“One of the most important facts about human language is that it is continuously changing”, as it says in the article written by Milroy. So is more common variability than uniformity. However, we need to make the language a little uniform in order to teach it, at least in grammar. Nevertheless, it’s too difficult, so we can find many “different grammars” depend on geographically and socially it is. 

      2. What kinds of variability exist?

            There are three kinds of variability: social, geographical and historical.                                                                                                                                 

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

    In order to decide that a particular dialect or language is belonging we have to look into the grammar and into the phonology too.

       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?

No, it isn’t. It’s more important the diachronic description because languages changes in a period of time, not in a particular and short time. It is variable and never will be a finite entity because it is always changing.

      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?
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.”

        So, It isn’t abnormal, it is only a period of transition in the language, because we know it is always changing. 

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

        Yes, some examples of non-professional languages are:

· Laismo: “La he dado el libro”

·  Weakness: “Te he dejao’ el libro en la mesa ” 

      · Omission of accents.

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

        Scare quotes is normally used to like an irony, or express and opinion that it isn’t mine.

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

                  In my opinion these dialects are not ungrammatical, deviant and irregular. Normally each language has a standard form which is “ the correct one”. However every language has more          than one dialect whose dialects enrich the standard one adding new vocabulary... So I think we shouldn’t see these dialects as incorrect.

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

        The first one is the objective standard, however the most regular it is the second one.

    10. “… 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’s because of the extreme variability of spoken language in context

    11. 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?

    The Standard English doesn’t accept this form, so most of British speakers will think it is incorrect form, but may be in England, Wales, America, Irish or Scottish English could accept it.

    12. What is the difference between descriptive and prescriptive grammars?

         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.

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.

The prestige motivation for change: is the way we refer to our view of our language and also how other people speak it.

Solidarity constraint: is the way we use the language to feel equality to our mates.

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

    According to Milroy article one condition could be that the proximity of the velar consonant to a front vowel may be necessary for the palatalization, but it isn’t sufficient at all. He says also we have to take into account social conditions that they must be favorable, we must know the activities of speakers in social contexts and the internal structural properties of language.

    14. What is the biological metaphor in language change?

    15. What is the difference between internal and external histories of a language?
        Internal history of language refers to internal system other language, in other words, it is about sound and morphological change. However, external history of the language refers to political, social and attitudinal context of the language.

              16. Look up Neogrammarians and lexical diffusion. Why are they often found in the same paragraph or chapter?
                    We can found in the same paragraph because Neogrammarian theory is opposed to lexical diffusion. According to Neogrammarians sound-change is phonetically gradual and in the           relevant class of items all items undergo the change at the same time. Nevertheless, lexical diffusion we understand sound-change as lexical gradual change and not all the items must be               changed.

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

                       Go to the main index                                        Go to the history index