language How changes in society
Causes and consequences
The Continual Nature of Language Change
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All languages undergo continual change, generation by generation Many people have strongly negative feelings towards changes in language. Is language decaying? Or is it making progress?
The standardization of English
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18th century much variation in English Leading writers establish rules for a standard form of English Any way of speaking different from standard English is/was considered `ungrammatical' English. But English continues to change..
The study of language change
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`Historical linguistics' The study of the development of languages through the centuries. E.g. Chaucerian English, Shakespearian English, modern English
Is it possible to study ongoing language change?
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Can we study changes as they begin to occur, in our own society? Previous answer: `No too difficult'. Modern sociolinguistics: `Yes you just need good research techniques.'
William Labov a pioneer of the study of variation in language
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Two key studies: New York department stores the spread of prestige `r' Martha's Vineyard the spread of new vowel sounds
The New York project
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Variation in the pronunciation of /r/ in wordfinal position: car farm bar more fur blur floor Previous descriptions: whether /r/ is pronounced or not is just random and unpredictable.
Random or not?
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"The speaker hears both types of pronunciation around him all the time; both seem equally natural to him, and it is a matter of pure chance which form he uses." Labov: not random variation but related to social status.
Accommodation and variation
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Sociological studies discovered that female sales assistants in department stores subconsciously mimic their customers, particularly when their customers have high social status. Labov guessed this accommodation might cause variation in their language.
Labov's Hypothesis
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The /r/ sound was regularly used by upper and uppermiddle class people. Therefore, it might occur more frequently in the accommodated speech of lower class sales assistants in the better department stores.
Data collection from three different department stores with different class levels of customers:
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Saks Fifth Avenue an upmarket department store in the centre of Manhattan Macy's a middle class, middlepriced store Klein's a cheap store with lowcost goods in a poorer part of Manhattan
Data Collection Techniques and the `Observer's Paradox'
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It is easy to get samples of careful speech. Interviews, reading passages of text, reading lists of words. More difficult to get samples of genuine casual speech. People change their speech when outside `observers' are present.
One solution/strategy
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In interviews, ask informants to talk about any situation in which they thought they were in serious danger of being killed. Interviewees become emotionally involved and may forget the presence of the observer.
Data collection in the NY study
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Goal: elicit examples of wordfinal /r/. Complication: if the sales assistants realized Labov was collecting data, they might change their speech. Solution: Labov posed as a regular customer and asked two questions.
The `fourth floor' questions
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Labov asked about goods located on the fourth floor in each store. "Excuse me, where is the furniture department?" Sales assistant reply: "On the fourth floor."
The followup question
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Labov pretended he had not heard and asked for a repetition: "I'm sorry, where was that again?" Reply: "On the fourth floor." given with a slower, more careful pronunciation. Labov (secretly) noted down the use of /r/, the age, race and gender of the sales person.
The Results
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Higher use of /r/ in the more expensive department stores. Use of /r/ was higher in Saks than in Macy's. Use of /r/ in Macy's was significantly higher than that in Klein's. Also, in Sak's, more /r/ use in the top floors where the most expensive goods were sold.
Further Patterns
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A significant difference between /r/ use in casual speech and in more careful speech. More /r/ in the answers to Labov's second question the slow, careful repetition of `On the fourth floor.' Especially in Klein's.
`/r/ for prestige'
Sales assistants were increasingly
adopting the /r/ sound associated with members of the upper and upper middle class. The use of /r/ = a new prestige pattern gradually spreading into the lower middle and lower classes.
20 years later...
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A followup study of the same type was carried out in the 1990s. Results: there was a further increase in use of /r/ by sales assistants in New York department stores. General result: variation in /r/ use was/is not random, but correlated with social class.
Confirmed by listening tests
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Recordings of speakers using different amounts of /r/. Listeners asked to judge which profession the speakers were best suited to. factory worker sales assistant executive secretary professor Results: speakers regularly using /r/ associated with higher level professions.
Conscious and subconscious variation
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Conscious variation: people are (more or less) aware of different ways of speaking. Subconscious variation: people are unaware of certain different ways of speaking. Where there is conscious variation, this is often a change towards an overtly prestigious form. Subconscious variation may result in change to a covertly prestigious form.
New York /r/
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In New York, /r/ occurred more in the careful speech of sales assistants. New York /r/ insertion was a conscious change towards an overtly prestigious form.
