Wolof Speech Styles and Social Status. Working Papers in Sociolinguistics Number 23 [microform] / Judith T. Irvine
- Bib ID:
- 5447954
- Format:
- Book and Microform
- Author:
- Irvine, Judith T
- Online Version:
- https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED252073
Broken link? let us search Trove , the Wayback Machine , or Google for you.
- Description:
-
- [Washington, D.C.] : Distributed by ERIC Clearinghouse, 1975
- 13 p.
- Summary:
-
African Wolof society is divided into a number of ranked status groups or castes, the largest of which is the high-ranking noble caste. Wolof conceive of two styles of speaking, the restrained or noble-like and the elaborated or "griot"-like, and the two styles are connected by the presence or absence of "kerse," honor and self-control. The linguistic phenomena relevant to social rank are found in all aspects of speech performance: paralinguistic phenomena (such as intonation), phonology, syntax, and lexicon. Intonational features provide the most striking differences in style. Phonological differences seem to be related to differences in speech tempo. The griot style uses syntactic devices that lengthen the total utterance but add little or nothing to its meaning, while the noble style uses shorter, blander forms and intentional errors as a sign of high rank. The variants can also signal high and low rank within a caste. The use of intentional error can create confusion between a high-ranking individual and a linguistically incompetent foreigner. The linguistic system as a whole may have shifted in the direction of the high-status variant, and the reduction in surface elaboration is consistent with high-rank restraint and nonfluency, possibly arising from the general population's desire to appear more high-ranking. Thus the cultural valuation of speech can influence both the form and the direction of language change. (MSE)
- Notes:
-
- Sponsoring Agency: Social Science Research Council, New York, NY. Committee on Sociolinguistics.
- Sponsoring Agency: National Inst. of Education (DHEW), Washington, DC.
- May also be available online. Address as at 14/8/18: https://eric.ed.gov/
- Reproduction:
- Microfiche. [Washington D.C.]: ERIC Clearinghouse microfiches : positive.
- Subject:
- Other authors/contributors:
- Southwest Educational Development Lab., Austin, TX
- Available From:
- ERIC
- Copyright:
-
In Copyright
You may copy under some circumstances, for example you may copy a portion for research or study. Order a copy through Copies Direct to the extent allowed under fair dealing. Contact us for further information about copying.
Copyright status was determined using the following information:
- Material type:
- Literary Dramatic Musical
- Published status:
- Published
- Publication date:
- 1975
Copyright status may not be correct if data in the record is incomplete or inaccurate. Other access conditions may also apply. For more information please see: Copyright in library collections.
Request this item
Request this item to view in the Library’s reading room.
Feedback
Similar items
- Seribu satu kesalahan berbahasa : bahan penyuluhan bahasa Indonesia / Zaenal Arifin, Farid Hadi
- Kugŏ sahoehak yŏnʾgu / Chang Tʻae-jin chŏ
- The Korowai of Irian Jaya : their language in its cultural context / Gerrit J. van Enk and Lourens de Vries
- Kugŏ sahoe ŏnŏhak nonchʻong / Chang Tʻae-jin pʻyŏnchŏ
- The Japanese language in contemporary Japan : some sociolinguistic observations / Roy Andrew Miller