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9441 results in Sociolinguistics

Page 1 of 473

Language on Display
  • Ideology, Observation, Spectacle
  • Lionel Wee
  • Coming soon
  • Expected online publication date:
    December 2026
    Print publication:
    31 December 2026
  • What exactly are viewers or audiences expected to appreciate when language is put on display? What kinds of ideologies about language underpin such displays? Does language operate differently when it becomes the intended object of display as opposed to when it is being used for regular communication? Language is often 'invisible' because we use it without thinking too much about it. The study of language on display makes the invisible visible. Drawing on examples of the display of language in multiple contexts: museums, exhibitions, contests, celebrations, this book analyses cases where language is deliberately offered up as an object for contemplation, entertainment, and even decoration; language as spectacle in and of itself. It provides an innovative theorisation that shows how the subjectification process involved – where people are treated more as viewers than users – entrenches an objectivist understanding of language. This title is also available as open access on Cambridge Core.

Understanding (Im)politeness in Ancient Egyptian
  • Kim Ridealgh
  • Coming soon
  • Expected online publication date:
    December 2026
    Print publication:
    31 December 2026
  • The Late Ramesside Letters comprise over seventy surviving texts from the end of Egypt's New Kingdom, created by a community living around the Medinet Habu temple complex in western Thebes. These letters reveal how individuals negotiated varied social relationships and communicative norms, including interactions with the divine. By applying frameworks from (Im)politeness Research – such as Discernment Politeness, Facework, Politic Behaviour, Frame Theory, and Ritual – it is possible to reconstruct the underlying (im)politeness system that shaped all communication within this community. This approach highlights how specific linguistic patterns supported social harmony, managed tensions, and facilitated obligations to both people and gods. The analysis also identifies emerging phenomena that require new theoretical directions, such as the unique strategies used to maintain relationships with deities. Ultimately, the letters demonstrate that Power permeated every level of interaction, and its centrality within this linguaculture challenges modern assumptions about how Power operates in contemporary societies.

Perceptual Dialectology
  • From Isoglosses to Ideology
  • Betsy E. Evans
  • Coming soon
  • Expected online publication date:
    November 2026
    Print publication:
    30 November 2026
  • Perceptual Dialectology (PD) is the study of non-linguists' beliefs about language variation and its spatial distribution. This book provides a concise introduction to PD, covering the foundational assumptions and scholarly theories that inform it, such as sociolinguistics, human geography, and social psychology. It addresses the key strategies and best practices for the design, collection, analysis, and interpretation of PD research, such as the effects of bias, macro/micro social categories, use of interviews, and data analysis. It approaches the analysis of metalinguistic commentary through an exploration of the frameworks that assign meaning to language objects, and also includes a summary of the history and roots of PD, allowing readers to understand how PD intersects with both 'old' and 'new' ways of exploring sociolinguistic questions. Providing the tools to carry out their own research, it is ideal for researchers and students looking for a one-stop overview of this growing field.

The Cambridge Handbook of Language and Political Conflict
  • Edited by Stanley Dubinsky, Michael Gavin, Harvey Starr
  • Coming soon
  • Expected online publication date:
    November 2026
    Print publication:
    30 November 2026
  • Moving beyond familiar discussions of ethnic conflict, this Handbook presents a bold rethinking of how language shapes identity, power, and violence. With contributions from leading scholars in linguistics, political science, and public policy, it presents global case studies alongside new analytic tools for the study of language and global politics. It introduces “language conflict” as a clearer and more useful framework-one that brings linguistic structure, institutional policy, and communicative inequality into focus. Split into four sections, chapters cover topics such as hate speech, language rights, transitional justice, education policy, and postcolonial literature, spanning contexts from Cameroon to Catalonia, and from Guatemala to Sri Lanka. Together, these chapters show how language is not simply a cultural marker, but a political force that shapes collective identities, nationalism, and resistance. It is essential reading for anyone interested in language policy, multilingual governance, and the deep entanglement of language with political life.

