Lexical Change and Variation

In the Southeastern United States 1930-1990

The present research

• It took nearly 60 years: real time study• Comparison between data collected in the 1930s

with data collected in 1990• Questions about names for 150 different things• Description of factors influencing language change

Variation Change

Practical exercise: Think about and write down all the names by which you are known

What is variation?

• Variation means that there a different ways of labeling or referring or a thing, a person.

• Variation implies the use of variants which are the different elements showing variation.

• A variable is anything that varies. They are the factors such as age, sex and race.

• E.g. The English spoken in Scotland

What is change?

• It means transformation within the internal values of a language system. E.g. American English becoming more and more rhotic

Social variables considered in the study

• Region• Rurality• Education• Sex• Race• Age

Region

Mountain Piedmont Coastal

Rurality

Urban Rural

Education

Change from below•It appears frist in vernacular•It Represents the operation of internal linguistic factors

Change from above:•Introduced by the dominant class•It first appears in careful speech style

Sex

More innovative: Users of newer terms

Less innovative: Users of older terms

Race

More conservative Less conservative

Age

Results

• Regional differences were once the most important influence on word choice; they are now the least important.

• Males, whites, older speakers, and speakers from rural areas use older terms, whereas most educated speakers use newer terms

• Of 670 words that were tested, 145 had declined in use while 87 had become more common.

• The vocabulary investigated increased by 40%• Rural/ urban differences in speech are now as strong as ever

Important notes

• People are continually learning and using new words throughout their lifetimes

• Change does not take place simultaneously in all social strata

• Vocabulary is constantly in state of flux, with many words being gained and lost during the span of an average lifetime

Can you think of new words that have emerged recently?