Last update:
2 September 2010
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Variational PragmaticsA focus on regional varieties in pluricentric languages
2008. vii, 371 pp.
Publishing status: Available
Hardbound
– In stock
978 90 272 5422 1 / EUR 105.00 / USD 158.00
e-Book
– Available from e-book platforms
This collection of papers is designed to establish variational pragmatics. This new field is situated at the interface of pragmatics and dialectology and aims at systematically investigating the effect of macro-social pragmatic variation on language in action. As such, it challenges the widespread assumption in the area of pragmatics that language communities are homogeneous and also addresses the current research gap in sociolinguistics for variation on the pragmatic level. The introductory chapter establishes the rationale for studying variational pragmatics as a separate field of inquiry, systematically sketches the broader theoretical framework and presents a framework for further analysis. The papers which follow are located within this framework. They present empirical variational pragmatic research focusing on regional varieties of pluricentric languages. Speech acts and other discourse phenomena are addressed and analysed in a number of regional varieties of Dutch, English, French, German and Spanish. The seminal nature of this volume, its empirical orientation and the extensive bibliography make this book of interest to both researchers and students in pragmatics and sociolinguistics.
Table of contents
“The main accomplishment of this book is that it clearly frames a new subfield of pragmatics and establishes an ambitious research agenda. The papers present solid empirical research and address a variety of issues within the paradigm. This book certainly is a must read for researchers and scholars with an interest in the interface of pragmatics and dialectology.”
Istvan Kecskes, State University of New York, Albany
“Variational pragmatics is a new exciting discipline enriching the pragmatic study of language by including regional and social variation, thus widening the domains of both traditional dialectology and variational sociolinguistics. The collection contains a number of insightful empirical studies dealing with pragmatic issues such as speech acts, pragmatic markers and conversational interactions in different regional varieties and languages.”
“The present volume is extremely valuable in broadening the research scope of pragmatics [...] The contributors' determination to dig out the differences in linguistic behaviour among pluricentric language users is meaningful. They help to establish the link between language in action and its hidden cultural values. Globalization and standardization are sweeping the world, but the inherent mores of a nation are still there. Their findings pave the way for diminishing misunderstandings in intercultural or cross-cultural discourses. With their pioneering work, this newly established discipline is right on the way.”
“[...] colleagues working in the fields of dialectology, pragmatics and discourse analysis will find it a goldmine of data-driven analysis and insights.”
“I am convinced that variational pragmatics has a bright future. Schneider & Barron have carried out a pioneering job in assembling the contributions and in drawing up the agenda for what promises to be a very fruitful - and very useful - field or research.”
Subject classification |
Linguistics