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Self-expression and linguistic variation

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  19 February 2009

Barbara Johnstone  and
Judith Mattson Bean
Barbara Johnstone
Affiliation:
Department of English, Carnegie-Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA 15213
Judith Mattson Bean
Affiliation:
Department of English, Speech, and Foreign Languages, Texas Women's University, Denton, TX 76204-1972, f_bean@venus.twu.edu
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Abstract

This article argues that self-expression is a crucial though heretofore largely overlooked part of the explanation for linguistic variation. Self-expression mediates between linguistic choices and social facts such as gender, occupation, linguistic ideology, and place of origin, as speakers use language not only to express their identification with or rejection of social groupings, but also to express their individuality. All language use is thus essentially idiosyncratic and syncretic. The point is illustrated with reference to case studies of the speech and writing of two Texas women who use language in public contexts. The article further argues for the sociolinguistic study of public modes of discourse in addition to “vernacular” modes, and for the need in sociolinguistic research for rhetorical as well as linguistic analysis. (Variation, self-expression, individuality, case studies, Texas, public speech)

Type
Research Article
Information
Language in Society , Volume 26 , Issue 2 , June 1997 , pp. 221 - 246
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1997

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