James Milroy: Some new perspectives on sound change: sociolinguistics and the Neogrammarians.

146-160.

Answer the following questions using the book and other sources.

1-Why does Milroy say that sound change appears to have no “obvious function or

rational motivation” (146)?

Milroy says that because there is no visible reason for a sound to change by the speakers of a community. It changes and nobody knows why.

2-What is/are the main difference/s between Milroy’s approach and that of the

Neogrammarians (147-148)?

Milroy thinks that sound change is progressive and Neogrammarians thought that is was abrupt.

3-According to Milroy, what is language change dependent on? (149?)

Language change is dependent mainly on speakers.

4-Why does Milroy say that sound change actually doesn’t exist (150)?

There is no sound change because a sound doesn’t change itself but it is changed for another.

5-Why does Milroy disagree with the Neogrammarians when they say that sound

change is “blind” (150)?

6-What is meant by “lexical diffusion” (151)?

Lexical diffusion is when the change of phonetics is very notable.

7-What does dialect displacement mean? Give an example. (152)

Dialect displacement happens when one dialect is displaced by another much more used.

Example: In the north of Castellon is more used catalan than valencian because the first one displaced the second one.

8-What are “community” or “vernacular” norms? What term that we have used in class

is similar (152)?

Community or vernacular norms are those that are not written or registered anywhere. They are not standard.

9-What does Milroy mean when he says that h-dropping may not ever reach

“completion” (153)?

H-dropping may not ever reach “completion” because this change is variable and it is not used by everybody.

10-Explain what Milroy means by “speaker innovation” and change in the system. How

are they connected (153)?

Innovation is done by speakers and change is done by language. They are connected because a lot of the changes in language have actually been innovations.

11-Why isn’t borrowing from one language to another and the replacement of one

sound by another through speaker innovation with a language as radically different

as the Neogrammarians posited (154-6)?

Borrowing and innovation is different because borrowing is adopting a sound from another dialect and innovation is when speakers make an original sound.

12-What is necessary for a sound to spread (157)?

For a sound to spread different dialects have to be in contact to interfere each other.

13-Why does believing in the ideology of standardization lead to believing in “blind

necessity” (158)?

14-What does Milroy mean by “clean” and “dirty” data (158)?