³ ~soclab04.00 º UP: <[LINK]> ³
³ compare with Hymes classi- º NEXT: open ³
³ fication º <[LINK] - ³
Hymes is correct in asserting that Labov focuses on the
referential (as defined by Hymes) rather than the social aspects
of language. However, Labov's empirical work in referential
variables rests firmly on a foundation of implicit social
theorizing about the nature of the boundaries of speech
communities--both what makes the speech community a coherent
whole as well as what elements it can be divided into--classes,
situations, registers, styles, ages, genders, ethnicities and so
forth. <[LINK]> Labov cannot proceed with his referential
analysis until his social analysis is in place. In this, his work
is socially constituted. Although his approach differs from
Hymes' in privileging the etic, empirical testing of variables
<[LINK]> rather than searching for local meaning from the
perspective of a member of the speech community, <[LINK]> his
aims are similar. Labov, like Hymes the socially constituted
linguist, critiques what he perceives to be an arbitrary division
between language and society. <[LINK]>
see also: <[LINK] -socially realistic>