Overreporting of /r/ use
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In interviews, people claimed to use /r/ more often than they actually did. People felt that the /r/ sound was a prestigious pronunciation form and one which they should be producing.
"Hypercorrection"
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The overexaggeration or overuse of a particular way of speaking, sometimes in an incorrect way. Labov: members of the lower middle class may sometimes feel socially insecure and be anxious to improve their status. Labov noted more /r/ in the careful, slow speech of lower middle class speakers than in the upper middle classes = hyper correction.
Labov's interpretation of hypercorrection
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"The hypercorrect behaviour of the lower middle class is a clear indication of linguistic change in progress." Speakers overuse a way of speaking in an attempt to adopt forms of language which are seen as socially prestigious.
The historical background to /r/ use.
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Both British and American speech originally pronounced /r/ in wordfinal position. This was discontinued by the 19th century. `An inserted /r/ is characteristic of western parts of the USA and likely to be a disadvantage to someone trying to find a future in the east or the south of the USA.' (1917)
The reemergence of /r/ as a prestige form in the 20thC
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/r/ was readopted by the upper classes as a prestige pronunciation in the NE of the USA Now it is (still) spreading through the middle and lower classes. Further point: the /r/ pronunciation is not fully new it has been (somewhere) in the language since earlier times.
Martha's Vineyard
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a beautiful island off the coast of Massachusetts permanent population: 6,000
Martha's Vineyard/MV
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the setting for the film "Jaws" summer population due visitors on vacation: 40,000 mostly on the east side `downisland' `upisland' remains rural and sparselypopulated
Vowel changes in MV
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Recordings of inhabitants of MV in the 1940s Compared with the 1970s fi changes in certain vowel sounds in many speakers Interviews showed the islanders were not aware of this change. No variation within individual speakers people either used the `new' vowels or they didn't.
The patterns and their background
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The new vowels were most prominent in the 3045 year old age group Those under 30 didn't use them The vowel change was more present in the western part upisland. Especially in Chilmark, center of the fishing industry.
Differences between Upisland and Downisland
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Martha's Vineyard was once a prosperous whaling centre. But only 3% of the islanders were still involved in fishing in the 1970s. Most of this 3% lived in the Chilmark area.
Not so new..
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So, the `new' sounds were actually old forms used by the fishermen. And, the fishermen had always had these sounds in their speech. The pronunciation present in mainland America in 18th and 19thC.
A puzzle.
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Why did the 3045 year olds suddenly start to (subconsciously) imitate the speech of the old fishermen?
Labov: an explanation
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Connected with the rise in popularity of MV as a tourist resort. Many older inhabitants disapproved of the "summer people" (tourists). They admired the old fishermen, who personified traditional values of MV: independent, skilful, strong and courageous. Strong contrast to the consumeroriented society of the summer tourists.
Symbols of tradition in MV
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Admiration of the fishermen L people imitate the fishermen's way of speaking. Projection of a `true islander' identity.
Why the age difference?
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The `new' sounds were much stronger in those who were planning to stay on MV permanently mostly the 30 to 45 year olds. Those under 30 had not yet decided whether to stay on MV. So, younger people often didn't switch to the `new' vowel sounds.
A typical pattern of change
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Stage 1 : The speech of one social group differs from that of other groups. Stage 2: A second group admires the first group, and subconsciously adopts certain features in the speech of the former. Stage 3: The new speech features gradually displace other variant forms and often spread further to other groups as a new `norm'.
Similarities and differences in the changes in New York and Martha's Vineyard
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Similarities:
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The changes were not completely new forms but were pronunciations already present in some other group. The changes both took place when one group adopted another as its model.
Main difference:
a. In NY the change was generally made
consciously people were aware that /r/ was a prestige form and used more of it in careful speech. b. In MV, people were generally unaware of their altered pronunciation, and there was no variation in careful speech.
Conscious changes vs. subconscious changes
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People are conscious/aware of the use of some variant patterns in speech. Other variation seems to go unnoticed. When people are aware of the use of nonstandard variant forms, they often criticise them.
An example: `t' fi glottal stop
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British English, words ending in `t'. Often pronounced with a `glottal stop' when occurring before another word. wha(t) stupidity ho(t) water People don't notice they are making this change it is a subconscious change.
