Language Change and Variation

On the Origin and Causes of Sound Change: A Review of Related Literature

Language Variation - European Perspectives VI showcases a selection of papers from the 8th International Conference on Language Variation in Europe which was held in Leipzig in 2015. The volume includes plenaries by Miriam Meyerhoff and Steffen Klaere (“The large and the small of it: Big issues with smaller samples in the study of language variation”), Martin Haspelmath and Susanne Maria Michaelis (“Analytic and synthetic: Typological change in varieties of European languages”) and Jürgen Erich Schmidt (“Dynamics, variation and the brain“). In addition, the editors have selected 11 papers which exemplify the breadth of research on European languages. The contributions to this volume encompass languages as varied as Swedish, Greek, Galician, Dutch, German, Swedish, English (including English-lexified contact varieties), French, Spanish, Croatian, Luxembourgish and Romani. The variety of theoretical frameworks and methodological perspectives and particularly the combination of different methods attests to the scope of research currently being conducted on language variation and change in European languages.

Part I: Introduction:. On Language, Change, and Language Change -- Or, Of History, Linguistics, and Historical Linguistics: Richard D. Janda & Brian D. Joseph, both The Ohio State University. Part II: Methods for Studying Language Change: . 1. The Comparative Method: Robert L. Rankin, University of Kansas. 2. On the Limits of the Comparative Method: S.P. Harrison, University of Western Australia. 3. Internal Reconstruction: Don Ringe, University of Pennsylvania. 4. How to Show Languages are Related: Methods for Distant Genetic Relationship: Lyle Campbell, University of Canterbury, New Zealand. 5. Diversity and Stability in Language: Johanna Nichols, University of California, Berkeley. Part III: Phonological Change:. 6. The Phonological Basis of Sound Change: Paul Kiparsky, Stanford University. 7. Neogrammarian Sound Change: Mark Hale, Concordia University. 8. Variationist Approaches to Phonological Change: Gregory R. Guy, York University. 9. Phonologization as the Start of Dephoneticization -- Or, On Sound--Change and its Aftermath: Of Extension, Generalization, Lexicalization, and Morphologization: Richard D. Janda, The Ohio State University. Part IV: Morphological and Lexical Change: . 10. Analogy: The Warp and Woof of Cognition: Raimo Anttila, University of California, Los Angeles. 11. Analogical Change: Hans Henrich Hock, University of Illinois, Urbana--Champaign. 12. Naturalness and Morphological Change: Wolfgang U. Dressler, Vienna University. 13. Morphologization from Syntax: Brian D. Joseph, The Ohio State University. Part V: Syntactic Change: . 14. Grammatical Approaches to Syntactic Change: David Lightfoot, Georgetown University. 15. Variationist Approaches to Syntactic Change: Susan Pintzuk, University of York. 16. Cross--linguistic Perspectives on Syntactic Change: Alice C. Harris, Vanderbilt University. 17. Functional Perspectives on Syntactic Change: Marianne Mithun, University of California, Santa Barbara. Part VI: Pragmatico--Semantic Change:. 18. Grammaticalization: Bernd Heine, University of Cologne. 19. Mechanisms of Change in Grammaticization: The Role of Frequency: Joan Bybee, University of New Mexico. 20. Constructions in Grammaticalization: Elizabeth Closs Traugott, Stanford University. 21. An Approach to Semantic Change: Benjamin W. Fortson, IV. Part VII: Explaining Linguistic Change:. 22. Phonetics and Historical Phonology: John J. Ohala, University of California, Berkeley. 23. Contact as a Source of Language Change: Sarah Grey Thomason, University of Pittsburgh. 24. Dialectology and Linguistic Diffusion: Walt Wolfram & Natalie Schilling--Estes, North Carolina State University and Georgetown University. 25. Psycholinguistic Perspectives on Linguistic Change: Jean Aitchison, University of Oxford. Bibliography. Subject Index. Name Index. Language Index.

This paper explores how people in different parts of Bangladesh talk differently from each other. The study pays special attention to the unique sounds in their dialects compared to the standard Bangla language. The main goal of the research is to understand why these sounds change from one dialect to another. The researchers collected data from 70 participants coming from 20 regions of Bangladesh, who were fluent in their regional dialects and studied it carefully. By employing semi-structured interviews, IPA transcription, and thorough verification processes, this study ensures the accuracy and reliability of its findings and discussion, contributing valuable insights into the phonological diversity of Bangladeshi dialects and their socio-linguistic significance. The authors found 13 phonological variations or patterns among the dialects of different regions of Bangladesh. Each type of change is explained with clear examples to make it easier to understand. The research contributes significantly to the understanding of socio-linguistic diversity in Bangladesh by providing experimental evidence of phonological variation and its determinants. It also lays the groundwork for future research on dialects and their relationship with the standard language. This study will bring up a greater appreciation for Bangladesh's linguistic diversity and encourage further research into language variation and change.

