英語の書記体系を題材に「社会言語学」してみたらどうなるだろうか．Coulmas の論文は，そのような試みである．
　新しいメディアやコミュニケーションの発達，そしてそれに伴う言語行動パターンの変化により，近い将来，英語の書き言葉はどのように変化していくのだろうか．誰にとっても未知の領域ではあるが，Coulmas (271-72) が論点をいくつか挙げている．

　・ The admittance of spell checkers and electronic dictionaries in ever-lower grades at school could alter public attitudes toward the importance of spelling.
　・ By virtue of easy access to materials in other languages and automatic translation software, language contact in the written mode has acquired a new dimension.
　・ Non-native written English text is made public on an unprecedented scale.
　・ Communities of vernacular writing are more easily formed. To what extent is this potential actually exploited?
　・ More people partake in word play (Leetspeak, Lolcat) and Internet memes like Doge.
　・ Non-standard and loaded spellings (e.g., imagiNation, a book title prior to Scotland's independence referendum) and cacography (wot? magick, marshall law) can gain currency in ways unimaginable only a generation ago (by 'going viral'). The exposure of the reading public to text on the Internet that has not gone through the traditional filters has grown exponentially. Will this have an effect on what is considered Standard English?
　・ The authority the written word was traditionally accorded could be undermined and the grip of norm-preserving institutions (i.e., school, government printing offices, newspapers, dictionaries) on the language could weaken as a result.
　・ New forms of writing practices evolve as the new media take hold in society. The handwritten CV is already anachronistic, while it is becoming more common for employers to screen job applicants' social media pages. At the same time, digital literacy is becoming ever more important for any employment and full participation in society.

　Coulmas の挙げている論点から浮かび上がってくるのは，世界中のメディア空間においてますます多くの非標準的な英語表記が飛び交うことにより，従来の標準的な書記からの逸脱が進行するのではないか，という近未来像だ．もちろん他に論点はあり得るし，標準からの逸脱に抵抗する力学も何らかの形で作用するに違いない．一度ゼミなどで議論するにふさわしい話題とみた．

　・ Coulmas, Florian. "Sociolinguistics and the English Writing System." The Routledge Handbook of the English Writing System. Ed. Vivian Cook and Des Ryan. London: Routledge, 2016. 261--74.

[ ツイート | 固定リンク | 印刷用ページ ]