Language Change and Sociolinguistics

Language Change and Sociolinguistics

Palgrave Macmillan Studies in Language Variation The study of language variation in social context, and the study of specific language communities in detail, are central to the linguistic enterprise. In this series we look for impressive first-hand fieldwork from speech communities of various kinds, analysed within a range of frameworks, quantitative and qualitative. All work reported in the series will raise important arguments about methodologies for researching language in social context, with analysis that challenges or extends current theory building. Titles include: JonathanMarshall LANGUAGE CHANGE AND SOCIOLINGUISTICS Rethinking Social Networks Daniel Scherier ISOLATION AND LANGUAGE CHANGE Contemporary and Sociohistorical Evidence from Tristan da Cunha English

Language Change and Sociolinguistics Rethinking Social Networks Jonathan Marshall The University of Edinburgh

Jonathan Marshall 2004 Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 2004 978-1-4039-1487-3 All rights reserved. No reproduction, copy or transmission of this publication may be made without written permission. No paragraph of this publication may be reproduced, copied or transmitted save with written permission or in accordance with the provisions of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, or under the terms of any licence permitting limited copying issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency, 90 Tottenham Court Road, London W1T 4LP. Any person who does any unauthorised act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages. The author has asserted his right to be identified as the author of this work in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. First published 2004 by PALGRAVE MACMILLAN Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 6XS and 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10010 Companies and representatives throughout the world PALGRAVE MACMILLAN is the global academic imprint of the Palgrave Macmillan division of St. Martin s Press, LLC and of Palgrave Macmillan Ltd. Macmillan is a registered trademark in the United States, United Kingdom and other countries. Palgrave is a registered trademark in the European Union and other countries. ISBN 978-1-4039-1488-0 ISBN 978-0-230-50413-4 (ebook) DOI 10.1057/9780230504134 This book is printed on paper suitable for recycling and made from fully managed and sustained forest sources. A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Marshall, Jonathan, 1963 Language change and sociolinguistics : rethinking social networks / Jonathan Marshall p. cm. (Palgrave studies in language variation) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-1 4039 1487 7 (cloth) 1. Linguistic change Social aspects. 2. Sociolinguistics. I. Title. II. Series. P40.5.L54M37 2003 306.44 dc21 2003054872 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 13 12 11 10 09 08 07 06 05 04

To my daughter, Megan

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Contents Preface List of Figures List of Tables Abbreviations viii ix xi xiii 1. Historical and Demographic Details 1 2. Theoretical Background and Previous Research 15 3. The Research Design 82 4. Correlations Between Age and the Individual Phonological Variables 126 5. Testing for Correlations Across the Entire Database 146 6. Statistical Testing 181 7. Discussion 194 8. Implications for Future Research 227 Appendices 235 Bibliography 236 Index 244 vii

Preface This book presents a sociolinguistic study based on modern recorded dialect data. The purpose of the study was to develop a theoretical sociolinguistic framework which can aid our understanding of the diffusion of language change within a community. The study was conducted in order to establish what social factors might be involved in the process of language change, though the particular emphasis was on resistance to change. Some speakers of the variety studied, known in Scotland as the Doric, seem to have resisted change quite strongly, and this has drawn attention to the area. Sociolinguistic theory attempts, among other things, to explain the factors and motivations involved in the process of language change, and the social network framework has in the past been influential in our understanding of the process of vernacular maintenance. This study replicates the methodology used in most network studies, but also incorporates other sociological, including various attitudinal, factors. This was done by building up sociological and linguistic indices for each individual, and testing for correlations between the various indices. The results will indicate a cautious view of the ability of the supposed norm-enforcement effect of social networks to adequately account for vernacular maintenance. A more complex, inclusive model is offered, incorporating attitudinal factors, such as orientation to the local community. Social factors have been considered to operate simultaneously but variably on the individual. As such, the methodology developed here has the ability to consider the effects of the various sociological variables simultaneously. viii

List of Figures Map 1 Location of the sampling area 8 Map 2 Gravitational pull on Huntly 76 1. Højrup s (1983) concept of Life Modes 35 2. Pedersen s 1994 concept of life mode as mental orientation 43 3. Omdal s concept of the resolution of Cognitive Dissonance 49 4. Sociogram for AM 108 5. Dialect scores not predicted by social network strength 113 6. Means for the denti-labial fricative 127 7. Individual scores for the denti-labial fricative 127 8. Means for the mid-high front vowel 128 9. Individual scores for the mid-high front vowel 129 10. Use of the alveolar variant of /t/ 130 11. Use of the glottal variant of /t/ 130 12. Use of the glottal variant of /t/ in Glasgow 131 13. Use of [ʔ] across age and sex 132 14. Means for the velar fricative 133 15. Individual scores for the velar fricative 133 16. Means for consonant-cluster reduction 134 17. Individual scores for consonant-cluster reduction 135 18. Means for /v/ deletion 136 19. Individual scores for /v/ deletion 136 20. Means for pre-consonantal /r/ 137 21. Combined means for pre-consonantal /r/ 138 22. Individual scores for pre-consonantal /r/ 138 23. Means for pre- and intervocalic /r/ 139 24. Individual scores for pre- and intervocalic /r/ 140 25. Means for lowered Middle English /υ/ 141 26. Individual scores for lowered Middle English /υ/ 141 27. Means for the low central vowel 142 28. Individual scores for the low central vowel 142 29. Means for preterite endings 143 30. Individual scores for preterite endings 144 31. AGE across individual PHOVAR scores 150 32. AGE across mean PHOVAR scores 151 ix

