scholarly journals ‘Ow Cockney is Beckham Twenty Years On? An Investigation into H-dropping and T-glottaling

2006 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 20-27
Author(s):  
Sofia Dahou ◽  
Jasmine Hamlin
Keyword(s):  
Language Change ◽  
Football Player ◽  
High Rate ◽  
Socioeconomic Background ◽  
Linguistic Change ◽  
Language Choices ◽  
Lower Socioeconomic ◽  
Celebrity Status ◽  
The Common ◽  
Social Causes

This research paper examines how language change can occur across the lifespan through the linguistic analysis of East Londoner, and world renowned football player, David Beckham. Specifically, we look at his use of the consonantal variables of t-glottaling and h-dropping and how the frequency of these forms change over a 20-year period. We discuss the background of the linguistic phenomena under investigation and the common environments in which these non-standard variants are likely to occur. We also take a closer look at how the forms are being used in certain phonotactic environments, for example, word-medial and word-final positions, and the potential reasons behind them being less common when preceding or following certain sounds. We discuss some common theories associated with language change across the lifespan, using quantitative data to find trends and qualitative interpretation to suggest social causes for our findings. The paper allows us to critically evaluate language change theories, such as Labov’ s (1978) apparent time theory.In designing our study, we hypothesised that Beckham would be seen to undergo linguistic change from his classic East London Cockney features to more prestigious forms. As t-glottaling and h-dropping are stigmatised forms which are commonly associated with a working-class background, we believed that Beckham would go from using a high rate of these variants in his teenage years, due to his lower socioeconomic background, to producing standard /t/ and /h/ more frequently, reflecting his dramatic upward social climb. Due to his rise to fame, we expected that his celebrity status would bring an added pressure to speak in a “correct”  manner, therefore influencing Beckham to opt for the standard variants more frequently. The variants we looked at are also commonly associated with younger speakers, so we expected Beckham’ s aging to further affect his language.Our results support our hypothesis, showing the extent to which David Beckham’s language choices have changed over time. We found that he showed a significant decrease in both h-dropping and t-glottaling in all phonotactic environments. However, we also found a surprisingly high rate of t-glottalisation before consonants and after vowels in Beckham’ s 2014 recordings. Our data support theories concerning age, social class, sex and dialect convergence. Overall, our paper offers insight into the methodology and theory surrounding language change across the lifespan through the analysis of particular linguistics variables of an English speaker.

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.

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.

A phenomenological exploration of change towards healthier food purchasing behaviour in women from a lower socioeconomic background using a health app

Appetite ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 147 ◽  
pp. 104566
Author(s):  
Sarah Jane Flaherty ◽  
Mary B. McCarthy ◽  
Alan M. Collins ◽  
Claire McCafferty ◽  
Fionnuala M. McAuliffe
Keyword(s):  
Socioeconomic Background ◽  
Food Purchasing ◽  
Lower Socioeconomic ◽  
Purchasing Behaviour ◽  
Phenomenological Exploration

Some Psychological Correlates of Civil Rights Activity

1970 ◽  
Vol 26 (3) ◽  
pp. 899-906 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dorothy A. Evans ◽  
Sheldon Alexander
Keyword(s):  
Civil Rights ◽  
Geographic Location ◽  
Demographic Variables ◽  
Activity Level ◽  
Socioeconomic Background ◽  
External Control ◽  
Ego Strength ◽  
Psychological Correlates ◽  
Lower Socioeconomic ◽  
Group Memberships

Northern Negroes and whites at varying levels of participation in college student civil rights groups were compared with selected groups of northern, Negro non-members of civil rights groups on a number of personality and demographic variables (race, geographic location). Negro Actives showed more repression and ego strength than Negto non-actives. White Actives showed less social approval motivation and less repression than Negro Actives. In contrast to studies of southern Negroes, in this study, Negro Actives came from a lower socioeconomic background than Negro non-actives; internal vs external control of reinforcement and number of non-civil rights group memberships were unrelated to civil rights activity level. Factors other than activity level are important in predicting personality and demographic differences among civil rights activists and non-activists. The importance of additonal empirical research is also discussed.

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.

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.

Risperidone prescription in autism spectrum disorder in Tehran, Iran

2011 ◽  
Vol 26 (S2) ◽  
pp. 1168-1168
Author(s):  
A.H. Memari ◽  
R. Kordi
Keyword(s):  
Cost Benefit Analysis ◽  
Cost Benefit ◽  
Children With Autism ◽  
Autism Spectrum ◽  
High Rate ◽  
Benefit Analysis ◽  
Autism Treatment ◽  
Children With Asd ◽  
Lower Socioeconomic ◽  
Very High

IntroductionRisperidone was one of the most popular psychotropic medications approved by FDA for Autism. It may be used to treat specific disruptive behaviors (i.e. irritability) usually associated with autism.ObjectiveDue to recent findings, about one-third of children with ASD take an antipsychotic medication and Risperidone may be responsible for the major part, but its place in autism treatment especially out of US has not been clear due to uncertainty about costs and benefits of prescription. We aimed to investigate the risperidone prescription in children with ASD in Iran.MethodsA representative sample of Students of autism specific schools aged 6-15 surveyed through the parents to provide drug list, demographic and developmental information of children; parents were also asked to indicate whether they were currently using or had just used in the past but not currently or never used the risperidone.ResultsRisperidone has been prescribed for 85.2% (98/115) children with ASD while 50.4% were currently using. Sex difference analysis showed that prescription was done for 87% of boys versus 73.9% of girls (p = 0.06). There was a significant lower socioeconomic state in families with current using of risperidone (p < 0.001). Prescription was not associated with comorbidities in children.ConclusionsWe found a very high rate of risperidone use in children with autism. It may be due to treatment approaches rely heavily on the most available psychotropic agent (i.e. risperidone). Further research is warranted in Cost-Benefit Analysis of risperidone use in Autism.

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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