Variability in language use

(1)?Systematic variability

①?accounting in terms of variable rules

1)?Theories

a.?homogeneous competence model

a)?all variability is non-systematic variability:

rules: homogeneous(irrelative with context)

b)?stylistic variability (non-linguistic/pragmatic) :

discounted or treated as an aspect of performance

b.?heterogeneous competence model

a)?systematic variability + non-systematic variability

i.?systematic variability→pragmatic knowledge

(how to use language appropriately)

ii.?the users’?knowledge of language rules are interlocked with his knowledge of when, where, and with whom to use them (context)

b)?stylistic variability: competence, not performance

ability to perform → communicative competence, not linguistic competence

c.?five axioms to study language use

a)?All speaker possess several ‘styles’. That is, they adapt their speech to make it fit the social context

b)?‘Styles can be ranged along a single dimension, measured by the amount of attention paid to speech.’?A language user varies in the degree to which he is able to monitor his speech in different situations

c)?The vernacular is the style in which minimum attention is given to monitoring speech. It is the style associated with informal, everyday speech. It provides ‘the most systematic data’?for linguistic study

d)?It is not possible to tap the vernacular style of the user by systematic observation of how he performs in a formal context

e)?The only way to obtain good data on the speech of a language user is through systematic observation.

d.?Observer’s Paradox

a)?the conflict between the fourth and fifth axioms

b)?systematic observation→data but no vernacular style

c)?vernacular style→the most systematic style, the principal goal linguistic enquiry

2)?Empirical studies

a.?situational factors

a)?language behavior was predictable

b)?style-shifting took place systematically

b.?linguistic factors

a)?the syntactic environment did not determine the absolute occurrence of the copula, only its relative frequency

b)?‘be’?was variable in all contexts, but certain contexts predisposed the speaker to use it more frequently than other contexts

3)?Conclusion

a.?homogeneous model

a)?foccus: correct

b)?invariant rules：well-formed sentences in the grammar of a language

b.?heterogeneous model

a)?focus: correct and appropriate for each context

b)?variable rules: probability of certain grammatical forms occurring in particular situational and linguistic contexts

②?accounting by means of implicational analysis

1)?Theories

a.?language=an intersecting set of idiolects 個人習(xí)語

b.?language community: the full range; individual: not full

c.?the competence of the speech community: a continuum

a)?one end: an idiolect which contains all of a number of specified linguistic features

b)?another end: an idiolect which contains few or even none of these features

c)?language users shift along this continuum of styles, varying their choice of idiolect in accordance with social factors

2)?Empirical studies

Implicational analysis has been used extensively in pidgin and creole studies.

③?Conclusion

1)?variation is systematic, governed by both situational and linguistic factors

2)?the user’s linguistic knowledge is organized in such a way that the existence of one linguistic form presupposes the presence of one or more other forms(creole studies)

(2)?Non-systematic variability

①?type: performance variability V.S. free variability

②?native speech V.S. interlanguage

1)?such free variability is circumscribed in native-speaker speech

2)?interlanguage is marked by a high level of free variability

③?Empirical studies: phonological change

1)?a sound which began its existence in free variation with other sounds came to be used systematically to convey social meaning

2)?This process of exploiting a form in free variation is a key feature of interlanguage development