WP72 Social status relations and enregisterment in contemporary Copenhagen
Madsen
2011
Collection: Uncategorized Key word social meaning
Abstract
This paper approaches ongoing sociolinguistic processes in Copenhagen by studying practices of assigning wider social meaning to language use. Drawing on the case study of a group of adolescents with minority background in contemporary Copenhagen, I focus on their overt metalinguistic activities. I aim to shed light on how social power differences are refracted in the metalinguistic activities of these adolescents in spite of the relatively homogenous (or hegemonic) sociolinguistic conditions of Danish society. I investigate how social status relations understood as a conception of societal ?high? and ?low? are relevant to ongoing social value ascriptions to particular speech styles among young Copenhageners.