| Paper Abstract and Keywords |
| Presentation |
2026-03-05 15:40
[Invited Talk]
Reconsidering 'Society' in Sociolinguistics
-- Variation, Voice Quality, and Social Meaning --
Ichiro Ota (Kagoshima Univ.) |
| Abstract |
(in Japanese) |
(See Japanese page) |
| (in English) |
This paper reconsiders what 'society' means in sociolinguistics by tracing theoretical developments from variationist sociolinguistics to contemporary sociophonetics. It reviews the three waves of variation studies, showing a shift from correlations between linguistic variables and fixed social categories toward an understanding of language as social practice, where speakers actively construct social meaning through stylistic choices. Particular attention is paid to the third wave, which integrates concepts such as indexicality, stance, and ideology to explain how linguistic variation functions as a resource for persona construction.
The paper then examines sociophonetics as a field that brings acoustic detail into sociolinguistic analysis, highlighting voice quality as a key site where social meaning is produced and interpreted. Drawing on Japanese data, especially studies of “anime voice,” the author argues that voice quality operates as a sociocultural register shaped by shared ideologies, media circulation, and repeated stylistic use. These vocal styles are not static but are continuously reinterpreted as social meanings shift.
Finally, the paper attempts to suggest a tentative explanatory model of social meaning by mediating between a cognitive processing model of social meaning based on exemplar theory and the multilayered indexicality of linguistic signs. |
| Keyword |
(in Japanese) |
(See Japanese page) |
| (in English) |
Social Meaning / Linguistic Variation / Indexicality / Voice Quality / Enregisterment / / / |
| Reference Info. |
IEICE Tech. Rep. |
| Paper # |
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| Date of Issue |
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| ISSN |
Online edition: ISSN 2432-6380 |
| Download PDF |
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| Conference Information |
| Committee |
TL |
| Conference Date |
2026-03-05 - 2026-03-06 |
| Place (in Japanese) |
(See Japanese page) |
| Place (in English) |
National Tsing Hua University (Taiwan) |
| Topics (in Japanese) |
(See Japanese page) |
| Topics (in English) |
Theme 1: ELF, Conversation Analysis, Multimodal Interaction, Intercultural Communication, Theme 2: Assistive Language tools, Generative AI, Knowledge, Concepts, Vocabulary and its Structure, Theme 3: Linguistic Landscape, Language Contact, Interpretation and Translation, Intercultural Dialogue, Language and Learning ∙ Language Learning. |
| Paper Information |
| Registration To |
TL |
| Conference Code |
2026-03-TL |
| Language |
English |
| Title (in Japanese) |
(See Japanese page) |
| Sub Title (in Japanese) |
(See Japanese page) |
| Title (in English) |
Reconsidering 'Society' in Sociolinguistics |
| Sub Title (in English) |
Variation, Voice Quality, and Social Meaning |
| Keyword(1) |
Social Meaning |
| Keyword(2) |
Linguistic Variation |
| Keyword(3) |
Indexicality |
| Keyword(4) |
Voice Quality |
| Keyword(5) |
Enregisterment |
| Keyword(6) |
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| Keyword(7) |
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| Keyword(8) |
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| 1st Author's Name |
Ichiro Ota |
| 1st Author's Affiliation |
Kagoshima University (Kagoshima Univ.) |
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| Speaker |
Author-1 |
| Date Time |
2026-03-05 15:40:00 |
| Presentation Time |
50 minutes |
| Registration for |
TL |
| Paper # |
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| Volume (vol) |
vol.125 |
| Number (no) |
no.392 |
| Page |
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| #Pages |
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| Date of Issue |
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