Family Talk Online
  • Multimodality, Technology and Identity
  • Hanwool Choe
  • Coming soon
  • Expected online publication date:
    November 2026
    Print publication:
    30 November 2026
  • Not long ago, the dinner table was the heart of everyday family life, a place where everyone gathered after work or school to share their day over food. Today, instant messaging has become a new kind of virtual dinner table. Families move, live apart, and span generations, yet family talk continues-online. This fascinating book explores how contemporary families, including families-in-law, gather and connect in family chatrooms. Through the lens of Interactional Sociolinguistics 2.0, it shows how family members use not just language but also everyday photos and videos to build family talk, manage familial relationships, and shape family identity. Offering a detailed sociolinguistic and cultural account, it highlights three key phenomena that define family group chats: text-image-participant relations, multimodal displays of power and solidarity, and the interplay of frames and chronotopes. Together, these insights reveal how family talk continues to thrive in the digital age, beyond the dinner table.

Mother Tongue and English
  • The Politics of Language in Indian Higher Education
  • Christina P. Davis, Chaise LaDousa
  • Coming soon
  • Expected online publication date:
    September 2026
    Print publication:
    30 September 2026
  • The first of its kind, this book ethnographically examines mother tongue, a pervasive concept in South Asian social life, yet one that is rarely questioned in policy and educational institutions. In recent education policy, the Indian government advocates for mother tongue education but makes little mention of English despite its centrality at all levels of education. Through interviews with students at three Indian higher educational institutions, the authors analyze how the recent policy recommendations resonate with students' understandings and usage of language. Presenting the notion of language ideology in an engaging and accessible manner, this book highlights the changing views and attitudes toward mother tongue in light of the increased desire to learn English. It also stresses the importance of students' voices in the critique of language and education policy. It is essential reading for scholars and students of language policy, multilingual education, linguistic and cultural anthropology, and South Asian studies.

Singapore Mandarin Chinese
  • Variation and Shifts in a Glocalized World
  • Jingxia Lin, Ming Chew Teo
  • Coming soon
  • Expected online publication date:
    September 2026
    Print publication:
    30 September 2026
  • Singapore Mandarin represents a distinct and dynamic variety shaped by local multilingualism and global influences. This comprehensive study offers the most up-to-date linguistic description of contemporary Singapore Mandarin, drawing on a decade's worth of natural spoken and written data. Through rigorous quantitative and qualitative analyses, it systematically examines the variety's distinctive lexical, grammatical, and discourse features, revealing it as an inclusive and evolving system. Expanding beyond Putonghua comparisons, the analysis incorporates perspectives from Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Malaysia Mandarin, offering a broader perspective on regional variations. A sociolinguistic survey of native speakers further enriches the study with insights into language attitudes, ideologies, and usage trends. By documenting how external sociocultural factors and internal innovations drive linguistic change, the book advances global understandings of Mandarin variation. As a significant contribution to Chinese linguistics, World Chineses, language contact, and multilingualism studies, this work is essential reading for linguists, educators, and policymakers.

Manchester Voices
  • Accents, Dialects and Identities
  • Rob Drummond
  • Coming soon
  • Expected online publication date:
    August 2026
    Print publication:
    31 August 2026
  • Dive into the fascinating world of how people across Greater Manchester speak, and what their voices reveal about identity and belonging. This lively book follows a groundbreaking research project that explored local accents, dialects, and social meaning using perception maps, pronunciation analysis, archive recordings, and interviews conducted in a roving 'accent van'. Packed with real voices and it offers surprising insights into how language connects us to place, community, and culture. Each chapter highlights a different strand of the research, while reflecting on broader themes of identity, the social significance of everyday language, and the value of listening. Along the way, readers get a behind-the-scenes look at how large-scale sociolinguistic projects are designed, funded and executed -and why they matter. Celebrating the richness and diversity of local speech, this book is a joyful, thought-provoking tribute to the voices that shape our communities.

