Gregory R Guy
Biographic Data
| ID | 747119 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Gregory R Guy |
| GIVEN NAMES | Gregory R |
| FAMILY NAME | Guy |
| SIGNATURE | GUY G R |
| AFFILIATIONS | Stanford University |
| ORCID | 0000-0003-4971-1009 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 25 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 267 |
| WORKS AS AUTHOR | 24 |
| WORKS AS EDITOR | 1 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 1984 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2022 |
| H-INDEX | 11 |
Authenticity in language ideology
Like many marginalized languages, Chanka Quechua (Peru) lacks community-wide prestige norms associated with standard-language ideology. Formal situations require Spanish, and few speakers are literate in Quechua, so normative speech styles are absent. Speakers’ evaluative judgments do not reference notions of correctness; rather, they value puro ‘pure’ speech and authenticity. This paper explores alternative approaches to accessing sociolinguisti…
Globalising the study of language variation and change
Sociolinguistic study of variation and change has a long‐standing bias towards speech communities in Western and especially Anglophone societies. We argue that our field requires a much wider scope for variation studies, which puts more emphasis on culturally contextualised social meaning in the full range of human societies. The pursuit of understanding, generalizations, and even universals in the study of the social life of human language deman…
Linguistic coherence
A Teoria Fonológica E a Variação
.
Linking usage and grammar
The cognitive coherence of sociolects
A Identidade Lingüística Da Comunidade De Fala
The basic sociolinguistic model for relationships between idiolects anddialects is the speech community, defined by shared linguistic features andattitudes and relatively high internal density of communication. Since thesedefinitions are relative, speech communities can nest and overlap, so that localsubdialects, sociolects, ethnic lects, and personal networks can form smallerspeech communities that share local traits and are locally high in comm…
The role of lexical frequency in syntactic variability
Much recent work argues that lexical frequency plays a central explanatory role in linguistic theory, but the status, predicted effects, and methodological treatment of frequency are controversial, especially so in the less-investigated area of syntactic variation. This article addresses these issues in a case study of lexical frequency effects on variable subject personal pronoun (SPP) expression in Spanish. Prior studies of Spanish SPP use reve…
Speech style and authenticity
The question of what constitutes an authentic speaker, particularly with regard to African American Vernacular English (AAVE), has been the subject of some debate in sociolinguistics (Butters, 1984; Labov, 1980; Sweetland, 2002) and arises anew in the case of white hip-hop–affiliated youth (WHHs) who converge toward AAVE in their speech. This paper takes a quantitative approach to this question by examining how speech style alters the relationshi…
Letters to Language
Letters to Language Susanne Gahl and Gregory R. Guy Language accepts letters from readers that briefly and succinctly respond to or comment upon either material published previously in the journal or issues deemed of importance to the field. The editor reserves the right to edit letters as needed. Brief replies from relevant parties are included as warranted. Reviewing Procedures January 19, 2007 To the Editor: Concerning Colin Phillips’s suggest…
Letters to Language
Letters to Language Gregory R. Guy Language accepts letters from readers that briefly and succinctly respond to or comment upon either material published previously in the journal or issues deemed of importance to the field. The editor reserves the right to edit letters as needed. Brief replies from relevant parties are included as warranted. Grammar and usage: A variationist response July 8, 2005 To the Editor: The recent discussions of grammar …
Towards a Social Science of Language
This is a two-volume collection of original research papers designed to reflect the breadth and depth of the impact that William Labov has had on linguistic science. Four areas of 'Labovian' linguistics are addressed: First is the study of variation and change; the papers in sections I and II of the first volume take this as their central theme, with a focus on either the social context and uses of language (I) or on the the internal linguistic d…
Towards a social science of language
Violable is variable
Optimality theory (OT) (McCarthy & Prince, 1993; Prince & Smolensky, 1993) has been proposed as a constraint-based theory of phonology in which the phonological facts of each language are accounted for by a language-specific ordering of a universal inventory of constraints. The constraints, expressing desirable (i.e., optimal) phonological states, evaluate possible candidate forms, selecting the optimal output. Any constraint may be violated by a…
