CHAPTER 9: Language Change (Discussion)

 Chapter 9: Language Change 

Hello everyone,

Hope you are in good condition this week

This week we'll discuss about Language Change

Here are the results of our group discussion:

languages change over time, All language change has its origins in variation. The possibility of a linguistic change exists as soon as a new form develops and begins to be used alongside an existing form. If the new form spreads, the change is in progress. If it eventually displaces the old form, the change has become a ‘fait accompli’ Sociolinguists try to identify the particular social factors which favour the spread of specific linguistic changes, and they try to explain how these factors influence the spread of the change.  

Variation and change 
Language varies in three major ways which are interestingly interrelated – over time, in physical space and socially. Language change – variation over time – has its origins in spatial (or regional) and social variation. The source of change over time is always current variation. So the regional and social variants described in the previous three chapters provide the basis for language change over time. 

Post-vocalic [r] – its spread and its status 
In many parts of England and Wales, standard English has lost the pronunciation of [r] fol lowing vowels in words like star and start . Post-vocalic [r] does not occur in RP nor in the London Cockney dialect. The loss of post-vocalic [r] seems to have begun in the seventeenth century in the south-east of England, and it is still in progress, since there are areas, such as the south-west of England, where [r] is still regularly pronounced. As example 3 suggests, the change seems to be moving slowly westwards. (Post-vocalic [r] is also pronounced in Scotland and Ireland. post-vocalic [r] appeared first in the speech of upper-middle-class New Yorkers, and then gradually fi ltered down through the different social classes until it reached the speech of the lowest social class in the community. It is important to keep these two meanings distinct even thought they often coincide. 

The spread of vernacular forms 
It is easy to understand that a pronunciation which is considered prestigious will be imitated., and will spread through a community. But there are also many examples of vernacular pronounciations which have spread throughout speech communities. Not all linguistic changes nvolve adopting new forms from outside the speech community. Nor do they always involve forms which peple are conscious of as prestigious forms. 

How do changes spread? 

From group to group 

Many linguists have used the metaphor pf waves to explain how linguistic changes spread through a community. Social factors such age, status, gender, and region affect the rates of change and the directions in which the waves roll most swiftly. The metaphor is one useful way of visualizing the spread of a change from one group to another. 

From style to style  

In the speech of a particular individual it suggests the change spreads from one style to another Say from more formal speech to more casual speech). while at the same time it spreads from one individual to another within a social group, and subsequently from one social group to another.  

From word to word  

It seems to be the case that sound changes not only spread from one person to another and from one style to another style, they also spread from one word to another. Sound changes spread through different words one by one. This is called lexical diffusion. When a sound change begins, all the words with a particular vowel don't change at once in the speech of community. 

How do we study language change?  

Apparent time studies of language change? 

A great deal of linguistic variation is stable but some is an indication of linguistic change in progress. A steady increase or steady decline in the frequency of a form by age group Suggests to a sociolinguist that a change may be in progress in the speech community whereas a bell-Shaped pattern u more typical of stable variation. 

Language change in real time 

Sometimes, however, it is possible to build on the work of earlier linguists when studying change. Dictionaries which provide a date when a form was first noted can assist in tracing changes in vocabulary over time.  


Reasons for language change  

- Social status and language change  
There is still a great deal of research and discussion about which social groups introduce linguistic changes. One answer Seems to be that a linguistic change may enter a speech community through social group. but that different types of change are associated with different groups.  

- Gender and language change 
Differences in women's and men's speech are another source of variation which can result in linguistic change. Sometimes women are the innovators, leading a linguistic change, and Sometimes men. Women tend to be associated with changes towards both prestige and vernacular norms, whereas men more often introduce vernacular changes.

So, guys please look at our own group discussion and feel free to add your opinion or lets we discussed together in this room...

Thank you

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