Sociolinguistics

Abstract

As sociolinguistics came into its own during the 1960s and 1970s the city was discovered as a key site for fieldwork (Gasquet-Cyrus, 2003). The reason for this is quite straightforward. Sociolinguists saw that the city was, in linguistic terms, much more complex than any other geographical context:

Cites are much more difficult to characterize linguistically than are rural hamlets; variation in language and patterns of change are much more obvious in cities, e.g., in family structures, employment, and opportunities for social advancement or decline. Migration, both in and out of cities, is also usually a potent linguistic factor. Cities also spread their influence far beyond their limits and their importance should never be underestimated in considering such matters as the standardization and diffusion of languages.

(Wardhaugh, 1998: 46–7)