Abstract
Abstract This article explores intra-individual variation and language change across the lifespan of eight speakers from a small Austrian village. Four phonological variables in two settings (informal conversation vs. formal interview) are traced across longitudinal panel data that span 43 years. The analysis reveals an increase of dialect features (retrograde change), even though apparent-time as well as real-time trend studies indicate dialect loss in the Bavarian speaking parts of Austria. The panel data also indicate that neither the group means at one moment in time nor their averaged changes are representative of the intra-individual variation of any of the eight speakers. Regarding this non-representativity, the article introduces the classical ergodic theorem to variationist sociolinguistics. Evidence will be provided that change across the lifespan of an individual is a non-ergodic process. Thus, it is argued that variationists have to be more cautious when they generalise from group-derived estimates to individual developments and vice versa.
Highlights
Variationist sociolinguists tend to use two techniques to study change in progress: the apparent-time approach and the real-time approach
As a result of the missing panel research in linguistics, Buchstaller and Wagner (2018: 2) point out that “the degree to which the grammar of individual speakers changes across the lifespan could not – or could only very indirectly – be investigated”
Our analysis is guided by the following three questions: (1) Do speakers adapt to phonological changes that can be observed at the community level? (2) Do we find inter- and intra-individual differences over time? (3) Does the process meet the ergodicity requirements, i.e. how similar is the structure of inter-individual variation to the structure of intra-individual variation?
Summary
Variationist sociolinguists tend to use two techniques to study change in progress: the apparent-time approach and the real-time approach. According to the apparent-time construct, one can use “the present to explain the past” (Labov 1975): ongoing changes can be traced by comparing the use of linguistic variables by different generations at one moment in time. Since panel studies bring serious practical problems (e.g. the amount of time required, regarding the limitations of short-term project funding), variationists tend to use the apparent-time and/or the real-time trend design. As a result of the missing panel research in linguistics, Buchstaller and Wagner (2018: 2) point out that “the degree to which the grammar of individual speakers changes across the lifespan could not – or could only very indirectly – be investigated”. More and more variationists acknowledge the lack of panel research as one of the crucial desiderata to link the group level with the individual (Bergs, this special issue)
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