Linguistics for English Dick Hudson Godolphin and Latymer September 2016

Main messages Language is extraordinarily stable from generation to generation So children learn to speak just like their parents But it does change in two ways: slow change fast change

Plan Linguistic stability and change Child language acquisition (CLA) Language variation Variable CLA in Buckie, Scotland The Linguistics Olympiad

1. Linguistic stability and change Language is extraordinarily stable from generation to generation but there is some very slow change But some things cause very fast change borrowing innovation e.g. for technology For example: From PIE to ME The Great Vowel Shift

From Proto-Indo-European to Modern English generations guessed From Proto-Indo-European to Modern English PIE -3,500 *gwe:n ‘woman’ Greek -500 120 γυνή /gyne:/ ‘woman’ borrowed English cwen ‘woman’ +600 160 gynaecologist misogyny +2,000 200 queen

The Great Vowel Shift 1350-1700 bite after bite before as in kwen meet /eː/ meat /ɛː/ mate /aː/ /eɪ/ out /uː/ /aʊ/ boot /oː/ boat /ɔː/ /əʊ/ as in queen

Vowels in the mouth bite before bite after as in queen as in kwen

So what? Long vowels changed, but short vowels didn’t. That’s one of the reasons why English spelling isn’t ‘phonetic’. Sometimes the spelling shows the links between long and short pairs. /ɛ:/ > /i:/ deep ~ depth (weep ~ wept, clean ~ cleanse) same vowel-letter because they used to have the same vowel-sound /i:/ > /ai/ wide ~ width (five ~ fifth, fifty, hide ~ hidden) Ibiza = /aibiθə/

How fast does language change? Very slowly The Great Vowel Shift took 350 years = (3.5 x 4 = 14) generations. The meaning of gwe:n stayed the same (‘woman’) for 4,000 years = 160 generations! Why? Because we want to conform. Very fast Gynaecology – invented 1847 when gynaecology itself was being invented teen-age slang e.g. ‘say’ = ? ‘good’ = ?

2. Child Language Acquisition (CLA) video from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CB5XSQi6Qhg video from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CB5XSQi6Qhg

CLA: questions for a beginner What sounds do people make? When do people make those sounds? What do people make those sounds for? How can I make those sounds? How can I use those sounds to communicate? What do those sounds mean? How can I sound just like Mummy?

3. Language variation Within any language, there’s variation: dialects, used by different people registers, used in different situations. Sometimes the variation is qualitative: each person or group uses just one form each register allows just one form E.g. traditional dialects

Two isoglosses in southern England London

Why do we vary? For identity We need a social identity defined in terms of social groups We need to communicate this identity by using the signals of our group But social life is complicated we all belong to many groups we belong to any group to some degree.

Quantitative variation Quantitative variation still communicates identity. But different linguistic variables communicate different identities. each variable contrasts two or more alternative variants e.g. come = [ʊ] or [ʌ]: North vs South farm = [a:] or [a:r]: East vs West And each variable links different frequencies to different groups e.g. easterners and westerners both use /fa:m/, but with different frequencies.

So most variation is quantitative Given a choice between two forms, people use both, but in different quantities. e.g. ou = [a:] or [aʊ] audio from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q5MtlR1I20M Spot the linguistic variables!

4. Variability and CLA in Buckie, Scotland Research by Jennifer Smith and colleagues.

Variability in Buckie [u:] [u:] [ʌʊ] The HOOSE (house) variable: [ʌʊ] or [u:] Adults speaking to each other only use [u:] But mothers often use [ʌʊ] when talking to children. E.g. mother and child 4:25 minutes into the recording: [u:] [ʌʊ] audio from http://www.scottishcorpus.ac.uk/document/?documentid=1599 audio from audio from http://www.scottishcorpus.ac.uk/document/?documentid=1599

CLA in Buckie: measuring the HOOSE variable All recordings involved one caregiver and one child. 11 pairs children 2;10 – 3;6. Scoring the variation: count [u:] as percent of [u:] + [ʌʊ]. Caregivers average: 43% Children average: 37%

children track their mothers Results mothers differ children track their mothers mother three youngest children, about 3;0

So what? Adults choose their score to match the addressee: to an adult: only [u:] to a child: either [u:] or [ʌʊ]. At age three, children learn to match their adult model. So they are variable too. And their variable score is close to their adult model’s! A marvel of social adjustment and precision learning.

5. Linguistics Olympiad: a taste of Old English