Inherent variability and the obligatory contour principle
English coronal stop deletion is constrained by the preceding segment, so that stops and sibilants favor deletion more than liquids and nonsibilant fricatives. Previous explanations of this constraint (e.g., the sonority hierarchy) have failed to account for the details, but we show that it can be comprehensively treated as a consequence of the obligatory contour principle (OCP). The OCP, introduced to account for a variety of categorical constra…
On the Choice of Relative Pronouns in English
Le locuteur anglais qui construit une proposition relative doit choisir entre trois pronoms relatifs: wh-, that ou zero. Comment s'effectue ce choix? Quels sont les facteurs qui l'influencent? L'article examine le choix des pronoms relatifs dans 943 propositions relatives en anglais parle et ecrit
Lexical Phonology and the Problem of Variation
Proceedings of the Nineteenth Annual Meeting of the Berkeley Linguistics Society: General Session and Parasession on Semantic Typology and Semantic Universals (1993)
Australia
Introduction The English language is now completing 200 years of continuous usage in Australia. In that time it has supplanted the original languages of the continent, and recruited most descendants of non-English speaking immigrants, so that today it is the overwhelmingly dominant tongue throughout Australia. Several features of the Australian situation yield a unique insight on the development and diversification of English: its geographic isol…
Contextual conditioning in variable lexical phonology
The variable lexical phonology proposed in Guy (1991) predicts an exponential relationship among rates of retention in word classes of different derivational histories. A class of words that satisfies the structural description of a variable rule at an early lexical level of derivation will undergo multiple operations of the rule and, therefore, exponentially reduced rates of retention, compared to a class of forms that only satisfies the structu…
Explanation in variable phonology
Variationist treatments of phonological processes typically provide precise quantitative accounts of the effects of conditioning environmental factors on the occurrence of the process, and these effects have been shown to be robust for several well-studied processes. But comparable precision in theoretical explanation is usually elusive, at the current state of the discipline. That is, the analyst is usually unable to say why the parameters shoul…
The Sociolinguistic Types of Language Change
Many studies of linguistic change have drawn distinctions between contrasting types of change. Examples are the Neogrammarian distinction between regular sound change and borrowing, and Labov's contrast between 'change from above' and 'change from below'. A basic criterion for many such distinctions is whether or not language contact is involved in the genesis of a change. Recent works by Thomason & Kaufman (1988) and Van Coetsem (1988) suggest a…
The development of a morphological class
English has a class of “semiweak” verbs, which in the past tense have root-vowel ablaut as well as reflexes of the apical stop suffix, for example, kept, told . This study traces the development of this class in a sample of speakers aged 4–65. The evidence is derived from the variable rates of occurrence of the final - t,d in these words in the speech of individuals of different ages. The rate of - t,d absence in semiweak verbs systematically dec…
International Perspectives on Linguistic Diversity and Language Rights
Internaciaj perspektivoj pri lingva diverseco kaj lingvaj rajtoj La aktuala debato en Usono pri oficiala lingva politiko havas siajn precedentojn en aliaj landoj. En la antikva mondo, ciuj gravaj statoj kaj imperioj estis multlingvaj, same la cefaj mezepokaj kaj frumodernaj statoj. Multaj hodiaǔe gravaj landoj estas multlingvaj. Efektive la ekvacio "unu nacio/unu lingvo" estas relative lastatempa eltrovaĵo. Pledantoj por oficialigo de la angla en…
An intonational change in progress in Australian English
Many speakers of current Australian English often use a high-rising intonation in statements. This usage, which has been termed Australian Questioning Intonation (AQI), has a nonpropositional, interactive meaning (checking for listener comprehension) and interacts with the turn-taking mechanism of conversation. A quantitative study of the use of AQI in Sydney reveals that it has the social distribution characteristic of a language change in progr…
The meaning of an intonation in Australian English
Explanation in variable phonology
