Language and Social RelationsLanguage is closely linked to our social relationships and is the medium through which we participate in a variety of social activities. This fascinating study explores the important role of language in various aspects of our social life, such as identity, gender relations, class, kinship, status, and hierarchies. Drawing on data from over thirty different languages and societies, it shows how language is more than simply a form of social action; it is also an effective tool with which we formulate models of social life and conduct. These models - or particular forms of social behaviour - are linked to the classification of 'types' of action or actor, and are passed 'reflexively' from person to person, and from generation to generation. Providing a unified way of accounting for a variety of social phenomena, this book will be welcomed by all those interested in the interaction between language, culture, and society. |
Contents
| 1 | |
Reflexivity | 14 |
From referring to registers | 84 |
Register formations | 145 |
The social life of cultural value | 190 |
Regrouping identity | 233 |
Registers of person deixis | 278 |
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Common terms and phrases
accent Chapter co-occurring signs co-textual common construal construed contrasts criteria cultural deference deictic deictic expressions deixis denotational describe diacritics differentiation discourse discussed distinct effects emblems encounters English enregistered enregisterment Estuary English evaluation example explicit expressions fact focus forms formulate genres gloss grammatical honorific identity ideological indexical individuals interac interactional interlocutors interpersonal involve issue Javanese kinds kinesic kinship behavior kinterm krama language users lexemes lexical linguistic Linguistic Anthropology linked mediated metadiscourses metalinguistic metapragmatic metasemantic metasemiotic models names ngoko non-congruent non-linguistic norms noun occur origo participants particular patterns personhood persons phonemic polite pragmatic priyayi processes pronominal pronouns reanalysis Received Pronunciation referential reflexive register formations relationships repertoires role alignment role designators semantic semiosis semiotic activity social domain social relations society sociolect speak speaker specific speech levels standards status stereotypes Table text configurations text-defaults text-level tropes typify usage utterance values variety verb