Reading Working Papers in Linguistics 4 (2000) - The University of ...

SALIENCE IN LANGUAGE CHANGE
language change and variation, the linguistic features are items being
transferred from one language variety to another through diffusion;
however, diffusion-type mechanisms may hold for the other types of
phenomena as well.
2. language-internal explanations, such as the presence of phonological
contrast, great phonetic distance, internally-defined naturalness,
semantic transparency, or a particular syntactic or prosodic
environment
3. language-external cognitive, pragmatic, interactional, social
psychological, and sociodemographic factors. Some have a natural link
with the linguistic features being adopted (e.g., that between a syntactic
feature and its pragmatic function), while others have an arbitrary
relationship (e.g., the favouring of one vowel quality over another)
Note that the list given under component 1 covers only a portion of what
might be termed ‘linguistic phenomena’. In particular, non-dynamic
phenomena are excluded, such as grammatical or phonological theory and
description (unless the focus is on a change from state A to state B),
aphasiology and acquisition in relation to linguistic theory, descriptions of
language changes where contact is not being discussed, much of articulatory
phonetics, and some areas of psycholinguistic processing.
The presence of at least one element taken from component 2 appears
to be a precondition for salience. Certain elements are gradient, others
categorical. Component 3 is essential if we are to avoid circularity, and is
ultimately the cause of salience. Components 2 and 3 are linked in complex
ways, sometimes natural, sometimes arbitrary. There will often be a causal
relationship between components 2 and 3, though the direction of causality
will depend on the particular case. However, it is the language-external
factors of component 3 that in the end directly motivate speakers to behave in
a certain way, and are therefore central to the salience notion.
References
Auer, Peter, Barden, Birgit & Grosskopf, Beate (1998). Subjective and objective
parameters determining ‘salience’ in long-term dialect accommodation. Journal of
Sociolinguistics 2:163-187.
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