Stepping into the same river twice: on the discourse context analysis in the LANCHART project

Abstract

The question of comparability in sociolinguistic studies is both obviously methodologically crucial and rarely addressed. If not addressed at all in sociolinguistic investigations of language change in real time, the analyst will invariably run the risk of comparing inherently different pieces of data material. But the question is, whether it is at all possible to achieve comparability? In this paper we argue that methodological considerations of comparability are necessary ingredients in any study of change in real time, and we present the apparatus used to achieve comparability in the LANCHART study, viz. the so-called Discourse Context Analysis (DCA). The DCA is the basis for the phonetic analysis in the LANCHART study since it selects maximally comparable sections of passages for analysis. However, in this paper it is also shown to function as a fruitful analytic tool in its own right, illuminating changing interactional patterns in sociolinguistic interviews which are likely to reflect changes in how people interact with one another in society at large.