Reading Working Papers in Linguistics 4 (2000) - The University of ...

SOCIAL NETWORKS IN A RURAL SETTING
5.5 Life Modes and Language
Pedersen differentiates between urban, rural, and composite life modes
(Pedersen 1994: 106). The latter can be dominated by either a rural or an
urban mentality or orientation. In her study, the informants who have ruraldominated
composite life modes generally have higher dialect scores than
those with urban-dominated composite life modes with the same network
scores.
Pedersen’s data shows (at least as far as the men are concerned) that
there is a connection between dialect use and life mode, or the way one views
oneself, which cannot be explained by network indicators (p. 107). She posits
that life mode cannot be quantified, nor analysed quantitatively as a variable,
but rather sees it as a picture one can build up of an informant by using an
extended interview. In this study we have designed a questionnaire, and
shown that one can in fact arrive at an index score for life mode and use it
effectively as an analytical tool.
Pedersen concludes that linguistic standardisation is a ‘mechanical’
consequence of the transition from a rural to an urban occupation (p. 112).
The degree of linguistic (mental) urbanisation can be measured through an
analysis of the speaker’s network character. This, however, does not always
suffice, as some variation is left unaccounted for. Some speakers choose to
signal their rural ties, or life mode, by using dialect features in a handful of
words, where others with the same network indicators, but urban-dominated
composite life modes, do not. She is convinced that linguistic groups are not
automatically the same as social groups, and that the notion of life modes,
with its emphasis on both a material and an ideological aspect, can lead to a
better understanding of the relationship between language and social identity
(p. 113). This view is supported by the data from the Doric study. As is shown
later in the data analysis section, life mode scores account for linguistic
variation far better than social network indicators, even once they have both
been rigorously tested using statistical methods.
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