Using the Tolerance Principle to predict phonological change

Language Variation and Change

Authors

Betsy Sneller

Josef Fruehwald

Charles Yang

Published

2019

Doi

10.1017/S0954394519000061

Abstract

Language acquisition is a well-established avenue for language change (Labov, 2007). Given the theoretical importance of language acquisition to language change, it is all the more important to formulate clear theories of transmission-based change. In this paper, we provide a simulation method designed to test the plausibility of different possible transmission-based changes, using the Tolerance Principle (Yang, 2016) to determine precise points at which different possible changes may become plausible for children acquiring language. We apply this method to a case study of a complex change currently in progress: the allophonic restructuring of /æ/ in Philadelphia English. Using this model, we are able to evaluate several competing explanations of the ongoing change and determine that the allophonic restructuring of /æ/ in Philadelphia English is mostly likely the result of children acquiring language from mixed dialect input, consisting of approximately 40% input from speakers with a nasal /æ/ split. We show that applying our simulation to a phonological change allows us to make precise quantitative predications about the progress of this change. Moreover, it forces us to reassess intuitively plausible hypotheses about language change, such as grammatical simplification, in a quantitative and independently motivated framework of acquisition.

Citation

BibTeX citation:

@article{sneller2019,
  author = {Sneller, Betsy and Fruehwald, Josef and Yang, Charles},
  title = {Using the {Tolerance} {Principle} to Predict Phonological
    Change},
  journal = {Language Variation and Change},
  volume = {31},
  number = {1},
  pages = {1-20},
  date = {2019-03-02},
  url = {https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S0954394519000061/type/journal_article},
  doi = {10.1017/S0954394519000061},
  langid = {en},
  abstract = {Language acquisition is a well-established avenue for
    language change (Labov, 2007). Given the theoretical importance of
    language acquisition to language change, it is all the more
    important to formulate clear theories of transmission-based change.
    In this paper, we provide a simulation method designed to test the
    plausibility of different possible transmission-based changes, using
    the Tolerance Principle (Yang, 2016) to determine precise points at
    which different possible changes may become plausible for children
    acquiring language. We apply this method to a case study of a
    complex change currently in progress: the allophonic restructuring
    of /æ/ in Philadelphia English. Using this model, we are able to
    evaluate several competing explanations of the ongoing change and
    determine that the allophonic restructuring of /æ/ in Philadelphia
    English is mostly likely the result of children acquiring language
    from mixed dialect input, consisting of approximately 40\% input
    from speakers with a nasal /æ/ split. We show that applying our
    simulation to a phonological change allows us to make precise
    quantitative predications about the progress of this change.
    Moreover, it forces us to reassess intuitively plausible hypotheses
    about language change, such as grammatical simplification, in a
    quantitative and independently motivated framework of acquisition.}
}

For attribution, please cite this work as:

Sneller, Betsy, Josef Fruehwald, and Charles Yang. 2019. “Using the Tolerance Principle to Predict Phonological Change.” Language Variation and Change 31 (1): 1–20. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0954394519000061.