Why have 1500 separate languages developed in the Pacific region? Why do Danes understand Norwegians better than Norwegians understand Danish? Is Ebonics a language or a dialect? Linguistics tends to ignore the relationship between languages and the societies in which they are spoken, while sociology generally overlooks the role of language in the constitution of society. In this book Suzanne Romaine provides a clear, lively, and accessible introduction to the field of sociolinguistics and emphasizes the constant interaction between society and language. She shows how our linguistic choices are motivated by social factors, and how certain ways of speaking come to be vested with symbolic value, drawing from evidence from studies of cultures and languages all over the world. This new edition incorporates new material on current issues in the study of gender as well as other topics such as the linguistic dimension to the ethnic conflict in the Balkans, and the controversy over Ebonics in the United States.
Language in Society:An Introduction to Sociolinguistics
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"Refreshingly up-to-date, with a broad range of pertinent examples. It deserves to become the standard introduction to that most basic of sciences, sociolinguistics. Top marks!"--John R. Perry, University of Chicago
"An engaging introductory book, easy to read and accessible enough for undergraduate students while being current and detailed enough for a graduate level introductory courses....A good substitute for Trudgill's....My students were also pleased with the affordability of the text."--Joaquin S. Vila, Mankato State University
"Provides an excellent foundation for students in introductory courses. Excellent resource to supplement multicultural courses in speech-language pathology and audiology."--Adele Proctor, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
"An up-to-date, somtimes issue oriented, and very readable introductory text. Good examples used."--Brian Stross, University of Texas
"Would recommend this book strongly as a general introduction to the study of --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
About the Author
Professor Suzanne Romaine is Merton Professor of English Language at the University of Oxford and author of a number of books.
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I NOTED in my Preface how prevailing trends in linguistics have marginalized the study of the social role of language. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
I NOTED in my Preface how prevailing trends in linguistics have marginalized the study of the social role of language. Read the first page
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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful
By A Customer
Format:Paperback
I find Suzanne Romaine's writing very engaging, and enjoy her pull-no-punches, tell-it-like-it-is approach to her subject. I have used her book as a supplement to my general introductory linguistics text, because that text tends to skirt around such issues in sociolinguistics which Romaine specifically adresses, i.e. the political dimension. Women, minorities, and other people 'dispossessed' by the language which surrounds them every day inform this book's pages and are given full exposure.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
4.3 out of 5 stars
7 reviews
8 of 8 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars
A good introduction
26 Jan 2001
By H. Chen-Cheng
- Published on Amazon.com
Format:Paperback
This is a concise book on sociolinguistics. It does not dwell excessively on methodology or theoretical perspectives but offers through many examples, some presented via tables and figures, a taste of the kinds of issues sociolinguists struggle with, as well as some of their major findings. As a specialist in the Papua New Ginean languages, Romaine naturally makes good use of non-Western examples like Tok Pisin to illustrate such problems as language/dialect, language contact, language hierarchy, though she also draws examples from the Scandanavian languages as well as research on the social dialects of English. The book is highly readable even to a non-linguist like me. It probably does not cover all the conceivable major topics, but what it covers it covers well. The annotated bibliography at the end of each chapter is a useful guide to further reading.
My only complaint regards her non-critical citation of the much-repeated "fact" (to illustrate the language/dialect problem) that speakers of mutually unintelligible Chinese languages share a common writing system. This of course is true only for the classical literary (written) language, not the vernacular varieties.
5 of 6 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars
A good Introduction
24 Jun 2005
By T. Hooper
- Published on Amazon.com
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
Suzanne Romaine takes the reader on a whirlwind tour of the field of sociolinguistics. The role of society in language use is examined from many different angles. Since this is an introductory book, it doesn't go into each subfield very deeply, but it does give you a broad overview of what we study in this field. I thought that the author paid particular attention to the issues of pidgins and creoles, and gender issues in language use. This would be useful for beginners in sociolinguistics and for those interested in the two specializations mentioned above.
3 of 4 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars
A good introduction to socio-linguistics.
20 Mar 2005
By Kazuma
- Published on Amazon.com
Format:Paperback
What is sociolinguistics? What does it aim to do? and in What respects does it diverge from other theoretical linguistic approaches?-if you have questions like these, there is every reason why you should buy and read this book. This inspiring introduction to a relatively new field of linguistics explains clearly and in a plain style why that field was born, what ends it can serve and what attitudes it takes toward lanaguge science; insomuch that those who has just started to take interest in the field of linguistics have no difficulty understanding it; but, on the contrary, can enjoy reading it.
Whether you can agree with the author's ideas, whether you find her arguments satisfying, I know not; but one thing is certain: regardless of whether you are for or againts this book's assertions, reading this book can never be a waste of time.
Whether you can agree with the author's ideas, whether you find her arguments satisfying, I know not; but one thing is certain: regardless of whether you are for or againts this book's assertions, reading this book can never be a waste of time.
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4.3 out of 5 stars
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