SOCIOLINGUISTIC VARIATION IN THE NAMES OF MEALS

Authors

  • Félix Rodríguez-González

Keywords:

Sociolinguistics, linguistic variation, linguistic change, lexicography, stylistics, English dialectology, history of English

Abstract

The purpose of this study is twofold: First, to describe the different designations of meals in English, both at a synchronic and diachronic level, by examining the existing written literature (lexicographic works, media, adverts) Second, to explain the different factors of both a linguistic and extralinguistic (social) mature, which account for the variation found in the names of the two main meales in Britain (lunch/dinner, dinner(tea/supper) while pointing out the inadequacies discovered in some of the studies dealing with this subject. All findings were reached through empirical data obtained by means of interviews in two areas, Northern and Southern England. The paper also speculates on the various conditions which led to the changes which have occurred within the semantic field of meals in the English language and points out the striking parallelism that exists in these designations and those of other languages, especially French and Spanish

Author Biography

Félix Rodríguez-González

Departamento de Filología Inglesa Facultad de Filosofía y Letras Universidad de Alicante

Issue

Section

Artículos