Introduction: Language Change and Variation

·       What is more common in language uniformity or variability?

Language is variable, they’re never uniform entities.

·       What kinds of variability exist?

Geographical, social and according to the situational contexts in which they are used.

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

According to social facts (“differences in speakers-agreement”), historical and geographical factors too.

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

I think taht this isn’t reasonable, I mean the language is always changing. Milroy says “we may want to write a grammar of English for the use of of foreigner learners, and it will be more helpful to our readers if we focus on what is constant rather than what is changing”. In my opinion its better a study of a diachronic language to understand in better.

·       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?

Linguistic change is not abnormal. Its a way to understand that the lenguage suffer evolutions and progress.

In the text we can read something about healthy languages and sick languages and Milroy says – “no real language state is a perfectly balanced and stable structure, linguistic change is always in progress, and all dialects are transitional dialects”.

Milroy (1992: 3) says “the equation of uniformity with structuredness or regularity is most evident in popular (non-professional) attitudes to language: one variety – usually a standard language – is considered to be correct and regular, and others – usually ‘non-standard’ dialects – are thought to be incorrect, irregular, ungrammatical and deviant. Furthermore, linguistic changes in progress are commonly perceived as ‘errors’. Thus although everyone knows that language is variable, many people believe that invariance is nonetheless to be desired, and professional scholars of language have not been immune to the consequences of these same beliefs.”

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

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

He express those expressions whith “scate quotes” because he doesn’t agree with it.

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

I think that non-standard dialects aren’t incorrect, irregular, ungrammatical and deviant. If those dialects obey the gramatical rules I suppose they are correct. I don’t know if this example its correct but if he compare “andaluz” and the “canario” dialect, they obey the grammatical rules but there’s is a difference in the pronunciation and in some expressions, and they aren’t consider incorrect neither irregular.

·       Which of these systems is more irregular? Why?

Myself Yourself Himself Herself Ourselves Themselves

Myself Yourself Hisself Herself Ourselves Theirselves

 

The second one is more regular, but it doesn’y obey to the grammatical rules (‘hisself’ and ‘theirselves’), so we can say that it’s incorrect.

There’s is an example in the Milroy’s text that I think can be apply here – “ the categorical distinction between you and yous can be said to be  anorm for some community of speakers. The difficulty hat arises...to determine the extent of what is “grammatical”... as to determine the extent of community of speakers”.

·       “… much of the change generally accepted body of knowledge on which theories of change are based depends on quite narrow interpretations of written data and decontexutalized citation forms (whether written or spoken), rather than on observation of spoken language in context (situated speech)". (Milroy 1992: 5) Why do you think this is so?

·       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?

According to Milroy “ ‘ for most speakers of (British) English’ He ate the pie already is ‘barely acceptable’, whereas He has eaten the pie already is ‘fine’ ”. According with him this would be correct for  the English and Wales, but more “dubiously” for  other speakers.

·       What is the difference between descriptive and prescriptive grammars?

According to this web page(www.usingenglish.com/glossary/descriptive-grammar.html) : A DESCRIPTIVE GRAMMAR  “looks at the way a language is actually used by its speakers and then attempts to analyse it and formulate rules about the structure. Descriptive grammar does not deal with what is good or bad language use; forms and structures that might not be used by speakers of Standard English would be regarded as valid and included. It is a grammar based on the way a language actually is and not how some think it should be.”

“A prescriptive grammar lays out rules about the structure of a language. Unlike a descriptive grammar it deals with what the grammarian believes to be right and wrong, good or bad language use; not following the rules will generate incorrect language. Both types of grammar have their supporters and their detractors, which in all probability suggests that both have their strengths and weaknesses”.

(Copyright www.usingenglish.com/glossary/prescriptive-grammar.html)

·       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. 

 

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

The solidarity constraint mean the way we use language.

 

  ·    Sound change post-vocalic /r/in New York. The change from long ā to ō in some dialects of English.