Young people's varieties

Abstract

Under what circumstances do young people speak in a way that differs significantly from that of their parents' generation? This chapter presents a summary of documented ways of speaking by young adults and children where the ways of speaking differ from those of prior generations. It covers a range of types of languages, from traditional languages with relatively little change, to the emergence of new varieties. In many of the contexts reported on here, young people learn multiple ways of speaking as they grow up, interacting in each language or variety according to their relationship with the person they are speaking to, and the kind of social situation they are in. It is argued that adapting to the sociolinguistic environment and bringing changes into the languages is a mechanism that enables language continuity in the face of severe language endangerment. Show more