Written by the world-renowned pioneer in the field of modern
sociolinguistics, this volume examines the cognitive and cultural
factors responsible for linguistic change, tracing the life history
of these developments, from triggering events to driving forces and
endpoints.
* Explores the major insights obtained by combining
sociolinguistics with the results of dialect geography on a large
scale
* Examines the cognitive and cultural influences responsible for
linguistic change
* Demonstrates under what conditions dialects diverge from one
another
* Establishes an essential distinction between transmission
within the community and diffusion across communities
* Completes Labov's seminal Principles of Linguistic
Change trilogy
Autorentext
William Labov is Professor of Linguistics and Director of the Linguistics Laboratory, University of Pennsylvania. His major studies include The Social Stratification of English in New York City (1966), Sociolinguistic Patterns (1972), Language in the Inner City (1972), Principles of Linguistic Change: Internal Factors (Wiley-Blackwell, 1994) and Principles of Linguistic Change, Volume 2: Social Factors (Wiley-Blackwell, 2001). With S. Ash and C. Boberg, he published the Atlas of North American English in 2006.
Zusammenfassung
Written by the world-renowned pioneer in the field of modern sociolinguistics, this volume examines the cognitive and cultural factors responsible for linguistic change, tracing the life history of these developments, from triggering events to driving forces and endpoints.
- Explores the major insights obtained by combining sociolinguistics with the results of dialect geography on a large scale
- Examines the cognitive and cultural influences responsible for linguistic change
- Demonstrates under what conditions dialects diverge from one another
- Establishes an essential distinction between transmission within the community and diffusion across communities
- Completes Labov's seminal Principles of Linguistic Change trilogy
Inhalt
List of Figures.
List of Tables.
Foreword.
Preface.
Abbreviations.
1 Introduction to Cognitive and Cultural Factors in Linguistic Change.
1.1 Cognitive Factors.
1.2 Cultural Factors in Linguistic Change.
1.3 Convergence and Divergence.
1.4 The Darwinian Paradox Revisited.
1.5 Divergence and the Central Dogma.
1.6 The Community Orientation of Language Learning.
1.7 The Argument of this Volume.
1.8 The English Vowel System and the Major Chain Shifts of North American English.
Part A Cross-Dialectal Comprehension.
2 Natural Misunderstandings.
2.1 The Collection of Natural Misunderstandings.
2.2 Modes of Correction.
2.3 How Common Are Misunderstandings?
2.4 What Is the Role of Sound Change in Misunderstanding?
2.5 The Linguistic Focus of the Misunderstandings.
2.6 The Effect of Mergers.
2.7 Chain Shifts.
2.8 Philadelphia Sound Changes.
2.9 r-less vs r-ful Dialects.
2.10 Sound Changes General to North America.
2.11 An Overview of Natural Misunderstandings.
3 A Controlled Experiment on Vowel Identification.
3.1 The PetersonBarney Experiment.
3.2 Replicating the PetersonBarney Experiment.
3.3 Overall Success in Identification.
3.4 Responses to the Chicago Speakers.
3.5 Responses to the Birmingham Speakers.
3.6 Responses to the Philadelphia Speakers.
3.7 Overview.
4 The Gating Experiments.
4.1 Construction of the Gating Experiments.
4.2 Overall Responses to the Gating Experiments.
4.3 Comprehension of the Northern Cities Shift in Chicago.
4.4 Recognition of Chicago Sound Changes in the Word Context.
4.5 The Effect of Lexical Equivalence.
4.6 Comprehension of Southern Sound Changes in Birmingham.
4.7 Comprehension of Philadelphia Sound Changes.
4.8 Overview of the Gating Experiments.
Part B The Life History of Linguistic Change.
5 Triggering Events.
5.1 Bends in the Chain of Causality.
5.2 Causes of the Canadian Shift.
5.3 Causes of the Pittsburgh Shift.
5.4 Causes of the Low Back Merger.
5.5 The Fronting of /uw/.
5.6 The Northern Cities Shift.
5.7 An Overview of Triggering Events.
6 Governing Principles.
6.1 The Constraints Problem.
6.2 The (Ir)Reversibility of Mergers.
6.3 The Geographic Expansion of Mergers in North America.
6.4 Principles Governing Chain Shifts.
6.5 Principles Governing Chain Shifting within Subsystems.
6.6 How Well Do Governing Principles Govern?
7 Forks in the Road.
7.1 The Concept of Forks in the Road.
7.2 The Two-Stage Model of Dialect Divergence.
7.3 The Fronting and Backing of Short a.
7.4 Divergent Development of the /o/ ~ /oh/ Opposition.
8 Divergence.
8.1 Continuous and Discrete Boundaries.
8.2 The North/Midland Boundary.
8.3 Communication across the North/Midland Boundary.
8.4 The Two-Step Mechanism of Divergence.
8.5 Unidirectional Change: The Low Back Merger.
8.6 Consequences of the Low Back Merger for the English Vowel System.
8.7 Resistance to the Low Back Merger.
8.8 Further Differentiation by Chain Shifts.
8.9 A General View of Linguistic Divergence in North America.
9 Driving Forces.
9.1 The Importation of Norms.
9.2 Locality.
9.3 Social Networks and Communities of Practice.
9.4 Socioeconomic Classes.
9.5 Acts of Identity.
9.6 The Relation of Social Classes in Apparent Time.
9.7 Gender as a Social Force.
9.8 The ...