book chapter · 2006

Language Change

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Abstract

Abstract One of the remarkable characteristics of language is the fact that it can be transmitted so effectively from one generation to another over centuries. There are words whose meaning and pronunciation (as far as we can tell) have changed very little over two or maybe three thousand years. They have been preserved, not especially because they have been written down, though that provides some of our knowledge of their existence over the past thousand years or so. They have survived because each generation of children learns the language of the community in which they are growing up. Despite the individual nature of language learning, children grow up to speak in a way that identifies them as members of a speech community, sharing its norms. This can be seen most clearly in the survival of dialect forms (see chapter 13) that are not part of the standard language. The fact that forms which are not normally written down should survive with such persistence over long periods of time is evidence of the successful transmission of community norms. In fact, many dialect forms are conservative or relic forms; it is the standard language that has changed, for combined with stability there is also the possibility of change.

Cite this paper

APA 7

Macaulay, R. K. S. (2006). Language Change. https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780195187960.003.0025

MLA 9

Macaulay, Ronald K. S. “Language Change.” 2006, pp. 128–33, https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780195187960.003.0025.

Chicago

Macaulay, Ronald K. S. 2006. “Language Change.” https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780195187960.003.0025.

Harvard

Macaulay, R.K.S. (2006) ‘Language Change’. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780195187960.003.0025.

BibTeX

@incollection{macaulay2006language,
  title = {{Language Change}},
  author = {Macaulay, Ronald K. S.},
  pages = {128--133},
  year = {2006},
  doi = {10.1093/oso/9780195187960.003.0025}
}

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