Modeling language change: An evaluation of Trudgill's theory of the emergence of New Zealand English

G. J. Baxter · Richard A. Blythe · William Croft · Alan J. McKane

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Linguistic Variation and Morphology Linguistics, Language Diversity, and Identity Language and cultural evolution

Abstract

Abstract Trudgill (2004) proposed that the emergence of New Zealand English, and of isolated new dialects generally, is purely deterministic. It can be explained solely in terms of the frequency of occurrence of particular variants and the frequency of interactions between different speakers in the society. Trudgill's theory is closely related to usage-based models of language, in which frequency plays a role in the representation of linguistic knowledge and in language change. Trudgill's theory also corresponds to a neutral evolution model of language change. We use a mathematical model based on Croft's usage-based evolutionary framework for language change (Baxter, Blythe, Croft, & McKane, 2006), and investigate whether Trudgill's theory is a plausible model of the emergence of new dialects. The results of our modeling indicate that determinism cannot be a sufficient mechanism for the emergence of a new dialect. Our approach illustrates the utility of mathematical modeling of theories and of empirical data for the study of language change.

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References

2003Constructing a language: a usage-based theory of language acquisition 2000Sociolinguistic Patterns 1982Language and social networks . By Leslie Milroy. Oxford: Blackwell, 1980. Pp. xii, 218.2001Phonology and Language Use 1985Morphology 1988Science as a Process: An Evolutionary Account of the Social and Conceptual Development of Science 1987Dialects in contact. By Peter Trud Gill. (Language in society. 10.) Oxford: Blackwell. 1986. Pp. viii. 174.2004New-Dialect Formation: The Inevitability of Colonial Englishes

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