Table Of ContentLanguage, Society and Power
Language, Society and Power is an accessible introduction to studying
language in a variety of social contexts.
This book examines the ways language functions, how it infl uences the
way we view society and how it varies according to age, ethnicity, class and
gender. It considers whether representations of people and their language
matter, explores how identity is constructed and performed and considers
the creative potential of language in the media, politics and everyday talk.
The fi fth edition of this popular textbook features:
■ Updated chapters with new activities;
■ Examples that include material related to youth language, computer-
mediated communication, texting and electronic communication;
■ New material on online mass media, fake news and Twitter as a form of
political agency;
■ More discussion of social media, social networking, memes and mobile
communication;
■ An introduction to the concepts of translanguaging and superdiversity;
■ An expanded Gender chapter that explores binary gender identities;
■ A companion website which includes more video material to support
learning as students make their way through the book.
Language, Society and Power assumes no linguistic background among
readers and is a must-read for all students of English language and
linguistics, media, communication, cultural studies, sociology and psychology
who are studying language and society for the fi rst time.
Annabelle Mooney is Professor of Language and Society at the University
of Roehampton, UK.
Betsy Evans is Associate Professor of Linguistics at the University of
Washington, USA.
“Language, Society and Power is an outstanding introduction to the fi eld
of sociolinguistics. It addresses topics and issues that are important in the
linguistics fi eld but also make immediate and clear connections to students’
daily life . . . Whenever I ask classes if I should use this text again, the stu-
dents always say yes – with great enthusiasm.”
Joy Janzen, Stony Brook University, USA
“This latest edition is an excellent text to introduce students to Sociolinguis-
tics . . . I particularly enjoyed the way issues of power and ideology thread
through the text with up-to-date examples. Language, Society and Power
is an invaluable tool for practitioners and any would-be-practitioner in the
fi elds of language and society.”
Ayo Amuda, University of South Wales, UK
“I adopted this text for my undergraduate general education course on ‘Lan-
guage and Culture’ at National Chung Cheng University in Taiwan . . . Highly
recommended!”
Victoria Rau, National Chung Cheng University, Taiwan
Language, Society
and Power
An Introduction
Fifth Edition
Annabelle Mooney and Betsy Evans
Fifth edition published 2019
by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon, OX14 4RN
and by Routledge
711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
© 2019 Annabelle Mooney and Betsy Evans
The right of Annabelle Mooney and Betsy Evans to be identifi ed as authors of this work has
been asserted by them in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and
Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form
or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including
photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without
permission in writing from the publishers.
Trademark notice : Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks,
and are used only for identifi cation and explanation without intent to infringe.
First edition published by Routledge 1999
Fourth edition published by Routledge 2015
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Mooney, Annabelle, 1974– author. | Evans, Betsy, 1966– author.
Title: Language, society and power : an introduction / Annabelle Mooney and Betsy Evans.
Description: Fifth edition. | Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon ; New York, NY :
Routledge, 2019. | Includes bibliographical references.
Identifi ers: LCCN 2018019738 | ISBN 9780415786225 (hbk) |
ISBN 9780415786249 (pbk) | ISBN 9780429447006 (ebk)
Subjects: LCSH: Language and languages. | Sociolinguistics. |
BISAC: LANGUAGE ARTS & DISCIPLINES / Linguistics / Sociolinguistics. |
LANGUAGE ARTS & DISCIPLINES / Linguistics / General. |
LANGUAGE ARTS & DISCIPLINES / Communication Studies.