This short report presents results from a replication of Labov's study of language variation and language change in progress on Martha's Vineyard (MV). The original paper was revolutionary in many respects: it established that the relationship between social and linguistic variables could be systematically studied, and put forward the construct of apparent time as a means of inferring diachronic change in progress based on synchronic patterns. By drawing on Labov's methods for a restudy of MV forty years later, we establish (i) the validity of apparent-time inferencing, and (ii) the robustness of social indexing for the (ay) and (aw) variables on MV. The results strengthen both methodological and theoretical principles that have become central to (socio)linguistics.

The existence of substantive parametric variation in syntax, as characterized in Chomsky 1981, has been questioned in the more recent generative literature, notably in Borer 1984, Fukui 1986, and Chomsky 1993. This article provides converging evidence from child language acquisition and comparative syntax for the existence of a syntactic parameter in the classical sense of Chomsky 1981, with simultaneous effects on syntactic argument structure (e.g., verb-particle constructions) and complex word-formation (root compounding). The implications are first that syntax is indeed subject to points of substantive parametric variation as envisioned in Chomsky 1981, and second that the time course of child language acquisition is a potentially rich source of evidence about the innate constraints on language variation.

Göz Kaufmann, who obtained his Ph.D. from the University of Heidelberg, Germany, in 1997, completed his habilitation treatise in 2016 and received the venia legendi (livre docência) in German Linguistics from the University of Freiburg, Germany. He holds a permanent position as a senior lecturer (Akademischer Oberrat) for linguistics in the German Department of the University of Freiburg. Kaufmann’s main research areas are sociolinguistics, language contact, language variation, and language change. In the area of language variation and change, his focus is on German minority varieties spoken in South America, particularly Mennonite Low German and Pomerano. Aside from lexical and morphological variation, he analyzes syntactic variation in these varieties combining variationist and generative approaches. Göz Kaufmann worked in Brazil as a guest professor and representative of the DAAD (German Academic Exchange Service) at the UFRGS and the USP. At the University of Pelotas (UFPel), he has already taught several courses and presented numerous talks. For more information, see http://paul.igl.uni-freiburg.de/kaufmann/?Home

Françoise Gadet : La variation, plus qu'une écume This paper tries to establish what "syntactic variation" means, first by opposing it to "phonological variation", then by exploring some phenomena of spoken French usually regarded as being syntactic variation, and finally by asking two questions: 1) can we have, on the syntactic level, "two ways of saying the same thing" ?, and 2) is the sociolinguistic involvement going to be of the same nature ?

The Uses of Language. Words: Meaning and the Lexicon. Morphology. Lexical Variation and Change. Appendix: Language Families of the World. Sounds: Phonetics. Phonology. Phonological Variation. Variation Through Time: Phonological Change. Sentences: Generative Grammer. The Functions of Syntax. Syntactic Typology. Syntactic Variation. Syntactic Change. Growth. Pidgin and Creole Languages. First and Second Language Learning. Language and the Human Species. Language and Civilization. Bibliographic Notes. Bibliography. Index.

This article presents two typologies (or those interested in the study of language in its social context, focusing first on the functions of language and second on the nature and analysis of language variation. In the discussion of the functions or uses of language, six distinct language functions are identified. Language variation is presented in terms of phonological, syntactic and lexical variation as a consequence of such variables as geography, social class and education, gender, ethnicity and age. Examples from the South African context are given throughout the article.

Spanish marks animate and specific direct objects overtly with the preposition a, an instance of Differential Object Marking (DOM). However, in some varieties of Spanish, DOM is advancing to inanimate objects. Language change starts at the individual level, but how does it start? What manifestation of linguistic knowledge does it affect? This study traced this innovative use of DOM in oral production, grammaticality judgments and on-line comprehension (reading task with eye-tracking) in the Spanish of Mexico. Thirty-four native speakers (ages 18–22) from the southeast of Mexico participated in the study. Results showed that the incidence of the innovative use of DOM with inanimate objects varied by task: DOM innovations were detected in on-line processing more than in grammaticality judgments and oral production. Our results support the hypothesis that language variation and change may start with on-line comprehension.

While much has been written about Gibraltar from historical and political perspectives, sociolinguistic aspects have been largely overlooked. This book describes the influences which have shaped the colony’s linguistic development since the British occupation in 1704, and the relationship between the three principal means of communication: English, Spanish and the code-switching variant Yanito. The study then focuses its attentions on the communicative forms and functions of Gibraltarian English. The closing of the border between Gibraltar and Spain (1969-1982), which effectively isolated the colony, had important social and linguistic repercussions. This volume presents the first full account of the language attitudes and identity of a new generation of Gibraltarians, all of whom were born after the border was re-opened. Adopting a variationist approach, this study analyses the extent to which the language use and phonetic realisations of young Gibraltarians differ from those of previous generations and the factors conditioning language variation and change.

