What is more common in language uniformity or variability?

Variability is more common. It occurs because one of them, usually a standard language is considered to be more correct and regular and others, usually ´non-standard´ dialects, are thought to be incorrect, irregular, ungrammatical and deviant.

However, there are people that do not think the same.

What kinds of variability exist?

There are three kinds: historical, geographical and social.

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

We decide it taking into account geographical, historical and social factors.

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?

In my point of view, it is unreasonable due to languages are variable. It means that they are constantly changing.

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. Languages evidently undergo a state of evolution. The changes brought about by this evolutionary process in no way reflect a ´disturbed structure´.

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?

Yes, actually there are three dialects from the Catalan language which are called from some linguistics Valenciano, Mallorquí and Balear. Nowadays, there exist political problems when people have to consider those dialects as a different languages or just one language named Catalan.

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

Because he is expressing non-professional ideas that he does not agree with.

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

The languages which purpose is to communicate and which has a set of grammar rules are not incorrect, ungrammatical or deviant, they are merely considered different from ´the standard ones.

Which of these systems is more irregular? Why?

“Myself, yourself, himself, herself, ourselves and themselves are the more irregular. It is due to they are the standard ones.

Myself Yourself Himself Herself Ourselves Themselves

Myself Yourself Hisself Herself Ourselves Theirselves

“… 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 econtexutalized 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?

It is due to the extreme variability of spoken language in context. Lot of people do not follow grammatical rules and they use colloquialisms which lead to the destructuralisation of language.

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?

There are rules in the non-standard English including colloquialisms. This sentence can be considered as informal, in colloquial speech. However, there is the formal one which would be “he has already eaten the pie.

What is the difference between descriptive and prescriptive grammars?

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.

(http://www.english-for-students.com/Descriptive-and-Prescriptive.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 prestige motivation for change is the way that we use in the speech to express our superior social status. It refers to the way about how we use our language and how we perceive the manner that other people speak.

Solidarity constraint, as opposed to the “prestige motivation”, is a collective movement, related to the ideas of fitting in socially.

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

Looked at geographically, American speakers who most commonly drop the r (in what follows we’ll occasionally call this the ‘r-less’ pronunciation) are those from Eastern New England and parts of the South, particularly the coastal area where the old ‘plantation’ culture once existed. It is also part of Black English Vernacular speech. Until recently, dropping the r was part of New York speech as well, though more and more New Yorkers seem to be perceiving it as ‘vulgar’ and avoiding this pronunciation. Even though there is no officially recognized ’standard’ English in the U.S., ‘r-speakers’ are clearly an overwhelming majority, something you hear reflected in the mass media.

British speakers today whose speech is closest to standard British English (called ‘Received Pronunciation’) do not pronounce r after vowel. Postvocalic r was still regularly pronounced in English speech back in Elizabethan times, and it was around that time (l6th century) that the ‘r-less’ pronunciation started spreading across much of England. It did not spread as far as Ireland and Scotland, which is why we hear the ‘r’ pronunciation from the Irish and the Scots today. Many of the original immigrants to the colonies were from Scotland and Ireland, although at the time of settlement most English speakers were still pronouncing r after vowel too.

http://www.pbs.org/speak/seatosea/americanvarieties/southern/dahling/

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

It is varied in order to differentiate the meaning between the word doublets.

What is the biological metaphor in language change?

It is when languages are passed from one generation to the next, evolving step by step.

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

If the change is caused by a structural requirement of the language , it is internally motivated. And if it is one speaks of externally motivated change, it will be external.

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

The terms are often found in the same paragraph because the theory of lexical diffusion is opposed to the Neogrammarian hypothesis. As Milroy explains, lexical diffusion (a theory proposed by William Wang in 1969) refers to the fact that all sound changes derive from a variation of a single word or a small group of words that later affects other words with similar characteristics, but don’t necessarily have an effect on all words that they potentially could do. The Neogrammarian hypothesis states that a given sound change applies to all words with related features simultaneously. Milroy tells us that sound changes have normally been observed to spread gradually through the lexicon (lexical diffusion), and that there is no evidence to support the Neogrammarian assumption

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

A social norm is the sociological term for the behavioural expectations and cues within a society or group. They have been defined as “the rules that a group uses for appropriate and inappropriate values, beliefs, attitudes and behaviours. These rules may be explicit or implicit. The social norms indicate the established and approved ways of doing things, of dress, of speech and of appearance. These vary and evolve not only through time but also vary from one age group to another and between social classes and social groups. What is deemed to be acceptable dress, speech or behaviour in one social group may not be accepted in another. Deference to the social norms maintains one’s acceptance and popularity within a particular group; ignoring the social norms risks one becoming unacceptable, unpopular or even an outcast from a group. What is deemed acceptable to young people is often unacceptable to elderly people; this difference is caused by the different social norms that operate and are tacitly agreed-upon in such different groups of people. Social norms tend to be tacitly established and maintained through body language and non-verbal communication between people in their normal social discourse. We soon come to know when and where it is appropriate to say certain things, to use certain words, to discuss certain topics or wear certain clothes and when not to. We also come to know through experience what types of people we can and cannot discuss certain topics with or wear certain types of dress around. Mostly this knowledge is derived experientially.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norm_(sociology)