Language and Society ― An Introduction

Language and Society is an introduction to the interaction of language and society, intended for undergraduate students in any discipline. The book focuses in particular the complex political and sociological roles of the world's dominant language groups and nationalized languages, and the rapid extinction of minority languages.

As individuals adopt new ways of speaking, many languages are disappearing, while others are evolving into hybrid languages with distinctive new forms, with young speakers creating novel expressions and innovative pronunciations. Through a variety of case studies, Andrew Simpson explains language variation and change, and how they relate to societal structures, group expression, and identity. Above all, he shows that language has the power to facilitate or inhibit access to education, advances in employment, and the development of social status.

Andrew Simpson is Professor of Linguistics at the University of Southern California. He is the editor of Language and National Identity in Asia (Oxford University Press, 2007), Language and National Identity in Africa (Oxford University Press, 2008), and the author of many articles in linguistic journals on aspects of the languages of South Asia, East Asia, and Southeast Asia. He is also joint general editor of the Journal of East Asian Linguistics.