Abstract
With lexical change as probably the sole exception, all language change takes place over the set of relevant linguistic environments in which the linguistic variable is embedded. Thus, a sound change occurs in contexts defined by such factors as preceding/following environments, prosodic features, etc., each of which affects the change to a different degree. A following nasal, for example, may be a more favorable environment for some phonological changes than other environments, so that a greater number of innovative variants is observed in this environment than elsewhere. A question that arises here is: does language change proceed faster in favorable environments than less favorable ones? The Constant Rate Hypothesis says ‘No’ to this question. It predicts that the rate of change is uniform across the linguistic environments in which the change occurs.
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