Abstract: The New Ways of Analyzing Variation conference (NWAV) is recognized worldwide as a major forum devoted to the presentation of research in the variationist sociolinguistic framework. Its objectives over its nearly half-century of existence have been to foster the study of language in its social context by providing a venue in which the latest theoretical, methodological and technical developments in the quantitative analysis of natural speech are showcased. After decades of building on strong empirical foundations, the time has come for a re-engagement among sociolinguistics and linguistics more broadly. Opportunities for integration across related disciplines are valuable ways of making advances, both descriptive ... Read More Keywords: Language and languages; Endangered languages; Oceania; Vanuatu; Linguistic minorities; French language; Language policy; Sociolinguistics; Language obsolescence; Cajun French dialect; Arabic language; Scottish Gaelic language; Egyptian language; Ling PubDate: 2018-01-09T00:00:00-05:00
Abstract: The articles in this issue were developed from presentations in the Intersections workshop held concurrently with NWAV44. The goals of that workshop were to widen and deepen the study of linguistic variation by creating intersections with other approaches to linguistic analysis.Before I accepted the invitation to introduce our speakers, I asked myself the question, "why me'" Why am I particularly qualified to talk about the limitations of our field' After some thought, I realized it must be because I share those limitations as much as anyone here. I have never worked with the formal apparatus needed to study syntactic change. A majority of my work has been in phonology and sound change. I have never studied ... Read More Keywords: Language and languages; Endangered languages; Oceania; Vanuatu; Linguistic minorities; French language; Language policy; Sociolinguistics; Language obsolescence; Cajun French dialect; Arabic language; Scottish Gaelic language; Egyptian language; Ling PubDate: 2018-01-09T00:00:00-05:00
Abstract: A productive alliance has recently emerged across sub-fields of linguistics.1 Recognising that variation (in one manner of speaking or another) is both unavoidable in language documentation and central to the systematic study of sociolinguistics (known as variationist sociolinguistics), an increasing number of linguists are exploring the intersections between the two areas. Understanding the productive points of contact between the subdisciplines also requires us to consider some of the fundamental differences, in particular the differences in how they handle variation within a linguistic system.Let us consider the differences by adopting an even broader perspective on variation than linguists in either field have ... Read More Keywords: Language and languages; Endangered languages; Oceania; Vanuatu; Linguistic minorities; French language; Language policy; Sociolinguistics; Language obsolescence; Cajun French dialect; Arabic language; Scottish Gaelic language; Egyptian language; Ling PubDate: 2018-01-09T00:00:00-05:00
Abstract: The debate over whether a certain linguistic variety constitutes an autonomous language or a dialect of another variety is typically of little interest to linguists.1 No matter whether the variety is spoken by millions or by just a few individuals, what matters to us is that the system analyzed is coherent and that the forms it contains can be argued to be generated by the same mental grammar. Such a question may, however, have far-reaching consequences for endangered European languages that are typologically related to the national language, as only those languages that are "different from the official language(s) of that State" can be recognized and protected under the Charter for Regional and Minority Languages ... Read More Keywords: Language and languages; Endangered languages; Oceania; Vanuatu; Linguistic minorities; French language; Language policy; Sociolinguistics; Language obsolescence; Cajun French dialect; Arabic language; Scottish Gaelic language; Egyptian language; Ling PubDate: 2018-01-09T00:00:00-05:00
Abstract: As Weinreich noted in his seminal work on language contact, "a full account of interference in a language-contact situation, including the diffusion, persistence, and evanescence of a particular interference phenomenon, is possible only if the extra-linguistic factors are considered" (Weinreich 1974: 3). Necessarily, then, research on one of the results of language contact–language shift and obsolescence–must include sociolinguistic analysis. Since "[l]anguages can vary greatly in language endangerment situations, with potentially more kinds and greater frequency of variation than encountered in non-endangered languages" (Palosaari and Campbell 2011: 111), they are of particular interest to variationist ... Read More Keywords: Language and languages; Endangered languages; Oceania; Vanuatu; Linguistic minorities; French language; Language policy; Sociolinguistics; Language obsolescence; Cajun French dialect; Arabic language; Scottish Gaelic language; Egyptian language; Ling PubDate: 2018-01-09T00:00:00-05:00