Variationist treatments of phonological processes typically provide precise quantitative accounts of the effects of conditioning environmental factors on the occurrence of the process, and these effects have been shown to be robust for several well-studied processes. But comparable precision in theoretical explanation is usually elusive, at the current state of the discipline. That is, the analyst is usually unable to say why the parameters shoul…
The cognitive coherence of sociolects
The development of a morphological class
English has a class of “semiweak” verbs, which in the past tense have root-vowel ablaut as well as reflexes of the apical stop suffix, for example, kept, told . This study traces the development of this class in a sample of speakers aged 4–65. The evidence is derived from the variable rates of occurrence of the final - t,d in these words in the speech of individuals of different ages. The rate of - t,d absence in semiweak verbs systematically dec…
Inherent variability and the obligatory contour principle
English coronal stop deletion is constrained by the preceding segment, so that stops and sibilants favor deletion more than liquids and nonsibilant fricatives. Previous explanations of this constraint (e.g., the sonority hierarchy) have failed to account for the details, but we show that it can be comprehensively treated as a consequence of the obligatory contour principle (OCP). The OCP, introduced to account for a variety of categorical constra…
An intonational change in progress in Australian English
Many speakers of current Australian English often use a high-rising intonation in statements. This usage, which has been termed Australian Questioning Intonation (AQI), has a nonpropositional, interactive meaning (checking for listener comprehension) and interacts with the turn-taking mechanism of conversation. A quantitative study of the use of AQI in Sydney reveals that it has the social distribution characteristic of a language change in progr…
Linguistic coherence
The role of lexical frequency in syntactic variability
Much recent work argues that lexical frequency plays a central explanatory role in linguistic theory, but the status, predicted effects, and methodological treatment of frequency are controversial, especially so in the less-investigated area of syntactic variation. This article addresses these issues in a case study of lexical frequency effects on variable subject personal pronoun (SPP) expression in Spanish. Prior studies of Spanish SPP use reve…
Speech style and authenticity
The question of what constitutes an authentic speaker, particularly with regard to African American Vernacular English (AAVE), has been the subject of some debate in sociolinguistics (Butters, 1984; Labov, 1980; Sweetland, 2002) and arises anew in the case of white hip-hop–affiliated youth (WHHs) who converge toward AAVE in their speech. This paper takes a quantitative approach to this question by examining how speech style alters the relationshi…
Contextual conditioning in variable lexical phonology
The variable lexical phonology proposed in Guy (1991) predicts an exponential relationship among rates of retention in word classes of different derivational histories. A class of words that satisfies the structural description of a variable rule at an early lexical level of derivation will undergo multiple operations of the rule and, therefore, exponentially reduced rates of retention, compared to a class of forms that only satisfies the structu…
The meaning of an intonation in Australian English
On the Choice of Relative Pronouns in English
Le locuteur anglais qui construit une proposition relative doit choisir entre trois pronoms relatifs: wh-, that ou zero. Comment s'effectue ce choix? Quels sont les facteurs qui l'influencent? L'article examine le choix des pronoms relatifs dans 943 propositions relatives en anglais parle et ecrit
International Perspectives on Linguistic Diversity and Language Rights
Internaciaj perspektivoj pri lingva diverseco kaj lingvaj rajtoj La aktuala debato en Usono pri oficiala lingva politiko havas siajn precedentojn en aliaj landoj. En la antikva mondo, ciuj gravaj statoj kaj imperioj estis multlingvaj, same la cefaj mezepokaj kaj frumodernaj statoj. Multaj hodiaǔe gravaj landoj estas multlingvaj. Efektive la ekvacio "unu nacio/unu lingvo" estas relative lastatempa eltrovaĵo. Pledantoj por oficialigo de la angla en…
Violable is variable
Optimality theory (OT) (McCarthy & Prince, 1993; Prince & Smolensky, 1993) has been proposed as a constraint-based theory of phonology in which the phonological facts of each language are accounted for by a language-specific ordering of a universal inventory of constraints. The constraints, expressing desirable (i.e., optimal) phonological states, evaluate possible candidate forms, selecting the optimal output. Any constraint may be violated by a…
Globalising the study of language variation and change
