Diachronic complexification and isolation

Abstract

One may hear that over time languages tend to simplify their grammar and notably their morphological system. This intuition, probably based on linguists' knowledge of the rich inflectional systems of older Indo-European languages, has been challenged, particularly by sociolinguistic typologists (e.g. Trudgill 2011;Braunmüller 1984Braunmüller , 2003Nichols 1992). They hypothesise that languages spoken by small and isolated communities with a dense network may complexify their grammar (Trudgill 2011: 146-147).The present article investigates the nominal inflection systems of 14 varieties of German in order to survey whether there is any such diachronic tendency towards simplification and whether instances of complexification can be observed, too. The varieties under analysis include present-day Standard German, Old High German and Middle High German (two older stages of German) and eleven present-day non-standard varieties which make part of the Alemannic dialect group.First, it will be shown that there is a diachronic tendency towards simplification if we consider the total complexity of nominal inflection. Second, however, we can identify instances of diachronic complexification too if we take a closer look at single categories. Interestingly, diachronic complexification appears only in the non-standard varieties, not so in the standard variety. This may support the hypothesis that isolated varieties are more complex than non-isolated ones.

Societies of strangers do not speak less complex languages

“…These links between language and social structure have received a substantial amount of attention, mainly through the lens of focused, small-scale comparisons. A range of qualitative studies has analyzed closely related varieties of Quechua (8), English (11,16), and German (17,18) as well as Tibeto-Burman (19) and Scandinavian languages (7). These studies seem to corroborate that, among closely related varieties, the languages that were more exposed to contact with L2 speakers tend to show less irregular, less opaque grammatical markers in the studied domains.…”

Meaning and Measures: Interpreting and Evaluating Complexity Metrics

“…One of the absolute-absolute studies is the hypothesis that the complexity of kinship systems depends primarily on social practices of the respective group (Rácz et al, 2019). In another case (Baechler, 2014), the hypothesis is, simply put, that sociogeographic isolation facilitates complexification. Since the main assumed mechanism is the accumulation of random mutations, it can be said that complexification here means "increase in absolute complexity.…”

Societies of strangers do not speak grammatically simpler languages (original submission)

“…These links between language and social structure have received a substantial amount of attention, mainly through the lens of focused, small-scale comparisons. A range of qualitative studies have analyzed closely related varieties of Quechua (8), English (11,16), and German (17,18) as well as Tibeto-Burman (19) and Scandinavian languages (7). These studies seem to corroborate that, among closely related varieties, the languages that were more exposed to contact with L2 speakers tend to show less irregular, less opaque grammatical markers in the studied domains.…”