Language and Social Change in China

Qing Zhang is Associate Professor in the School of Anthropology at the University of Arizona, USA.

“Qing Zhang’s study of the emergence of Cosmopolitan Mandarin is a major contribution both to sociolinguistics and our understanding of the social changes taking place in contemporary China. She shows how speakers use innovative linguistic forms that not only reflect the transformation from an egalitarian society to a society with greater social differentiation, but also make a major contribution to emerging social distinctions. The book is essential reading for anyone who wishes to fully understand the changes occurring in the world’s most populous country.” Robert Bayley, University of California, Davis, USA“This volume is a brilliant account of the central role of stylistic practice in social and economic change. Blending traditions from Variationist Sociolinguistics and Linguistic Anthropology, Zhang produces a rich analysis of the relation between ideology and stylistic regimes in China’s emerging engagement with the global consumer society. A wonderful book.”Penelope Eckert, Stanford University, USAIn summary, this pioneering work has convincingly and sucessfully achieved its goal, as Qing Zhang argues- "The central theme of this book is about the mutually constitutive relation between language and social change" (p.1).Ke Zhang (Beijing Language and Culture University) Journal of Asian Pacific Communication 2018

• Introduction: Emerging Social Distinctions and the Semiotic Inadequacy of the "Common Speech"Chapter 1. Sociolinguistic Change, Style, and IdeologyChapter 2. Beijing Yuppies: The New Business EliteChapter 3. Cosmopolitan Mandarin in the Making of Beijing YuppiesChapter 4. Cosmopolitan Mandarin in the Making of a New Chinese Middle-Class ConsumerChapter 5. Warring Standards: Contesting the Enregisterment of Cosmopolitan MandarinChapter 6. A Style-Based Approach to Sociolinguistic Change