Sociolinguistic Variation in Seventeenth-Century France: Methodology and Case Studies

ISBN-13: 9780521820882 / Angielski / Twarda / 2004 / 280 str.

Wendy Ayres-Bennett (University of Cambridge)

Opis

This book provides the first systematic study of sociolinguistic variation in 17th-century France. Drawing on a range of case studies, Wendy Ayres-Bennett makes available new data about linguistic variation in this period, showing the wealth and variety of language usage at a time that is considered to be the most 'standardizing' in the history of French. Variation is analysed in terms of the speaker's 'pre-verbal constitution' - such as gender, age and socio-economic status - or by the medium, register or genre used. As well as examining linguistic variation itself, the book also considers the fundamental methodological issues that are central to all socio-historical linguistic accounts, and addresses the question of what the appropriate sources are for linguists taking a socio-historical approach. In each chapter, the case studies present a range of phonological, morphological, syntactic and lexical issues, which pose different methodological questions for sociolinguists and historical linguists alike.

Recenzje

Review of the hardback: '… a truly unique, rich and precise encyclopaedic work …' Estudios de Sociolinguistica

Spis treści

1. Introduction: methodological issues; 2. Spoken and written French; 3. Social and stylistic variation; 4. Women's language; 5. Age, variation and change; 6. Conclusion.