A importância de estudos de avaliação e percepções sociolinguísticas

Abstract

This article argues that (i) just as in language production, linguistic evaluation and perceptions exhibit orderly heterogeneity; and (ii) studies on evaluation and perceptions are central not only for understanding the processes of language variation and change (WEINREICH; LABOV; HERZOG, 2006 [1968]), but also for promoting linguistic respect (SCHERRE, 2020). To these ends, we initially review a few studies on evaluation and perceptions that show the systematicity of their variation patterns; next, we present a method for modeling indexical fields (ECKERT, 2008), a concept that allows for the operationalization of multiple social meanings of linguistic variants. Finally, we argue that linguists themselves still know little about the mechanisms of association between certain linguistic variants and social meanings, and that it is necessary to develop more systematic studies on evaluations and perceptions in order to diminish language prejudice and to promote language diversity.