Conditions for Divergence and Convergence in the Micro-Evolution of Language

1. Conditions for Divergence and Convergence in the Micro-Evolution of Language

2. No scientific theory is worth anything unless it enables us to predict something which is actually going on

4. Growing divergence in North American English

5. The dialects of North American English

6. Divergence in North American Dialects

7. The Northern Cities Shift: from the Project on Cross-Dialectal Comprehension: Gating Experiment 2

8. Percent correct in Gating Experiment for Chicago “busses with the antennas on top”

9. Age distribution of F2 of /?/ in the North This is a scattergram of the relation of the backing of wedge to age in the North. The horizontal axis shows the age of the speaker, the vertical axis the second formant of wedge/. The regression line shows the general trend: the younger the speaker, the lower F2, and the further back the vowel. There is no gender difference here: for both males and females, the younger the speaker, the further back the vowel.This is a scattergram of the relation of the backing of wedge to age in the North. The horizontal axis shows the age of the speaker, the vertical axis the second formant of wedge/. The regression line shows the general trend: the younger the speaker, the lower F2, and the further back the vowel. There is no gender difference here: for both males and females, the younger the speaker, the further back the vowel.

10. Age distribution of F2 of /?/ in the Midland This is the equivalent diagram for the Midland, where one can see that the younger the speaker, the higher F2 and the further forward the vowel. This is the equivalent diagram for the Midland, where one can see that the younger the speaker, the higher F2 and the further forward the vowel.

11. Age distribution of F2 of /?/ in the North and the Midland ILLUSTRATE WITH SOUNDSThe next slide juxtaposes the two diagrams, showing the significance of the age coefficients. We have already seen how sharp is the division between these two communities. Here we see that they are in the process of becoming even more highly differentiated. Among the older speakers, there is hardly any difference (CLICK, CLICK). Among the younger speakers, fronted wedge is sharply opposed to back wedge, ILLUSTRATE WITH SOUNDSThe next slide juxtaposes the two diagrams, showing the significance of the age coefficients. We have already seen how sharp is the division between these two communities. Here we see that they are in the process of becoming even more highly differentiated. Among the older speakers, there is hardly any difference (CLICK, CLICK). Among the younger speakers, fronted wedge is sharply opposed to back wedge,

12. Divergence in North American Dialects

13. Relationships among America’s Most Populous Metropolitan Areas One might think that the increasing separation of these two dialect regions was the result of discontinuities in communication, perhaps the continuing effect of different settlement histories. But there is as yet no evidence to support this idea. Here we see the pattern of maximum airline and telephone trunk lines, reflecting the main travel and communication networks that connect major American cities. It is evident that these networks are orthogonal to the dialect boundaries we are considering. Chicago is connected to Indianapolis and Columbus, while the cities of western New York State, which form an integral part of the Inland North, are linked directly to New York City, which is outside any influence of the NCS.If we superimpose the North/Midland boundary,we can see that it is orthogonal to the major lines of communication. The differentiation of North and Midland therefore illustrates the central problem of divergence with continuing communication that is the focus of this paper. To set this in a broader perspective, it may be helpful to refer to the central thesis of “Transmission and Diffusion.”One might think that the increasing separation of these two dialect regions was the result of discontinuities in communication, perhaps the continuing effect of different settlement histories. But there is as yet no evidence to support this idea. Here we see the pattern of maximum airline and telephone trunk lines, reflecting the main travel and communication networks that connect major American cities. It is evident that these networks are orthogonal to the dialect boundaries we are considering. Chicago is connected to Indianapolis and Columbus, while the cities of western New York State, which form an integral part of the Inland North, are linked directly to New York City, which is outside any influence of the NCS.If we superimpose the North/Midland boundary,we can see that it is orthogonal to the major lines of communication. The differentiation of North and Midland therefore illustrates the central problem of divergence with continuing communication that is the focus of this paper. To set this in a broader perspective, it may be helpful to refer to the central thesis of “Transmission and Diffusion.”

14. Three suggested parallels of linguistic and biological evolution

15. The Canadian Shift

16. Probability matching

17. Mean number of out of 33 ducks in front of experimenter 1 as a function of time and rate of throwing food (Gallistel 1990)

18. Martinet on maximal dispersion

19. A stable distribution of English low vowels: an outlier not recognized as a member of the /o/ distribution.

20. An unstable distribution of English low vowels: /æh/ shifted up and front so that the /o/ outlier affects the central tendency of /o/

21. Opposing chain shifts in North America

22. Model of divergence

23. A model of requirements for divergence

24. Micro-evolution

25. Bidirectional micro-evolution

26. The initiation of divergence Let me recapitulate by standing the diagram on its head. Divergence comes about first by a choice, open to historical accident, between two equally likely resolutions of an unstable linguistic situation. Of course they need not be EQUALLY likely. As we have seen, it is more likely that short a will move back after the low back merger than wedge will move down. But the instability that leads to divergence is like a boulder balanced on a mountain top. The wind or a slight push may move it in one direction or another.Let me recapitulate by standing the diagram on its head. Divergence comes about first by a choice, open to historical accident, between two equally likely resolutions of an unstable linguistic situation. Of course they need not be EQUALLY likely. As we have seen, it is more likely that short a will move back after the low back merger than wedge will move down. But the instability that leads to divergence is like a boulder balanced on a mountain top. The wind or a slight push may move it in one direction or another.

