76-351: Sociolinguistics of Style
In an ideal world, we might think, everyone would talk and write like everyone else, and everyone would talk and write the same way all the time. How much less misunderstanding there would be! How much less need for the courses we love about grammar and style! How much less discrimination based on accents and dialects! And yet¿no matter how much language teachers teach us all to do the same things with English, no matter how many mistakes and vulgarities grammar mavens and mothers try to uproot, no matter how many older relatives announce that the language is going down the drain (of course young people are to blame), we don¿t all talk alike, or even write alike in our most formal efforts. When it comes to language, we seem compelled to be inconsistent with ourselves and different from others. Why? What functions could be served by linguistic heterogeneity? This course explores part of the answer.To linguists, ¿style¿ has to do with variation in the speech or writing of an individual over time and situation. We adopt different linguistic styles depending on what we are doing, how we want to be perceived, whom we are talking to, what we are trying to accomplish. Linguistic styles often correspond to styles of dress, movement, gesture; to ideological stances; to personal or professional identities. In high school, ¿jocks¿ may aim at a different style than ¿nerds¿ do. In college, Creative Writing majors may set themselves apart from Mechanical Engineering majors through choices about style. People sometimes switch styles briefly to make a point or to accommodate their audience, and playful uses of styles can have numerous functions. (See English department for full description.)
| A | MW | 12:00 pm - 01:20 pm | BH 237B | Johnstone |