Next: Redundancy.
Up: Variation:
Previous: Socially-conditioned Variation
Some variation may be totally ``free". I
see no difference in [e]konomics vs. [i]konomics; but [i]ther vs.
[ai]-ther I see as social ([ai]-ther sounds more `refined' to me).
French drops l's: il faut [il fo] becomes [ifo], etc. Spanish drops
-d- in -ado (las vacas del pueblo se han escapao), etc. If you hear
variation, ask the speaker which s/he prefers, and they will probably
tell you that one is ``better". This may be an elicitation form,
found nowhere else.
English city, pretty, etc. Speakers in slow careful speech will say
[sIti] but in rapid [siDi]. [hw] vs. [w] (the supposed
difference between `which' and `witch')
was inculcated in my day but nobody learned it. The variation in
language usually indicates that some CHANGE IS IN PROGRESS in the
language; but we have a hard time making a static description of a
dynamic process. However, change will usually only be found in one
area; the whole system is usually not in a state of flux.
Harold Schiffman
Fri Jan 17 09:48:04 EST 1997