Sociolinguistics Today International Perspectives [Paperback]

This collection of essays developed out of a conference held in Hong Kong in 1988. The aim was to provide a forum for an exchange of views between academics working within the field of sociolinguistics, in particular between those working in the West and those working in the East. Sociolinguistics Todayhas taken this aim a step further to produce an overview of contemporary research into sociolinguistics worldwide. The book contains articles by acknowledged leaders in the study of language and society, and the presence of sociolinguists working in Asia provides a new and exciting challenge to the hitherto western-dominated field. The comprehensive study of Asian sociolinguistics is unique and engages with the non-Asian contributions to great effect. The range of contributors reinforces the international emphasis of the book.

Part 1. Introduction  1. Sociolinguistics Today : Asia and the West Kingsley Bolton  Part2. Sociolinguistic Theory  2. Dialect Contact, Dialectology and Sociolinguistics Peter Trudgill  3. Meaning in Sociolinguistic Theory Ruqaiya Hasan  4. Sociolinguistic Aspects of Literacy R.B. Le Page  Part3. Language Variation, Culture and Society  5. Social Network and Prestige Arguments in Sociolinguistics James Milroy  6. New Perspectives in the Analysis of Sex Differentiation in Language Lesley Milroy  7. Diversity and Uniformity in Chinese Syntax: A Scalar Parametric Perspective Ping Chen  8. The Non-Beijing Dialect Component in Modern Standard Chinese Peter Davies  9. The Form and Meaning of Digraphia: The Case of Chinese Yat-Shing Cheung  10. Talk is cheap... but My word is my bond: Beliefs About Talk Howard Giles,ló#