A Chinese yuppie in Beijing

Phonological variation and the construction of a new professional identity

Bibliographic Data

ID7900807
AuthorsQing Zhang (0000-0001-6929-9416, The University of Texas at Austin, corresponding author)
Year2005
Volume34
Issue03
Pages431-466
Publication date2005-07-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueLanguage in Society (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0047-4045 • E-ISSN: 1469-8013
PublisherCambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1017/s0047404505050153
OpenAlexW2141359731
LanguageEN
Citations received143
References cited37

Recent sociolinguistic studies have given increased attention to the situated practice of members of locally based communities. Linguistic variation examined tends to fall on a continuum between a territorially based “standard” variety and a regional or ethnic vernacular. This article emphasizes the need for sociolinguistics, especially variationist sociolinguistics, to look beyond strictly local contexts and to go beyond treating variation as located along a linear dimension of standard and vernacular. Based on quantitative analysis of four phonological variables among Chinese professionals in foreign and state-owned companies in Beijing, this study demonstrates that professionals in foreign businesses employ linguistic resources from both local and global sources to construct a new cosmopolitan variety of Mandarin, whereas their counterparts in state-owned businesses favor the use of local features. The study shows that variation does not just reflect existing social categories and social change, but is a resource for constructing those categories and participates in social change

Beijing · China · Linguistics · Political science · Sociolinguistics · Sociology · Variation (astronomy) · Variety (cybernetics) · Vernacular · Gender Studies · Language, Discourse, Communication Strategies · Law · Linguistic Variation and Morphology · Multilingual Education and Policy

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