Peaks beyond phonology: Adolescence, incrementation, and language change

2009/03/01 by Sali A. Tagliamonte, Alexandra D'Arcy, Alexandra D’Arcy · 8 citations
Social Sciences · Arts and Humanities · #Linguistic Variation and Morphology #Language, Discourse, Communication Strategies #Syntax, Semantics, Linguistic Variation

paper · doi:10.1353/lan.0.0084

Abstract

What is the mechanism by which a linguistic change advances across successive generations of speakers? We explore this question by using the model of incrementation provided in Labov 2001 and analyzing six current changes in English. Extending Labov's focus on recent and vigorous phonological changes, we target ongoing morphosyntactic(-semantic) and discourse-pragmatic changes. Our results provide a striking validation of the incrementation model, confirming its value as a key to understanding the evolution of linguistic systems. However, although our findings reveal the predicted peak in the apparent-time progress of a change and corroborate the female tendency to lead innovation, there is no absolute contrast between men and women with respect to incrementation. Instead, quantitative differences in the social embedding of linguistic change correlate with the rate of the change in the speech community.

Citations

• The Social Motivation of a Sound Change
• Contraction, Deletion, and Inherent Variability of the English Copula
• A simplest systematics for the organization of turn-taking for conversation
• A comprehensive grammar of the English language . By Randolph Quirk, Sidney Greenbaum, Geoffrey Leech, and Jan Svartvik. Index by David Crystal. London: Longman, 1985. Pp. x, 1779.

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