The role of functional factors in language change

Seiler, Guido

doi:10.1075/cilt.279.11sei

Cited by 34 publications

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“…Furthermore, I address how formal and functional features may affect the diffusion of these new variants. In doing so, I offer evidence against the claim that only social factors determine the success of the diffusion of variants (Milroy 1992: 201-202;Croft 2000: 38, 54) and confirm the importance of formal-driven language change (Seiler 2006).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 78%

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How system-internal linguistic factors indicate language change and diffusion. A geolinguistic analysis of Berber data

Lafkioui¹

2011

Dialectologia Et Geolinguistica

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This article discusses how language change and diffusion in Tarifit (Rif-Berber, North Morocco) can be explained by system-internal factors. The examined cases examined concern several innovation processes triggered by the vocalisation phenomenon of the liquids /r/ and /ṛ/ and involving both phonological and morphological features and structures. The analyses presented analyses confirm that innovation can also be formally motivated, which refutes Croft's (2000: 38) claim that only functional factors can induce language change. Moreover, they show how functional properties may determine the success of the diffusion of variants. As such, they offer evidence against the claim that only social factors are accountable for variant selection

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 78%

“…178) but also in terms of how the variants are formally and functionally integrated into everchanging linguistic structures (cf. "implementation" in Seiler 2006 …”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

How system-internal linguistic factors indicate language change and diffusion. A geolinguistic analysis of Berber data

Lafkioui¹

2011

Dialectologia Et Geolinguistica

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“…There is much variation between the morphological and the prepositional dative, and the choice also depends on the lexical item and on the determiner used, as well as on its gender and number (cf. Seiler 2003Seiler , 2006 In Meranese, D-forms (featuring [ε] as the stem vowel) can be used adjectivally and pronominally, and in both cases their meaning is primarily that of a proximal demonstrative: dèr mònn, 'this man'; dèr, "this one". 14 The D+sèll forms appearing in the Linksversetzung construction, on the other hand, are pronominal usages of the distal demonstrative; see der sèll mònn 'that man', der sèll, "that one".…”

Section: Some Properties Of the Demonstrative And The Case System Of ...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Microvariation in the Distribution of Resumptive Pronouns in the Left Dislocation Construction in Two Tyrolean Dialects of Northern Italy

Cognola

Casalicchio

2023

Languages

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In this paper we document a so-far neglected case of microvariation involving resumptive pronouns in the left-dislocation construction in Meranese, spoken in South Tyrol, and Mòcheno, spoken in the Fersina valley (Trentino). While in standard German resumptive elements in this construction belong to the class of D-pronouns, the two Tyrolean dialects considered in the paper exhibit, as resumptive pronouns, both (i) D-pronouns and (ii) pronominal usages of the distal demonstrative formed by the definite article (D) and sèll corresponding to ‘that one’. We show that in both languages D+sèll forms overlap with German D-pronouns in most contexts, whereas D-pronouns only superficially, but not functionally, correspond to German D-pronouns, and have undergone a weakening process. While the weakening process is in nuce in Meranese, it seems to be nearly completed in Mòcheno, where D-pronouns appear to have acquired a status close to that of subject clitics of Northern Italian varieties.

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“…For him, vertical change is a parallel of change taking place in biological reproduction and is largely of a functional nature, while horizontal change -the analog of the struggle for survival in biological nature -is exclusively determined by social, not by functional, factors -that is, by factors of social identification (Croft 2000: 32, 38, 39, 54, 178). Seiler (2006) criticises both. He criticises Haspelmath for his notional unclarity and his neglect of the vertical transmission parameter.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Antifunctionality in language change

Seuren¹,

Hamans²

2010

Folia Linguistica

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The main thesis of the article is that language change is only partially subject to criteria of functionality and that, as a rule, opposing forces are also at work which often correlate directly with psychological and sociopsychological parameters reflecting themselves in all areas of linguistic competence. We sketch a complex interplay of horizontal versus vertical, deliberate versus nondeliberate, functional versus antifunctional linguistic changes, which, through a variety of processes have an effect upon the languages concerned, whether in the lexicon, the grammar, the phonology or the phonetics. Despite the overall unclarity regarding the notion of functionality in language, there are clear cases of both functionality and antifunctionality. Antifunctionality is deliberately striven for by groups of speakers who wish to distinguish themselves from other groups, for whatever reason. Antifunctionality, however, also occurs as a, probably unwanted, result of syntactic change in the acquisition process by young or adult language learners. The example is discussed of V-clustering through Predicate Raising in German and Dutch, a process that started during the early Middle Ages and was highly functional as long as it occurred on a limited scale but became antifunctional as it pervaded the entire complementation system of these languages

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The role of functional factors in language change

Cited by 34 publications

References 1 publication

How system-internal linguistic factors indicate language change and diffusion. A geolinguistic analysis of Berber data

How system-internal linguistic factors indicate language change and diffusion. A geolinguistic analysis of Berber data

Microvariation in the Distribution of Resumptive Pronouns in the Left Dislocation Construction in Two Tyrolean Dialects of Northern Italy

Antifunctionality in language change

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