Language and Society

This book is a clear and reliable introduction to the field of sociolinguistics.

William Downes (Author)

9780521456630, Cambridge University Press

Paperback, published 24 September 1998

516 pages, 6 b/w illus. 9 maps 15 tables
20.3 x 12.7 x 2.9 cm, 0.56 kg

'… a useful and original introduction, one which accomplishes the difficult task of being suitable for both the student of language and the general reader.' Jenny Cheshire

This thoroughly revised and updated edition of Downes' textbook is an accessible introduction to the social aspects of language and their various explanations. Topics covered include domains of language use, language change, code-switching, speech as social action, and the nature of meaning and understanding. This second edition includes an analysis of language standardisation, language conflict and planning.

Acknowledgements
1. Linguistics and sociolinguistics
2. A tapestry in space and time
3. Language varieties: processes and problems
4. Discovering the structure in variation
5. Rhoticity
6. At the intersection of social factors
7. Change, meaning and acts of identity
8. The discourse of social life
9. Communication: words and world
10. Action and critique
11. Language and social explanation
Further reading
References
Index.

Subject Areas: Sociolinguistics [CFB]