Table Of ContentSociolinguistic
Perspectives
OXFORD STUDIES IN SOCIOLINGUISTICS
Edward Finegan, General Editor
EDITORIAL ADVISORY BOARD
Douglas Biber
Alessandro Duranti
John R. Rickford
Suzanne Romaine
Deborah Tannen
LOCATING DIALECT IN DISCOURSE
The Language of Honest Men and Bonnie Lasses in Ayr
Ronald K. S. Macaulay
ENGLISH IN ITS SOCIAL CONTEXTS
Essays in Historical Sociolinguistics
Edited by Tim W. Machan and Charles T. Scott
COHERENCE IN PSYCHOTIC DISCOURSE
Branca Telles Ribeiro
SOCIOLINGUISTIC PERSPECTIVES ON REGISTER
Edited by Douglas Biber and Edward Finegan
GENDER AND CONVERSATIONAL INTERACTION
Edited by Deborah Tannen
THERAPEUTIC WAYS WITH WORDS
Kathleen Warden Ferrara
SOCIOLINGUISTIC PERSPECTIVES:
Papers on Language in Society, 1959-1994
Charles A. Ferguson
Edited by Thom Huebner
SOCIOLINGUISTIC
PERSPECTIVES
Papers on Language in Society,
1959-1994
CHARLES A. FERGUSON
Edited by
THOM HUEBNER
New York Oxford
OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS
1996
Oxford University Press
Oxford New York
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Ferguson, Charles Albert, 1921-
Sociolinguistic perspectives : papers on language in society,
1959-1994 / Charles A. Ferguson ; edited by Thom Huebner.
p. cm.—(Oxford studies in sociolinguistics)
Collection of previously published material.
"Ferguson bibliography": p.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-19-509290-2 (cloth).—ISBN 0-19-509291-0 (pbk.)
1. Sociolinguistics. I. Huebner, Thom. II. Title. III. Series.
p40.F47 1995
306.4'4—dc20 94-42369
1 3 5 7 9 8 6 4 2
Printed in the United States of America
on acid-free paper
FOREWORD
By Edward Finegan
Simply put, sociolinguistics is the study of language in social use. Its special focus
is on the relationships between language and society, and its principal concerns
address the form and function of linguistic variation across social groups and
across the range of communicative situations in which women and men deploy
their verbal repertoires. In short, sociolinguists examine discourse as it is con-
structed and co-constructed, shaped and reshaped, in the interactions of everyday
life, and as it reflects and creates the social realities of that life.
While some linguists study the structure of sentences independent of who is
speaking or writing and to whom, independent of what precedes and what follows
in a discourse, and even independent of setting, topic, and purpose, socioloingu-
ists investigate linguistic expression precisely as it is embedded in its social and
situational contexts. In other words, sociolinguists analyze language as it functions
in the workday lives of the people using it. Among language observers who are
not professional linguists, almost all interest in linguistic matters likewise focuses
on language in use, for only in use can the patterns of language variation be seen
to reflect the intricacies of social structure and to mirror the situational and strate-
gic influences that shape human discourse.
In offering a platform for studies of language use in communities around the
globe, Oxford Studies in Sociolinguistics invites significant synchronic or dia-
chronic treatments of discourse and of social dialects and registers, whether oral,
written, or signed. The series is host to studies that are descriptive or theoretical,
interpretive or analytical. While volumes in the series usually report original re-
search, an occasional one synthesizes or interprets existing knowledge. Occasion-
ally, as with the present volume, a collection of valuable and influential papers by
a distinguished linguist may appear in the series. While the series aims for a style
that is accessible beyond linguists to other humanists and social scientists, some
volumes will hold appeal for students and other readers keenly interested in the
language of human affairs—for example, in the discourse of doctors or lawyers
engaging their clients and one another with their specialist registers, or of women
and men striving to fathom the sometimes baffling character of their shared inter-
actions.
