Language Variation and Change Pertemuan 9

Matakuliah : G0362/SociolingusticsTahun : 2007

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Learning Outcomes

Pada akhir pertemuan ini, diharapkan mahasiswa akan mampu :• Menghubungkan antara konsep bahasa dan

identitas diri• Membuat bagan jejaring sosial mereka sendiri

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Learning Outcomes

Pada akhir pertemuan ini, diharapkan mahasiswa akan mampu :• Memberikan contoh adanya perubahan kosakata

dan bunyi yang ada dlm bahasa mereka masing-masing.

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Outline Materi

• Variasi bahasa• Bagaimana perubahan menyebar• Bagaimana mengamati perubahan bahasa• Sebab-sebab perubahan

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Language Changes

English is not consistent in the sound of its wordse.g. knight /nait/ tough/t^f/Some words also have changed meanings over the

centuriese.g. ‘nice’ used to mean ‘precise’, now it means

anything but. ‘queer’ used to mean ‘strange’, now it means

homosexuals.(And when did ‘cool’ start to mean ‘great’?)

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Variation and Change

• Language changes in 3 major ways:– Over time– Physical space– Socially

• Language change (variation over time) has its origin in spatial (or regional) and social variation.

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Some examples of changes

• Sound change: In NZ, ‘new’ used to be pronounced [nju] and ’nuclear’ [njukli∂]. Now, more and more pronounce it [nu:] and [nukli∂]

• many words have been used for ‘very good’, such as ‘radical’, ‘wicked’, ‘super’, ‘groovy’, etc.

• Post-vocalic [r]– recall Labov’s NY city experiment. This feature ties in with social status.

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Post-Vocalic [r]

• In the 60’s Post-vocalic [r] in NY city was spreading because it was considered to be prestigious

• In RP and in London Cockney dialect post-vocalic [r] doesn’t occur, though was present in all parts of England in 17th C. The disappearing is still in progress

• In Ireland and Scotland this feature still exists.

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The spread of vernacular

• What motivates it?– Some varieties are considered more prestigious

than others– On the other hand, a new variety can be much

resented by a group and the reverse happens (i.e. people deliberately use the old form more)

• Who starts the change?– Young people usually start the change– Lower class are more influential, e.g. HRT in

Sydney.

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How do changes spread?

• From group to group• From style to style• From word to word

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How do we study language change?

There are two ways: 1. Apparent-time studies

– A steady increase or decrease of a form by different age groups suggest that a change may be in progress.

– Comparing the speech of these age groups can be a useful clue to language change.

– The youngest group usually leads the change. That means at a certain point of time of observation the younger people will show more new forms. But the older generation will use more standard forms.

– E.g. In a dialect survey in Sydney, HRTs were used more by teenagers than by adults. This suggests that over time HRTs will be stabilized a a feature of Sydney speech.

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2. Real-time studies– This method will take many years– The researcher will take data once, say in

2005, then he will come back and take another set of data in 2015.

– The changes over this period of time will indicate real-time changes

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Reasons for change• Social Status

– People tend to change their speech to be accepted into a group

– Different types of change are introduced by different groups of people

– More affluent or higher class people will introduce more prestigious forms (e.g. the post vocalic [r] in NY city by Labov)

– Lower class will spread more vernacular (e.g. HRTs in Sydney)

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Reasons for change

• Gender– Women tend to be linked with both more

prestigious and vernacular forms, while men more with vernacular

• Interaction– Language change progresses most slowly in a

tightly knit community where contacts with outsiders are limited.

– Media plays a role in introducing new forms– However, there is still a debate on whether face-

to-face interaction is necessary to speed the change.

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Conclusions

• Linguistic change occurs over time, space and across social borders

• The spread can be from group to group, style to style or word by word.

• Young people usually starts the change• We can study language change by apparent-time

and real-time studies• Changes are motivated by social status, gender,

and interaction types