"The different ways in which a language may be pronounced is not only a constant source of fascination for speakers and learners, but also a powerful symbol of regional identity. Using recordings of spontaneous speech by working-class speakers from an urban, industrial environment in northern France, Tim Pooley traces the development of the urban vernacular of the Lille area - often referred to as Chtimi - from a traditional patois to a variety of Regional French against the background of the social changes that have occurred in the speakers' lifetimes." "The result is, firstly, a study in sociolinguistic variation (both from the structural and sociolinguistic viewpoints); secondly, an analysis of language shift in a context where the obsolescent language is closely related to the dominant variety; and thirdly, a detailed analysis of the key features of the phonology and grammar of northern Regional French." "It is also one of the first studies concerned with France to show how network factors may influence speakers' use of French."--BOOK JACKET.Title Summary field provided by Blackwell North America, Inc. All Rights Reserved

The French-Speaking World is an accessible textbook that offers students the opportunity to explore for themselves a wide range of sociolinguistic issues relating to the French language and its role in the world. This new edition has been fully revised to reflect the many political and social changes of the last 15 years, including the impact of technology on language change. It continues to combine text with practical exercises and discussion questions to stimulate readers to think for themselves and to tackle specific problems. Key features of this book: Informative and comprehensive: covers a wide range of current issues Practical: contains a variety of graded exercises and tasks plus an index of terms Topical and contemporary: deals with current situations and provides up-to-date illustrative material Thought-provoking: encourages students to reflect and research for themselves The French-Speaking World is the ideal textbook for undergraduate students who have a sound practical knowledge of French but who have little or no knowledge of linguistics or sociolinguistics.

This manual provides an extensive overview of the importance and use of Romance languages in the media, both in a diachronic and synchronic perspective. Its chapters discuss language in television and the new media, the language of advertising, or special cases such as translation platforms or subtitling. Separate chapters are dedicated to minority languages and smaller varieties such as Galician and Picard, and to methodological approaches such as linguistic discourse analysis and writing process research.

This volume offers a synthetic approach to language variation and language ideologies in multilingual communities. Although the vast majority of the world’s speech communities are multilingual, much of sociolinguistics ignores this internal diversity. This volume fills this gap, investigating social and linguistic dimensions of variation and change in multilingual communities. Drawing on research in a wide range of countries (Canada, USA, South Africa, Australia, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Vanuatu), it explores: connections between the fields of creolistics, language/dialect contact, and language acquisition; how the study of variation and change, particularly in cases of additive bilingualism, is central to understanding social and linguistic issues in multilingual communities; how changing language ideologies and changing demographics influence language choice and/or language policy, and the pivotal place of multilingualism in enacting social power and authority, and a rich array of new empirical findings on the dynamics of multilingual speech communities.

Views on intercultural exchanges within theatre practice from contributors including: Peter Brook, Clive Barker, Jacques Lecoq and Rustom Bharucha.

Verbal performances are often encountered in the media where they are used to embody characters or social archetypes. Performed voices define the norm as well as the linguistic Others and by doing so circulate associated values and linguistic ideologies. This book explores the idea that, far from simply being exercises in verbal skill and flair, performances of social, ethnic or gendered voices in the media not only have the power to accomplish ideological work, they are also sites of linguistic tension and negotiation. Critically examining performances of French voices in the media, this book raises the following questions: - How are repertoires of voices constructed and subsequently perpetuated in the media? - How do the stereotypic personae these voices contribute to build become familiar to national as well as transnational audiences? - How do such performed voices reproduce hegemonic ideologies of standard and non-standard languages and participate in the perpetuation of social discriminations? - How are these performed voices commodified into cultural products of otherness that may later be reclaimed by stigmatized communities? Following an innovative framework which allows for analysis of performances of varied voices and their impact in the media sphere, Voices in the Media offers a new approach to the linguistics of media performance.

From Ammo to Zig-Zag, many of the words we use today were invented in World War 1. They provide a unique insight into the experience of the war, and the inventiveness and humour of ordinary soldiers.