Social Networks and Historical Sociolinguistics: Studies in Morphosyntactic Variation in the Paston Letters (1421-1503) (Topics in English Linguistics)

The book presents an analysis of selected domains of morphosyntactic variation in a 250,000 word collection of the Middle English __Paston Letters__ (1421-1503) from a historical sociolinguistic point of view. In the three case studies, two nominal and one verbal variable are described and discussed in detail: the replacement of Old English h-> pronouns by borrowed th-> pronouns, the introduction and spread of the wh-> relativizers, and the spread and routinization of light verb constructions (__take__, __make__, __give__, __have__, __do__ plus deverbal noun). While the study aims at a balanced integration of theories and methods from a number of different approaches in sociolinguistics, cognitive linguistics, typology, and language change, its main focus is social network theory and the role of the linguistic individual in the formation and change of language structures. Questions of individual language use and of deliberate versus unmonitored changes in the (individual) system take center stage and are discussed in the light of social network analysis. Traditional empirical social network analysis is carefully revised. Despite its many merits in present-day sociolinguistics, it often needs to be supplemented by hermeneutic-biographical analyses of the individual speakers' lives when applied to historical data. With this background, common theories and models of language change, such as grammaticalization, paradigmatic pressure, typological alignment, and generational shifts, are illustrated and evaluated from the point of view of single speakers and social groups, and their particular embedding in the speech community through various network structures. The book is of interest to advanced students and researchers in English and general linguistics, Middle English, historical linguistics and language change, corpus linguistics, as well as sociolinguistics.

The book presents an analysis of selected domains of morphosyntactic variation in a 250,000 word collection of the Middle English Paston Letters (1421-1503) from a historical sociolinguistic point of view. In the three case studies, two nominal and one verbal variable are described and discussed in detail: the replacement of Old English <h-> pronouns by borrowed <th-> pronouns, the introduction and spread of the <wh-> relativizers, and the spread and routinization of light verb constructions (take, make, give, have, do plus deverbal noun).

While the study aims at a balanced integration of theories and methods from a number of different approaches in sociolinguistics, cognitive linguistics, typology, and language change, its main focus is social network theory and the role of the linguistic individual in the formation and change of language structures. Questions of individual language use and of deliberate versus unmonitored changes in the (individual) system take center stage and are discussed in the light of social network analysis. Traditional empirical social network analysis is carefully revised. Despite its many merits in present-day sociolinguistics, it often needs to be supplemented by hermeneutic-biographical analyses of the individual speakers' lives when applied to historical data. With this background, common theories and models of language change, such as grammaticalization, paradigmatic pressure, typological alignment, and generational shifts, are illustrated and evaluated from the point of view of single speakers and social groups, and their particular embedding in the speech community through various network structures.

The book is of interest to advanced students and researchers in English and general linguistics, Middle English, historical linguistics and language change, corpus linguistics, as well as sociolinguistics.

The Author Analyzes, From A Historical Sociolinguistic Point Of View, Selected Domains Of Morphosyntactic Variation In A 250,000 Word Collection Of The Middle English Paston Letters (1421-1503). While The Author Aims At A Balanced Integration Of Different Approaches In Sociolinguistics, Cognitive Linguistics, Typology, And Language Change, The Main Focus Is On Social Network Theory And The Role Of The Linguistic Individual In The Formation And Change Of Linguistic Structures.--jacket. Ch. 1. Introduction -- Ch. 2. Historical Sociolinguistics -- Ch. 3. Social Network Analysis -- Present And Past -- Ch. 4. Personal Pronouns -- Ch. 5. Relative Clauses -- Ch. 6. The Light Verb Construction -- Ch. 7. Conclusion : A Network Perspective. By Alexander Bergs. Includes Bibliographical References (p. [266]-304) And Indexes. The author analyzes, from a historical sociolinguistic point of view, selected domains of morphosyntactic variation in a 250,000 word collection of the Middle English Paston Letters (1421-1503). In three case studies, two nominal and one verbal variable are described and discussed in detail: the replacement of Old English pronouns by borrowed pronouns, the introduction and spread of >wh-relativizers, and the spread and routinization of light verb constructions (take, make, give, have, do plus deverbal noun). While the author aims at a balanced integration of different approaches in sociolinguistics, cognitive linguistics, typology, and language change, the main focus is on social network theory and the role of the linguistic individual in the formation and change of linguistic structures.