Date: Tue, 5 Aug 1997 14:34:54 -0400 From: Tony Schiavo Subject: New Books: Dialectology John Benjamins Publishing would like to call your attention to the following new titles in the field of Dialectology: DIALECT DEATH THE CASE OF BRULE SPANISH Charles E Holloway 1997 x, 220 pp. Studies in Bilingualism, 13 US/Canada: Cloth: 1 55619 547 8 Price: $69.00 Rest of the world: Cloth: 90 272 4119 8 Price: Hfl. 120,-- John Benjamins Publishing web site: http://www.benjamins.com For further information via e-mail: service[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]benjamins.com The Brule Dwellers of Ascension Parish are descendants of Canary Island immigrants who came to Louisiana in the late 1700s. A few residents in and around the Ascension Parish area still speak an archaic dialect of Spanish which is at the brink of linguistic extinction. Because the Brule dialect is in the final stages of what is commonly known as "language death", the case of Brule Spanish presents an exciting opportunity to investigate commonly held assumptions regarding the structural changes often associated with vestigial languages. Its relative isolation from other dialects of Spanish for over two hundred years serves as a sort of linguistic "time capsule" which provides information that is relevant to critical outstanding issues in Hispanic dialectology and historical linguistics. In addition to examining these issues, documenting the specific characteristics of Brule Spanish, and comparing Brule Spanish with other modern Spanish dialects, this book presents a very accessible introduction to the field of language death. STANDARDS AND VARIATION IN URBAN SPEECH SOME EXAMPLES FROM LOWLAND SCOTS Ronald K.S. Macaulay 1997 x, 201 pp. Varieties of English Around the World, 20 US/Canada: Cloth: 1 55619 717 9 Price: US$64.00 Rest of the world: Cloth: 90 272 4878 8 Price: Hfl. 120,-- John Benjamins Publishing web site: http://www.benjamins.com For further information via e-mail: service[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]benjamins.com Standards and Variation in Urban Speech is an examination and exploration of the aims and methods of sociolinguistic investigation, based on studies of Scottish urban speech. It criticially examines the implications of the notions 'vernacular', 'standard language', 'Received Pronunciation', 'social class', and 'linguistic insecurity'. Through a combination of quantitative and qualitative methods using examples from comedians' jokes, dialect poetry, formal and informal interviews, and personal narratives, the work illustrates the actual norms that speakers exemplify in various ways. For further information please e-mail Bernadette Keck: service[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]benjamins.com