Modelling stylistic variation in threatened and under-documented languages
Kasstan, J. 2020. Modelling stylistic variation in threatened and under-documented languages. Language Ecology. 4 (1), pp. 73-94. https://doi.org/10.1075/le.00010.kas
| Title | Modelling stylistic variation in threatened and under-documented languages |
|---|---|
| Authors | Kasstan, J. |
| Abstract | The centrality of style is uncontested in sociolinguistics: it is an essential construct in the study of linguistic variation and change in the speech community. This is not the case in the language-obsolescence literature, where stylistic variation among endangered-language speakers is described as an ephemeral, or “marginal” resource, and where speakers exhibiting “stylistic shrinkage” become “monostylistic”. This argument is invoked in variationist theory too, where “monostylism” is presented as support for the tenets of Audience Design (Bell 1984). This article reports on a study that adopts variationist methods in a context of severe language endangerment. Evidence from two linguistic variables in Francoprovençal demonstrates the presence of socially meaningful stylistic variation among the last generation of fluent speakers, offering counter-evidence to classic claims. This evidence is used to argue that accounts of stylistic variation in language obsolescence are not sufficiently nuanced and should be reconsidered in light of recent research. |
| Keywords | Francoprovençal; language death; language documentation; language obsolescence; style shifting; variation and change |
| Journal | Language Ecology |
| Journal citation | 4 (1), pp. 73-94 |
| ISSN | 2452-1949 |
| 2452-2147 | |
| Year | 2020 |
| Publisher | John Benjamins Publishing Company |
| Accepted author manuscript | File Access Level Open (open metadata and files) |
| Digital Object Identifier (DOI) | https://doi.org/10.1075/le.00010.kas |
| Web address (URL) | https://benjamins.com/catalog/le.00010.kas |
| Publication dates | |
| Published online | 27 Jul 2021 |
| Published in print | 31 Dec 2020 |
| Supplemental file | |
| Funder | Leverhulme Trust |
