Affiliation:
1. University of Arizona , Tucson, AZ, USA
2. Aoyama Gakuin University , Tokyo, Japan
Abstract
Abstract
The goal of this chapter is to understand what contextual conditions make so-called ‘identifying’ dogwhistles possible, to understand when it is rational for speakers to use identifying dogwhistles, and to understand what kind of language makes for a good 56identifying dogwhistle. To reach these goals we must go beyond standard sociolinguistic theory in terms of how to think about variants, and also beyond the formal model of variation developed in Burnett 2017, 2019. Interactions involving identifying dogwhistles do not just seem more complicated, but prove to require richer formals systems to model them. By building such a model in this chapter, we will begin to see more clearly the shape of the phenomenon. In particular, we extend Burnett 2017, 2019 and show how dogwhistles arise under various parameter settings of the model.
Publisher
Oxford University PressOxford