Language Regard
Methods, Variation and Change

The first book of its kind to provide historical and state-of-the-art perspectives on language regard.

Betsy E. Evans (Edited by), Erica J. Benson (Edited by), James N. Stanford (Edited by)

9781316614976, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 17 September 2020

330 pages, 37 b/w illus. 45 maps 4 tables
15 x 23 x 1.9 cm, 0.49 kg

'This volume contains data-rich, methodologically and theoretically innovative contributions to the field of language regard. It is truly a tribute to the far-reaching impact of Dennis Preston's work, to the ways that current research is pushing and challenging the theoretical frameworks in which it is embedded, and to the potential for continuing directions and future work in the field.' Anna Babel, Ohio State University

Bringing together a team of renowned international scholars, this volume provides a wide-ranging collection of historical and state-of-the-art perspectives on language regard, particularly in the context of language variation and language change, and importantly, highlights the range of new methodologies being used by linguists to explore and evaluate it. The importance of language regard to the inquiry of language variation and change in the field of sociolinguistics is increasingly being recognized, yet misunderstandings about its nature and importance continue to exist. This volume provides scholars and students of sociolinguistics, with the tools and theory to pursue such inquiry. Contributions and research come from Europe, North America, and Asia, and language varieties such as Spanish, Dutch, Danish, and American Sign Language are discussed.

1. Language regard: what, why, how, whither? Dennis R. Preston
Part I. Language Regard: Varied Methods: 2. A variationist approach to studies of language regard Patricia Cukor-Avila
3. The emic and the etic in perceptual dialectology Jennifer Cramer
4. Variation in language regard: sociolinguistic receptivity and acceptability of linguistic features Erica J. Benson and Megan L. Risdal
5. Social meanings of the north-south divide in the Netherlands and their linkage to standard Dutch and dialect varieties Leonie Cornips
6. Language subordination on a national scale: examining the linguistic discrimination of Hungarians by Hungarians Miklós Kontra
7. Regional identity and listener perception Valerie Fridland and Tyler Kendall
Part II. Language Regard and Language Variation: 8. Language regard and migration: Cuban immigrants in the United States Gabriela Alfaraz
9. Perceptions of Black American Sign Language Robert Bayley, Joseph C. Hill, Carolyn McCaskil and Ceil Lucas
10. Ethnolinguistic assertions regarding people who allegedly 'talk White', or 'talk Black' John Baugh
11. Language regard in liminal Hmong American speech communities James Stanford, Rika Ito and Faith Nibbs
12. Language regard and sociolinguistic competence of non-native speakers Alexei Prikhodkine
Part III. Language Regard and Language Change: 13. Cracking the code: wedgies and lexical respectability Jack Chambers
14. Language regard and cultural practice: variation, evaluation, and change in the German regional languages Christoph Purschke
15. Tabula rasa new-dialect formation: on the occasional irrelevance of language regard Peter Trudgill
16. Sharedness and variability in language regard among young Danes: focus on gender Tore Kristiansen.

Subject Areas: Historical & comparative linguistics [CFF], Sociolinguistics [CFB], Linguistics [CF], Language [C]