Review

Reviewed Work(s): The Handbook of Language Variation and Change by J. K. Chambers,

Peter Trudgill and Natalie Schilling-Estes
Review by: James A. Walker
Source: Language , Sep., 2004, Vol. 80, No. 3 (Sep., 2004), pp. 591-594
Published by: Linguistic Society of America

Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/4489725

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 REVIEWS

The handbook of language variation and change. Ed. by J. K. CHAMBERS, P

TRUDGILL, and NATALIE SCHILLING-ESTES. Oxford: Blackwell, 2001. Pp. xii, 8
ISBN 0631218033. $131.95 (Hb).
Reviewed by JAMES A. WALKER, York University, Toronto
This book is a welcome addition to Blackwell's 'Handbook' series, which now covers not
only the core areas of linguistics (Aronoff & Rees-Miller 2001), phonetics (Hardcastle & Laver
1996), phonology (Goldsmith 1995), morphology (Spencer & Zwicky 2002), syntax (Baltin &
Collins 2001), and semantics (Lappin 1997), but also historical linguistics (Joseph & Janda 2003),
language and gender (Holmes & Meyerhoff 2003), discourse analysis (Schiffrin et al. 2001),
child language (Fletcher & MacWhinney 1996), second language acquisition (Doughty & Long
2003), and Japanese linguistics (Tsujimura 1999). The previously-released Handbook of sociolin-
guistics (Coulmas 1996) devoted only a chapter to variationist sociolinguistics (Milroy & Milroy
1997); here we are offered a massive tome (807 pages) covering (almost) all aspects of the study
of language variation and change. In addition to a general introduction (1-2) by the editors,
there are introductions to each section by one of the editors. In the first chapter, J. K. CHAMBERS
('Studying language variation: An informal epistemology', 3-14) provides an outline of the
development of the study of language variation and change and its place in the wider context
of linguistics. The rest of the book is divided into five parts, dealing with methodology, linguistic
structure, social factors, language contact, and language and societies.
The discussion of methodology begins with various issues in collecting data. CRAWFORD FEA-
GIN ('Entering the community: Fieldwork', 20-39) discusses planning and implementing the
initial stages of a sociolinguistic project. DENNIS R. PRESTON ('Language with an attitude', 40-66)
outlines methods in the study of language attitudes and perceptual dialectology. EDGAR W.
SCHNEIDER ('Investigating variation and change in written documents', 67-96) reviews the differ-
ent types of written data available and the advantages and disadvantages of each. Similarly,
LAURIE BAUER ('Inferring variation and change from public corpora', 97-114) discusses the
various corpora that are publicly available for study. The methodology of analysis and interpreta-
tion is the subject of the next three chapters: ROBERT BAYLEY ('The quantitative paradigm',
117-41) provides a cogent summary of the quantitative analysis of linguistic variation, including
the use of VARBRUL and general logistic regression; JOHN R. RICKFORD ('Implicational scales',
142-67) explains the use of implicational scales; and ERIK R. THOMAS ('Instrumental phonetics',
168-200) discusses the instrumental analysis of phonetic production and perception (largely of
vowels).
The second part of the book considers the place of variation in the study of linguistic structure.
ARTO ANTTILA ('Variation and phonological theory', 206-43) provides a brief overview of the
role of language-internal factors in the study of linguistic variation and explores the multiple-
grammars model of variation and its alternatives via optimality theory (Prince & Smolensky
1993). MATTHEW J. GORDON ('Investigating chain shifts and mergers', 244-66) examines the
restructuring of phonological systems (mostly vowels) through chain shifts and mergers. Noting
that the study of variation has had little or no impact on the development of syntactic theory,
ALISON HENRY ('Variation and syntactic theory', 267-82) proposes ways in which the two could
be integrated. RONALD MACAULAY ('Discourse variation', 283-305) discusses qualitative and
quantitative approaches to the analysis of variation in discourse-level features.
The third part of the book concerns the traditional 'meat and potatoes' of variationist sociolin-
guistics, the correlation of linguistic variation with social factors. The first three chapters deal
with age: Guy BAILEY ('Real and apparent time', 312-32) reviews the use of evidence from
apparent time and real time in studying language change; JULIE ROBERTS ('Child language varia-
tion', 333-48) examines variation in speech produced by and directed to children; and J. K.
591

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592 LANGUAGE, VOLUME 80, NUMBER 1 (2003)

