Introduction [to Positioning the self and others. Linguistic Perspectives]

This chapter introduces to main topics of the volume, which aims to focus specifically on the linguistic means used to index the relationship between the self and other(s) in different types of communicative activity. The volume makes no claims to exhaustivity. The linguistic features which primarily emerged as relevant from the different contributions are : a) T/V address terms and vocatives, b) pragmatic markers c) code switching/code choice and d) orthography. These elements relate, in the case of a), to the conventionalised encoding of social hierarchies and power relations, in the case of b), to stance-taking and social indexicalisation and, in the case of c) and d), to more broadly circulating language ideologies.