/t/ as glottal stop in wordfinal position
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Other people pronounce /t/ as a glottal stop at the end of a sentence. Wha(t)? Its ho(t). Also `wordinternally': bo(tt)le bi(tt)er bu(tt)er be(tt)er This similar change is noticed by people everywhere it is conscious variation. It is also often criticised even by people who subconsciously make the /t/glottal stop adjustment between words. E.g: `Don'(t) say "what" in tha(t) sloppy way!'.
A similar Spanish example
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/s/ is sometimes pronounced as /h/ by Puerto Ricans and Cubans at the ends of words or syllables: `estos contenos' fi /ehtoh kohntenoh/ Criticised by Columbians as sloppy. But Columbians subconsciously convert /s/ to /h/ at the beginning of words and between vowels: `pasamos' fi /pahamos/ Only conscious variation results in criticism.
Attitudes and the conscious vs. subconscious distinction
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The conscious/subconscious difference in language variation is very important. Only changes which are consciously perceived are criticised as `subnormal' and in need of correction.
The `ing to in' change
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walking fi walkin' talking fi talkin' Common in UK and New England Actually an old pronunciation in one dialect of English which has recently been revived and spread.
The distribution of in'
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Occurs most commonly in the casual speech of lower working class speakers. Present only 30% of the time in the casual speech of the middle class. A difference between male and female speakers. When reading text and word lists, female speakers produce many more regular /ing/ forms than male speakers.
Prestige and in'
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The use of more regular /ing/ in careful speech by lower working class females fi aware /in'/ is not prestigious fi try to avoid /in'/ in careful speech. /in'/ is a conscious variant form.
Negative attitudes towards changes in the use of words
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Common awareness that `like' is being used in new ways. `I'm like standing there, you know, and she like comes up to me and like just insults me!'
Reading, UK `I knows it.'
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Irregular /s/ on verbs in the speech of young people, e.g.: "I stares at him, right, and he walks away.' "They tells me I can't do it, but you'll see!" Very frequent in casual speech, but much reduced careful in speech, e.g. when children are recorded in front of a teacher. a conscious variant form
Lord of the Rings
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Gollum the schizophrenic finder of the ring `We wants it, we needs it, my preciousss... Let's kill both Hobbitses and take it for ourselves.'
The Return of `the Fellowship of the Ring' to the Twin Towers. South Park
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`We wants it, we needs it, my preciousss..' And when Butters grabs the video tape: `We hasses it!'
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Summarizing so far
1. Changes are often not completely new
but may be the readoption and adaptation of older forms. 2. Changes often catch on like the spread of illnesses, as people consciously or subconsciously copy the patterns of other speakers/groups.
Conscious changes may often be in the direction of speech forms with overt prestige, and be led by women from the upper working class. 4. Subconscious changes are often movements away from overt prestige forms, and begin with workingclass men, whose speech/habits are associated with toughness, and so have covert prestige.
3.
21 accents of English
http://www.youtube.com/watch?
Language Change Part 2 Linguistic Principles of Language Change
How New Changes Spread Through a Language
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Old view: new sound changes affect all relevant words simultaneously Modern view: Not correct. New sound change affect different words at different times, led by certain general principles of language change.
Principle 1: frequently used words get affected early
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In some words ending in ry, the preceding vowel sound is often not pronounced: ev(e)ry, fact(o)ry, nurs(e)ry Pronounced as if spelt: evry, factry, nursry In other words, the vowel is not omitted: cursory desultory The difference? Common vs. less common words.
Vowel reduction to `schwa'
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Recently, a schwa is coming to occur in the first syllable of certain common words when two consonants follow. astronomy despair Other, less common words keep a fuller original vowel pronunciation: esquire muscology. Also, variation in: Australia Manhattan
A generalization
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Sound changes seem to affect frequently used and culturally salient/important words first, before later affecting other words.
Principle 2: Ease of Pronunciation
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Words generally undergo new sound changes only if the result is easy to pronounce. Vowels lost in fam(i)ly and ev(e)ry fi an easy to pronounce sequence of sounds. Other common words: burglary and forgery vowels are not eliminated. Would result in sequences difficult to pronounce: [glr] and [jr]
Simplification in clusters of sounds
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Sound omission is also common where a group of sounds is clustered together. John banged the drum as he marched through the town.
