WP177 Sociolinguistics and security.

In this paper, we explore the sociolinguistic significance of research which treats security as a social and discursive practice, also bringing in notions like ?enemy?, ?existential threat? and ?exceptional measures?.? We begin by reviewing some key concepts in security studies ? ?securitisation?, the ?state?, ?borders? and ?surveillance? ? and we then focus more closely on some of the ways in which these ideas can make a distinctive contribution to mainstream sociolinguistics and its interest in everyday life.? After that, we move to two short case studies.? The first, focused on Cyprus, points to some of the distinctive sociolinguistic processes that emerge in situations when security issues have had a high public profile, while the second shows how language itself is being increasingly securitised in contemporary Britain.