William Labov Quotes

• I have resisted the term sociolinguistics for many years, since it implies that there can be a successful linguistic theory or practice which is not social.

  William Labov

  Successful, Years, Practice

  William Labov (1972). “Sociolinguistic Patterns”, p.13, University of Pennsylvania Press

  18 Copy quote

• We focus upon pairs of words very often which are the same in some areas and different in other areas.

  William Labov

  Focus, Different, Pairs

  Interview with Rosanne Skirble, learningenglish.voanews.com. January 12, 2005.

  8 Copy quote

• This African American Vernacular English shares most of its grammar and vocabulary with other dialects of English. But it is distinct in many ways, and it is more different from standard English than any other dialect spoken in continental North America.

  William Labov

  America, Vocabulary, Different

  56 Copy quote

• An important aspect of the current situation is the strong social reaction against suggestions that the home language of African American children be used in the first steps of learning to read and write.

  William Labov

  Strong, Children, Home

  9 Copy quote

• It appears that the present-day form of African American English is not the inheritance of the period of slavery, but the creation of the second half of the 20th century.

  William Labov

  African American, Half, Slavery

  8 Copy quote

• I am now completing research supported by NSF and NEH that is mapping changes in the English language through all of North America, for both mainstream and minority communities.

  William Labov

  America, Community, Minorities

  22 Copy quote

• However, research in the years that followed found that in many of its important features, African American Vernacular English was becoming not less, but more different from other dialects.

  William Labov

  Years, African American, Important

  7 Copy quote

• Well, American dialects have been studied for a hundred years or so.

  William Labov

  Years, Dialect, Hundred

  "Sound Change". "Wordmaster" with Avi Arditti, Rosanne Skirble, learningenglish.voanews.com. January 12, 2005.

  7 Copy quote

• But unlike European countries, America has never finished a map of the United States, only the eastern United States is covered and a few spots here and there.

  William Labov

  Country, America, Europe

  "Interview with William Labov: Sound Change". "Wordmaster" with Avi Arditti and Rosanne Skirble, learningenglish.voanews.com. January 11, 2005.

  6 Copy quote

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