scholarly journals Syntactic Change in Late Modern English

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Erik Smitterberg
Keyword(s):  
Case Studies ◽  
Corpus Linguistics ◽  
Language Change ◽  
Social Changes ◽  
Syntactic Change ◽  
Original Case ◽  
And Gender ◽  
The Many ◽  
Linguistic Units ◽  
Late Modern

Syntactic Change in Late Modern English presents a stability paradox to linguists; despite the many social changes that took place between 1700 and 1900, the language appeared to be structurally stable during this period. This book resolves this paradox by presenting a new, idiolect-centred perspective on language change, and shows how this framework is applicable to change in any language. It then demonstrates how an idiolect-centred framework can be reconciled with corpus-linguistic methodology through four original case studies. These concern colloquialization (the process by which oral features spread to writing) and densification (the process by which meaning is condensed into shorter linguistic units), two types of change that characterize Modern English. The case studies also shed light on the role of genre and gender in language change and contribute to the discussion of how to operationalize frequency in corpus linguistics. This study will be essential reading for researchers in historical linguistics, corpus linguistics and sociolinguistics.

Mechanisms of language change in a functional system

2012 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 83-132 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nadja Nesselhauf
Keyword(s):  
Language Change ◽  
Functional System ◽  
Future Time ◽  
Cultural Changes ◽  
Modern Period ◽  
Frequent Use ◽  
Major Shift ◽  
The Subject ◽  
The Many ◽  
Late Modern

In this paper, the semantic developments of the major future time expressions in Late Modern English are traced in detail, with the aim of uncovering mechanisms of language change in a complex functional system. The results of the study reveal that to express a pure prediction, the major shift that has taken place in the Late Modern period is from a comparatively frequent use of shall to a comparatively frequent use of ’ll; that to express a prediction based on the intention of the subject, BE going to and the present progressive have replaced will and shall to a certain degree; and that to express a prediction based on a previous arrangement, earlier uses of the simple present have been replaced to a considerable degree by the progressive with future time reference. In addition, the construction WANT to is identified as what may be called an emerging future marker, which has started to be used for predictions based on the subject’s intention. Finally, the possible contribution of certain stylistic and socio-cultural changes to the many recent changes in the system of English future time expressions is also considered, such as the complexification of society, (pseudo-)democratization, and a tendency of many text types towards a more personal style.

scholarly journals Information Structure and Language Change

2014 ◽  
Author(s):  
Regine Eckardt ◽  
Augustin Speyer
Keyword(s):  
Case Studies ◽  
Information Structure ◽  
Language Change ◽  
Semantic Composition ◽  
Syntactic Change ◽  
Specific Focus ◽  
Germanic Languages

This article explores the effect of language change on focusing and focus constructions based on observations and case studies. It begins by analysing bleached focus and contrasts it with independent focus. It also makes a distinction between universal focus effects and language-specific focus operators to show how language change can affect the specific parts of the grammar of focus. The discussion then turns to the emergence of focus sensitive particles, with particular reference to the semantic units that precede focus as part of semantic composition. The Jespersen Cycle is considered as a classic example of independent focus that gets bleached and finally lost. The article concludes by looking at information structure and syntactic change in the rise and loss of V2 in Germanic languages. It demonstrates how bleached focus can bridge the gap between the formal focus and informal notions of information structure.

scholarly journals Caring Revolutionary Transformation: Combined Effects of a Universal Basic Income and a Public Model of Care

2018 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Zuzana Uhde
Keyword(s):  
Gender Equity ◽  
Meaningful Work ◽  
Social Solidarity ◽  
Basic Income ◽  
Social Changes ◽  
Model Of Care ◽  
Primary Responsibility ◽  
The Social ◽  
And Gender ◽  
Late Modern

Abstract This paper explores the possibilities of the recognition and valuation of care by implementing an unconditional basic income (UBI) and presents a feminist redefinition of the concept of a UBI. The author proposes the notion of a caring revolutionary transformation as a process of institutionalising the social and economic conditions for recognition of care which is a cornerstone of struggles for women’s emancipation and gender equity. It is a process of practically realisable transformative steps which together with their combined and mutually reinforcing effects enable more radical social changes beyond a mere reform. The author argues that these transformative steps have to address two conditions embedded in the institutionalised structures of late modern capitalist society: the limited understanding of meaningful work as paid employment; and the liberal ideal of the independent and autonomous individual. Whereas a UBI can challenge the first condition, a public model of care questions the second condition by shifting the primary responsibility of care from the family towards a social solidarity. While insufficient when introduced separately, the combination of these two remedies has the potential to radically alter social structures on which gendered inequalities rest.

