35 years of Cognitive Linguistics Session 12: Cognitive Sociolinguistics Martin Hilpert

Cognitive Linguistics attempts to describe what speakers know when they know a language words, constructions,... attempts to relate that knowledge to general cognitive processes categorization, schema formation, analogy,... attempts to explain how that knowledge comes into being through language use

an important complication Knowledge of language has traditionally meant: being able to distinguish grammatically well-formed sentences from grammatically unacceptable sentences John gave Mary the book John Mary the book gave However, knowledge of language is more than that! knowledge of constructional variants within a single language variety knowledge of different regional dialects, sociolects, registers, etc. (lectal awareness)

Sociolinguistics the study of variation in language Cognitive Sociolinguistics the study of speakers knowledge of linguistic variation

variation in language: theres more than one way to do it

/s.kr.t.r/

/s.kr.t.r/, /s.kr.t.ri/, /s.kr.tr/ /s.kr.t.r/

/s.kr.t.r/, /s.kr.t.ri/, /s.kr.tr/ /s.kr .t.r/

Ns N possession, spatial contiguity, temporal contiguity, causal contiguity Johns book Johns office Johns train the countrys president yesterdays sad events inflations consequences

classic idea in variationist linguistics The sociolinguistic variable: two (or more) different ways of saying the same thing. Usually pronunciation /ku:pn/ vs. /kju:pn/ Choice of a form for a given function And I said, wow, thats great. And I was like, wow, thats great. Presence or absence of a syntactic element Thats the cat that I saw earlier. Thats the cat I saw earlier.

variation in constructions constructions = pairs of form and meaning variation in constructions a meaning that is paired with a range of forms (the pronunciations of secretary) a form with a range of meanings (the s-genitive) an abstract formal pattern that can be realized in different ways (the NP construction)

relative clauses Thats the cat that ran away. Thats the cat that I saw yesterday. Thats the cat that I told you about. Thats the cat I saw yesterday. Thats the solution suggested by our team of experts. Thats the proper thing to do.

whats a relative clause? the cat that the cat NPRelCl NP RelPronClause ran away HEAD RELATIVIZER GAP GAP = SUBJ of Relative clause >> Subject relative clause

whats a relative clause? the cat that I saw NPRelCl NP RelPronClause the cat yesterday HEAD RELATIVIZERGAP GAP = OBJ of Relative clause >> Object relative clause

whats a relative clause? the cat that NPRelCl NP RelPronClause I told you about the cat HEAD RELATIVIZER GAP GAP = Oblique of Relative clause >> Oblique relative clause

relative clauses variable #1: the grammatical role of the gap in the relative clause variable #2: presence or absence of the relativizer

relativizer present the cat that I saw NPRelCl NP RelPronClause the cat yesterday HEAD RELATIVIZERGAP

no relativizer present the cat I saw NPRelCl NP RelPronClause the cat yesterday HEAD RELATIVIZERGAP

no relativizer present * the cat the cat NPRelCl NP RelPronClause ran away HEAD RELATIVIZER GAP ungrammatical with subject relative clauses

relative clauses variable #1: the grammatical role of the gap in the relative clause variable #2: presence or absence of the relativizer variable #3: finiteness of the relative clause

finite relative clauses the cat that NPRelCl NP RelPronClause I told you about the cat HEAD RELATIVIZER GAP The relative clause is a fully finite clause (if you add the gap).

non-finite relative clauses the thing NPRelCl NP RelPronClause to do the thing HEAD RELATIVIZER GAP The relative clause is a non-finite phrase.

relative clauses variable #1: the grammatical role of the gap in the relative clause variable #2: presence or absence of the relativizer variable #3: finiteness of the relative clause variable #4: presence or absence of auxiliary be

with auxiliary be the wine that NPRelCl NP RelPronClause the wine was produced in Spain HEAD RELATIVIZER GAP

without auxiliary be the wine NPRelCl NP RelPronClause the wine was produced in Spain HEAD RELATIVIZER GAP This co-varies with the absence of the relativizer!

relative clauses variable #1: the grammatical role of the gap in the relative clause variable #2: presence or absence of the relativizer variable #3: finiteness of the relative clause variable #4: presence or absence of auxiliary be...

relative clauses As a speaker of English, you know how all of this works! You know when it feels right to leave out the copula or the relativizer. You know what grammatical roles can be assigned to the gap. You know what finite and non-finite structures can appear in relative clauses.

knowledge of variation the traditional goal of linguistic research: finding out what speakers know when they know a language typically implemented as the ability to distinguish grammatical and ungrammatical sentence-level constructions its more complicated than that: knowledge of language includes knowledge of variation speakers know which variants of a construction are appropriate in which contexts

knowledge of variation Not: Can you say X? (Answer yes or no) But: Why do you sometimes say X i and sometimes X j ? Unlike the first question, the second one is not open to introspective analysis.

