General Points (Gorlach)

Question 1

What are the 2 types of variation?

Answer 1

Halliday (1964) proposes classification of varieties according to speaker groups and speech functions. (Dialects and registers).

Question 2

6 Reasons for language change - always consider these!

Answer 2

Language acquisition (incomplete imitation and individual nature of input) 
Bilingualism - interferences 
Redundancy - utterances contain more info than is strictly necessary, incomplete ones can be repaired meaning we can communicate the same thing in a variety of incomplete ways. 
Creativity - we introduce innovations
Conditions inherent in language structure: irregularities and gaps tend to be removed and potential contrasts developed. Elements with high functional load are supported where items with lesser functions are more easily given up. 
Extralinguistic change - changing of material culture and social relations cause shifts of norms, mixtures of subsystems and new evaluations of variants (prestige, fashion). 
(coseriu 1974)

Question 3

When does Early Modern English Begin?

Answer 3

when first stage of GVS is complete and verbal inflexion is limited to -s, -st, -thorn. London standard spreads. Lexis extended by borrowing and word formation. Renaissance, discovery of America.

Question 4

When does Modern English begin?

Answer 4

hen vowel mergers tale-tail, sole-soul, meet-meat, splits put-but, cat-what are complete as well as cluster reductions of kn, gn, wr. Loss of thou, thee, thy and establishment of its complete. Do-support becomes (almost) obligatory. Homogeneity of spelling and grammar rules established. Publication of prescriptive grammars and dictionaries.

Question 5

Limits to reconstruction

Answer 5

Little documentation of OE pre 700 and little documentation of non WS dialects.
Parchment was expensive so people only wrote certain things leading to thematic restrictions.
Texts are misleading about lexis and syntax as many are translations from latin or french.
Originals are rare so author’s dialect ends up mixed with those of several copyists.

Chronology is generally relative rather than fixed. Writing is generally conservative so takes time before changes are included in texts.