Publications

Publication details [#5861]

Labov, William. 1981. What can be learned about change in progress from synchronic description? In Sankoff, David and Henriette Cedergren, eds. Variation omnibus. Linguistic Research. pp. 177–199.

Publication type

Article in book

Publication language

English

Keywords

diachrony vs. synchrony | language change

Annotation

L. shows how the dynamic dimension of synchronic structure can explain change in progress and how a good deal of the past can be reconstructed from the present. Contains a section on patterns of individual behavior in the course of change in progress.