Varieties of non-obvious meaning in CL and CADS: from ‘hindsight post-dictability’ to sweet serendipity

Corpora ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 339-367 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alan Partington
Keyword(s):  
Case Studies ◽  
Corpus Linguistics ◽  
Macro Level ◽  
Discourse Studies ◽  
Micro Level ◽  
Special Relevance

In this paper, I want to examine the special relevance of (non)obviousness in corpus linguistics through drawing on case studies. The research discussion is divided into two parts. The first is an examination of (non)obviousness at the micro-level, that is, in lexico-grammatical analyses, whilst the second looks at the more macro-level of (non)obviousness on the plane of discourse. In the final sections, I will examine various types of non-obvious meaning one can come across in Corpus-assisted Discourse Studies (CADS), which range from: ‘I knew that all along (now)’ to ‘that's interesting’ to ‘I sensed that but didn't know why’ (intuitive impressions and corpus-assisted explanations) to ‘I never even knew I never knew that’ (serendipity or ‘non-obvious non-obviousness’, analogous to ‘unknown unknowns’).

Unrivalled Influence

2013 ◽  
Author(s):  
Judith Herrin
Keyword(s):  
Political Life ◽  
General Introduction ◽  
Women And Gender ◽  
Mothers And Daughters ◽  
Diverse Range ◽  
Long Span ◽  
Imperial Court ◽  
And Gender ◽  
The Many ◽  
First Time

This book explores the exceptional roles that women played in the vibrant cultural and political life of medieval Byzantium. This book evokes the complex and exotic world of Byzantium's women, from empresses and saints to uneducated rural widows. Drawing on a diverse range of sources, the book sheds light on the importance of marriage in imperial statecraft, the tense coexistence of empresses in the imperial court, and the critical relationships of mothers and daughters. It looks at women's interactions with eunuchs, the in-between gender in Byzantine society, and shows how women defended their rights to hold land. The book describes how women controlled their inheritances, participated in urban crowds demanding the dismissal of corrupt officials, followed the processions of holy icons and relics, and marked religious feasts with liturgical celebrations, market activity, and holiday pleasures. The vivid portraits that emerge here reveal how women exerted an unrivalled influence on the patriarchal society of Byzantium, and remained active participants in the many changes that occurred throughout the empire's millennial history. The book brings together the author's finest essays on women and gender written throughout the long span of her career. This volume includes three new essays published here for the very first time and a new general introduction. It also provides a concise introduction to each essay that describes how it came to be written and how it fits into her broader views about women and Byzantium.

Vamping the Stage

2017 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Popular Music ◽  
New Technologies ◽  
The Philippines ◽  
Women Performers ◽  
New Music ◽  
Women's Voices ◽  
Post Colonial ◽  
Musical Practices ◽  
The Many ◽  
Late Modern

Vamping the Stage is the first book-length historical and comparative examination of women, modernity, and popular music in Asia. This book documents the many ways that women performers have supported, challenged, and undermined representations of existing gendered norms in the entertainment industries of China, Japan, India, Indonesia, Iran, Korea, Malaysia, and the Philippines. The case studies in this volume address colonial, post-colonial, as well as late modern conditions of culture as they relate to women’s musical practices and their changing social and cultural identities throughout Asia. Female entertainers were artistic pioneers of new music, new cinema, new forms of dance and theater, and new behavior and morals. Their voices, mediated through new technologies of film, radio, and the phonograph, changed the soundscape of global popular music and resonate today in all spheres of modern life. These female performers were not merely symbols of times that were rapidly changing. They were active agents in the creation of local performance cultures and the rise of a region-wide and globally oriented entertainment industry. Placing women’s voices in social and historical contexts, the authors critically analyze salient discourses, representations, meanings, and politics of “voice” in Asian popular music of the 20th century to the present day.

