Linguistic Variables

Question 1

What is language variation?

Answer 1

patterned alternation in language

Question 2

What is a linguistic variable?

Answer 2

set of alternating forms of the same meaning (identical distribution
runnin’ or running

Question 3

What do you call a feature that is always or never used?

Answer 3

categorical

Question 4

Give 4 examples of variables

Answer 4

word initial (th) - θ, tθ, t
word final (th) - θ, ð, t, f, nothing
(ing) - n, ŋ
(dh) - ð, ðd, d

Question 5

Are linguistic variables dependent or independent?

Answer 5

Dependent

Question 6

What are independent variables influencing the speaker’s choice between linguistic variables?

Answer 6

social status
occupation
occasion
formality

Question 7

What are the 2 types of variants?

Answer 7

discrete - clearly different

continuous - differ on a continuous scale (vowels, height and backing)

Question 8

How do you calculate the linguistic index?

Answer 8

all standard/non variant tokens

divided by all possible variants

Question 9

Give some features of variation

Answer 9

exists within a community or individual
can be distributed across communities
can remain stable for long periods of time
inherent to language systems
necessary for language change
has regional/social distribution in speech communities

Question 10

What kind of variable is (ing)?

Answer 10

morphological

stable today

Question 11

What are the origins of the (ing) variable?

Answer 11

Old English present participle - ende/inde
-phonetically [Iŋ] -> [in]
Old English Verbal nouns ending in -inge/-ynge/-ung
-became more like verbs until Modern English gerund
-phonetically [Iŋgə] -> [Iŋ

Question 12

How is the variable (ing) distributed in modern english?

Answer 12

original functions still seen today
alveolar [in] is more used in verb like forms
velar [Iŋ] occurs more in nouns

Question 13

How did the Old English (ing) come to be the Modern version?

Answer 13

in 1400s, participle -ende became [and] in the North and [ind] in the South
This led to [Iŋ] in the South first
When London’s speech was standardised, [Iŋ] became ‘correct’

Question 14

Explain regional variation of (ing)

Answer 14

The regional variation emerged when the N/S rivalry eventually turned regional differences into social ones

Question 15

What kind of variable are (th), (dh) and (r)?

Answer 15

phonological

Question 16

How can you differentiate between morphological and phonological variables?

Answer 16

Morphological indicate meaning

Question 17

What kind of variable is more stigmatised?

Answer 17

Morphological, means bad grammar
-larger, easier to spot and attach spellings to
Phonological is more accent related

Question 18

What are the 3 roles of the suffix -s?

Answer 18

verbal, marking agreement for 3rd person sing
possessive
plural

Question 19

What are the properties of the suffix -s?

Answer 19

• s after a voiceless stop
• əz after sibilant
• z everywhere else

Question 20

What is a group exclusive pattern?

Answer 20

If only members of a certain group ever say a certain form

Question 21

What is a group preferential pattern?

Answer 21

If a group uses a feature more often than another group

Question 22

Is -s variable group preferential or exclusive?

Answer 22

Both
preferential - zero plurals in measure words
exclusive - east anglian 3SG present tense zero

Question 23

What are the 2 other kinds of variation seen with the -s variable?

Answer 23

expected/not used

not expected/used

Question 24

Where did verbal -s originate from?

Answer 24

Middle English
1SG- N/S/M zero marked
2/3SG - M has both N/S forms
Plural: M has -n form which disappears
N had -s, S had -eth, N won

Question 25

How did verbal -s vary in SW England?

Answer 25

generalized it so it could be used in all persons and numbers

Question 26

How did verbal -s vary in East Anglia?

Answer 26

no -s anywhere, including 3SG present

Question 27

Why did East Anglia’s -s difference happen there?

Answer 27

Used to be 2nd largest city

• attracted many french migrants = language contact
• -English=L2 (lingua franca) - simplified patterns
• s/-eth victory happened later than migrants arrival so they never learnt it

Question 28

How does -s vary in African American English?

Answer 28

absence of expected -s and presence of unexpected -s
usually appears in plural, past narrations and habituality
absent in possessives,