What might we learn if sociolinguists’ objects of study were cities rather than speech communities within cities? Drawing on urban sociology, I suggest that we think of a city as a site of encounter among different sociolinguistic worlds. This would force us to confront heterogeneity, to ask how… read more | Chapter
In 1962, American novelist John Steinbeck published a memoir about traveling in a camper truck across the United States, accompanied by his dog Charley. Noticing the increasing availability of radio and television, Steinbeck mourned the loss of the regional speech differences he remembered from his… read more | Chapter
Labov and Waletzky’s (1997[1967]) path-breaking description of “narrative syntax” arose in the context of variationist sociolinguistic research, and narrative continues to be an important source of data for variationist’ work. In most of this work, however, narrative is not the object of study.… read more | Article
Labov and Waletzky’s (1997[1967]) path-breaking description of “narrative syntax” arose in the context of variationist sociolinguistic research, and narrative continues to be an important source of data for variationist’ work. In most of this work, however, narrative is not the object of study.… read more | Article