Labov in Sociolinguistics: an introduction

Britain, David; Bell, Allan; Sharma, Devyani (2016). Labov in Sociolinguistics: an introduction. Journal of sociolinguistics, 20(4), pp. 399-408. Blackwell Publishing 10.1111/josl.12199

[img] Text
josl12199.pdf - Published Version
Restricted to registered users only
Available under License Publisher holds Copyright.

Download (71kB) | Request a copy

This theme issue marks fifty years since the publication of William Labov's Social Stratification of English in New York City, the foundation study of variationist sociolinguistics. This Introduction offers the editors' rationale for the shape of the issue. We briefly survey the innovations and impact of the New York study, together with the subsequent development of the field by Labov and others. We then touch on several strands of Labov's contribution to sociolinguistics: language change, linguistic evaluation, methodological innovation, African American English, language and the individual, and language style. We conclude with a reflection on Labov's commitment to the study of language in society.

Item Type:

Journal Article (Original Article)

Division/Institute:

06 Faculty of Humanities > Department of Linguistics and Literary Studies > Institute of English Languages and Literatures

UniBE Contributor:

Britain, David

Subjects:

800 Literature, rhetoric & criticism > 820 English & Old English literatures
400 Language > 420 English & Old English languages

ISSN:

1360-6441

Publisher:

Blackwell Publishing

Language:

English

Submitter:

Federico Erba

Date Deposited:

22 Dec 2016 08:35

Last Modified:

14 Mar 2024 12:31

Publisher DOI:

10.1111/josl.12199

BORIS DOI:

10.7892/boris.90701

URI:

https://boris.unibe.ch/id/eprint/90701

Actions (login required)

Edit item Edit item
Provide Feedback