The theory predicts complete lexicalization when the number of exceptions to a rule exceeds the threshold, which leads to morphological gaps: without a productive rule, you only know the derived form if you hear it otherwise ineffability arises. Detailed numerical studies for gaps in Russian, English, Spanish, and Polish. The Tolerance Principle also directly bears on language variation and change, in that it provides/predicts the conditions under which language change is actuated. As a case study, the theory explains why—and when—the so-called dative sickness, and other instances of case substitution, took place in Icelandic in the 19th centuries.

Reviewed by: Investigating variation: The effects of social organization and social setting Walt Wolfram Investigating variation: The effects of social organization and social setting. By Nancy C. Dorian. New York: Oxford University Press, 2010. Pp. xxii, 350. ISBN 9780195385922. $49.95. Since 1963, when she uncovered Scottish Gaelic while conducting fieldwork for the Linguistic Survey of Scotland, Nancy Dorian has dedicated her research life to the study of language variation and language shift in the East Southerland villages of Brora, Golspie, and Embo. Almost a half-century of study has led to an impressive portfolio of published papers and books on these communities. Previous books provided a general description of varieties of Gaelic (Dorian 1978), the investigation of language death (Dorian 1981), and an oral history of East Sutherland fisherfolk (Dorian 1985); and a series of articles (e.g. Dorian 1973, 1980, 1994) have dealt with the issue of ‘personal-patterned variation’ versus group-based language variation. The sociolinguistic perspective offered by her long-term research involvement is unparalleled. Accordingly, her description, observations, and explanations of language variation warrant the full attention of variationists and sociolinguistics, as well as the general field of linguistics. The central issue in this study, the status of individually based vis-à-vis socially constrained language variation, has been at the heart of variation studies since its inception. Unfortunately, the controversy has sometimes been idealized into polarized caricatures in which the individual is set in opposition to the social group, an opposition that does not serve the delicate interaction between the individual and the group that should inform our genuine understanding of language variation. As D notes at the outset of her study, ‘Two equally interesting questions are at the heart of the book: how an extraordinary degree of idiosyncratic linguistic variation can coexist with an extraordinarily homogenous speaker population, and how linguists might overlook the possibility [End Page 904] of their coexistence’ (3). The first question is an observational-descriptive one that challenges a ‘common-sense’ understanding of sociolinguistic variation, namely, that small, socially homogeneous communities would be characterized by relative linguistic uniformity. Empirically, however, this simply is not the case, and some of our own studies of small, historically isolated, socioeconomically uniform communities (Wolfram & Beckett 2000, Wolfram & Thomas 2002) certainly reinforce D’s observations about ‘the high degree of unweighted idiosyncratic linguistic variation’ (11) often found in these communities. The second question is an ideological one since D claims that variationists have often failed to acknowledge the legitimacy of personally based language variation by theoretically and operationally following Labov’s (2001:34) observation that ‘the individual does not exist as a linguistic object’. D notes that ‘the methodological traditions that shape our investigative traditions…can block for longer or shorter periods our perception of certain phenomena or, if they register with us, our inclination to engage with them’ (11). Such is the case with respect to personal-based language variation. The introductory chapter (Ch. 1, ‘The variation puzzle’) lays out the kinds of expectations that D originally had for linking language variation with social meaning, including social and ethnic differentiation, language proficiency, geography, age, gender, style, and so forth. Following a sociohistorical and ethnographic description that situates the East Sutherland fishing communities and the possible connections of social grouping and language variation (Ch. 3, ‘The East Sutherland fishing communities’), D proceeds to the description of some illustrative examples of geographic, age, proficiency, and style-related variation in these communities (Ch. 4, ‘Dimensions of linguistic variation in a socioeconomically homogeneous population’). For the village of Embo, a comprehensive set of variables is examined in detail (Ch. 5, ‘A close look at some Embo variables and their use’), with more than twenty-five tables of fluctuating variant usage for each of the subjects. The descriptive approach presents fluctuating variants in their rawest form, cataloguing from two to five variants for each variable for each speaker. This format offers exceptional transparency of fluctuating variants at their most basic operational level; it also exposes some of the essential methodological, analytical, and descriptive issues in analyzing variation, where the potential occurrence of variables may vary drastically from variable to variable and from speaker to speaker. One of the immediate...

New languages are constantly emerging, as existing languages diverge into different forms. To explain this fascinating process, we need to understand how languages change and how they emerge in children. In this pioneering study, David Lightfoot explains how languages come into being, arguing that children are the driving force. He explores how new systems arise, how they are acquired by children, and how adults and children play different, complementary roles in language change. Lightfoot makes an important distinction between 'external language' (language as it exists in the world), and 'internal language' (language as represented in an individual's brain). By examining the interplay between the two, he shows how children are 'cue-based' learners, who scan their external linguistic environment for new structures, making sense of the world outside in order to build their internal language. Engaging and original, this book offers an interesting account of language acquisition, variation and change.