Deumert has tackled a very difficult subject and done a very good job with it. The book is well written and the analysis is careful and persuasive. This book is well worth the time and effort necessary to read it.

- Marc Pierce, University of Michigan, in Language 82(3), 2006,

Language Standardization and Language Change describes the formation of an early standard norm at the Cape around 1900. The processes of variant reduction and sociolinguistic focusing which accompanied the early standardization history of Afrikaans (or ‘Cape Dutch’ as it was then called) are analysed within the broad methodological framework of corpus linguistics and variation analysis. Multivariate statistical techniques (cluster analysis, multidimensional scaling and PCA) are used to model the emergence of linguistic uniformity in the Cape Dutch speech community. The book also examines language contact and creolization in the early settlement, the role of Afrikaner nationalism in shaping language attitudes and linguistic practices, and the influence of English. As a case study in historical sociolinguistics the book calls into question the traditional view of the emergence of an Afrikaans standard norm, and advocates a strongly sociolinguistic, speaker-orientated approach to language history in general, and standardization studies in particular.
Les mer
1. List of figures; 2. List of tables; 3. Acknowledgements; 4. Introduction: Standardization, language standards and standard languages; 5. I. History; 6. 1. Afrikaans sociohistorical linguistics: Reconstructing language formation; 7. 2. Afrikaner nationalism and the discovery of the vernacular; 8. 3. The Corpus of Cape Dutch Correspondence and the social context of language use in the nineteenth century; 9. II. Variation analysis; 10. 4. On the analysis of variability and uniformity: An introduction to multivariate clustering techniques; 11. 5. The gradualness of morphosyntactic change; 12. 6. Morphological and syntactic variation; 13. 7. The Cape Dutch variety spectrum: Clusters, continua and patterns of language alternation; 14. III. Establishing the norm; 15. 8. Engels, Engels, alles Engels: Language contact, conflict and purism; 16. 9. Social networks and the diffusion of standard Afrikaans; 17. Epilogue: Language standardization and language change; 18. Appendix: The Corpus of Cape Dutch Correspondence; 19. References; 20. Index
Les mer

Produktdetaljer

ISBN
9789027218575
Publisert
2004-03-31
Utgiver
John Benjamins Publishing Co
Vekt
660 gr
Høyde
245 mm
Bredde
164 mm
Aldersnivå
P, 06
Språk
Product language
Engelsk
Format
Product format
Innbundet
Antall sider
381

Forfatter