Chambers ('Patterns of variation including change', 349-74) demonstrates t

is embedded in factors such as sex, age, and social class. Several chapters deal
organization and differentiation. NATALIE SCHILLING-ESTES ('Investigating
375-401) outlines approaches to intraspeaker variation, including those bas
attention paid to speech (e.g. Labov 1972), audience design (e.g. Bell 1984)
(e.g. Eckert 2000). SHARON ASH ('Social class', 402-22) reviews the sociolo
class and discusses its treatment in the sociolinguistic literature. Dealing with
politicized, and problematized' (423) task of correlating variation with speaker
IRE ('Sex and gender in variationist research', 423-43) reviews the role
linguistic variation and language change. CARMEN FOUGHT ('Ethnicity', 4
search on ethnicity, especially interethnic contacts, intraethnic variation, and
in language change.
The remaining chapters in this section concern the relation of the indiv
Noting the multivalent nature of individual identity, NORMA MENDOZA-DE
identity', 475-99) outlines different approaches to the study of identity and
based not only on sociodemographic categories, but also on practice and
HAZEN ('The family', 500-25) examines the effect of the family (here restri
family) on the acquisition of linguistic variation. MIRIAM MEYERHOFF ('Comm
526-48) defines the 'community of practice' (Wenger 1998, as adapted by Eck
Ginet (1999)) and reviews its treatment in the study of variation and chan
('Social networks', 549-72) discusses the role of social networks in langua
shift, the role of weak ties in language change, and the relation of netwo
PETER L. PATRICK ('The speech community', 573-97) reviews the differen
speech community, a traditional construct of sociolinguistics, and discus
models implicit in each definition.
The fourth part of the book deals with issues of language contact. DAVID B
spatial diffusion', 603-37) examines the development and maintenance of
well as the spatial diffusion of linguistic features. GILLIAN SANKOFF ('Lingui
guage contact', 638-68) outlines the linguistic consequences of language conta
importance of social context and the parallels of the outcomes of language c
second language acquisition. PAUL KERSWILL ('Koineization and accommod
cusses koineization, a process whereby 'new varieties of a language are broug
of contact between speakers of mutually intelligible varieties of that langua
The last part of the book deals generally with the study of variation acr
TRUDGILL ('Linguistic and social typology', 707-28) speculates on the rela
typology and 'non-lexical, core aspects of linguistic structure' (707), invokin
contact, community size, social networks, and conformity to explain cases of
tion, complexification, and redundancy. Belying Edgar Schneider's stateme
reconstruction is of no concern to the study of variation (68), SALI TAGLIAM
sociolinguistics', 729-63) demonstrates that the comparison of language-int
variability across different varieties of language can be used in historical re
disentangling source varieties. Finally, WALT WOLFRAM ('Language death
discusses types and models of language death and the role of variability and
languages and dialects.
Since space precludes a detailed discussion of each chapter, I address the
well this book meets the editors' stated goals. One goal is to 'find a balance
and-probably-true and the potentially productive' (1). The recurrent questi
approaches largely succeeds in meeting the second part of this goal. The chap
class, gender, and identity (among others) chart potentially productive areas
going beyond merely rehashing traditional treatments of these concepts and
disciplines such as sociology, social psychology, and ethnography. The co

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 REVIEWS 593

and-probably-true is l
goal of data collection
of data remain centra
chapters on data collec
1984), one of the defin
are devoted to implic
linguistic variation) an
studies of variation).
sion of methodology
methods of analysis an
contact is a chapter on
contact.

Another of the editors' goals is 'to strike a balance between the first two academic generatio
the founders, so to speak, and their intellectual offspring' (1). In this goal, they have larg
succeeded: The authors are all at various stages in their careers and represent a variety of bac
grounds and approaches. The problem is not so much the choice of authors as it is the approa
that some of them have taken, especially in the section on linguistic structure. For example,
the chapter on phonological theory, more space is devoted to a discussion of optimality-theor
approaches than to studies in which phonological theory has provided fruitful hypotheses
variationist analysis (cf. Guy 1991, Guy & Boberg 1997, Walker 2000). Syntactic theory
been used less frequently in variationist analysis, no doubt the source of Alison Henry's obser
tion that factors often appear without extensive discussion (277) (though it should be noted th
studies of grammatical variation typically discuss the factors at length). Her lament, howe
that 'there does not appear to be a theory of what can be a conditioning factor' (277) seem
confuse the METHOD of variationist analysis with a theory of language. The factors selecte
such analyses depend entirely on the researcher's hypotheses and theoretical framework. Fina
the chapter on discourse variation almost completely ignores the thorny problem of defining
envelope of variation for such features-that is, the contexts in discourse where the speaker h
a choice between functionally equivalent forms. Calculating the number of occurrences of
feature per 10,000 words (299) does not meet this requirement, because it incorrectly assu
that such contexts are distributed uniformly throughout speech (cf. Preston 2001:291).
These criticisms should not prevent this book from achieving its editors' primary goal, t
of providing 'a convenient, hand-held repository of the essential knowledge about the stud
language variation and change' (2). The book will serve as a valuable guide, not only for studen
newcomers to the field, and curious outsiders, but also for those of us who have worked a
continue to work in this paradigm.

REFERENCES

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DOUGHTY, CATHERINE, and MICHAEL H. LONG (eds.) 2003. The handbook of second language acquisition.
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ECKERT, PENELOPE. 2000. Linguistic variation as social practice. Oxford: Blackwell.

ECKERT, PENELOPE, and SALLY MCCONNELL-GINET. 1999. Think practically and look locally: Language and
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GOLDSMITH, JOHN (ed.) 1995. The handbook of phonology. Oxford: Blackwell.
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Department of Languages, Literatures, and Linguistics

York University
4700 Keele St.
Toronto, ON
M3J IP3, Canada

[jamesw@yorku.ca]

The syntax of adjuncts. By THOMAS ERNST. (Cambridge studies in linguistics.) Cam-

bridge: Cambridge University Press, 2002. Pp. 568. ISBN 052177134X. $95 (Hb).

Reviewed by ERIC POTSDAM, University of Florida

In his 1972 monograph Semantic interpretation in generative grammar, Ray Jackendoff begins
the chapter on adverbs saying, 'the adverb is perhaps the least studied and most maligned part
of speech, ... maltreated beyond the call of duty' (47). Thirty years later, adverbs and adverbials
are finally receiving the needed attention, and Thomas Ernst's book is an important and ambitious
contribution to the recent body of work. Its goal is a comprehensive theory of adverbial distribu-
tion: the base positions and licensing of a wide range of adverbs and adverbial expressions.
The book is transparently organized and well written and will be accessible to those with a
good understanding of current syntactic and semantic theory. It is data-rich, with most of the
evidence coming from English, supported by examples from Italian, French, and Chinese. In
many places, E is very careful to formulate descriptive generalizations, which any theory of

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