Linguistic analysis from the perspective of identity: the role of the speaker's identity sociolinguistic profile

Abstract

This article proposes a reflection on the importance of the speaker's identity sociolinguistic profile as a fundamental axis for a contextualized analysis of linguistic data. Based on the contributions of the third wave of Sociolinguistics (Eckert, 2000; 2012), we argue that linguistic uses cannot be understood solely through structural and sociocultural variables but must be analyzed as indexical practices that construct and perform social identities. In this sense, the sociolinguistic profile emerges as a theoretical-methodological tool capable of tightening the interconnections between linguistic variation, stylistic agency (Coupland, 2007), and identity positioning. Considering the identity focus, this article argues that the observation of sociocultural varieties requires an approach that evaluates the ways in which speakers socially situate themselves through stylized linguistic choices. Thus, the study of the identity sociolinguistic profile becomes essential to capture the complexity of the linguistic phenomenon in its social, symbolic, and performative dimensions. In conclusion, we consider that linking the notion of style to the mapping of the identity sociolinguistic profile aims to enrich sociolinguistic studies with perspectives more sensitive to the linguistic and social diversity of speakers, outlining a sociolinguistic snapshot of the analyzed community based on the actual uses promoted by social identities.