Further examples of sound changes
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handbag `hambag' omission of [d] + conversion of [n] to [m] due to influence of following [b] handkerchief fi han(g)kerchief whistle, castle, fasten and hasten regular omission of /t/ sound
Sound introduction for ease of pronunciation
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Sequences of sounds such as /mth/ and /mst/ may be difficult to pronounce. warmth something hamster a /p/ sound is introduced by many speakers pronounced as if spelled: warmpth, sumpthing and hampster Similar phenomenon in fancy and prince A /t/ sound is inserted between /n/ and /s/ Pronounced as if spelled: `fantsy' `prints'.
A further generalization
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Certain sound changes may be `likely' changes `waiting to happen' This may conspire with sociolinguistic pressures to result in actual change. Both purely linguistic properties and sociolinguistic factors are frequently responsible for language change.
Principle 3: the Cuckoo Model
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New linguistic forms often exist for some time alongside older variants. Only after some time does a newer form fully take over and completely replace the older form.
The Story of V+ing
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The English `progressive' verb form `Look John is reading a book' Used to describe an action in progress First occurred around 1,000 A.D. Prior to that, the `simple present' was used for ongoing actions: `Look there John reads a book.'
Historical changes
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V+ing forms were used infrequently until the time of Shakespeare. Then occurred more often as a variant to the simple present: `I am going to see Cleopatra.' `I go to see Cleopatra.'
Nowadays..
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Increased use of V+ing has displaced the simple present in describing ongoing actions. The simple present is now mostly restricted to describing habits: `I often read books.' Also to describe `states': `John loves Mary.'
Further spread of V+ing
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[1] Now also used to describe habitual actions as a variant to use of the simple present: John drinks coffee nowadays. (simple present) John is drinking coffee nowadays. (V+ing)
[2] V+ing with verbs of mental state
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Another new change, V+ing as a variant to simple present, sometimes possible, other times still a bit odd: Sue knows my brother. ??Sue is knowing my brother. Mary loves her parents. ??Mary is loving her parents.
Newlyacceptable cases of V+ing with verbs of mental state
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Dan is understanding French a lot better since he's been to France. Bill is kissing Sue, and he is loving it. McDonalds: `I'm lovin' it'. V+ing lived alongside the simple present for much time as a variant form, but is now taking over and excluding use of the simple present in many contexts.
Lexical Diffusion and `SCurve progressions'
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Lexical diffusion: once a change has occurred with a few words, it may spread and `diffuse itself' through many other words. SCurve Progression: in changes that occur over a period of time, first a few words are affected, then many other words change in a short time span. Finally, the speed of change decreases or stops, leaving certain words unchanged or very slow to change. A SLOWQUICKQUICKSLOW pattern.
An example of an SCurve Progression
Example: Verb Noun Stress Shifting in English
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A change affecting verb/noun pairs with two syllables such as import and present. NOUN: stress on first syllable They gave Sue a PREsent. VERB: stress on second syllable They will preSENT you with a mdeal. NOUN: The CONvict escaped. VERB: They conVICted the defendant.
The historical development
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Before the 16thC, there were no stress differences in pairs of nouns and verbs. Both N and V had stress on the second syllable: I preSENT you with this sword, my lord. I send you this preSENT, my lady. In the 16thC, dictionaries noted that the stress on three nouns outlaw, rebel and record had shifted to the first syllable.
over time...
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12 years later 5 more words had changed By 1660, 24 words had changed, 35 by 1700, 70 by 1800 and 150 by 1934. Now there are many NV pairs with stress shifted in the N: ADDict, IMport, DEfect But other pairs which the change has not yet affected: mistake, dislike, report. N: I made a misTAKE. V: I always misTAKE him for his brother.
An SCurve progression rate of change
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Some words still fluctuating. British (and some US English): address Some people have shifted stress: `So, what's the ADDress?' Others have second syllable stress: `What's your addRESS?'
Generalization
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Continued use of a favoured variant form leads to the discontinuation of other equivalent patterns. Over time, discarded variants can come to be considered as no longer part of the language and eventually unacceptable/ungrammatical.
Important properties shared by changes in sounds, words and syntax
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Changes involve variation and the existence of different `competing' forms. `John drinks/is drinking whisky nowadays.' `What's your ADDress/addRESS?' `He went to a bar/baa.' (use of /r/ sound) Change often first occur in just a few words and then later spread into other words. The rate of change may follow a slowquick quickslow pattern.
