ROUTLEDGE LIBRARY EDITIONS: SOCIOLINGUISTICS Volume LANGUAGE AND SITUATION LANGUAGE AND SITUATION Language Varieties and their Social Contexts MICHAEL GREGORY AND SUSANNE CARROLL First published in 1978 by Routledge and Kegan Paul This edition first published in 2019 by Routledge Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN and by Routledge 52 Vanderbilt Avenue, New York, NY 10017 Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business © 1978 Michael Gregory and Susanne Carroll All rights reserved No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library ISBN: ISBN: ISBN: ISBN: 978-1-138-34952-0 978-0-429-43466-2 978-1-138-35000-7 978-0-429-43618-5 (Set) (Set) (ebk) (Volume 5) (hbk) (Volume 5) (ebk) Publisher’s Note The publisher has gone to great lengths to ensure the quality of this reprint but points out that some imperfections in the original copies may be apparent Disclaimer The publisher has made every effort to trace copyright holders and would welcome correspondence from those they have been unable to trace Language and Situation Language varieties and their social contexts Michael Gregory and Susanne Carroll Routledge & Kegan Paul London, Henley and Boston First published in 1978 by Routledge & Kegan Paul Ltd 39 Store Street, London WCJE 7DD Broadway House, Newtown Road, Henley-on-Thames, Oxon RG9 lEN and Park Street, Boston, Mass 02108, USA Set in 10 on 11 point Times New Roman and Printed in Great Britain by Western Printing Services Ltd ©Michael Gregory and Susanne Carrolll978 No part of this book may be reproduced in any form without permission from the publisher, except for the quotation of briefpassages in criticism British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data Gregory, Michael Language and situation - (Language and society) Sociolinguistics I Title II Carroll, Susanne III Series 301.2' P40 77-30482 ISBN 7100 8756 X ISBN 7100 8773 X Pbk General editor's preface When the linguist has described the structure of a language and codified its vocabulary, he has not taken us to the heart of the mystery Of course, without grammars, lexicons and phonetic descriptions, we should understand nothing about the systems of languages But these analyses inevitably stop short at the point where language, in serving personal and social ends, becomes part of the ceaseless flux of human life and activity For we choose our utterances to fit situations, and text and context are therefore inter-related parts of a whole Human communication cannot be comprehended without recognizing this mutual dependence The mystery of language lies, if anywhere, in its endless· ability to adapt both to the strategies of the individual and to the needs of the community, serving each without imprisoning either This is no new insight Past scholars, especially those with close links with the study of society, like Boas and Sapir, Malinowski and J R Firth, have not failed to remind us of the necessary relation between the language we use and the situations within which we use it In the past two decades, it is true, the focus of much linguistic inquiry has been upon languages viewed as homogeneous systems; and indeed, to probe more deeply into the nature of the 'rules' whereby well-formed sentences are produced, and the processes whereby human beings acquire these 'rules', is a worthy scientific endeavour But equally, to explore the capacity of human beings to use language appropriately, and to select from their total linguistic repertoires those elements which match the needs of particular situations, is of complementary importance and interest-for meaning resides not in the forms of language but in their u.se However, when we try to observe language in use and attempt to systematize our observations and account for all the options, the task prc;tves daunting The matching halves of the equation v General editor's preface -language and context-are each variable in highly complex ways, and each requires delicate analysis To unravel the web of inter-connections between them is a formidable endeavour A sensitive 'way of looking', as well as an appropriately constructed taxonomy of linked categories, is needed if a key is to be found to the intricate relationship between language systems and observable patterns of human behaviour and social interaction Michael Gregory, now Professor of English at Glendon College in Toronto's York University, began to turn his attention to this problem fifteen years ago when he was at the University of Leeds Since that time, as his subsequent publications indicate, he has continued to explore the nature of this complex connection between language variation and social contexts Initially, the mainspring of his work was the British tradition that derived particularly from Malinowski and J R Firth, which stressed the relevance for meaning-indeed for our complete understanding of language-of the 'context of situation' In a sense he still remains in that tradition, but he has undoubtedly re:(ined and widened it, making it both more rigorous and more catholic Throughout his work he has been able to relate his own investigations of language in use, in Canada as well as in Britain and West Mrica, to the theories and insights of other scholars from Europe, the USA and elsewhere With his collaborator and co-author, Susanne Carroll, he has now attempted a summation, an overall view, wide-ranging in scope yet delicately discriminating in detail In the final chapter, the authors draw attention to the relevance of their framework of observation and reference for different aspects of linguistic study and research, and for the study of literature Its practical value as well as its theoretical interest should make this work of considerable service to all who are engaged in the advanced study of language; and perhaps especially, though not exclusively, to those concerned with the study of English in all its manifold variety Socio-linguistics is a large and expanding field of interdisciplinary activity, focusing attention in a variety of ways on the interaction oflinguistic and social phenomena For students vi General editor's preface vii in a broad range of human disciplines it can offer new and stimulating perspectives It is the purpose of this series to offer brief, readable and scholarly introductions to the main themes and topics covered by current socio-linguistic studies John Spencer ... SOCIOLINGUISTICS Volume LANGUAGE AND SITUATION LANGUAGE AND SITUATION Language Varieties and their Social Contexts MICHAEL GREGORY AND SUSANNE CARROLL First published in 1978 by Routledge and Kegan Paul... copyright holders and would welcome correspondence from those they have been unable to trace Language and Situation Language varieties and their social contexts Michael Gregory and Susanne Carroll... in criticism British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data Gregory, Michael Language and situation - (Language and society) Sociolinguistics I Title II Carroll, Susanne III Series 301.2' P40