Abstract
Tracing the diffusion of linguistic innovations in space from historical sources is challenging. The complexity of the datasets needed in combination with the noisy reality of historical language data mean that it has not been practical until recently. However, bigger historical corpora with richer spatial and temporal information allow us to attempt it. This paper presents an investigation into changes affecting first person non-singular pronouns in the history of Norwegian: first, individual changes affecting the dual (vit > mit) and plural (vér > mér), followed by loss of the dual-plural distinction by merger into either form or replacement of both by Danish-Swedish vi. To create dynamic spatial visualisations of these changes, the use of kernel density estimation is proposed. This term covers a range of statistical tools depending on the kernel function. The paper argues for a Gaussian kernel in time and an adaptive uniform (k-nearest neighbours) kernel in space, allowing uncertainty or multiple localisation to be incorporated into calculations. The results for this dataset allow us to make a link between Modern Norwegian dialectological patterns and language use in the Middle Ages; they also exemplify different types of diffusion process in the spread of linguistic innovations.
References
Bailey, Guy, Tom Wikle, Jan Tillery & Lori Sand. 1993. Some patterns of linguistic diffusion. Language Variation and Change 5: 359–390.10.1017/S095439450000154XSearch in Google Scholar
Benskin, Michael, Vasilis Karaiskos, Keith Williamson & Margaret Laing. 2013. An Electronic Version of A Linguistic Atlas of Late Medieval English Edinburgh: University of Edinburgh. http://www.lel.ed.ac.uk/ihd/elalme/elalme.htmlSearch in Google Scholar
Blaxter, Tam T. 2017a. Annotated DN online Cambridge. icge.co.uk/dn_online/Search in Google Scholar
Blaxter, Tam T. 2017b. Speech in space and time: Contact, change and diffusion in medieval Norway Cambridge: University of Cambridge Ph.D. https://doi.org/10.17863/CAM.15576Search in Google Scholar
Burridge, James. 2017. Spatial Evolution of Human Dialects. Physical Review X 7 (3). doi:10.1103/PhysRevX.7.031008. http://link.aps.org/doi/10.1103/PhysRevX.7.031008 (20 January, 2018).10.1103/PhysRevX.7.031008Search in Google Scholar
Burridge, James. 2018. Unifying models of dialect spread and extinction using surface tension dynamics. Royal Society Open Science 5(1). 171446. doi:10.1098/rsos.17144610.1098/rsos.171446Search in Google Scholar
Fotheringham, Stewart, Chris Brunsdon & Martin Charlton. 2003. Geographically weighted regression John Wiley & Sons, Limited.Search in Google Scholar
Gramacki, Artur. 2018. Nonparametric Kernel density estimation and its computational aspects (Studies in Big Data 37). Cham, Switzerland: Springer.10.1007/978-3-319-71688-6Search in Google Scholar
Haugen, Einar. 1976. The Scandinavian languages: An introduction to their history (The Great Languages). London: Faber and Faber.Search in Google Scholar
Indrebø, Gustav. 1951. Norsk målsoga Bergen: J. Griegs boktr.Search in Google Scholar
Jahr, Ernst Håkon (ed.). 1990. Den store dialektboka 1. oppl. Oslo: Novus.Search in Google Scholar
Johannessen, Janne Bondi, Joel Priestly, Kristin Hagen, Tor Anders Åfarli & Øystein Alexander Vangsnes. 2009. The Nordic Dialect Corpushttp://tekstlab.uio.no/nota/scandiasyn/ (23 March, 2018).Search in Google Scholar
Laing, Margaret. 2013. A Linguistic Atlas of Early Middle English, 1150–1325 Edinburgh: University of Edinburgh. lel.ed.ac.uk/ihd/laeme2/laeme2.htmlSearch in Google Scholar
Lightfoot, David. 1979. Principles of diachronic syntax Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Search in Google Scholar
Lightfoot, David. 1991. How to set parameters: Arguments from language change Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press.Search in Google Scholar
Nerbonne, John. 2010. Measuring the diffusion of linguistic change. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B 365(1559): 3821–3828. doi:10.1098/rstb.2010.0048.10.1098/rstb.2010.0048Search in Google Scholar
Noreen, Adolf. 1970. Altisländische und altnorwegische Grammatik: (Laut- und Flexionslehre); unter Brücksichtigung des Urnordischen (Altnordische Grammatik von Adolf Noreen; 1). 5., unveränd. Aufl. Halle: Niemeyer.10.1515/9783111610580Search in Google Scholar
Parzen, Emanuel. 1962. On Estimation of a Probability Density Function and Mode. The Annals of Mathematical Statistics 33(3). 1065–1076. doi:10.1214/aoms/1177704472.10.1214/aoms/1177704472Search in Google Scholar
Pettersen, Egil. 1975. Språkbrytning i Vest-Norge 1450–1550 Bergen: Alma Mater.Search in Google Scholar
Pettersen, Egil. 1991. Språkbrytning i Vest-Norge 1450–1550 II. Bergen: Alma Mater.Search in Google Scholar