Classifi cation: LCC P40 .L29987 2019 | DDC 306.44—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2018019738
ISBN: 978-0-415-78622-5 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-0-415-78624-9 (pbk)
ISBN: 978-0-429-44700-6 (ebk)
Typeset in Akzidenz Grotesk
by Apex CoVantage, LLC
Visit the companion website: www.routledge.com/cw/mooney
For Debbie and Jen
Contents
List of fi gures xiii
List of images xiv
List of tables xv
Transcription conventions xvi
Preface to the fi fth edition xvii
Preface to the fourth edition xviii
Preface to the third edition xx
Preface to the second edition xxii
Preface to the fi rst edition xxiv
Acknowledgements xxvi
1 Language? 1
1.1 Introduction 1
1.2 Why study language? 2
1.3 What is language? 5
1.3.1 Language: a system 5
1.3.2 Language: a system with variation 8
1.3.3 The potential to create new meanings 8
1.4 The ‘rules’ of language: prescription versus description 10
1.5 Power 14
1.5.1 Ideology 17
1.6 ‘Political correctness’ 19
1.7 Summary 22
Further reading 23
2 Language thought and representation 24
2.1 Introduction 24
2.2 Language as a system of representation 24
2.2.1 Different kinds of language 26
2.2.2 Signs and structure 28
2.3 Linguistic diversity 29
2.3.1 Semantics 30
2.3.2 Syntax 31
2.4 The Sapir-Whorf hypothesis 32
2.4.1 Linguistic relativism and determinism 32
2.4.2 Numbers and things 34
VIII CONTENTS
2.5 One language, many worlds 35
2.6 A model for analysing language 38
2.6.1 Transitivity 39
2.7 Summary 42
Further reading 42
3 Language and politics 44
3.1 Introduction 44
3.2 What is ‘politics’? 45
3.3 Politics and ideology 45
3.4 Three persuasive strategies 47
3.5 Fracking: introducing linguistic tools 47
3.5.1 Contrasts 48
3.5.2 Three-part lists and parallelism 48
3.5.3 Pronouns 51
3.5.4 Presupposition 52
3.5.5 Metaphor and intertextuality 53
3.6 Words and weapons: the politics of war 55
3.6.1 Toys and politics 57
3.7 Language, ideology and metaphor 58
3.7.1 Student as customer 61
3.8 Twitter and political agency 63
3.9 Silly citizenship 65
3.9.1 ‘Terrorism alert desk’ 65
3.10 Summary 67
Further reading 68
4 Language and the media 69
4.1 Introduction 69
4.2 Mass media 70
4.3 Manufacture of consent 71
4.3.1 Filtering the facts 72
4.4 News values 76
4.4.1 Actors and events 77
4.5 Experts and the news 79
4.6 News online 82
4.6.1 Presentation of news on the internet 86
4.6.2 The inverted pyramid 90
4.6.3 Commenting on the news 91
4.7 Tweeting news 92
4.8 Fake news 94
4.8.1 ‘Fake news’ as delegitimising accusation 95
4.8.2 Fabricated news reports to misinform 95
4.8.3 Fabricated news reports to entertain 96
4.8.4 Comedy news shows 97
4.9 Summary 97
Further reading 98
CONTENTS IX
5 Linguistic landscapes 99
5.1 Introduction 99
5.2 Defining the linguistic landscape 99
5.2.1 Space and meaning 104
5.2.2 Different kinds of signs 106
5.2.3 Top-down and bottom-up as a continuum 107
5.3 Signs and multilingualism and power 112
5.3.1 Invisible language 112
5.4 Signs and ideology 114
5.5 Transgressive signs: graffiti 116
5.6 Online landscapes 117
5.6.1 Twitter 118
5.6.2 Instagram 119
5.6.3 Emoji 121
5.6.4 Memes 122
5.7 Summary 124
Further reading 125
6 Language and gender 126
6.1 Introduction 126
6.2 What is gender? 126
6.3 Inequality at the lexical level 128
6.3.1 Marked terms 128
6.3.2 ‘Generic’ he 130
6.3.3 Sexism in word order 131
6.3.4 Semantic derogation 133
6.4 Differences in language use: doing being a woman
or a man 134
6.4.1 Tag questions 135
6.5 Gossip 136
6.5.1 Gossip and men 139
6.5.2 Features of men’s talk 141
6.6 Gender and power 142
6.6.1 Do women talk more than men? 143
6.6.2 Gender or power? 144
6.7 Gendered talk: performing identity 146
6.7.1 ‘Dude’ 146
6.7.2 Mate 147
6.7.3 Variation 149
6.8 Summary 151
Further reading 151
7 Language and ethnicity 152
7.1 Introduction 152
7.2 What do we mean by ‘ethnicity’? 153
7.3 Ethnicity, the nation state and multilingualism 154
