Sociolinguïstiek En Dialectologie

1992 ◽  
Vol 42 ◽  
pp. 115-130
Author(s):  
Johan Taeldeman
Keyword(s):  
Language Change ◽  
Situational Factors ◽  
Social Differentiation ◽  
Linguistic Variation ◽  
Linguistic Change ◽  
Psychological Dimension ◽  
Geographical Dimension ◽  
Dialect Geography

In this confrontative article I take stock of what socioiinguistics and dialec-tology (= dialect geography), in spite of (or thanks to?) their own focus and their own theoretical underpinnings, have contributed to the study of language change. This confrontation consists of two parts: First (4.1.) I deal with those aspects where socioiinguistics has contributed substantially to the exploration of language change and at the same time has had a renewing influence on dialectology: 1) Sociolinguists have started measuring the functional/communicative strength of linguistic varieties that in a certain area may supply competing variants. 2) By all kinds of micro-research into linguistic variation in correlation with social and situational factors socioiinguistics has drawn a much more refined picture of the process of language change. 3) Socioiinguistics has reintroduced attention to the psychological dimension of language change ( _ inquiries into the attitudes towards compet-ing varieties and variants and into the awareness of social differentiation in language). In a second part (4.2.) I deal with those aspects where the contribution of dialectology has been more substantial and where socioiinguistics urgently needs some broadening: 1) In general dialectologists have better recognized that linguistic varia-tion (as a random indication of language change) is also embedded in the systemic dimension of language. This prevents the investigation of (linguistic) variety for variety's sake. 2) Dialectology permanently instructs sociolinguists that linguistic variation (and hence language change) also occurs along a spa-tial/geographical dimension. 3) The dialogist's traditional tool, the dialect map with the so often (unjustly) abused isogloss, provides the socioiinguistics with lots of interesting instructions where as to catch linguistic change in progress. In general both disciplines display such a delicious complementarity that (sterile) discussions about their mutual demarcation should urgently be replaced by a thorough examination of each other's methods and findings.

Synchronic variability and diachronic change in basic color terms

1975 ◽  
Vol 4 (3) ◽  
pp. 257-270 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul Kay
Keyword(s):  
Language Change ◽  
Linguistic Variation ◽  
Speech Community ◽  
General Statement ◽  
Linguistic Change ◽  
Color Terms ◽  
Diachronic Change ◽  
Color Term ◽  
Basic Color ◽  
Basic Color Terms

AbstractThe main purpose of this paper is to relate recent findings regarding the evolution of basic color term systems to current research in linguistic variation and language change. More specifically it is to provide in the area of lexical semantics a demonstration of the hypothesis that all linguistic change has its roots in synchronic heterogeneity of the speech community (cf. Weinreich, Labov & Herzog (1968: 188) for a general statement of this position, also many empirical demonstrations already reported, such as those by Labov (1972) and Wang (1969) in phonology and by Bickerton (1973) in syntax). Before taking up this topic, I summarize some recent revisions in the basic color term theory itself. (Ethnographic semantics, color terms, language variation, evolutionary universals in linguistic change.)

scholarly journals Comparative sociolinguistic perspectives on the rate of linguistic change

2020 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Terttu Nevalainen ◽  
Tanja Säily ◽  
Turo Vartiainen
Keyword(s):  
Middle Ages ◽  
Language Change ◽  
Sociocultural Factors ◽  
Specific Topic ◽  
Linguistic Change ◽  
Comparative Linguistics ◽  
Historical Sociolinguistics ◽  
Contact Linguistics ◽  
Historical Comparative ◽  
Social And Cultural Factors

AbstractThis issue of the Journal of Historical Sociolinguistics aims to contribute to our understanding of language change in real time by presenting a group of articles particularly focused on social and sociocultural factors underlying language diversification and change. By analysing data from a varied set of languages, including Greek, English, and the Finnic and Mongolic language families, and mainly focussing their investigation on the Middle Ages, the authors connect various social and cultural factors with the specific topic of the issue, the rate of linguistic change. The sociolinguistic themes addressed include community and population size, conflict and conquest, migration and mobility, bi- and multilingualism, diglossia and standardization. In this introduction, the field of comparative historical sociolinguistics is considered a cross-disciplinary enterprise with a sociolinguistic agenda at the crossroads of contact linguistics, historical comparative linguistics and linguistic typology.

