Sociolinguistic typology: social determinants of linguistic complexity

This book considers how far social factors explain why human societies produce different kinds of language at different times and places and why some languages and dialects get simpler while others get more complex. It does so in the context of a wide range of languages and societies. Peter Trudgill looks at why human societies at different times and places produce different kinds of language. He considers how far social factors influence language structure and compares languages and dialects spoken across the globe, from Vietnam to Nigeria, Polynesia to Scandinavia, and from Canada to Amazonia.Modesty prevents Pennsylvanian Dutch Mennonites using the verb wotte ('want'); stratified society lies behind complicated Japanese honorifics; and a mountainous homeland suggests why speakers of Tibetan-Burmese Lahu have words for upthere and down there. But culture and environment don't explain why AmazonianJarawara needs three past tenses, nor why Nigerian Igbo can make do with eight adjectives, nor why most languages spoken in high altitudes do not exhibit an array of spatialdemonstratives. Nor do they account for some languages changing faster than others or why some get more complex while others get simpler. The author looksat these and many other puzzles, exploring the social, linguistic, and other factors that might explain them and in the context of a huge range of languagesand societies.Peter Trudgill writes readably, accessibly, and congenially. His book is jargon-free, informed by acute observation, and enlivened by argument: it will appeal to everyone with an interest in the interactions of language with culture,environment, and society. This bold new book, by one of the fields leading sociolinguists, outlines the need for a new intellectual project at the heart ofour discipline, emphasising the crucial role of the small face-to-face societies that have shaped most of human history in generating the outer reaches of linguistic complexity. This focussed and important work shows that degree of contact, the size of the community of speakers, and coherence within that community are all important factors in the degree to which languages become structurally simpler (losing agreement and gender for example) or more complex. This is a must-read for anyone interested in language change. INDICE: Prologue: Social Correlates of Linguistic Structures Sociolinguistic Typology and the Speed of Change Complexification, Simplification, and Two Types of Contact Isolation and Complexification Mechanisms of ComplexificationContact and Isolation in Phonology Mature Phenomena and Societies of Intimates Epilogue: On the Future of Linguistic Complexity Bibliography Index

• ISBN: 978-0-19-960435-7
• Editorial: Oxford University
• Encuadernacion: Rústica
• Páginas: 288
• Fecha Publicación: 20/10/2011
• Nº Volúmenes: 1
• Idioma: Inglés