LANGUAGE VARIABILITY:

What is more common in language uniformity or variability?

 What kind of variability exist?

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

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

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?

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?

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

Which of these systems is more irregular? Why?

“… 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?

What is the difference between descriptive and prescriptive grammars?

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?

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 ā to ō in some dialects of English.

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

What is the biological metaphor in language change?

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

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

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