🚀 go-pugleaf

In-Reply-To: <1ikohsINN7rd@pith.uoregon.edu> delancey@darkwing.uoregon.edu (Scott C DeLancey)

> an actual mechanism of language change?  We know of two *demonstrated*
> sources of change--non-native speakers and sociolinguistically motivated
> innovations of the kind studied by Labov.

Slightly off the tack, but still relevant I hope: socially motivated
innovations seem to involve the spread of some variant rather than
accounting for its genesis.

>  For "imperfect learning" to be a factor
> it would have to be a normal thing for child language habits to be
> carried on into adulthood--what evidence is there for this?

I share this scepticism. I do think there's any need to appeal
specifically to language learning. All speakers make errors based on
false analogy (though of course children do it more), particularly
where there is some lack of obvious system (irregular verbs, for
example). And of course adults don't get their errors corrected
(unless they're in education). The only question then is how frequent
do individual errors have to be to become recognized variants?

Peter


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Peter Christian                         
  Dept of European Languages              peter@gold.ac.uk
  Goldsmiths' College, London.            petex@cix.compulink.co.uk
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