The Production of Social Meaning Via the Association of Variety and Style
A Case Study of French Vowel Lengthening in Belgian
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 20260342 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Philippe Hambye (0000-0003-4990-0432, UCLouvain), Anne-Catherine Simon (0000-0002-7202-842X, UCLouvain), Anne Catherine Simon |
| Year | 2004 |
| Volume | 49 |
| Issue | 3-4 |
| Pages | 397-421 |
| Publication date | 2004-12-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | The Canadian Journal of Linguistics / La revue canadienne de linguistique (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0008-4131 • E-ISSN: 1710-1115 |
| Publisher | Cambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1017/s000841310000356x |
| OpenAlex | W4241137775 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 1 |
| References cited | 8 |
This article questions the common usage of the concept of “linguistic variety” and the usual view of vernacular speech as the expression of a speaker’s identity. The term “variety” in linguistics has an ambiguous status: it is used to describe “linguistic representations” (social constructs) as well as actual linguistic practices. An alternative way of understanding the function of varieties in the sociolinguistic space is proposed: we explain how varieties relate to speech styles in a way that captures the social significance of linguistic variation. A case study about vowel lengthening in the French spoken in Belgium is then presented. Through both a quantitative and qualitative analysis, it is shown how marked regional variants are used to produce a particular social meaning, even among middle-class speakers
Association (psychology) · Expression (computer science) · Identity (music) · Linguistics · Meaning (existential) · Sociology · Style (visual arts) · Variation (astronomy) · Variety (cybernetics) · Vernacular · Vowel · Artificial Intelligence · Computer Science · History · Linguistic Variation and Morphology · Linguistics, Language Diversity, and Identity · Multilingual Education and Policy · Psychology
| Unique citing works | 1 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 1 |
| Citation span | 2026 - 2026 (1) |
| Citation velocity | current |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 1 |