Diffusion

Britain, David (2017). Diffusion. In: Bergs, Alexander; Brinton, Laurel (eds.) Varieties of English. The History of English: Vol. 5 (pp. 349-364). Berlin: De Gruyter Mouton 10.1515/9783110525045-018

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The diffusion of innovative linguistic forms is discussed at three levels.Firstly, the chapter deals with terminological issues. What is the differencebetween an innovation and a change? How do we (and, indeed, should we)distinguish between changes diffused because of speaker migration, and thosespread because of everyday human contact? Secondly, the chapter considers thespread of features from one individual to another. Is it possible to socially locatethose who diffuse linguistic changes? Here, we consider competing argumentsconcerning the embedding of diffusers in local social networks of differentstrengths and structures. Finally, the geographical diffusion of changes is exam-ined. By what routes do changes spread from place A to B? In this section, thedifferent models of innovation diffusion are compared and critiqued. Throughout,studies on Englishes past and present are used to exemplify the arguments,models, and critiques.

Item Type:	Book Section (Book Chapter)
Division/Institute:	06 Faculty of Humanities > Department of Linguistics and Literary Studies > Institute of English Languages and Literatures 06 Faculty of Humanities > Department of Linguistics and Literary Studies > Institute of English Languages and Literatures > Modern English Linguistics
UniBE Contributor:	Britain, David
Subjects:	800 Literature, rhetoric & criticism > 820 English & Old English literatures 400 Language > 420 English & Old English languages
ISBN:	9783110522792
Series:	The History of English
Publisher:	De Gruyter Mouton
Language:	English
Submitter:	Federico Erba
Date Deposited:	22 Jul 2021 08:24
Last Modified:	14 Mar 2024 12:31
Publisher DOI:	10.1515/9783110525045-018
URI:	https://boris.unibe.ch/id/eprint/156443