x List of Figures 33. AGE across SSSCOR 152 34. AGE across mean SSSCOR results 152 35. AGE across LEXREC 153 36. AGE across mean LEXREC scores 153 37. AGE across MENURB 155 38. AGE across mean MENURB scores 155 39. AGE across SOCNET 156 40. AGE across SOCLAS 157 41. AGE across ATTDIA 159 42. AGE across NATPRI 160 43. MENURB across PHOVAR 162 44. MENURB across SSSCOR 162 45. MENURB across LEXREC 163 46. MENURB across SOCNET 164 47. MENURB across SOCLAS 165 48. MENURB across ATTDIA 166 49. MENURB across NATPRI 167 50. SOCNET across PHOVAR 169 51. SOCNET across SOCLAS 170 52. SOCLAS across PHOVAR 171 53. SOCLAS across ATTDIA 173 54. ATTDIA across SSSCOR 174 55. ATTDIA across MENURB 175 56. ATTDIA across NATPRI 176 57. PHOVAR and SSSCOR means 177 58. PHOVAR across LEXREC 178 59. Correlation of /t/ and Social Class Index 198 60. The variable (t) across MENURB in the Huntly data 200 61. The two Kennethmont outliers: 8 12 male group 202 62. J. and L. Milroy s concept of language change 209 63. Possible links: social networks and access to vernacular norms 216 64. Suggestions for updating the social network framework 229 65. Suggested framework for composite dialect maintenance index 233

List of Tables 1. Social network criteria (Stokowski 1994: 61) 20 2. Age-grading post-vocalic /r/ (from Romaine 1989: 204) 67 3. Data from Trudgill & Chamber s model (1998: 183) 77 4. List of dialect lexical items chosen for the study 105 5. SOCNET responses for AM 108 6. Social class questionnaire 111 7. PHOVAR: expected results from the picture list 119 8. Correlations for all the variables 148 9. Correlations with AGE 149 10. Mean age across mean SOCNET 157 11. Mean age across mean SOCLAS 158 12. Mean age across mean ATTDIA 159 13. Mean age across mean NATPRI 160 14. Correlations with MENURB 161 15. AGE and MENURB across the linguistic variables 161 16. Correlations with SOCNET 168 17. Correlations with SOCLAS 171 18. Correlations with ATTDIA 173 19. Correlations with NATPRI 176 20. Correlations with PHOVAR 178 21. Correlations with SSSCOR 179 22. AGE: PHOVAR 182 23. AGE: SSSCOR 182 24. AGE: LEXREC 182 25. SEX: PHOVAR 183 26. SEX: SSSCOR 183 27. SEX: LEXREC 183 28. MENURB and SOCNET across the linguistic variables 190 29. Regression output for SOCLAS, ATTDIA and NATPRI 191 30. Correlations: Female SOCNET across dependent variables 192 31. Correlations: Male SOCNET across dependent variables 192 32. [ʔ] in Milton Keynes interviews (Kerswill and Williams 1994) 196 33. [ʔ] in Milton Keynes elicitation (Kerswill and Williams 1994) 197 34. Differing use of (t) across sex in Huntly 198 xi

xii List of Tables 35. /t/ glottalling patterns with social category 199 36. Regression coefficients: 9 Belfast variables by network 213 37. Mean network scores for Belfast, from Labov (2001: 332) 213 38. Centralisation in Martha s Vineyard (Labov 1963: 39) 220

Abbreviations ATTDIA Attitude to the Dialect f60, m60 females, males over 60 f2540, m2540 females, males between 25 and 40 f1417, m1417 females, males between 14 and 17 f812, m812 females, males between 8 and 12 GRC Grampian Regional Council IPA International Phonetic Alphabet LEXREC Lexical Recognition Index MENURB Mental Urbanisation Index NATPRI National Pride Index NORM Non-Mobile, Older, Rural Male PHOVAR Phonetic Variable Index SEML South-East Midlands SOCLAS Social Class Index SOCNET Social Network Index SOED Scottish Office Education Department SSSCOR Spontaneous Speech Index SSE Scottish Standard English xiii