Frequency and variation in the community grammar(P)英文资料.pdf

Language Variation and Change, 19 (2007), 199–217. Printed in the U.S.A. © 2007 Cambridge University Press 0954-3945007 $16.00 DOI: 10.10170 S095439450707007X Frequency and variation in the community grammar: Tracking a new change through the generations S a l i A . T a g l i a m o n t e University of Toronto A l e x a n d r a D ’ A r c y University of Canterbury A B S T R A C T In this article we perform a quantitative analysis of verbs of quotation in a cohesive speech community. The incoming form be like overshadows all other quotative verbs among speakers under 30. This telescoped rate of change provides an oppor- tunity to investigate the actuation problem as well as to probe the underlying mechanism of change in the contrasting variable grammars across generations. Multi- variate analyses of factors conditioning be like (content of the quote, grammatical person, sex) reveal stability in the significance of constraints, however the rankings and relative strengths reveal subtle ongoing changes in the system. Interpreting these in sociocultural context, we suggest that be like is an innovation that arose out of a preexisting niche in the grammar. It accelerated during the 1980s due to its preppy associations, later specializing as a marker of narrative present. In account- ing for these findings, we are led to contrast generational and communal change and to question what it means to ‘participate’ in linguistic change. Quotative be like, exemplified in (1), is a vigorous change in contemporary English. Among Canadians in their twenties, it has risen from an incipient phase of 13% in 1995 (Tagliamonte Hudson, 1999) to accounting for 58% of all quotatives in 2002 (Tagliamonte D’Arcy, 2004:501, Table 2).