Sociohistorical linguistics
Encyclopedia
Sociohistorical linguistics, or historical sociolinguistics, is the study of the relationship between language and society in its historical dimension. A typical question in this field would, for instance, be: “How were the verb endings -s and -th (he loves vs. he loveth) distributed in Middle English society” or “When did people use French, when did they use English in 14th-century England?”
Sociohistorical linguistics is a relatively new field of linguistic research which represents a merger of two distinct sub-disciplines of linguistics
; sociolinguistics
and historical (or diachronic) linguistics
. Researchers in this field use sociolinguistic methods to explain historical change. This approach is particularly useful when language-internal data alone is unable to account for some seemingly inexplicable developments. Instead of relying solely upon intra-linguistic evidence and data to explain language change, socio-historical linguists search for extra-linguistic causes of change. One of the seminal works in the field is Romaine (1982)'s Socio-Historical Linguistics. Other studies such as John McWhorter
's work, The Missing Spanish Creoles, are more specific in this case examining the extra-linguistic reasons why there are no creoles
with Spanish as a lexifier language (as opposed to English, French, Dutch, Portuguese, etc.). Not all linguists believe that sociolinguistic methods can be applied to historical situations. They argue that the sociolinguistic means at our disposal today (e.g. face-to-face interviews, recording of data, large and diverse sampling, etc.) are necessarily unavailable to sociolinguists working on historical developments. They therefore argue that it is exceedingly difficult to do socio-historical linguistics, and that the results will always be suspect due to lack of data and access to native speakers in real-world situations. For those who question the validity of socio-historical linguistics, it is a field of conjecture rather than solid conclusions. Those arguing for the validity of socio-historical linguistics reply that it is better to use what remaining textual evidence is available to begin to posit likely scenarios rather than leave some questions completely unanswered. Methods such as social network theory (cf. Lesley Milroy
) that look at human interactions and their effects on the larger society are particularly well-suited to socio-historical research.
Sociohistorical linguistics is a relatively new field of linguistic research which represents a merger of two distinct sub-disciplines of linguistics
Linguistics
Linguistics is the scientific study of human language. Linguistics can be broadly broken into three categories or subfields of study: language form, language meaning, and language in context....
; sociolinguistics
Sociolinguistics
Sociolinguistics is the descriptive study of the effect of any and all aspects of society, including cultural norms, expectations, and context, on the way language is used, and the effects of language use on society...
and historical (or diachronic) linguistics
Historical linguistics
Historical linguistics is the study of language change. It has five main concerns:* to describe and account for observed changes in particular languages...
. Researchers in this field use sociolinguistic methods to explain historical change. This approach is particularly useful when language-internal data alone is unable to account for some seemingly inexplicable developments. Instead of relying solely upon intra-linguistic evidence and data to explain language change, socio-historical linguists search for extra-linguistic causes of change. One of the seminal works in the field is Romaine (1982)'s Socio-Historical Linguistics. Other studies such as John McWhorter
John McWhorter
John Hamilton McWhorter V is an American linguist and political commentator. He is the author of a number of books on language and on race relations. His linguistic specialty is creole and the process through which it forms.-Early life:...
's work, The Missing Spanish Creoles, are more specific in this case examining the extra-linguistic reasons why there are no creoles
Creole language
A creole language, or simply a creole, is a stable natural language developed from the mixing of parent languages; creoles differ from pidgins in that they have been nativized by children as their primary language, making them have features of natural languages that are normally missing from...
with Spanish as a lexifier language (as opposed to English, French, Dutch, Portuguese, etc.). Not all linguists believe that sociolinguistic methods can be applied to historical situations. They argue that the sociolinguistic means at our disposal today (e.g. face-to-face interviews, recording of data, large and diverse sampling, etc.) are necessarily unavailable to sociolinguists working on historical developments. They therefore argue that it is exceedingly difficult to do socio-historical linguistics, and that the results will always be suspect due to lack of data and access to native speakers in real-world situations. For those who question the validity of socio-historical linguistics, it is a field of conjecture rather than solid conclusions. Those arguing for the validity of socio-historical linguistics reply that it is better to use what remaining textual evidence is available to begin to posit likely scenarios rather than leave some questions completely unanswered. Methods such as social network theory (cf. Lesley Milroy
Lesley Milroy
Ann Lesley Milroy is a sociolinguist, and a professor emerita at the University of Michigan. She was born in Newcastle upon Tyne, United Kingdom in 1944. She studied and began her work in sociolinguistics in the UK...
) that look at human interactions and their effects on the larger society are particularly well-suited to socio-historical research.
State of the Art
The first monograph in sociohistorical linguistics was published by Suzanne Romaine in 1982. The field has become established in linguistics in the 1990s. Since 2000 there has also been an internet journal Historical Sociolinguistics and Sociohistorical Linguistics.Methodology
Due to the lack of recordings of oral language, sociohistorical linguistics has to rely exclusively on written corpora.External links
- Historical Sociolinguistics and Sociohistorical Linguistics, an internet journal, edited by Ingrid Tieken-Boon van Ostade
- Las lenguas vistas desde la historia versus la historia vista desde las lenguas (o el giro copérnicano de un nuevo discurso social), Spanish article on historical sociolinguistics by José María Sánchez CarriónJosé María Sánchez CarriónJosé María Sánchez Carrión is a Spanish linguist, specialist in Basque language, sociolinguistics and historical linguistics....