How can we investigate knowledge of variation?

quantitative sociolinguistics linguistic variation is not random, it is highly predictable on the basis of language-internal and language-external explanatory factors language-external: age, ethnicity, gender, education, sexual orientation, etc. language-internal: phonological context, morpho-syntactic context, complexity, markedness, etc.

Labov (1969): AAVE copula deletion She [ s / ] the first one. We [ re / ] on tape. He [ s / ] gon try to get up. His wife [ is / ] suppos a be getting money. When do speakers of AAVE choose the zero variant?

Labov (1969): AAVE copula deletion The zero variant is more likely when the subject is pronominal the following element is gonna the speakers were interviewed as a group the preceding word ends in a consonant ... special term: variable rule BE >> / before gonna the rule is probabilistic, it applies only 90% of the time

expressing variable rules Traditional way of stating rules: X > Y / A_B (X changes into Y if it is located between A and B) Example from German: d > t / _# (d is realized as t when at the end of a word) Rules apply categorically, i.e. all the time

expressing variable rules Variable rules do not apply all of the time, hence they have to include information about determining factors and their relative strengths: BE >> / Depending on the respective values, each copula speech event has a certain probability of being realized as zero. 50% pro SUBJ 20% NP SUBJ 90% gonna 70% -ing 50% adj 40% loc 30% NP 75% C_ 20% V_

knowledge of variation Speakers knowledge of constructions includes (subconscious) knowledge of when to use which variant. Variable rules represent models of this kind of knowledge.

variation between constructions

two constructions, similar meanings Ns N possession, spatial contiguity, temporal contiguity, causal contiguity the N of N possession, spatial contiguity, temporal contiguity, causal contiguity

two constructions, similar meanings SUBJ V OBJ1 OBJ2 an agent transfers a theme to a recipient SUBJ V OBJ1 to OBJ2 an agent causes a theme to move towards a recipient

two constructions, similar meanings pairs of constructions that show semantic overlap connected through subpart links in the construct-i-con when speakers want to convey a meaning that could be expressed by either construction, they have to make a choice this choice is not random, but governed by language-internal and external factors

the dative alternation SUBJ V OBJ1 OBJ2 an agent transfers a theme to a recipient SUBJ V OBJ1 to OBJ2 an agent causes a theme to move towards a recipient

What are the factors that underlie speakers choices in the dative alternation?

What would you choose? A:Do we have any more wine? B:No, Im afraid theres nothing left. A:But we had that last bottle of Merlot! B:Yes, but I gave John that last one. I gave that last one to John.

What would you choose? A:Do we have any more wine? B:No, Im afraid theres nothing left. A:But we had that last bottle of Merlot! B:Yes, but I gave John that last one. I gave that last one to John. Speakers typically choose the prepositional dative, in keeping with the principle of end focus.

What would you choose? A:Do we have any more wine? B:No, Im afraid theres nothing left. A:But its Johns birthday and I need to bring something! B:Yes, well, you could give John these chocolates. give these chocolates to John.

the dative alternation Variable #1: givenness given theme / new recipient >> prep. dative given recipient / new theme >> ditransitive

givenness and other variables givenness is closely correlated with three morpho-syntactic variables pronominality: referents of pronouns tend to be given You could give him some chocolates. *You could give John it. definiteness: referents of definite NPs tend to be given You should give the bracelet to Mary. You should give Mary a bracelet. length: short phrases tend to be given You should give Mary a bracelet made by her favorite designer. ? You should give a bracelet made by her favorite designer to Mary.

