This paper surveys and illustrates ten years of research done on sociophonological variation in Viennese German from a methodological point of view. It shows how variants of the same word form are collected and analyzed and how two types of rules are differentiated: (1) phonostylistic (optional) phonological rules of the fast/casual and formal hyperarticulate speech, both of Standard Austrian German and Viennese German Dialect; and (2) bidirectional input switch rules between these two strata. Psycholinguistic lab experiments are summarized, which vouch for the psychological reality of sociolinguistic concepts used. A theory of sociopsychological speech situations is described as well as the application of quantitative and qualitative sociolinguistic methods used. A major illustration of our approach is taken from the sociolinguistic study of defendants at court. The conclusion summarizes major claims. (Courtroom discourse, hermeneutics, phonological theory, phonological variation, psycholinguistic experiments, qualitative and quantitative methods, sociophonology, speech situations, style repertoires, switching, text linguistics, therapeutic discourse; Standard Austrian German, Viennese German.)

Two hypotheses associated with Benjamin Lee Whorf, W1, or the linguistic relativity hypothesis, and W2, or the linguistic determinism hypothesis, have overshadowed a third, W3, that champions ethnolinguistic diversity for the benefit of pan–human creativity, problem solving and mutual cross-cultural acceptance. With respect to W3, Whorf is a disciple of Johann Gottfried Herder (1744–1803) with whom he shares many themes and basic perspectives. It may be that different basic methodologies and philosophies of science, particularly those that distinguish linear, quantitative experimentalism from the reborn holistic and ethnographic stress on meaning, will ultimately make it just as difficult to conclude what has been empirically demonstrated with respect to W3 as it already is with respect to W1 and, particularly, W2. Nevertheless, W:3 has a valuable humanizing and sensitizing effect on the language-related disciplines. Indeed, in that respect it may well have value above and beyond its scientific validity. (Whorfian hypothesis, Johann Gottfried Herder, multilingualism/multiculturalism, methodology–theory relationships in the language sciences.)

Though many linguists have shown a strong concern for social issues, there is an apparent contradiction between the principles of objectivity needed for scientific work and commitment to social action. The Black English trial in Ann Arbor showed one way in which this contradiction could be resolved. The first decade of research on Black English was marked by violent differences between creolists and dialectologists on the structure and origin of the dialect. The possibility of a joint point of view first appeared in the general reaction of linguists against the view that blacks were linguistically and genetically inferior. The entrance of black linguists into the field was a critical factor in the further development of the creole hypothesis and the recognition of the distinctive features of the tense and aspect system. At the trial, linguists were able to present effective testimony in the form of a unified view on the origins and structural characteristics of the Black English Vernacular and argue for its alidity as an alternate to standard English. (Black English, language and the law.)

While studies of written text continue to engage students from a number disciplines, investigations of naturally occurring talk have increased exponentially in the last decade. This paper reports on such an investigation, comprehensive discourse analysis of talk among professional peers (in a doctoral dissertation defense), attending to an instance of problematic communication and to some possible implications and interpretations of such nonsuccesses in social interaction. The method employed is an adaptation Labov and Fanshel. (Communicative nonsuccess, comprehensive discourse analysis, interaction among professional peers, naturally occurring talk, social structure, and language use.)

A central feature of the oral discourse of the Kuna Indians of Panama is the line. The nature of lines, verses, and other poetic and rhetorical units has recently emerged as a significant topic within the study of native American languages and discourse generally. Investigation of the structuring of Kuna lines requires attention to the intersection and interplay of linguistic, sociolinguistic, and poetic structures, patterns, and processes. (Discourse, line and verse patterning, ethnopoetics; Panama, Kuna.)

I begin by introducing the Ilongots and some of their attitudes toward speech. Whereas most modem theorists think of language as a tool designed primarily to “express” or to “refer,” Ilongots think of language first in terms of action. They see commands as the exemplary act of speech, displaying less concern for the subjective meanings that an utterance conveys than for the social contexts in which utterances are heard. An ethnographic sketch thus outlines how Ilongots think of words and how their thought relates to aspects of their practice – providing an external foil for theorists found closer to home. Speech Act Theory is discussed and questioned first on internal grounds, as an approach that recognizes but slights important situational and cultural constraints on forms of language use. A consideration of the application of Searle's taxonomy of acts of speech to Ilongot categories of language use then leads to a clarification of the individualistic and relatively asocial biases of his essentially intra-cultural account. Last, I return to Ilongot directives. A partial analysis of Ilongot acts of speech provides the basis for a statement of the ways in which indigenous categodes are related to the forms that actions take, as both of these, in turn, reflect the sociocultural ordering of local worlds. (Speech acts, philosophy and ethnography, ethnography of speaking, Ilongot [Philippines].)

