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This book offers an introduction to the many facets of multilingualism in a changing world. It begins with an overview of the multiplicity of human languages and their geographic distribution, before moving on to the key question of what multilingualism actually is and what is understood by terms such as 'mother tongue', 'native speaker', and 'speech community'. In the chapters that follow, Florian Coulmas systematically explores multilingualism with respect to theindividual, institutions, cities, nations, and cyberspace. In each of these domains, the dynamics of language choice are undergoing changes as a result of economic, political, and cultural forces. Against this background, two chapters discuss the effects of linguistic diversity on the integration andseparation of language and society, before a final chapter describes and assesses research methods for investigating multilingualism. Each chapter concludes with problems and questions for discussion, which place the topic in a real-world context. The book explores where, when, and why multilingualism came to be regarded as a problem, and why it presents a serious challenge for linguistic theory today. It provides the basic tools to analyse different kinds of multilingualism at both the individual and society level, and will be of interest to students of linguistics, sociology, education, and communication studies.
This book offers an introduction to the many facets of multilingualism in a changing world. It begins with an overview of the multiplicity of human languages and their geographic distribution, before moving on to the key question of what multilingualism actually is and what is understood by terms such as 'mother tongue', 'native speaker', and 'speech community'. In the chapters that follow, Florian Coulmas systematically explores multilingualism with respect to theindividual, institutions, cities, nations, and cyberspace. In each of these domains, the dynamics of language choice are undergoing changes as a result of economic, political, and cultural forces. Against this background, two chapters discuss the effects of linguistic diversity on the integration andseparation of language and society, before a final chapter describes and assesses research methods for investigating multilingualism. Each chapter concludes with problems and questions for discussion, which place the topic in a real-world context. The book explores where, when, and why multilingualism came to be regarded as a problem, and why it presents a serious challenge for linguistic theory today. It provides the basic tools to analyse different kinds of multilingualism at both the individual and society level, and will be of interest to students of linguistics, sociology, education, and communication studies.
Nach zwanzig Jahren in Japan kehrt der Kulturwissenschaftler Florian Coulmas nach Deutschland zuruck - und ist entsetzt. In Deutschland hat sich eine ausgesprochen ruppige Form des Zusammenlebens breit gemacht. Uberall trifft er auf muffige Kaltschnauzigkeit, dreisten Grobianismus und aggressive Rechthaberei. Die Deutschen schreien. Oder sie nrgeln. Oder sie belehren. Und niemand wei mehr sicher, was sich "e;schickt"e;. Mit Charme und Schwung prsentiert der Autor seine oft umwerfend komischen Beobachtungen: Blitzlichter auf Alltagsszenen im Kindergarten, in der Schule, im Supermarkt, auf der Strae zwischen Fahrradrpeln und Autoegomanen oder auf deutschen mtern. Immer wieder ergibt sich der "e;Papalagi-Effekt"e;: Der Blick von auen zeigt uns das Gewohnte im Zerrspiegel. Wir lachen - und werden nachdenklich.
This book provides an accessible account of the origins and conceptual foundations of language policy. Florian Coulmas discusses the influence of twenty intellectuals from medieval to modern times, and from a variety of cultures, who have taken issue with language, its use, development, and political potential. These 'guardians of language' range from renowned figures such as Dante, Noah Webster, and Gandhi, to less well-known individuals such as the Spanishgrammarian Antonio de Nebrija and Senegalese politician and poet Lopold Sdar Senghor. Each chapter begins by providing background information on the scholar whose work is being reviewed and ends with a summary of his key thoughts on language in the form of an imaginary interview.
Why do we speak the way we do? What are the social factors that influence our choices of expression? This best-selling introduction to the study of language and society encourages students to think about these fundamental questions, asking how and why we select from the vast range of different words, accents, varieties and languages available to us. In this new and updated edition, students are taken step-by-step through the analysis of linguistic expressions, speech varieties and languages in complex settings. Enriched with recent findings from different languages and speech communities around the world, this comprehensive textbook equips students with knowledge of the main concepts and gives them a coherent view of the complex interaction of language and society. * 'Questions for Discussion' help students understand how speakers' choices are conditioned by the society in which they live * New to this edition is a rich repertoire of online resources and further reading, enabling students to investigate more deeply and advance their learning * Includes a topical new chapter on research ethics, guiding students on the ethical questions involved in sociolinguistic research.
Why do we speak the way we do? What are the social factors that influence our choices of expression? This best-selling introduction to the study of language and society encourages students to think about these fundamental questions, asking how and why we select from the vast range of different words, accents, varieties and languages available to us. In this new and updated edition, students are taken step-by-step through the analysis of linguistic expressions, speech varieties and languages in complex settings. Enriched with recent findings from different languages and speech communities around the world, this comprehensive textbook equips students with knowledge of the main concepts and gives them a coherent view of the complex interaction of language and society. * 'Questions for Discussion' help students understand how speakers' choices are conditioned by the society in which they live * New to this edition is a rich repertoire of online resources and further reading, enabling students to investigate more deeply and advance their learning * Includes a topical new chapter on research ethics, guiding students on the ethical questions involved in sociolinguistic research.
