Speaker
Description
While attention to the linguistic study of lifespan change has been growing over the past two decades, we are still only just starting to understand how grammar fits in. For a long time, the dominant view has been that grammatical change primarily happens between generations. Lifespan change was considered to be limited to age grading, the shift between different styles or language habits among a repertoire in line with the stage of life one was in, such as adolescence, professional life, or retirement. Most of these findings are based on apparent time studies (which compare different age cohorts in a synchronic snapshot), or panel studies (which compare comparable cohort data collected at different points in time). True lifespan data are still quite rare. One reason is that ego-documents such as private letters or diaries, which are typically used for this type of research, do not contain enough data to do meaningful lifespan research on less frequent aspects of grammar. In this talk I will show what can be gleaned from large data sets from prolific authors with regard to the nature and frequency of lifespan change. Three case studies will provide evidence that lifespan change in grammar entails more than age grading. Data of the use of be going to as an emerging future auxiliary shows continued adaptation by individuals to ongoing change, including the adoption of structural innovations in the grammar, although still constrained by existing habits. Data on the complementation patterns of the verbs remember, forget and expect shows that authors ‘get better’ at their grammars across the lifespan, and that these developments arguably also have an impact on the language conventions in the community. Data on the use of the progressive show that members of the specific community of practice of ‘fire and brimstone preachers’, also seem to ‘get better’ at preaching, and that this will have an impact on their understanding of grammar. In general, significant lifespan change appears to be relatively common, even if not the rule, and its role in language change in the long term should be taken more seriously.