the dative alternation Variable #1: givenness given theme / new recipient >> prep. dative given recipient / new theme >> ditransitive Variable #2: transfer type

transfer type concrete transfers give John some chocolates give some chocolates to John intended transfers promise John some chocolates promise some chocolates to John metaphorical transfers give John a shock ? give a shock to John

the dative alternation Variable #1: givenness given theme / new recipient >> prep. dative given recipient / new theme >> ditransitive Variable #2: transfer type metaphorical transfer >> ditransitive

the dative alternation Variable #1: givenness given theme / new recipient >> prep. dative given recipient / new theme >> ditransitive Variable #2: transfer type metaphorical transfer >> ditransitive Variable #3: animacy

animacy animate recipients give John some chocolates give some chocolates to John inanimate recipients bring some water to the table * bring the table some water

the dative alternation Variable #1: givenness given theme / new recipient >> prep. dative given recipient / new theme >> ditransitive Variable #2: transfer type metaphorical transfer >> ditransitive Variable #3: animacy inanimate recipients >> prepositional dative

the dative alternation Variable #1: givenness given theme / new recipient >> prep. dative given recipient / new theme >> ditransitive Variable #2: transfer type metaphorical transfer >> ditransitive Variable #3: animacy inanimate recipients >> prepositional dative Variable #4: structural priming use of a variant is more likely if that variant has been produced or heard before

variation between constructions Whenever speakers have the opportunity to express a meaning through a set of alternative constructions,... their choices are governed by several language- internal and external factors these factors are related to processing (priming, complexity), pragmatics (givenness), semantics (animacy), phonology (horror aequi), etc. all of this is (subconscious) knowledge of language

variation between groups of speakers

Cognitive Linguistics and varieties of English It is the aim of Cognitive Linguistics to model the knowledge of an individual speaker. However, whose knowledge do we want to model? A speaker of standard English? A compromise between different varieties?

things people say Theres no-one does that anymore.subject relative without relativizer This our problem is very serious.determiner doubling I eaten my lunch.perfect without auxiliary have This is better as the other one.comparative as The boys was there, Mary werent.was / werent polarity split They ride bikes is what they do.full clauses as cleft focus phrase As I said it before, this is a problem.resumptive it Relative clauses, noun phrases, the perfect, comparison, negation, clefting and pronoun usage are fundamental and basic domains of grammar, and in all of these there is variation.

the dative alternation, again

the dative alternation Variable #1: givenness given theme / new recipient >> prep. dative given recipient / new theme >> ditransitive Variable #2: transfer type metaphorical transfer >> ditransitive Variable #3: animacy inanimate recipients >> prepositional dative Variable #4: structural priming use of a variant is more likely if that variant has been produced or heard before

John gave his favorite aunt Mary the book. John gave the book to his favorite aunt Mary. John gave his favorite aunt Mary the book. John gave the book to his favorite aunt Mary.

This gives the plot a new twist. John gave the book to Mary. This gives the plot a new twist. John gave the book to Mary.

variation across varieties The factors that govern the dative alternation in American English are also present in NZ English. However, some of them are not equally strong across the two varieties. Evidence that the ditransitive and the prepositional dative are conventionalized differently in the two varieties.

What do speakers know about varieties that are not their own?

lectal awareness Your experience with other language users allows you to form exemplar-based categories of other language varieties. You can identify British vs. American English L2 English with a French accent Austrian German

And for me somehow that symbolized the loneliness of exile, especially when we would watch uhm advertisements by Florida, that said, during winter, and at the height of winter, it would show palm trees, swaying in the breeze, and would end with the tagline that said The warm breeze and palm trees of Florida.

Pronunciation /r/ flapped during, trees / GOAT monophthongized loneliness /o/

lectal awareness Spanish children develop the ability to place L1 accents (Kristiansen 2010)

lectal awareness Spanish children develop the ability to place L2 accents (Kristiansen 2010)

lectal awareness What makes it easy to discriminate a lect? children get better with age / with exposure lects with many salient or distinctive linguistic features are discriminated more easily lects that are socially relevant are discriminated more easily

summing up

Cognitive sociolinguistics = the study of speakers knowledge of linguistic variation within a variety: Constructions exhibit variation both at the meaning pole and the formal pole, knowledge of language includes knowledge of how a construction varies. Speakers choices between two variants, or two constructions, are governed by explanatory factors. across varieties: Speakers are aware that different people talk in different ways, they learn to associate linguistic features with prototypes of language varieties. Speakers develop lectal awareness as a function of their exposure, salient linguistic features, and social relevance of the target varieties.

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35 years of Cognitive Linguistics Session 12: Cognitive Sociolinguistics Martin Hilpert