History of English as punctuated equilibria? A meta-analysis of the rate of linguistic change in Middle English

Dados Bibliográficos

ID21227239
AutoresTerttu Nevalainen (0000-0003-3088-4903, University of Helsinki, autor correspondente), Tanja Säily (0000-0003-4407-8929, University of Helsinki), Turo Vartiainen (0000-0002-4760-750X, University of Helsinki), Aatu Liimatta (0000-0001-9056-1087, University of Helsinki), Jefrey Lijffijt (0000-0002-2930-5057, Ghent University Hospital)
Ano2020
Volume6
Fascículo2
Data de publicação2020-10-15
Peer ReviewedSim
Open AccessSim
TipoARTICLE
PeriódicoJournal of Historical Sociolinguistics (JOURNAL)
Identificadores do periódicoISSN: 2199-2894 • E-ISSN: 2199-2908
EditoraWalter de Gruyter GmbH (PUBLISHER • DE)
DOI10.1515/jhsl-2019-0008
OpenAlexW2998599512
IdiomaEN
Citações recebidas3
Referências citadas59

In this paper, we explore the rate of language change in the history of English. Our main focus is on detecting periods of accelerated change in Middle English (1150–1500), but we also compare the Middle English data with the Early Modern period (1500–1700) in order to establish a longer diachrony for the pace at which English has changed over time. Our study is based on a meta-analysis of existing corpus research, which is made available through a new linguistic resource, the Language Change Database (LCD). By aggregating the rates of 44 individual changes, we provide a critical assessment of how well the theory of punctuated equilibria (Dixon, Robert M. W. 1997. The rise and fall of languages . Cambridge: Cambridge University Press) fits with our results. More specifically, by comparing the rate of language change with major language-external events, such as the Norman Conquest and the Black Death, we provide the first corpus-based meta-analysis of whether these events, which had significant societal consequences, also had an impact on the rate of language change. Our results indicate that major changes in the rate of linguistic change in the late medieval period could indeed be connected to the social and cultural after-effects of the Norman Conquest. We also make a methodological contribution to the field of English historical linguistics: by re-using data from existing research, linguists can start to ask new, fundamental questions about the ways in which language change progresses

Geography · Language change · Linguistics · Middle English · Pace · Sociology · History · Language, Discourse, Communication Strategies · Linguistic Variation and Morphology · Philosophy · Syntax, Semantics, Linguistic Variation