fieldwork 19
Crawford Feagin

2 Data in the Study of Variation and Change 38
Tyler Kendall

3 Investigating Historical Variation and Change in Written Documents: New Perspectives 57
Edgar W. Schneider

Part II Evaluation 83

4 The Quantitative Paradigm 85
Robert Bayley

5 Sociophonetics 108
Erik R. Thomas

6 Comparative Sociolinguistics 128
Sali A. Tagliamonte

7 Language with an Attitude 157
Dennis R. Preston

Part III Linguistic Structure 183

8 Variation and Syntactic Theory 185
Ralph W. Fasold

9 Investigating Chain Shifts and Mergers 203
Matthew J. Gordon

10 Discourse Variation 220
Ronald Macaulay

Part IV Language and Time 237

11 Real Time and Apparent Time 239
Patricia Cukor-Avila and Guy Bailey

12 Child Language Variation 263
Julie Roberts

13 Adolescence 277
Sam Kirkham and Emma Moore

14 Patterns of Variation including Change 297
J.K. Chambers

Part V Social Differentiation 325

15 Investigating Stylistic Variation 327
Natalie Schilling

16 Social Class 350
Sharon Ash

17 Gender, Sex, Sexuality, and Sexual Identities 368
Robin Queen

18 Ethnicity 388
Carmen Fought

Part VI Domains 407

19 Social Networks 409
Lesley Milroy and Carmen Llamas

20 Communities of Practice 428
Miriam Meyerhoff and Anna Strycharz

21 Constructing Identity 448
Scott F. Kiesling

Part VII Contact 469

22 Space, Diffusion and Mobility 471
David Britain

23 Linguistic Outcomes of Bilingualism 501
Gillian Sankoff

24 Koineization 519
Paul Kerswill

25 Supraregionalisation and Dissociation 537
Raymond Hickey

Part VIII Sociolinguists and Their Communities 555

26 Community Commitment and Responsibility 557
Walt Wolfram

Postscript 577
Natalie Schilling and Jack Chambers

Index 579

J. K. Chambers is Professor of Linguistics at the University of Toronto. He is the author of Sociolinguistic Theory: Linguistic Variation and its Social Significance, Revised Edition (Wiley-Blackwell, 2009) and Dialectology, Second Edition (with P. Trudgill, 1998), as well as numerous other books and scores of articles. He works extensively as a forensic consultant and maintains a parallel vocation in jazz criticism, having published a prize-winning biography of Miles Davis, Milestones: The Music and Times of Miles Davis (1998) and a volume on the bebop pianist Richard Twardzik (2008).

Natalie Schilling is Associate Professor of Linguistics at Georgetown University. She is the author of American English: Dialects and Variation, Second Edition (with W. Wolfram, Wiley-Blackwell, 2006), Sustaining Linguistic Diversity: Endangered and Minority Languages and Language Varieties (with K. King, L. Fogle, J. J. Lou, and B. Soukup, 2008), and Sociolinguistic Fieldwork (2013). An expert in language variation and change in American English, she conducts workshops on sociolinguistics and education, as well as forensic linguistics, and is a noted consultant in both these fields.

J. K. Chambers, University of Toronto, Canada; N. Schilling, Georgetown University, USA