The interplay of internal and external factors in varieties of English
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Raymond Hickey
Abstract
The validity of a division of factors for language change into internal and external forms the focus of the present study. A distinction is made between speaker-internal and speaker-external on the one hand and community-internal and community-external on the other. A central concern is whether such distinctions are merely artefacts of linguistic analysis or whether they reflect the reality of speakers’ linguistic behaviour. Data is considered from varieties of English to show that instances of change are frequently combinations of factors and that the disruption caused by socially-triggered change can be minimised by speakers applying considerations of system symmetry and regularity to a change and thus provide a clear trajectory which can be transmitted across generations.
Abstract
The validity of a division of factors for language change into internal and external forms the focus of the present study. A distinction is made between speaker-internal and speaker-external on the one hand and community-internal and community-external on the other. A central concern is whether such distinctions are merely artefacts of linguistic analysis or whether they reflect the reality of speakers’ linguistic behaviour. Data is considered from varieties of English to show that instances of change are frequently combinations of factors and that the disruption caused by socially-triggered change can be minimised by speakers applying considerations of system symmetry and regularity to a change and thus provide a clear trajectory which can be transmitted across generations.
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Preface vii
- Introduction 1
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Part I. Phonology
- “A received pronunciation” 21
- The interplay of internal and external factors in varieties of English 43
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Part II. Morphosyntax
- The myth of American English gotten as a historical retention 67
- Changes affecting relative clauses in Late Modern English 91
- Diffusion of do 117
- A diachronic constructional analysis of locative alternation in English, with particular attention to load and spray 143
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Part III. Orthography, vocabulary and semantics
- In search of “the lexicographic stamp” 167
- “Divided by a common language”? 185
- Women writers in the 18th century 203
- Eighteenth-century French cuisine terms and their semantic integration in English 219
- Spelling normalisation of Late Modern English 243
-
Part IV. Pragmatics and discourse
- A far from simple matter revisited 271
- What it means to describe speech 295
- Being Wilde 315
- “I am desired (…) to desire” 333
- Index 357
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Preface vii
- Introduction 1
-
Part I. Phonology
- “A received pronunciation” 21
- The interplay of internal and external factors in varieties of English 43
-
Part II. Morphosyntax
- The myth of American English gotten as a historical retention 67
- Changes affecting relative clauses in Late Modern English 91
- Diffusion of do 117
- A diachronic constructional analysis of locative alternation in English, with particular attention to load and spray 143
-
Part III. Orthography, vocabulary and semantics
- In search of “the lexicographic stamp” 167
- “Divided by a common language”? 185
- Women writers in the 18th century 203
- Eighteenth-century French cuisine terms and their semantic integration in English 219
- Spelling normalisation of Late Modern English 243
-
Part IV. Pragmatics and discourse
- A far from simple matter revisited 271
- What it means to describe speech 295
- Being Wilde 315
- “I am desired (…) to desire” 333
- Index 357