The decreolization process observed in the creole continuum of Belize, Central America is examined in relation to the extralinguistic factor of ethnicity. The speech patterns of Creole speakers are analyzed in terms of two distinct types of ethnic contact, namely, intragroup communication vs. interaction with Black Caribs. Decreolization is viewed as a code-switching phenomenon which affects all native speakers of creole without implying a unified progression toward the acrolect (English). Special attention is given to: I) intraindividual variability which is found to span the whole continuum in intragroup contexts, but to be restricted to mesolectal varieties in intergroup situations; and 2) the relative significance of the five morphosyntactic variables selected to measure decreolization. These features follow distinctive overall patterns of co-occurrence. However, the mesolectal bloc, when viewed in detail, discloses an internal complexity which defies scaling of linguistic features, and reveals the influence of conflicting social and psychological pressures. (Creole studies; ethnic interaction; sociolinguistics; code-switching.)

Studies of the social organization of adolescent groups may not have always taken into account sufficiently the dual reality of the groups in which much of the youths' activities occur. Peer terminology is useful in locating and describing the associational patterns and activities of the youth, but only if the range of possible terms is considerably broadened. It was found in a study of a Harlem street gang that such language may appear ambiguous, but when studied systematically in the interaction between interviewer and members, the misunderstandings become transparent. Peer terminological practices can be used to provide further knowledge of the reality of the social organization of adolescent primary groups. (Peer terminology, primary groups, misunderstanding, interviewing, juvenile delinquency, urban black adolescent language; verbal tags.)

Abstract “Ways of taking” from books are a part of culture and as such are more varied than current dichotomies between oral and literate traditions and relational and analytic cognitive styles would suggest. Patterns of language use related to books are studied in three literate communities in the Southeastern United States, focusing on such “literacy events” as bedtime story reading. One community, Maintown, represents mainstream, middle-class school-oriented culture; Roadville is a white mill community of Appalachian origin; the third, Trackton, is a black mill community of recent rural origin. The three communities differ strikingly in their patterns of language use and in the paths of language socialization of their children. Trackton and Roadville are as different from each other as either is from Maintown, and the differences in preschoolers' language use are reflected in three different patterns of adjustment to school. This comparative study shows the inadequacy of the prevalent dichotomy between oral and literate traditions, and points also to the inadequacy of unilinear models of child language development and dichotomies between types of cognitive styles. Study of the development of language use in relation to written materials in home and community requires a broad framework of sociocultural analysis. (Crosscultural analysis, ethnography of communication, language development, literacy, narratives.)

This study examines the relation between cultural beliefs and values on the one hand and the organization of communication between caregivers and young children on the other. The study compares caregiver-child verbal interaction in two different communities, rural Western Samoa and Anglo middle class, with an emphasis on the former. It illustrates ways in which organization of turn-taking and procedures for clarification and interpretation are linked to beliefs and expectations concerning the nature of children and the social organization of caregiving. (Language acquisition, socialization, input, communicative competence, Oceania.)

In the New York area, there are three local terms for “dragon fly”: darning needle, dining needle, and diamond needle. We analyze the distribution of these terms and their relation to the national norm, dragon fly. (Language variation, dialectology, language change.)

Interest in Hugo Schuchardt (1842–1927) has recently grown and broadened. A number of recent studies and collections of his work are reviewed. The conventional historiographical portrait of him shows an isolated, marginal dilettante intransigently opposed to the neogrammarian hypothesis of regular sound change. A closer look shows a large body of important work oriented around themes of language mixture, lexicalism, and the importance of the social matrix of language. His sustained work on these topics as they weave in and out of a selected group of language families, his claims to first or early priority in the wave theory, the continuum hypothesis, the creole origin of Black English, a variety of ethnoscience research, and other aspects of sociolinguistics make him a commanding figure in the history of modern linguistics. A reappraisal is called for; resources for it are noted.