Questions about Milroy linguistic variation and change:

1.- What is more common in language uniformity or variability?

In language is more common the variability.

2.- What kinds of variability exist?

It exists a lot of kinds of variability. For example, we can emphasize a Geographical, social, historical, educational, register...

3.- How do we decide if a particular group of speakers belong to a particular dialect or language?

We decide it, because we observe that they speaks in a similar form, they’re from the same zone, they have a similar pronunciation...

4.- Saussure emphasized the importance of synchronic descriptions of languages rather than diachronic. He and is disciples (structuralists) focused on language at different periods as finite entities. Is this reasonable?

5.- The unattested states of language were seen as transitional stages in which the structure of a language was, as it were, disturbed. This made linguistic change look abnormal. Is it abnormal?

6.- Can you think of any example of non-professional attitudes to your own language?

Non-professional attitudes could be with family or friends.

7.- Why does Milroy use “scare quotes” around non-standard and errors?

8.- Are non-standard dialects “incorrect, irregular, ungrammatical and deviant.”?

They are ungrammatical and maybe irregular.

9.- Which of these systems is more irregular? Why?

Myself

Yourself

Himself

Herself

Ourselves

Themselves

Myself

Yourself

Hisself

Herself

Ourselves

Theirselves

The most irregular is the first column instead of that this is standard, so the second column is regular and non-standard.

10.- Any description of a language involves norms? Think of the descriptions of your own language. Why is this so? For example: He ate the pie already is considered to be non-standard in which variety of English and perfectly acceptable in which other?

11.- What is the difference between descriptive and prescriptive grammars?

The descriptive grammar refers to the structure of a language as it is actually used by speakers and writers. And the prescriptive grammars refer to the structure of a language as certain people think it should be used.

12.- Weinreich, Labov and Herzog’s (1968) empirical foundations of language change:

Constraints: what changes are possible and what are not

Embedding: how change spreads from a central point through a speech community

Evaluation: social responses to language change (prestige overt and covert attitudes to language, linguistic stereotyping and notions on correctness).

Transition: “the intervening stages which can be observed, or which must be posited, between any two forms of a language defined for a language community at different times” Weinreich, Labov and Herzog 1968: 101)

Actuation: Why particular changes take place at a particular time.

13.- What do you think the “prestige motivation for change” and the “solidarity constraint” mean? How are they opposed?

Sound change: post-vocalic /r/ in New York/ The change from long āto ōin some dialects of English.

Actuation: Why did /k/ palatalize before certain front vowels? PrsE: cheese, German käse English/Norse doublets shirt/skirt?

14.- What is the biological metaphor in language change?

15.- What is the difference between internal and external histories of a language?

The internal history of a language refers to the historical development of its linguistic forms (phonology, morphology, syntax and lexicon) and semantics. And the external history of a language refers to the social and geopolitical history of the language.

16.- Look up Neogrammarians and lexical diffusion. Why are they often found in the same paragraph or chapter?

17.- Look up social norm-enforcement, childish errors and slips of the tongue. What have they to do with language change?

Back