Variation and third age: A sociolinguistic perspective

2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (s2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel Schreier
Keyword(s):  
Language Learning ◽  
Language Change ◽  
National Council ◽  
Speech Community ◽  
Linguistic Change ◽  
Third Age ◽  
Quantitative Evidence ◽  
Style Shifting ◽  
Age Grading ◽  
Ethnic Group Membership

Abstract The correlation between external factors such as age, gender, ethnic group membership and language variation is one of the stalwarts of sociolinguistic theory. The repertoire of individual members of speaker groups, vis-à-vis community-wide variation, represents a somewhat slippery ground for developing and testing models of variation and change and has been researched with reference to accommodation (Bell 1984), style shifting (Rickford, John R. & MacKenzie Price. 2013. Girlz II women: Age-grading, language change and stylistic variation. Journal of Sociolinguistics 17. 143–179) and language change generally (Labov, William. 2001. Principles of linguistic change, vol. 2: Social factors. Oxford: Blackwell). This paper presents and assesses some first quantitative evidence that non-mobile older speakers from Tristan da Cunha, an island in the South Atlantic Ocean, who grew up in an utterly isolated speech community, vary and shift according to external interview parameters (interviewer, topic, place of interview). However, while they respond to the formality of the context, they display variation (both regarding speakers and variables) that is not in line with the constraints attested elsewhere. These findings are assessed with focus on the acquisition of sociolinguistic competence in third-age speakers (particularly style-shifting, Labov, William. 1964. Stages in the acquisition of Standard English. In Roger Shuy, Alva Davis & Robert Hogan (eds.), Social Dialects and Language Learning, 77–104. Champaign: National Council of Teachers of English) and across the life-span generally.

scholarly journals Variation in Faroese and the development of a spoken standard: In search of corpus evidence

2014 ◽  
Vol 37 (1) ◽  
pp. 87-105 ◽  
Author(s):  
Remco Knooihuizen
Keyword(s):  
Social Change ◽  
Morphological Variation ◽  
Language Change ◽  
Linguistic Variation ◽  
Social Changes ◽  
Linguistic Variables ◽  
Phonological Variation ◽  
Rapid Social Change ◽  
Variationist Sociolinguistics ◽  
Constrained Variation

Although Faroese exhibits extensive linguistic variation and rapid social change, the language is near-uncharted territory in variationist sociolinguistics. This article discusses some recent social changes in Faroese society in connection with language change, focusing in particular on the development of a de facto spoken standard, Central Faroese. Demographic mobility, media and education may be contributing to this development in different ways. Two linguistic variables are analysed as a first step towards uncovering the respective roles of standardisation, dialect levelling and dialect spread as contributing processes in the formation of Central Faroese: morphological variation in -st endings and phonological variation in -ir and -ur endings. The analysis confirms previously described patterns of geographically constrained variation, but no generational or stylistic differences indicative of language change are found, nor are there clear signs that informants use Central Faroese. The results may in part be due to the structure of the corpus used.

Children, adolescents, and language change

1996 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 177-202 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul Kerswill
Keyword(s):  
Young Child ◽  
Language Change ◽  
Peer Group ◽  
Linguistic Change ◽  
Linguistic Feature ◽  
Detailed Understanding ◽  
Different Ages

ABSTRACTThe article models the spread of linguistic change by taking precise account of the ages of the acquirers and transmitters of change. Several studies, some original, are reviewed in order to address the following questions: “What types of linguistic feature can an individual acquire at different ages?” “How much influence do people of different ages exert on the speech of other individuals?” The article is organized around three key interlocutor combinations: parent-infant/young child, peer group-preadolescent, and older adolescent/adult-adolescent. The studies suggest that borrowings are the easiest to acquire, while lexically unpredictable phonological changes are the most difficult. In between are Neogrammarian changes and morphologically conditioned features. The age of the speaker is critical; only the youngest children acquire the “hardest” features. However, adolescents may be the most influential transmitters of change. A difficulty hierarchy for the acquisition of second dialect features is then presented; it is suggested that this predicts the nature of linguistic change found under different sociolinguistic conditions. The approach presented here allows for a more detailed understanding of the spread of linguistic change.

