Individuality in language change / Lynn Anthonissen.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Anthonissen, Lynn, author.

Series:

Trends in linguistics. Studies and monographs ; Volume 360.

Trends in linguistics. Studies and monographs ; Volume 360

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Linguistic change.

Individuality.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (334 pages)

Place of Publication:

Berlin, Germany : Walter de Gruyter GmbH, [2021]

Summary:

Linguists have typically studied language change at the aggregate level of speech communities, yet key mechanisms of change such as analogy and automation operate within the minds of individual language users. Drawing on lifespan data from 50 authors and the intriguing case of the special passives in the history of English, this study addresses three fundamental issues relating to individuality in language change: (i) how variation and change at the individual level interact with change at the community level; (ii) how much innovation and change is possible across the adult lifespan; (iii) and to what extent related linguistic patterns are associated in individual cognition. As one of the first large-scale empirical studies to systematically link individual- and community-based perspectives in language change, this volume breaks new ground in our understanding of language as a complex adaptive system.

Contents:

Frontmatter

Acknowledgments

Contents

Abbreviations

List of Tables

List of Figures

Part I: Introduction

1 Introduction

Part II: Language change and special passives

2 A theory of language change

3 Systemic change and the rise of the passive

4 The development of special passives

Part III: Connecting individual and community grammars

5 The EMMA corpus

6 The prepositional passive

7 The nominative and infinitive

8 Networks in adult cognition

Part IV: Summary and conclusions

9 Conclusion

10 Appendix

Bibliography

Index

Notes:

Description based on print version record.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

3-11-072584-3