Sociolinguistic study of variation and change has a long‐standing bias towards speech communities in Western and especially Anglophone societies. We argue that our field requires a much wider scope for variation studies, which puts more emphasis on culturally contextualised social meaning in the full range of human societies. The pursuit of understanding, generalizations, and even universals in the study of the social life of human language deman…
The meaning of an intonation in Australian English
An intonational change in progress in Australian English
Many speakers of current Australian English often use a high-rising intonation in statements. This usage, which has been termed Australian Questioning Intonation (AQI), has a nonpropositional, interactive meaning (checking for listener comprehension) and interacts with the turn-taking mechanism of conversation. A quantitative study of the use of AQI in Sydney reveals that it has the social distribution characteristic of a language change in progr…
International Perspectives on Linguistic Diversity and Language Rights
Internaciaj perspektivoj pri lingva diverseco kaj lingvaj rajtoj La aktuala debato en Usono pri oficiala lingva politiko havas siajn precedentojn en aliaj landoj. En la antikva mondo, ciuj gravaj statoj kaj imperioj estis multlingvaj, same la cefaj mezepokaj kaj frumodernaj statoj. Multaj hodiaǔe gravaj landoj estas multlingvaj. Efektive la ekvacio "unu nacio/unu lingvo" estas relative lastatempa eltrovaĵo. Pledantoj por oficialigo de la angla en…
The Sociolinguistic Types of Language Change
Many studies of linguistic change have drawn distinctions between contrasting types of change. Examples are the Neogrammarian distinction between regular sound change and borrowing, and Labov's contrast between 'change from above' and 'change from below'. A basic criterion for many such distinctions is whether or not language contact is involved in the genesis of a change. Recent works by Thomason & Kaufman (1988) and Van Coetsem (1988) suggest a…
The development of a morphological class
English has a class of “semiweak” verbs, which in the past tense have root-vowel ablaut as well as reflexes of the apical stop suffix, for example, kept, told . This study traces the development of this class in a sample of speakers aged 4–65. The evidence is derived from the variable rates of occurrence of the final - t,d in these words in the speech of individuals of different ages. The rate of - t,d absence in semiweak verbs systematically dec…
Australia
Introduction The English language is now completing 200 years of continuous usage in Australia. In that time it has supplanted the original languages of the continent, and recruited most descendants of non-English speaking immigrants, so that today it is the overwhelmingly dominant tongue throughout Australia. Several features of the Australian situation yield a unique insight on the development and diversification of English: its geographic isol…
Contextual conditioning in variable lexical phonology
The variable lexical phonology proposed in Guy (1991) predicts an exponential relationship among rates of retention in word classes of different derivational histories. A class of words that satisfies the structural description of a variable rule at an early lexical level of derivation will undergo multiple operations of the rule and, therefore, exponentially reduced rates of retention, compared to a class of forms that only satisfies the structu…
Explanation in variable phonology
Variationist treatments of phonological processes typically provide precise quantitative accounts of the effects of conditioning environmental factors on the occurrence of the process, and these effects have been shown to be robust for several well-studied processes. But comparable precision in theoretical explanation is usually elusive, at the current state of the discipline. That is, the analyst is usually unable to say why the parameters shoul…
Lexical Phonology and the Problem of Variation
Proceedings of the Nineteenth Annual Meeting of the Berkeley Linguistics Society: General Session and Parasession on Semantic Typology and Semantic Universals (1993)
On the Choice of Relative Pronouns in English
Le locuteur anglais qui construit une proposition relative doit choisir entre trois pronoms relatifs: wh-, that ou zero. Comment s'effectue ce choix? Quels sont les facteurs qui l'influencent? L'article examine le choix des pronoms relatifs dans 943 propositions relatives en anglais parle et ecrit
Towards a Social Science of Language
This is a two-volume collection of original research papers designed to reflect the breadth and depth of the impact that William Labov has had on linguistic science. Four areas of 'Labovian' linguistics are addressed: First is the study of variation and change; the papers in sections I and II of the first volume take this as their central theme, with a focus on either the social context and uses of language (I) or on the the internal linguistic d…
