Generic 'du' in time and context: A study of intra-individual variation and change

TY - CHAP

T1 - Generic 'du' in time and context

T2 - Symposium on the Dynamics of Language Conventionalization

AU - Jensen, Torben Juel

PY - 2017

Y1 - 2017

N2 - This article considers the way individual speakers respond to a macro-level process of language change: an increased use of the second-person pronoun du for generic reference. Real time panel studies show that life span change is much more common than is often assumed, particularly among adult speakers, and that variation also prevails within a micro-diachronic perspective (between conversations recorded within a few months, and even within the same conversation). The results emphasise that great caution should be exercised when taking the difference between two pieces of attested language use as an indication of a difference in grammar, underscoring the need for taking context into account in a much more fine-grained way than has been common in variational sociolinguistics.

AB - This article considers the way individual speakers respond to a macro-level process of language change: an increased use of the second-person pronoun du for generic reference. Real time panel studies show that life span change is much more common than is often assumed, particularly among adult speakers, and that variation also prevails within a micro-diachronic perspective (between conversations recorded within a few months, and even within the same conversation). The results emphasise that great caution should be exercised when taking the difference between two pieces of attested language use as an indication of a difference in grammar, underscoring the need for taking context into account in a much more fine-grained way than has been common in variational sociolinguistics.

KW - Faculty of Humanities

KW - sproglig variation og forandring

KW - grammatik

KW - pronominer

KW - dansk

KW - intra-individual variation

KW - language variation and change

KW - intra-individual variation

KW - lifespan language change

KW - pronouns

KW - Danish

M3 - Book chapter

SN - 978-87-93060-39-5

SP - 209

EP - 234

BT - Creativity and continuity

A2 - Duncker, Dorthe

A2 - Perregaard, Bettina

PB - U Press

CY - Copenhagen

Y2 - 25 January 2012 through 26 January 2012

ER -