No abstract

This paper describes a massive project to characterize "Standard French" by constructing and mining the Recueil historique des grammaires du français (RHGF), a corpus of grammars whose prescriptive dictates we interpret as representing the evolution of the standard over five centuries. Its originality lies in the possibility it affords to ascertain the existence of prior variability, date it, and determine the conditions under which grammarians accept or condemn variant uses. Systematic meta-analyses of the RHGF reveal that grammarians rarely acknowledge the existence of alternate ways of expressing the same thing. Instead, they adopt three major strategies to establish form-function symmetry. All involve partitioning competing variants across distinct social, semantic or linguistic contexts, despite pervasive disagreement over which variant to associate with which. This effectively factors out variability. In contrast, systematic analysis of actual language use, as instantiated in the spontaneous speech of 323 speakers of Quebec French over an apparent-time period of a century and a half, reveals robust variability, regularly conditioned by contextual elements which have never been acknowledged by grammarians. This conditioning has remained largely stable since at least the mid-nineteenth century. Taken together, these results indicate that the "rules" for variant selection promulgated by grammarians do not inform the spoken language, nor do grammars take account of the variable rules structuring spontaneous speech. As a result, grammar and usage are evolving independently.

This study provides the first wide-scale, apparent time, instrumental description of the Canadian Shift in mainstream Toronto English. In contrast with some previous findings, the Toronto data suggest that for the last 70 years or more the shift has not affected the high front lax vowel (i). We observe that the movement of the nonhigh front lax vowels (ε) and (æ) involves both lowering and retraction in Toronto English, although retraction is the primary direction of more recent change and the shift appears to be slowing down. Our findings also suggest that continued retraction of the vowel resulting from the low back merger is involved in the final stage of the shift. We do not find evidence of a chain shift but instead propose that a parallel shift is occurring and make reference to Vowel Dispersion Theory in our discussion.

This MRP applies a grounded theory approach to a scoping review of a range of sources examining the factors driving the migration of unaccompanied children from the Northern Triangle of Central America. Four principal drivers are identified in the literature; of these, two represent push factors in the country of origin: violence and dismal economic conditions; the other two—family reunification and a perception of ease of entry into the destination country— can be construed as pull factors. I argue that the push factors are the main cause of the migration of unaccompanied children, while the pull factors represent enabling factors that facilitate this migration. Further, I also contend that, for this migration flow, violence and economic factors form a vicious cycle and therefore cannot easily be teased apart. This case therefore challenges traditional models of migration that assume a dichotomy between voluntary and forced migration. Key words: unaccompanied child migrants; Northern Triangle of Central America; drivers of migration; survival migration; push and pull factors

This MRP applies a grounded theory approach to a scoping review of a range of sources examining the factors driving the migration of unaccompanied children from the Northern Triangle of Central America. Four principal drivers are identified in the literature; of these, two represent push factors in the country of origin: violence and dismal economic conditions; the other two—family reunification and a perception of ease of entry into the destination country— can be construed as pull factors. I argue that the push factors are the main cause of the migration of unaccompanied children, while the pull factors represent enabling factors that facilitate this migration. Further, I also contend that, for this migration flow, violence and economic factors form a vicious cycle and therefore cannot easily be teased apart. This case therefore challenges traditional models of migration that assume a dichotomy between voluntary and forced migration. Key words: unaccompanied child migrants; Northern Triangle of Central America; drivers of migration; survival migration; push and pull factors