 | American English: Dialects and Variation (Language in Society) |
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Product Description
This book provides a very readable, up-to-date description of language variation in American English, covering regional, ethnic, and gender-based differences.
- contains new chapters on social and ethnic dialects, including a separate chapter on African American English and more comprehensive discussions of Latino, Native American, Cajun English, and other varieties,
- includes samples from a wider array of US regions
- features updated chapters as well as pedagogy such as new exercises, a phonetic symbols key, and a section on the notion of speech community
- accessibly written for the wide variety of students that enrol in a course on dialects, ranging from students with no background in linguistics to those who may wish to specialize in sociolinguistics
- Amazon Sales Rank: #15750 in Books
- Published on: 2005-09-12
- Original language: English
- Number of items: 1
- Dimensions: 9.10" h x 1.00" w x 6.10" l, 1.50 pounds
- Binding: Paperback
- 472 pages
Review
"This book has become a staple in the study and instruction of American English… The second edition provides the same balance of detail, clarity, breadth and sophistication offered by the first edition, but with an improved organization and up-to-date information. It is clear that the authors took seriously the task of revising and updating this new edition so that its users could enjoy the maximum benefits of its structure and contents. They will be pleased to know that their efforts were not in vain. The book will undoubtedly continue to be used as one of the key texts in the instruction of American dialects for many years to come." Journal of Sociolinguistics
"This is an indispensable book, not just for students but for anyone who wants to know how the English language varies in the United States and how this variation has been studied… It is comprehensive, comprehensible and dense with detail." Language in Society (of the previous edition)
"The strengths of the book include its style and the authors' consideration of how the book might actually be used as a text… the chapters are divided into subsections with helpful headings; exercises calling for creative responses by students are scattered throughout… each chapter ends with a short annotated bibliography for further readings." Language (of the previous edition)
From the Back Cover
This book provides a very readable and up-to-date description of language variation in American English, covering regional, ethnic, and gender-based differences. The authors include situations ranging from historically isolated, rural dialects to developing, urban ethnic varieties as they consider the descriptive, theoretical, and applied ramifications of dialects in American society.
The second edition of American English includes new chapters on social and ethnic dialects, including more comprehensive discussions of Latino, Native American, Cajun English, and other varieties, samples from a wider array of US regions, and a separate chapter on African American English. Updated chapters and exercises as well as features such as a phonetic symbols key, and a section on the notion of speech community, combine to make the new edition a valuable resource for students and specialists alike.
About the Author
Walt Wolfram is William C. Friday Distinguished Professor at North Carolina State University, and author or co-author of 17 books and over 250 articles, including The Development of African American English (with Erik Thomas, Blackwell 2002) and American Voices (edited with Ben Ward, Blackwell 2006).
Natalie Schilling-Estes is Associate Professor of Linguistics at Georgetown University. She is co-author of Hoi Toide on the Outer Banks: The Story of the Ocracoke Brogue (with Walt Wolfram, 1997) and co-editor of The Handbook of Language Variation and Change (with J. K. Chambers and Peter Trudgill, Blackwell 2002).
Most helpful customer reviews
32 of 34 people found the following review helpful.
Much more than just a description of American English
By Joachim GRZEGA
The book offers much more than the title suggests. It is not only an up-to-date presentation of American English and its varieties ("white varieties," African American Vernacular English, Native American Vernacular English, and even Creole varieties). These varieties rather serve as sources of examples for a volume that covers virtually every branch of sociolinguistics, including even political issues and suggestions for dialect teaching and language reforms. The titles of the chapters are: "The Reality of Dialects," "Why Do Languages Have Dialects," "Levels of Dialect," "Dialects in the United States: Past, Present, and Future," "Regional Dialects," "Social and Ethnic Dialects," "Gender and Language Variation," "Dialects and Style," "The Patterning of Dialect," "On the Application of Dialect Studies," "Dialect Awareness in the School and Community"). The authors juxtapose a series of definitions, theories, and other issues in a fresh and sometimes untraditional manner, never forgetting to take the historical perspective into account. They are conscious of the problems inherent in generalizations and have managed to find the right middle course between a too simplistic and a too complicating presentation. At the end of each section the reader will find suggestions for further research and activities as well as further reading recommendations (including addresses of Internet sites, too). Another plus of the book is that the reading recommendations are accompanied by critical annotations. The main body is followed by an "Inventory of Socially Diagnostic Structures," which consists of a very informative list of linguistic structures and their correspondent variants in a number of American English dialects. At the end of the book the reader will also find a valuable glossary of (socio)linguistic terms. As already mentioned, it is very interesting to find out that some of the authors' statements break with the content, or structure, of many traditional works of this kind, such as the sub-definitions of 'standard,' or the observations on language use and pragmatics, much too often neglected elsewhere. The book is written in a very readable style and can warmly be recommended not only to teachers and students of languages and linguistics, but to everyone interested in sociolinguistic problems in the United States.
18 of 19 people found the following review helpful.
Solid, not exhaustive
By D. Bowie
A good, solid semi-introductory work on American Englishes. Not really intended for someone with absolutely no background in Linguistics, but a minimal introduction to the field should be enough. Its only real flaws are that there's a danger someone could take it to be exhaustive (I've even seen linguists who seem to believe this), and it's not quite as lively as Mencken's _The_American_language_, which may be dated but is still the best introduction to American Englishes that a non-linguist could read. (I should say, though, Wolfram and Schilling-Estes do a *much* better job than Mencken when dealing with socially marginalized varieties.)
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful.Recommended Gem
By Rheazblaze
It is an extremely interesting book that is completely informative about the history of the English language and how it not only came to be what it is today but predictions about what it will become in the future. The prose is very easy to read and you find yourself pronouncing dialects out loud to just get a good idea of what it would sound like if you were from that part of the world. This was a recommended book by my professor and I was not going to purchase it but I'm glad I did considering the other two required texts are not as interesting!
http://astore.amazon.com/amazon-book-books-20/detail/1405112662
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