scholarly journals The Role of Elision in Evolutionary Processes

Languages ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 12
Author(s):  
María Azofra Sierra
Keyword(s):  
Language Change ◽  
Evolutionary Process ◽  
Category Membership ◽  
Evolutionary Processes ◽  
Linguistic Change ◽  
Specific Meaning ◽  
Theoretical Overview

Changes by elision—as well as those due to processes of adfunctionalization or refunctionalization—must be taken into account as explanatory mechanisms of linguistic change. In this paper, we study the role of elision in the theoretical overview of explanatory theories of language change by focusing on the evolutionary process of the Spanish adverb aparte. We analyze the consequences of the elision of an initial construction for the development of new functions as an exceptive or additive adverb, and as an additive connector with a specific meaning, conditioned by the evolution of the entire construction. We find that, in this case, the ellipsis of a verbal element has led to important modifications of the preserved item (aparte), not only at the semantic-pragmatic and functional levels but also in its category membership.

Teleology/ Semeiosis, and Linguistic Change

Diachronica ◽  
1985 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-34 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Shapiro
Keyword(s):  
Language Change ◽  
Historical Linguistics ◽  
Theoretical Foundation ◽  
Charles Sanders Peirce ◽  
Linguistic Change ◽  
Final Cause ◽  
Language Structure ◽  
Adequate Understanding

SUMMARY The ancient question of teleology in language change has recently been raised anew by several theorists and has been the focus of discussion at a number of conferences on historical linguistics. The pro-teleology arguments of such scholars as Anttila and Itkonen in response to the neo-positivism of Lass can be buttressed and given wider scope by recourse to the philosophy of Charles Sanders Peirce, whose theory of signs and unique concept of final cause have immediate applications to the nature of language structure and the goals of language change. Through a detailed rehearsal of Peirce's understanding of signs and semeiosis, as well as an accounting of his thoughts about efficient and final causation in the context of Aristotle's, the 'telos' of language change emerges as diagrammatization, i.e., the formation of semeiotic diagrams in which relations of meaning are mirrored by relations of form. Teleology, when viewed as an inalienable part of the ontology of language structure, is thus revealed to have the principled status of a theoretical foundation for any adequate understanding of language as a panchronic semeiotic whole. RÉSUMÉ La vieille question concernant la téléologie dans le changement linguistique a récemment été posée à nouveau par plusieurs théoriciens, et elle a été le centre d'attention dans la discussion à l'occasion de plusieurs conférénces consacrées à la linguistique historique. Les arguments 'pro-téléologiques' des érudits comme R. Anttila et E. Itkonen répondan t au néo-positivisme de R. Lass peuvent être renforcés et élargis en se servant de la philosophie de Charles Sanders Peirce dont la théorie des signes et le concept particulier de cause finale peuvent trouver des applications immédiates à la nature de la structure langagière et aux fins du changement linguistique. Moyennant une réanalyse détaillée de l'interprétation peircienne des signes et de la sémiose ainsi qu'une inclusion de sa pensée au sujet des causes efficientes et finales dans le contexte d'Aristote, le 'télos' du changement linguistique surgit comme une diagrammatisation, i.e., la formation des diagrammes sémiotiques dans lesquels des rapports de sens sont reflétés par des rapports de forme. La teleologie, si on la garde comme partie inaliénable de l'ontologie de la structure du langage, sera révélée comme ayant le rang d'une fondation théorique pour toute compréhension du langage comme un ensemble panchronique et sémiotique. ZUSAMMENFASSUNG Die alte Frage die Teleologie des Sprachwandels betreffend ist in jüngster Zeit wieder aufgeworfen w rden; sie war Mittelpunkt theoretischer Erörterungen anlaßlich mehrerer Konferenzen zur historischen Lin-guistik. Die pro-teleologischen Argumente, vorgebracht von Gelehrten wie R. Anttila und E. Itkonen gegen die neopositivistische Position R. Lass', können verstärkt und erweitert werden mithilfe der Philosophie von Charles Sanders Peirce, dessen Zeichentheorie und dessen einzigar-tiges Konzept finalistischer Gründe direkt angewendet werden können auf die Natur sprachlicher Strukturen und auf die Ziele des Sprachwandels. Mithilfe einer genauen Bestandsaufnahme von Peirce' Auffassung des Zei-chens und der Semeiosis, sowie durch eine Hinzunahme seiner Gedanken über effiziente und finalistischer Ursachen im Kontext des Aristoteles, erwachst das 'Telos' des sprachlichen Wandels als Diagrammatisierung, d.h. als die Bildung semeiotischer Diagramme, in denen die Relationen von Bedeutung durch Relationen von Formen widerspiegelt erscheinen. Die Teleologie, wenn sie als unveränderlicher Bestandteil des Wesens sprachlicher Struktur begriffen wird, offenbahrt sich als ein Prinzip der theoretischen Begründung jeden angemessenen Verstandnis ses der Sprache als ein panchronistisches, semiotisches Ganzes.