Language and the Many Histories of Brazilian Inequality

2011 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brodwyn Fischer
Keyword(s):  
Educational Policies ◽  
Social Difference ◽  
Gender Dynamics ◽  
Language Literacy ◽  
The Rich ◽  
Language And Education ◽  
And Gender ◽  
The Many

There are numerous historical critiques of elitist educational policies in Brazil, as well as studies of the racial and gender dynamics of education, and scholars have routinely lamented the historical lack of access to schooling among the Brazilian poor. But surprisingly few historians have taken on language and education as durable categories of inequality—created, recognized, legitimized, and acted upon over many generations, constitutive elements in Brazil’s constellation of social difference. This is especially remarkable given the rich and repeated emphasis on language, literacy, and education that characterized debates about Brazilian inequality in the century after independence.

Masculinity, Race, and Transculturalism in a Norwegian Context

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stan Hawkins
Keyword(s):  
Popular Music ◽  
Case Studies ◽  
Cultural Critique ◽  
Cultural Performance ◽  
Music Aesthetics ◽  
And Gender

This chapter explores transcultural perspectives on popular music aesthetics and gender in Norway through case studies of male celebrities born around 1980: the duo Madcon, Jarle Bernthoft, Lars Vaular, and Sondre Lerche. The analysis focuses on the practices of self-fashioning a persona in the realm of the popular, involving the aesthetics of masquerade, the ordinary, and escapism. Conceptually, the chapter draws from Bakhtin, Eyerman, Frith, and other influential voices in the literature on cultural performance and identity. The discussion also sheds light on fundamental issues in popular music aesthetics, demonstrating how the musicology of popular music can offer a unique cultural critique of identities that may appear to be “only entertainment” but in fact mediate powerful ideologies.

Trans Rights Are Not Just Human Rights: Legal Strategies for Trans Justice

2020 ◽  
Vol 35 (2) ◽  
pp. 293-315 ◽  
Author(s):  
Samuel Singer
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Case Law ◽  
Social Benefits ◽  
Human Rights Law ◽  
Trans People ◽  
Legal Challenges ◽  
Legal Advocacy ◽  
And Gender ◽  
Legal Strategies ◽  
The Many

AbstractHuman rights instruments are but one of many legal advocacy tools used by trans people. Recent legal scholarship emphasizes that human rights laws are not sufficient to address legal challenges facing trans people, particularly intersectional and systemic barriers. This article looks to Canadian trans case law outside of human rights law to reveal the many instances in which trans people’s fight for legal recognition and redress occur outside of the human rights arena. It focuses on trans case law in three areas: family law, the use of name and gender in court, and access to social benefits. Canadian trans jurisprudence illustrates that not only are trans legal strategies outside of human rights plentiful and effective, they are also imperative. An agile and pragmatic approach to trans rights is necessary, particularly when minority rights are under threat, and for trans people on the margins of trans law reforms.

scholarly journals Using the Eighteenth-Century English Phonology Database (ECEP) as a teaching resource

2020 ◽  
Vol 24 (3) ◽  
pp. 591-606
Author(s):  
CHRISTINE WALLIS
Keyword(s):  
Eighteenth Century ◽  
Language Change ◽  
Historical Linguistics ◽  
Language Attitudes ◽  
Source Material ◽  
Historical Sociolinguistics ◽  
Teaching Resource ◽  
The University ◽  
Late Modern

This article reports on the use of the Eighteenth-Century English Phonology Database (ECEP) as a teaching resource in historical sociolinguistics and historical linguistics courses at the University of Sheffield. Pronouncing dictionaries are an invaluable resource for students learning about processes of standardisation and language attitudes during the Late Modern English period (1700–1900), however they are not easy to use in their original format. Each author uses their own notation system to indicate their recommended pronunciation, while the terminology used to describe the quality of the vowels and consonants differs from that used today, and provides an additional obstacle to the student wishing to interrogate such sources. ECEP thus provides a valuable intermediary between the students and the source material, as it includes IPA equivalents for the recommended pronunciations, as well as any metalinguistic commentary offered by the authors about a particular pronunciation. This article demonstrates a teaching approach that not only uses ECEP as a tool in its own right, but also explores how it can be usefully combined with other materials covering language change in the Late Modern English period to enable students to undertake their own investigations in research-led courses.

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