How does writing relate to speech? What impact does it have on social organisation and development? How do unwritten languages differ from those that have a written form and tradition? This book is a general account of the place of writing in society. Drawing on contemporary and historical examples, from clay tablets to touchscreen displays, the book explores the functions of writing and written language, analysing its consequences for language, society, economy and politics. It examines the social causes of illiteracy, demonstrating that institutions of central importance to modern society are built upon writing and written texts, and are characterised by specific forms of communication. It explores the social dimensions of spelling and writing reform, as well as of digital literacy, a new mode of expression and communication posing novel challenges to the student of language in society.
How does writing relate to speech? What impact does it have on social organisation and development? How do unwritten languages differ from those that have a written form and tradition? This book is a general account of the place of writing in society. Drawing on contemporary and historical examples, from clay tablets to touchscreen displays, the book explores the functions of writing and written language, analysing its consequences for language, society, economy and politics. It examines the social causes of illiteracy, demonstrating that institutions of central importance to modern society are built upon writing and written texts, and are characterised by specific forms of communication. It explores the social dimensions of spelling and writing reform, as well as of digital literacy, a new mode of expression and communication posing novel challenges to the student of language in society.
Language Adaptation examines the process by which a speech community is forced to adopt an active role in making its language suitable for changing functional requirements. This wide-ranging collection of essays looks at this phenomenon from a variety of historical and synchronic perspectives, and brings together the work of a number of leading scholars in the field. Several different languages are examined at different stages of their history, including Hebrew, Arabic, Chinese, Japanese, Kiswahili, German and Hindi. This well-informed book is a significant contribution to the existing literature on language planning, and is the first to use one theoretical concept to deal with the relationship between natural and deliberate language change. It shows that language adaptation is a particular aspect of language change, and thus establishes a link between the social and the historical study of language. It will appeal to graduate students and professionals in linguistics and the social sciences, as well as to practitioners of language planning.
Globalization has many faces. One of them is the transformation of language regimes. This book provides an in-depth account of how two second-tier languages, Japanese and German, are affected by this process. In the international arena, they no longer compete with English, but their status in their home countries and as foreign languages in third countries is in flux. Original empirical and theoretical contributions are presented in this up-to-date study of language regime change. The desirability of a single all-purpose language for all communication needs is seldom questioned. It is simply taken for granted in many advanced countries, such as Japan and the German-speaking countries. However, it is not clear whether German and Japanese can sustain their full functional potential if their own speakers use these languages in certain domains with decreasing frequency. The advantages of borderless communication in a single language, on one hand, and maintaining highly cultivated all-purpose languages, on the other, are obvious. The question of whether and how these two principles can be reconciled in the age of globalization is not. In this book, leading scholars present their answers: Ulrich Ammon, Tessa Carroll, Nanette Gottlieb, Patrick Heinrich, Takao Katsuragi, John Maher, Kiyoshi Hara, Elmar Holenstein, Konrad Ehlich, Fumio Inoue, and Florian Coulmas.
This is an encyclopedia of writing systems, scripts and orthographies of all the worlda s major languages, past and present. It provides both a fully illustrated description of over 400 writing systems and an account of the study of writing in many different disciplines, from anthropology to psychology.
In 28 newly-commissioned chapters, distinguished contributors provide an up-to-date overview of sociolinguistics. This invaluable work of reference, now available in paperback, identifies the most important issues of sociolinguistics, makes primary sources more accessible, and provides orientation for future research. Reflecting the main division within the discipline, the two key sections deal with the social dimensions of language and the linguistic dimensions of society. In addition, there is an introductory section taking issue with the theoretical and methodological foundations of sociolinguistic knowledge which have proved to be especially fruitful in recent years: education, bilingual education, the legal profession and language planning. The Handbook is equipped with a comprehensive bibliography which can be used as a research tool in its own right.
CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE SOCIOLOGY OF LANGUAGE brings to students, researchers and practitioners in all of the social and language-related sciences carefully selected book-length publications dealing with sociolinguistic theory, methods, findings and applications. It approaches the study of language in society in its broadest sense, as a truly international and interdisciplinary field in which various approaches, theoretical and empirical, supplement and complement each other. The series invites the attention of linguists, language teachers of all interests, sociologists, political scientists, anthropologists, historians etc. to the development of the sociology of language.
This book is an account of the writing systems of the world from earliest times to the present. Its aim is to explore the complex ways in which writing systems relate to the language they depict. Writing, Coulmas contends, is not only the guide or garment of spoken language, but has a deep and lasting effect on the development of language itself. His study takes in Egyptian hieroglyphics and the cuneiform system of the ancient Near East; he describes Chinese writing, discussing why an apparently cumbersome system has been used continuously for more than 3,000 years; he ranges across the writing systems of western Asia and the Middle East, the Indian families and the various alphabetic traditions which had its origins in the multifarious world of Semitic writing and came to full bloom in pre--Classical Greece.
TRENDS IN LINGUISTICS is a series of books that open new perspectives in our understanding of language. The series publishes state-of-the-art work on core areas of linguistics across theoretical frameworks, as well as studies that provide new insights by approaching language from an interdisciplinary perspective. TRENDS IN LINGUISTICS considers itself a forum for cutting-edge research based on solid empirical data on language in its various manifestations, including sign languages. It regards linguistic variation in its synchronic and diachronic dimensions as well as in its social contexts as important sources of insight for a better understanding of the design of linguistic systems and the ecology and evolution of language. TRENDS IN LINGUISTICS publishes monographs and outstanding dissertations as well as edited volumes, which provide the opportunity to address controversial topics from different empirical and theoretical viewpoints. High quality standards are ensured through anonymous reviewing.
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