Linguistic change and diffusion: description and explanation in sociolinguistic dialect geography

1974 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 215-246 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter Trudgill
Keyword(s):  
Geographical Variation ◽  
Empirical Studies ◽  
Sociolinguistic Variation ◽  
Linguistic Change ◽  
East Anglia ◽  
British English ◽  
The Social ◽  
Recent Developments ◽  
And Diffusion ◽  
Dialect Geography

ABSTRACTLinguistic geography has remained relatively unaffected by recent developments in sociolinguistic theory and method and theoretical geography. In this paper it is argued that insights and techniques from both these disciplines will be of value in improving descriptions of geographical variation in language, and that these improvements will in turn lead to more adequate explanations for certain of the social and spatial characteristics of linguistic change. Evidence in favour of a sociolinguistic methodology and new cartographic techniques in dialect geography is drawn from empirical studies in urban dialectology, in East Anglia, England, and rural dialectology, in Norway. (Sociolinguistic variation, dialectology, linguistic change, British English, Norwegian.)

Community, dialect and urbanization in the Arabic-speaking Middle East

1995 ◽  
Vol 58 (2) ◽  
pp. 270-287 ◽  
Author(s):  
Clive Holes
Keyword(s):  
Social Change ◽  
Middle East ◽  
Social Structure ◽  
Case Studies ◽  
Language Change ◽  
Arab World ◽  
Linguistic Change ◽  
The Social ◽  
Arabic Speaking ◽  
Everyday Communication

The purpose of this paper is to explain how changes in the social structure of the countries of the Arabic-speaking Middle East are being reflected in new patterns of dialect use. The last 30 years have seen an enormously increased interest in Arabic as a living mode of everyday communication, reflected in many dialectological, typological and sociolinguistic studies. As a result, we now have a much clearer overall picture of the dialect geography of the eastern Arab world, and the beginnings of an understanding of the dynamics of language change. Inevitably, the focus of many studies has been geographically specific, so that the area-wide nexus between social change and linguistic change has not always been seen in a sufficiently broad context. By examining three case studies documented in the literature, I aim to point up similarities in the dynamics of change which are often obscured by distracting local particularities.

Social networks and language change in Tudor and Stuart London – only connect?

2015 ◽  
Vol 19 (2) ◽  
pp. 269-292 ◽  
Author(s):  
TERTTU NEVALAINEN
Keyword(s):  
Social Networks ◽  
Seventeenth Century ◽  
Sixteenth Century ◽  
Network Analysis ◽  
Early Modern ◽  
Language Change ◽  
Linguistic Terms ◽  
Linguistic Change ◽  
Exchange Network ◽  
The City

Place is an integral part of social network analysis, which reconstructs network structures and documents the network members’ linguistic practices in a community. Historical network analysis presents particular challenges in both respects. This article first discusses the kinds of data, official documents, personal letters and diaries that historians have used in reconstructing social networks and communities. These analyses could be enriched by including linguistic data and, vice versa, historical sociolinguistic findings may often be interpreted in terms of social networks.Focusing on Early Modern London, I present two case studies, the first one investigating a sixteenth-century merchant family exchange network and the second discussing the seventeenth-century naval administrator Samuel Pepys, whose role as a community broker between the City and Westminster is assessed in linguistic terms. My results show how identifying the leaders and laggers of linguistic change can add to our understanding of the varied ways in which linguistic innovations spread to and from Tudor and Stuart London both within and across social networks.

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