Abstract: Since the 1970s, there has been a steady rise in sociolinguistic interest in Arabic. Sociolinguistic research has been conducted in many of the major urban centers where Arabic is spoken, including Amman (Al-Wer 2007b), Manama (Holes 1987), Damascus (Ismail 2008), Beirut (Germanos 2011), Cairo (Haeri 1997), and Casablanca (Hachimi 2007). More recently, scholars have turned their attention to more rural or isolated varieties of the language, or varieties which lack sufficient documentation and description (e.g., Alessa 2008, Al-Qahtani 2015, Al-Wer and Al-Qahtani 2016).This shift towards examining language change in Arabic-speaking communities where research has not previously been conducted is welcome, given that ... Read More Keywords: Language and languages; Endangered languages; Oceania; Vanuatu; Linguistic minorities; French language; Language policy; Sociolinguistics; Language obsolescence; Cajun French dialect; Arabic language; Scottish Gaelic language; Egyptian language; Ling PubDate: 2018-01-09T00:00:00-05:00
Abstract: In situations where languages are obsolescing, the grammar of the younger speakers can restructure in quite radical ways.1 Some of the most interesting data casting light on this process comes from Nancy Dorian's work on the Scottish-Gaelic-speaking communities of East Sutherland beginning in the 1960s. East Sutherland at that time was a sociolinguistically interesting situation in the Gaelic context because it was quite dramatically isolated from the more numerous Gaelic-speaking communities of the Western Isles and the Western Highlands of Scotland, and because the speakers that Dorian worked with were not literate in Gaelic, so there was little normative pressure on the language as it changed.This article argues ... Read More Keywords: Language and languages; Endangered languages; Oceania; Vanuatu; Linguistic minorities; French language; Language policy; Sociolinguistics; Language obsolescence; Cajun French dialect; Arabic language; Scottish Gaelic language; Egyptian language; Ling PubDate: 2018-01-09T00:00:00-05:00
Abstract: While language change necessitates language variation, the reverse is not necessarily true–variation can remain relatively stable over time. Such stable variation is one of the most elusive phenomena in sociolinguistics, with very little variation not eventually leading to language change. Why a given variable remains stable in a given language over time, or conversely, why a given change happens in a given language at a given time are not well understood–indeed, the latter is none other than the famous actuation problem (Weinreich et al. 1968). It is this question that I investigate. To do so, I rely on syntactic theory to make predictions about four Ancient Egyptian possessive constructions, two of which remain ... Read More Keywords: Language and languages; Endangered languages; Oceania; Vanuatu; Linguistic minorities; French language; Language policy; Sociolinguistics; Language obsolescence; Cajun French dialect; Arabic language; Scottish Gaelic language; Egyptian language; Ling PubDate: 2018-01-09T00:00:00-05:00
Abstract: The alternation between the ergative and the antipassive in Inuktitut, shown in (1), has generated considerable discussion in the literature.1(1) Baffin Inuktitut (Spreng 2005: 2)a. anguti-up arnaq-ø kunik-taa ergativeman-erg woman-abs kiss-ind.subj3sg.obj3sg 'The man kissed the woman.'b. anguti-ø arna-mik kunik-si-vuq antipassiveman-abs woman-ins.sg kiss-ant-ind.subj3s'The man is kissing a woman.'Leaving their morphosyntactic differences aside for now (see section 3.2), some theoretical linguists claim that the patient2 is interpreted as definite in the ergative but indefinite in the antipassive (e.g., Sadock 1980 ... Read More Keywords: Language and languages; Endangered languages; Oceania; Vanuatu; Linguistic minorities; French language; Language policy; Sociolinguistics; Language obsolescence; Cajun French dialect; Arabic language; Scottish Gaelic language; Egyptian language; Ling PubDate: 2018-01-09T00:00:00-05:00
Abstract: The goal of this paper is to encourage reflection on the methodologies and research questions that fuel work in corpus linguistics and variationist sociolinguistics.1 That there is, as I will argue, considerable overlap between the two fields will be well-known to many (though maybe not all) readers. But then again, reminding practitioners in both fields of the common ground that they share, and of the cross-pollination potential that this common ground creates, is perhaps an exercise not entirely lacking in merit. Let us begin by reviewing definitions of what a corpus is. The community of corpus analysts that is of interest in the present paper defines corpus linguistics as a methodology that draws on collections ... Read More Keywords: Language and languages; Endangered languages; Oceania; Vanuatu; Linguistic minorities; French language; Language policy; Sociolinguistics; Language obsolescence; Cajun French dialect; Arabic language; Scottish Gaelic language; Egyptian language; Ling PubDate: 2018-01-09T00:00:00-05:00
Abstract: L'évaluation par les pairs est essentielle à la diffusion de la recherche. Ainsi, la RCL tient à reconnaître la contribution des membres de la communauté de recherche qui ont généreusement offert leur temps et partagé leur expertise au cours de la dernière année, et à les remercier.Scholars depend on the peer review process to help bring their research to the public eye. The CJL therefore wishes to recognize the contribution of our reviewers and thank those scholars who have generously given their time and expertise over the last year.Alexandra AikhenvaldArtemis AlexiadouDuk-Ho AnAnton AntonovNigel ArmstrongMarc AuthierGülsat AygenJulia Bacskai-AtkariMaher BahloulMichael BarrieSabine BartschSusana BéjarDouglas ... Read More Keywords: Language and languages; Endangered languages; Oceania; Vanuatu; Linguistic minorities; French language; Language policy; Sociolinguistics; Language obsolescence; Cajun French dialect; Arabic language; Scottish Gaelic language; Egyptian language; Ling PubDate: 2018-01-09T00:00:00-05:00
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