By providing a forum for innovative and valuable studies of language in use,
Oxford Studies in Sociolinguistics aims to influence the agenda for linguistic re-
vi Foreword
search in the twenty-first century and, meanwhile, to provide an array of in-
sightful and provocative analyses to help launch that agenda. The present volume
contains two dozen of Charles A. Ferguson's insightful and valuable sociolinguis-
tics papers, including some classics. In editing the volume, Thorn Huebner has
worked closely with Charles Ferguson in selecting papers and particularly in pro-
viding a framework for understanding them in the contexts of their original com-
position. Anyone interested in the richness of language variation in social life will
find in this collection some of the most thoughtful sociolinguistic writing of the
past four decades. We are pleased to have these papers as the latest contribution
to Oxford Studies Sociolinguistics.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I first met Charles A. Ferguson some ten years ago during an extended stint as a
visiting assistant professor at Stanford University, from 1984 until 1988. My ini-
tial intimidation by his scholarly reputation soon gave way to the most deep-seated
admiration for him, both as a scholar and as a human being. Sitting on dissertation
committees with him, I never ceased to be amazed at his breadth and depth of
knowledge about language and languages. Interacting with presenters at confer-
ences or other formal presentations of academic papers, he would gently, through
tactful, self-effacing questioning, lead the presenter and the rest of us in the audi-
ence to new insights and implications for broader issues of language structure and
use. I, along with hundreds of his students, have had the privilege of getting to
know a man of impeccable academic rigor, professional integrity, and human
kindness.
My first professional collaboration with Ferguson was in 1988, when he asked
me to coauthor an article with him for a conference on foreign language research
cosponsored by the National Foreign Language Center, the Rockefeller Founda-
tion, and the European Cultural Foundation held in Bellagio, Italy. Shortly after-
ward, I was both honored and humbled when he suggested that we organize a
conference on Second Language Acquisition and Linguistic Theories at the 1989
LSA Linguistic Institute at Stanford. Work on publication of the proceedings of
that conference afforded me an opportunity to continue my tutelage in language
and its structure, use, and acquisition. It was during that time that I suggested that
he consider compiling another volume of his collected works. It was several years,
however, before he could free up his own calendar of scholarly commitments to
consider the task. And a task it was. The sheer volume of his work made selection
for a such a compilation extremely difficult. We met, on average, once a week at
his home for well over one year. My role was to read and synthesize his work
and to write overview sections for each group of papers selected. His role was to
provide the context in which each was created and to educate me in the many
areas of sociolinguistics in which, unhappily, I was less than totally conversant.
That opportunity has been a highlight of my own professional experiences and
development. So, first and foremost, I must extend my deepest gratitude to Profes-
sor Ferguson for that opportunity and for the hospitality he so graciously extended
to me during that time. Whatever inadequacies and downright inaccuracies that
may exist in the overview sections are clearly the fault of a less than stellar student
and are no reflection on the teacher.
I would also like to thank Peter Lowenberg, who sat in on many of the ses-
sions, for the insights he provided on those areas of sociolinguistics with which I
viii Acknowledgments
was less familiar. Professor Braj Kachru initially provided feedback on the selec-
tion of papers and offered support throughout the editing process. Professors John
Rickford and Joshua Fishman read early drafts of the overview sections and pro-
vided important critical commentary. They, too, are to be exonerated for any inac-
curacies.
The School of Humanities and the Arts at San Jose State University, through
Dean John Crane, provided a small research grant to help with the editing of the
volume. Melissa Groo provided the editorial assistance. I would also like to thank
the editors of this series for their encouragement and help.
Finally, special thanks are due to Manito Regio and Patricia Schmitt for physi-
cal therapy and other assistance rendered to Professor Ferguson during the final
stages of the preparation of this volume, while he was still recovering from a
stroke he experienced in May 1992.
San Francisco T. H.
July 1994
CONTENTS
Introduction, 3
Part I: Speech Communities and Language Situations
1. Diglossia (1959), 25
2. Language Development (1968), 40
3. The Role of Arabic in Ethiopia: A Sociolinguistic Perspective (1970), 48
4. Religious Factors in Language Spread (1982), 59
5. Literacy in a Hunting-Gathering Society: The Case of the Diyari (1987), 69
6. South Asia as a Sociolinguistic Area (1991), 84
Part II: Register and Genre
7. Baby Talk in Six Languages (1964), 103
8. Absence of Copula and the Notion of Simplicity: A Study of Normal
Speech, Baby Talk, Foreigner Talk and Pidgins (1971), 115
9. The Collect as a Form of Discourse (1976), 124
10. The Structure and Use of Politeness Formulas (1976), 133
11. Sports Announcer Talk: Syntactic Aspects of Register Variation (1983), 148
12. Genre and Register: One Path to Discourse Analysis (1985), 167
Part III: Variation and Change
13. The Sociolinguistic Variable (s) in Bengali: A Sound Change in Progress?
(with Afia Dil) (1979), 181
14. Standardization as a Form of Language Spread (1987), 189
15. From ESSES to AITCHES: Identifying Pathways of Diachronic Change
(1990), 200
16. Then They Could Read and Write (1990), 216
17. Individual and Social in Language Change: Diachronic Changes in
Politeness Agreement in Forms of Address (1991), 227
18. Variation and Drift: Loss of Agreement in Germanic (1991), 241
