The long tail of language change: A trend and panel study of Québécois French futures

Gillian Sankoff · Suzanne Evans Wagner

12 citations0/0 files storedThe Canadian Journal of Linguistics / La revue canadienne de linguistique

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Linguistic Variation and Morphology Syntax, Semantics, Linguistic Variation Linguistic and Sociocultural Studies

Abstract

Abstract A previous panel study of 59 speakers of Montreal French showed an increase in inflected futures (IF) at the expense of periphrastic futures (PF) as this population aged, running counter to the direction of historical change: reduction of IF. Matching two samples of speakers across the same time interval by age and social characteristics, the current trend study investigates whether or not this increase reflects retrograde change in the speech community. Results show community stability over the same period, confirming the earlier age grading interpretation and disconfirming any possibility that the disappearance of IF may be reversing. We propose that this pattern of retrograde lifespan change may emerge from a combination of social forces typically found in late stages of language change, with concomitant stylistic effect. Further, such a pattern may suggest the mechanism that creates a very long tail for retreating variants.

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1968The Social Stratification of English in New York City.2000Sociolinguistic Patterns 2012Three Waves of Variation Study: The Emergence of Meaning in the Study of Sociolinguistic Variation 2006The Social Stratification of English in New York City 2002Style and Sociolinguistic Variation 2007Transmission and diffusion 1983The future in thought and language: diachronic evidence from Romance 2007Language Change Across the Lifespan: /r/ in Montreal French

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