CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE SOCIOLOGY OF LANGUAGE brings to students, researchers and practitioners in all of the social and language-related sciences carefully selected book-length publications dealing with sociolinguistic theory, methods, findings and applications. It approaches the study of language in society in its broadest sense, as a truly international and interdisciplinary field in which various approaches, theoretical and empirical, supplement and complement each other. The series invites the attention of linguists, language teachers of all interests, sociologists, political scientists, anthropologists, historians etc. to the development of the sociology of language.

In line with the overall perspective of the Handbook series, the focus of Vol.9 is on language-related problems arising in the context of linguistic diversity and change, and the contributions Applied Linguistics can offer for solutions. Part I, "Language minorities and inequality," presents situations of language contact and linguistic diversity as world-wide phenomena. The focus is on indigenous and immigrant linguistic minorities, their (lack of) access to linguistic rights through language policies and the impact on their linguistic future .Part II "Language planning and language change," focuses on the impact of colonialism, imperialism, globalisation and economics as factors that language policies and planning measures must account for in responding to problems deriving from language contact and linguistic diversity. Part III, "Language variation and change in institutional contexts," examines language-related problems in selected institutional areas of communication (education, the law, religion, science, the Internet) which will often derive from socioeconomic, cultural and other non-linguistic asymmetries. Part IV, "The discourse of linguistic diversity and language change," analyses linguistic diversity, language change and language reform as issues of public debates which are informed by different ideological positions, values and attitudes (e.g. with reference to sexism, racism, and political correctness).The volume also contains extensive reference sections and index material.

In line with the overall perspective of the Handbook series, the focus of Vol.9 is on language-related problems arising in the context of linguistic diversity and change, and the contributions Applied Linguistics can offer for solutions. Part I, "Language minorities and inequality," presents situations of language contact and linguistic diversity as world-wide phenomena. The focus is on indigenous and immigrant linguistic minorities, their (lack of) access to linguistic rights through language policies and the impact on their linguistic future .Part II "Language planning and language change," focuses on the impact of colonialism, imperialism, globalisation and economics as factors that language policies and planning measures must account for in responding to problems deriving from language contact and linguistic diversity. Part III, "Language variation and change in institutional contexts," examines language-related problems in selected institutional areas of communication (education, the law, religion, science, the Internet) which will often derive from socioeconomic, cultural and other non-linguistic asymmetries. Part IV, "The discourse of linguistic diversity and language change," analyses linguistic diversity, language change and language reform as issues of public debates which are informed by different ideological positions, values and attitudes (e.g. with reference to sexism, racism, and political correctness).The volume also contains extensive reference sections and index material.

Mit diesem Buch wird die erste internationale Beschreibung eines Phanomens v rge legt, das a Iss pektakul arste s prach Ii che Ersche i nung der I etzten fUnfzehn Jahre bezeichnet werden muB: Sprachwandel unter dem EinfluB der Frauenbewegung, wie er sich in zahlreichen patriarchalischen Sprachgemein- schaften nachweisen laBt. Wahrend fUr das Eng Ii sche und das Deutsche bere i ts verschi edene Analysen der wichtigsten sprachl ichen Veranderungen, insbes. im Bereich der Personenbezeichnungen, vorliegen, stehen vergleichbare Untersuchungen fUr andere Sprachen noch weitgehend aus oder sind im deutschen Sprachraum sd gut wie unbekannt. Das trifft z.B. auf die folgenden Sprachen zu: das Italienische, das Spanische, das Griechische, das Danische, das Norwegi- sche und das Niederlandische. Das vorliegende Buch dokumentiert nun auch fUr diese Sprachen - vor dem Hintergrund einer Analyse sexistischer Sprachmuster - gegenwartige Tendenzen des Sprachwandels und zeigt zugleich Ansatze feministischer Sprachpolitik auf, wie sie - nach Anfangen in den USA - zur Zeit auch in Europa, i nsbes. in Landern der Europa i schen Gemeinschaft, diskutiert werden. In den hier vertretenen europaischen Sprachen besteht ein MiBverhalt- nis zwischen den Erfahrungen von Frauen und den sprachlichen Mitteln, die i hnen fUr die Verba lis i erung d i eser Erfahrungen zur VerfUgung stehen.