Grammar and the Influence of Society and Culture

Abstract

The influence of society and culture on grammar is studied within two major approaches. The sociolinguistic approach analyzes grammatical variation (along with any other linguistic variation) in relation to societal variation and cultural norms. Society and culture are treated closely in this approach with a particular focus on a "behaviorist" interpretation of culture (see Sarangi, 2009). The most prominent work in this regard is research done by William Labov and others (e.g., Labov, 1972, 1980, 2006). An approach that is mainly concerned with the infl uence of culture on language is ethnosyntax. Here a "mentalist" or "semiotic" interpretation of culture (see Sarangi, 2009) is of more importance. This entry will represent the perspective of the ethnosyntax approach.