LINGUIST List 17.754

Mon Mar 13 2006

FYI: Call for Papers: Indigenous Minority Languages

Editor for this issue: Svetlana Aksenova <svetlanalinguistlist.org>

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Directory         1.    James N. Stanford, Call for Papers: Indigenous Minority Languages

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Message 1: Call for Papers: Indigenous Minority Languages
Date: 11-Mar-2006
From: James N. Stanford <stanfo23msu.edu>
Subject: Call for Papers: Indigenous Minority Languages


Call for Papers:

Quantitative Sociolinguistic Studies of Indigenous Minority LanguagesEdited by James N. Stanford and Dennis R. PrestonMichigan State University

This anthology will explore language variation in indigenous minoritylanguage groups. Such lesser-known languages have rarely been the focus ofquantitative (variationist) sociolinguistic research, so this anthologywill promote a more diverse and inclusive perspective on the understandingof language variation. We will present a wide range of studies that can beplaced side-by-side in order to highlight both the similarities anddifferences in language variation processes among such underrepresentedlanguages and cultures. In this way, the anthology can serve as a platformfor examining universal sociolinguistic tendencies across cultures and atthe same time perhaps isolate new aspects of the study of languagevariation, allowing us to ask what aspects of current sociolinguisticmodels may need to be reconsidered in light of lesser-known languages andcultures.

To this end, we are seeking papers with a focus on quantitative(variationist) sociolinguistic research in indigenous minority languagecommunities. Specifically, we are looking for research studies that usequantitative sociolinguistic approaches (in the ''Labovian'' tradition)rather than qualitative, ethnographic work. The studies will focus onlanguage variation and change with regard to both influential linguisticand social factors but will not be descriptive accounts only of thegrammars or ethnographic settings of such languages, although we recognizethat some such material may be necessarily included to give readers asufficient understanding of both the linguistic and social detail toappreciate the contribution.

By ''indigenous minority languages'' we refer to ethnic groups that are (a)indigenous to a specific region, (b) a minority language or a languagedominated by another (or others) in that region, and (c) linguistically andculturally divergent from the majority group. We favor studies aboutminority groups whose languages are relatively insulated from the effectsof majority groups so that unique characteristics of indigenous languagesociolinguistics may be investigated, although we are aware of the factthat many interesting aspects of such languages are embedded in languagecontact situations and do not exclude such accounts automatically.

Timetable:April 30, 2006: Deadline for receiving notices of an interest incontributing a chapterMay 31, 2006: Deadline for an abstract of the proposed chapter (PDF filesof 500 words or less)December 31, 2006: Deadline for receiving completed chapter manuscriptsMarch 1, 2007: Completed manuscript sent to the publisher

Publication plans: The anthology will be submitted to John BenjaminsPublishing Company for their series ''IMPACT: Studies in Language andSociety.'' They have indicated a strong interest during preliminarydiscussions.

Please send an e-mail notice of your interest in contributing a chapter to:James Stanfordstanfo23msu.eduDepartment of Linguistics and LanguagesWells Hall A-614Michigan State UniversityE. Lansing, MI 48824-1027

Linguistic Field(s): Sociolinguistics