27. The initiation of divergence That is the situation with dialect mixture. The outcome is not enirely predictable, and the reinforcement from one group or another may reverse the situation up to a certain point. That is the situation with dialect mixture. The outcome is not enirely predictable, and the reinforcement from one group or another may reverse the situation up to a certain point.

28. The initiation of divergence That point arrives when the boulder starts rolling down hill. From a linguistic standpoint, such an irreversible event may be a chain shift in which all the elements are locked in place, driven by unidirectional principles that are not yet fully understood, but none of them free to reverse its motion individually. Again, as in the case of mergers, such irreversibility is not absolute, and we have historical cases where it has happened but it takes considerable effort to make the boulder roll uphill.That point arrives when the boulder starts rolling down hill. From a linguistic standpoint, such an irreversible event may be a chain shift in which all the elements are locked in place, driven by unidirectional principles that are not yet fully understood, but none of them free to reverse its motion individually. Again, as in the case of mergers, such irreversibility is not absolute, and we have historical cases where it has happened but it takes considerable effort to make the boulder roll uphill.

29. The development of divergence An unstable situation of even greater importance in North American English is the skewed opposition of long and short open o dependent only on length. One branch leads to the maintenance of the distinction by an increase in the phonetic distance involved. [CLICK] These sound changes may fluctuate: As we have seen, New York City has a higher version of long open o than Providence. All of these dialects share a common history following this choice, but further developments triggered by the nature of the phonetic distinction all but obliterate their similarities. [CLICK] The left hand branch is irreversible from the start,[CLICK]. As a merger this configuration tends to expand over time [CLICK], a convergent effect creating larger areas of similar structure. However, this expansion [CLICK] may be blocked by the further development of chain shifts that are inconsistent with the merger. [CLICK] The merger itself created a further instability that was resolved in different ways by irreversible chain shifts. with the further development of divergence. An unstable situation of even greater importance in North American English is the skewed opposition of long and short open o dependent only on length. One branch leads to the maintenance of the distinction by an increase in the phonetic distance involved. [CLICK] These sound changes may fluctuate: As we have seen, New York City has a higher version of long open o than Providence. All of these dialects share a common history following this choice, but further developments triggered by the nature of the phonetic distinction all but obliterate their similarities. [CLICK] The left hand branch is irreversible from the start,[CLICK]. As a merger this configuration tends to expand over time [CLICK], a convergent effect creating larger areas of similar structure. However, this expansion [CLICK] may be blocked by the further development of chain shifts that are inconsistent with the merger. [CLICK] The merger itself created a further instability that was resolved in different ways by irreversible chain shifts. with the further development of divergence.

30. Natural selection ( ? )

31. Beak evolution

32. Cheney and Seyfarth on the role of social intelligence

33. Social factors as adaptive forces in linguistic behavior. . .

34. Gender and social category determination of five elements of the Northern City Shift in a Detroit suburban high school

35. “Acts of identity”

36. Social correlates of four measures of the Northern Cities Shift [N=71]

37. A consideration on large-scale social factors

38. A large scale phenomenon

39. The U.S. at night

40. U.S. at Night

41. Red States and Blue States in U.S. 2004 Presidential election

42. The Northern dialect region mapped on to Red States and Blue States in U.S. 2004 Presidential election

43. Presidential elections in which the Northern States [NY, MI, WI, IA, MN] have been opposed to the Southern States [TX, AK, LA, MI, AL, GA, FL, SC, NC, KY,TN, VA]

44. Democratic vs. Republican vote for counties surveyed by dialect in presidential election of 2004.

45. County vote for Kerry 2004 by county vote and dialect

46. Regression analyses of county percent vote for Kerry in 2004 by dialect groups with and without total votes as independent variable. Residual group: Midland

47. County vote for Obama 2008 by county vote and dialect

48. Regression analysis of 2008 Obama vote by county

49. Passage 1 in Experiment 1 (from Sabrina K., 37, Detroit MI, TS 176)

50. The Northern Cities Shift of Sabrina K., 37 [1994], Detroit MI, TS 176

51. Passage 2 in Experiment 1 (from Mimi P., 45 [2000], Indianapolis IN, TS 775)

52. Dialect areas in which U. of Indiana subjects were raised [4-13 yrs of age]

53. Cities assigned to Detroit and Indianapolis speakers by student listeners at Indiana University [N=90]

54. Political opinions ascribed to an Inland North (Detroit) and Midland (Indianapolis) speaker by students at U. of Indiana, Bloomington [N=90]

55. Ideological, political and linguistic developments, 1817-2008

56. Means of 14 vowels in peripheral/nonperipheral phonological space. IN = Inland North