william labov's substratum theory (1970)

Question 1

does William Labov believe that language change can be controlled and directed?

Answer 1

his theory contradicts the idea that language change can be controlled as these changes happen naturally.
- can’t control the unpredictability of invasion (directed by the government), technology, immigration.

Question 2

(1) what does labov’s substratum theory claim?

Answer 2

the theory claims that language changes primarily through varieties of language that come into contact and influence each other.

Question 3

(2) how does influences of different language happen?

Answer 3

• this happens, mainly through languages of non-native speakers or regional dialects coming into contact with the English Language.
• when people learn a new language, acquisition ‘imperfections’ are mostly evident in phonology + syntax BUT the vocabulary remains largely unchanged (e.g. they might adopt the word ‘show’ but they might also adopt the irregular version ‘showed’).

Question 4

(3) other examples of different languages influencing each other:

Answer 4

in the past: trade and invasion
- contact was made with another language in 1066 when Normans invaded Britain, French became the language of royalty and borrowing of words such as: government (gov, court, state, city, citizen), fashion (coat, dress, cotton).

nowadays: immigration and social networking:
- l-vocalisation has happened by caribbean influences (pronounces ‘milk’ like ‘miwk’ or ‘film’ like ‘fiwm’).
- how RP has softened over time (pronouncing ‘history’ as ‘histery’).
- demonstrated through the effect on Yiddish speakers’ hypercorrect punctuation on today’s New York accent.

Question 5

EVALUATION: Infectious Disease Metaphor

Answer 5

some prescriptivists believe that we “catch” change from those around, as if language is “contagious” (argues against bailey/william labov).
she argues people have more agency than that, they consciously pick up change/dialectal terms because they want to and choose appropriate language use for their context (convergence).
example: brat summer, demure.