Worldwide Perspectives on English Usage
  • Into the Third Millennium
  • Edited by Adam Smith, Peter Collins
  • Coming soon
  • Expected online publication date:
    July 2026
    Print publication:
    31 July 2026
  • The study of English usage has to take account of changes in grammar, word choice and nuances of communication. In recent decades, developments in linguistic methodologies have catalysed modifications In our approach to linguistic variation, with perspectives changing from a primarily prescriptive to a more descriptive approach. Bringing together contributions from a team of distinguished scholars, this book explores sociolinguistic and structural dimensions of variability in English usage through new research and methods such as corpora and survey instruments. It embraces the variety and diversity of English usage, exploring global attitudes towards language, including examples from countries where English is either a first language, such as Australia and Britain, to second language users from China, South Africa and beyond. Variability is investigated across both a number of media and registers, while lively and engaging discourse is used to introduce the global language landscape to anyone interested in this fascinating field.
Young Singaporean English

Young Singaporean English
  • Current Developments in CSE Morphosyntax in a Digital World
  • Jakob R. E. Leimgruber, Wilkinson Daniel Wong Gonzales, Mohamed Hafiz, Jun Jie Lim, Nick Huang, Mie Hiramoto
  • Coming soon
  • Expected online publication date:
    July 2026
    Print publication:
    31 July 2026
  • The analysis of newly or recently emerged grammatical and lexical forms in Colloquial Singapore English is the main objective of this Element. Using corpus, survey, and interview data from different age groups, we shed light on the spread of language change across generations and ethnicities. Existing descriptions of CSE as a high-contact L1 variety of English in the late stages of endonormative stabilisation do not fully capture Singapore's continued multilingual ecology: source languages remain in active use alongside CSE, enabling ongoing cross-linguistic influence. Innovative uses resulting from contact can be observed in apparent and real time. In this volume, we use a range of sources to look at recent changes in the lexicon and grammar of CSE, pointing to a dynamic variety that is difficult to fully capture with existing models of variation. This title is also available as Open Access on Cambridge Core.
Contemporary Nigerian English

Contemporary Nigerian English
  • Foluke Olayinka Unuabonah, Rotimi Taiwo, Rotimi Olanrele Oladipupo, Folajimi Oyebola
  • Coming soon
  • Expected online publication date:
    June 2026
    Print publication:
    30 June 2026
  • Contemporary Nigerian English offers an engaging empirical exploration of Nigerian English in the twenty-first century, highlighting its historical development, present-day usage, and emerging linguistic features. Drawing on multiple sources of evidence, including naturally occurring language data, online corpora, social media discourse, and survey findings, the Element investigates how multilingualism, cultural diversity, and digital communication continue to shape the variety. It analyses salient features of Nigerian English across lexico-semantic, phonological, morpho-syntactic, and pragmatic domains, while also considering the language ideologies and attitudes that inform its perception and use. By integrating structural linguistic analysis and sociolinguistic perspectives, the Element reveals how Nigerian English reflects the cultural identities, communicative practices, and cognitive worlds of its speakers. In doing so, it advances scholarship on World Englishes and contributes to broader discussions of linguistic variation and change in contemporary global contexts.

Lump in My Throat
  • What Cancer Taught Me about Communication
  • Michael Handford
  • Coming soon
  • Expected online publication date:
    June 2026
    Print publication:
    11 June 2026
  • When faced with a cancer diagnosis, navigating the maze of emotions and decisions can be overwhelming. In this inspiring and deeply personal memoir, Michael Handford – a professor of intercultural communication – shares his experience of a stage-4 throat cancer diagnosis at the age of 42 while living and working in Japan and the UK. Weaving together his professional insights and personal experiences, and through vivid storytelling, Handford examines how communication – whether with doctors, loved ones, or oneself – can shape the cancer experience. He shows that creating meaning and agency in the face of illness can provide a sense of control amidst the chaos. This book is not just about surviving cancer but about reframing it as part of a quest for connection, resilience, and understanding. Poignant, and at times brutally funny, Lump in My Throat offers guidance, hope, and tools to navigate the toughest of times with dignity and strength.

Page 1 of 473