Other General Causes of Language Change: Contact Situations
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Two frequent scenarios [1] Speakers from different neighboring language groups come into regular contact (e.g. for trading). The languages absorb influences from each other and undergo change.
A famous example: the `Balkan Language Area'
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Where Greek, Bulgarian, and Albanian come into contact in SE Europe. These languages now share many features due to borrowing and change. E.g. to say `the man's dog', they all say: `hisdog the man' To say: `Give me something to eat.': `Give me that I eat.'
Scenario [2]: Immigrant Groups
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Generation 1 immigrants learn a new local language imperfectly. They pass on some of these imperfections to generation 2. The way the local language is spoken by members of the heritage group is changed. The `substratum theory' the substrate language of the heritage group affects the way the newly adopted language is spoken.
What kinds of changes regularly happen?
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Heritage language = HL Local majority language = LML The grammar and sounds of the HL affect the way heritage groups speak the LML. Many words from the LML are absorbed into the HL (but not grammar or sounds).
Illustration: Polish speakers in the US
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Speak English with influences of Polish grammar and pronunciation (accent) Speak Polish with frequent use of borrowed English words.
Overcorrection
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Sometimes generation 2 heritage group speakers have special, accented pronunciations. E.g. `door' pronounced like `doer' by speakers of Jewish and Italian descent in New York. Labov: this is `overcorrection' generation 2 speakers try to avoid sounding like generation 1 speakers, and overexaggerate certain sounds.
Generation 1 speakers find it difficult to pronounce the LML
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E.g. Yiddish speakers in New York. The vowel sounds in Yiddish are different to English. `a cup of coffee' is pronounced as: `a cop of coffee' Generation 2 speakers are ashamed of the foreignsounding speech of their parents. They overexaggerate a different pronunciation: `coffee' fi `cooeffee'
Language Change Ultimately Progress or Decay?
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New understanding of the process of language change takes us back to the original question we started out with: Can languages be said to be in a state of progress or decay?
Is there an ideal language state?
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To talk about progress and decay, we need to assume that there is some ideal state of language. However, linguistically, it is not possible to define what the perfect state of any language might be. Because of this, it is very difficult to talk of progress or decay in any real way.
But we do have attitudes towards language...
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Many people still do have negative attitudes towards variation and ongoing change in language. This can be seen in the way people judge others who speak with non standard accents of English (and other languages).
Two studies of attitudes to English accents
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10 different accents of British English Listeners asked to guess where the speakers came from. Also asked to rate the speakers on various personal properties, including `pleasantsounding' or `not very pleasantsounding'. Much agreement on ranking.
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7 1 0 l a r g e u r b a n a r
1= most pleasant 10=least pleasant
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10.
`BBC' accent Welsh accent Yorkshire accent Irish accent Geordie accent West Country accent Glasgow accent Liverpool accent Birmingham accent London/Cockney accent
Phase 2: same accents played to listeners from the US
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Questions showed that US listeners did not recognize where the accents were from. Welsh speaker misidentified as Norwegian Scottish speaker misidentified as Mexican Exception: listeners recognized the BBC accent and the London accent Listeners then asked to rank the accents according to most pleasant/least pleasant.
The results
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No.1: BBC accent No.2 London accent No.s 310 fully random Explanation: BBC prestigious London associated with tourism, an interesting place to visit Other rankings completely mixed as listeners did not associate them with specific places.
Conclusions
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English accents are NOT ranked for objective linguistic reasons, but for social reasons. Accents are associated with places, and good/bad feelings about places come to be associated with the people who come from these places.
A second study in the US
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A large study asking people from Michigan to judge the characteristics of speakers of different accents in the US. Educated uneducated Friendly unfriendly Speakers of good/bad English Snobbishdowntoearth
Some of the results
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Southerners were classed as speakers of bad/incorrect English, but friendly, downto earth and polite. People with a Northeastern accent: speakers of bad/incorrect English, unfriendly, and rude. Northerners (from the Great Lakes area): sound educated, smart, speak correct English, but don't sound friendly or polite.
General conclusions
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People tend to judge the characteristics of others based on the sound of their speech. If there are negative characteristics associated with an accent, this can lead to prejudice and barriers to an individual's social and professional progress.
And finally...
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21 accents of English from a single individual... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3UgpfSp Hope you all have a great winter break, and see you on campus next semester!