Towards a social science of language
Violable is variable
Optimality theory (OT) (McCarthy & Prince, 1993; Prince & Smolensky, 1993) has been proposed as a constraint-based theory of phonology in which the phonological facts of each language are accounted for by a language-specific ordering of a universal inventory of constraints. The constraints, expressing desirable (i.e., optimal) phonological states, evaluate possible candidate forms, selecting the optimal output. Any constraint may be violated by a…
Inherent variability and the obligatory contour principle
English coronal stop deletion is constrained by the preceding segment, so that stops and sibilants favor deletion more than liquids and nonsibilant fricatives. Previous explanations of this constraint (e.g., the sonority hierarchy) have failed to account for the details, but we show that it can be comprehensively treated as a consequence of the obligatory contour principle (OCP). The OCP, introduced to account for a variety of categorical constra…
Letters to Language
Letters to Language Gregory R. Guy Language accepts letters from readers that briefly and succinctly respond to or comment upon either material published previously in the journal or issues deemed of importance to the field. The editor reserves the right to edit letters as needed. Brief replies from relevant parties are included as warranted. Grammar and usage: A variationist response July 8, 2005 To the Editor: The recent discussions of grammar …
Letters to Language
Letters to Language Susanne Gahl and Gregory R. Guy Language accepts letters from readers that briefly and succinctly respond to or comment upon either material published previously in the journal or issues deemed of importance to the field. The editor reserves the right to edit letters as needed. Brief replies from relevant parties are included as warranted. Reviewing Procedures January 19, 2007 To the Editor: Concerning Colin Phillips’s suggest…
Speech style and authenticity
The question of what constitutes an authentic speaker, particularly with regard to African American Vernacular English (AAVE), has been the subject of some debate in sociolinguistics (Butters, 1984; Labov, 1980; Sweetland, 2002) and arises anew in the case of white hip-hop–affiliated youth (WHHs) who converge toward AAVE in their speech. This paper takes a quantitative approach to this question by examining how speech style alters the relationshi…
A Identidade Lingüística Da Comunidade De Fala
The basic sociolinguistic model for relationships between idiolects anddialects is the speech community, defined by shared linguistic features andattitudes and relatively high internal density of communication. Since thesedefinitions are relative, speech communities can nest and overlap, so that localsubdialects, sociolects, ethnic lects, and personal networks can form smallerspeech communities that share local traits and are locally high in comm…
The role of lexical frequency in syntactic variability
Much recent work argues that lexical frequency plays a central explanatory role in linguistic theory, but the status, predicted effects, and methodological treatment of frequency are controversial, especially so in the less-investigated area of syntactic variation. This article addresses these issues in a case study of lexical frequency effects on variable subject personal pronoun (SPP) expression in Spanish. Prior studies of Spanish SPP use reve…
A Teoria Fonológica E a Variação
.
Linking usage and grammar
The cognitive coherence of sociolects
Linguistic coherence
Authenticity in language ideology
Like many marginalized languages, Chanka Quechua (Peru) lacks community-wide prestige norms associated with standard-language ideology. Formal situations require Spanish, and few speakers are literate in Quechua, so normative speech styles are absent. Speakers’ evaluative judgments do not reference notions of correctness; rather, they value puro ‘pure’ speech and authenticity. This paper explores alternative approaches to accessing sociolinguisti…
Globalising the study of language variation and change
Sociolinguistic study of variation and change has a long‐standing bias towards speech communities in Western and especially Anglophone societies. We argue that our field requires a much wider scope for variation studies, which puts more emphasis on culturally contextualised social meaning in the full range of human societies. The pursuit of understanding, generalizations, and even universals in the study of the social life of human language deman…
Linguistics (21 works) · Linguistic Variation and Morphology (19 works) · Psychology (15 works) · Philosophy (14 works) · Computer Science (13 works) · Phonetics and Phonology Research (12 works) · Mathematics (9 works) · Sociology (9 works) · Multilingual Education and Policy (8 works) · Syntax, Semantics, Linguistic Variation (8 works)