Abstract
We explore the relationship between word dissemination and frequency change for a rapidly receding feature, the relativizer whom. The success of newly emerging words has been shown to correlate with high dissemination scores. However, the reverse—a correlation of lower dissemination scores with receding features—has not been investigated. Based on two established and two newly developed measures of word dissemination—across texts, linguistic environments, registers, and topics—we show that a general correlation between dissemination and frequency does not obtain in the case of whom. Different dissemination measures diverge from each other and show internally variable developments. These can, however, be explained with reference to the specific sociolinguistic history of whom over the past 300 years. Our findings suggest that the relationship between dissemination and word success is not static, but needs to be contextualized against different stages in individual words’ life-cycles. Our study demonstrates the applicability of large-scale, quantitative measures to qualitatively informed sociolinguistic research.
Highlights
The Sociolinguistics of Emergence and AttritionSociolinguistic research is predominantly concerned with the emergence and spread of linguistic innovations, but has paid less attention to the dynamics of receding features
We focus on one particular such form, the relativizer whom, in order to shed light on the question of how frequency decline interacts with dissemination during an extended phase of attrition
We have tested the association between frequency developments and changes in a range of word dissemination measures in the Status of whom
Summary
The Sociolinguistics of Emergence and AttritionSociolinguistic research is predominantly concerned with the emergence and spread of linguistic innovations, but has paid less attention to the dynamics of receding features. The canonical S-curve pattern of linguistic change (Labov, 1994) proceeds along three idealized stages—barely perceptible incipient change, rapid frequency increase through incrementation, and establishment of the feature within the community—to a theoretical steady state Feature dynamics beyond this point are less well-understood. In a follow-up study, Grieve (2018) predicts the further success of 54 emerging words identified in Grieve et al (2017) as a function of word length, part-of-speech, Dissemination Dynamics of Receding Words underlying word-formation process, and novelty of the word’s referent The latter predictor is shown to be relevant in determining the frequency development of innovative words, whereas part-of-speech does not appear to play a significant role
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