Rosenblatt, Murray. 1956. Remarks on Some Nonparametric Estimates of a Density Function. The Annals of Mathematical Statistics 27(3). 832–837. doi:10.1214/aoms/1177728190.10.1214/aoms/1177728190Search in Google Scholar
Rumpf, Jonas, Simon Pickl, Stephan Elspass & Werner König. 2009. Structural analysis of dialect maps using methods from spatial statistics. Zeitschrift für Dialektologie und Linguistik 76: 280–308.10.25162/zdl-2009-0010Search in Google Scholar
Schmidt, Johannes. 1872. Die Verwandtschaftsverhältnisse der indogermanischen Sprachen Weimar: Hermann Böhlau.Search in Google Scholar
Séguy, J. 1973. La relation entre la distance spatiale et la distance lexicale. Rev. Linguist. Romane 35: 335–357.Search in Google Scholar
Seip, Didrik Arup. 1955. Norsk språkhistorie til omkring 1370 2nd edn. Oslo: H. Aschehoug & Co.Search in Google Scholar
Studer-Joho, Nicole. 2014. Diffusion and change in early middle English: methodological and theoretical implications from the LAEME corpus of tagged texts (Schweizer Anglistische Arbeiten 141). Tübingen: Francke.Search in Google Scholar
Trudgill, Peter. 1974. Linguistic change and diffusion: Description and explanation in sociolinguistic dialect geography. Language in Society 3: 215–246. doi:10.1017/S004740450000435810.1017/S0047404500004358Search in Google Scholar
Tylden, Per. 1944. Me – vi: ein studie frå det gamalnorske og mellomnorske brevriket (Skrifter utgitt av Det norske videnskaps-akademi i Oslo. II, Hist.-filos. klasse 1944:4). Oslo.Search in Google Scholar
Tylden, Per. 1958. 2. persons personlege pronomen dualis og pluralis i gamalnorsk og mellomnorsk diplommål (Universitetet i Bergen Årbok 1956: Historisk-Antikvarisk Rekke 4), eds. Hans Brattström, Johs. Bøe, Th. M. Vogelsang & Leif J. Wilhelmsen. Bergen: A/S John Griegs Boktrykkeri.Search in Google Scholar
Versloot, Arjen P. 2008. Mechanisms of language change: vowel reduction in 15th century West Frisian (LOT International Series 195). Utrecht: Landelijke Onderzoekschool Taalwetenschap (LOT).Search in Google Scholar
Wheeler, David & Michael Tiefelsdorf. 2005. Multicollinearity and correlation among local regression coefficients in geographically weighted regression. Journal of Geographical Systems 7: 161–187. doi:10.1007/s10109-005-0155-6.10.1007/s10109-005-0155-6Search in Google Scholar
Wikle, Thomas & Guy Bailey. 1997. The spatial diffusion of linguistic features in Oklahoma. Proceedings of the Oklahoma Academy of Science 77: 1–15.Search in Google Scholar
Willis, David. 2017. Investigating geospatial models of the diffusion of morphosyntactic innovations: The Welsh strong second-person singular pronoun chdi. Journal of Linguistic Geography 5: 41–66.10.1017/jlg.2017.1Search in Google Scholar
© 2019 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston
Articles in the same Issue
- Frontmatter
- Obituary / Nécrologie / Nachruf
- In memoriam Mario Alinei (1926–2018)
- Articles / Articulos / Articles / Artikel
- Ther varom mid j hia: Tracing linguistic diffusion in the history of Norwegian using kernel density estimation
- Latgalian surnames as a source of research in dialectology and language contact studies
- The geolinguistics of the Ibero-Romance comitative
- The sub-dialects of South-Western Kurzeme from a historical perspective
- EDD Online: What is new in its latest version 3.0
- Pragmatic functions of repetitions in spontaneous spoken dialect discourse
- Competing norms of standard pronunciation. Phonetic analyses on the ‹-ig›-variation in Austria
- Besprechungen – Comptes rendus – Reseñas – Reviews
- Atlante linguistico italiano, vol. IX: La Società (In strada; veicoli e viaggi; alla fontana, all’osteria), carte 832–951. Turin: Istituto dell’Atlante Linguistico Italiano. 2018
Articles in the same Issue
- Frontmatter
- Obituary / Nécrologie / Nachruf
- In memoriam Mario Alinei (1926–2018)
- Articles / Articulos / Articles / Artikel
- Ther varom mid j hia: Tracing linguistic diffusion in the history of Norwegian using kernel density estimation
- Latgalian surnames as a source of research in dialectology and language contact studies
- The geolinguistics of the Ibero-Romance comitative
- The sub-dialects of South-Western Kurzeme from a historical perspective
- EDD Online: What is new in its latest version 3.0
- Pragmatic functions of repetitions in spontaneous spoken dialect discourse
- Competing norms of standard pronunciation. Phonetic analyses on the ‹-ig›-variation in Austria
- Besprechungen – Comptes rendus – Reseñas – Reviews
- Atlante linguistico italiano, vol. IX: La Società (In strada; veicoli e viaggi; alla fontana, all’osteria), carte 832–951. Turin: Istituto dell’Atlante Linguistico Italiano. 2018