The Social Stratification of English in New York CityOne of the first accounts of social variation in language, this groundbreaking study founded the discipline of sociolinguistics, providing the model on which thousands of studies have been based. In this second edition, Labov looks back on forty years of sociolinguistic research, bringing the reader up to date on its methods, findings and achievements. In over thirty pages of new material, he explores the unforeseen implications of his earlier work, addresses the political issues involved, and evaluates the success of newer approaches to sociolinguistic investigation. In doing so, he reveals the outstanding accomplishments of sociolinguistics since his original study, which laid the foundations for studying language variation, introduced the crucial concept of the linguistic variable, and showed how variation across age groups is an indicator of language change. Bringing Labov's pioneering study into the 21st century, this classic volume will remain the benchmark in the field for years to come. |
Contents
Section 1 | 3 |
Section 2 | 18 |
Section 3 | 40 |
Section 4 | 58 |
Section 5 | 87 |
Section 6 | 96 |
Section 7 | 129 |
Section 8 | 171 |
Section 15 | 300 |
Section 16 | 324 |
Section 17 | 345 |
Section 18 | 371 |
Section 19 | 380 |
Section 20 | 404 |
Section 21 | 409 |
Section 22 | 423 |
Section 9 | 199 |
Section 10 | 241 |
Section 11 | 265 |
Section 12 | 270 |
Section 13 | 274 |
Section 14 | 278 |
Section 23 | 430 |
Section 24 | 437 |
Section 25 | 448 |
Section 26 | 450 |
462 | |
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Common terms and phrases
analysis appears behavior casual speech Chapter characteristics close compared complete considered consistent context contrast dialect different differentiation discussion distribution effect English ethnic group evidence example fact Figure find first five formal four give given higher indicated interview Italians Jewish Jews language less linguistic lower class Lower East Side lower middle class Macy’s method moved native occur older out-of-town pattern percentage phonemes phonological population position possible present prestige pronunciation question raised ranking reactions reading records regular relations reported represent respondents sample scale seen Sentence shift shown social sound speakers stratification structure Style stylistic subjects survey Table television tion units upper middle class values variables variation vowel women York City Yorkers younger