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/lp/brill/variation-and-change-in-the-use-of-hesitation-markers-in-germanic-7iFVoEMaye
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- Publisher
- Brill
- Copyright
- Copyright © Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, The Netherlands
- ISSN
- 2210-5824
- eISSN
- 2210-5832
- DOI
- 10.1163/22105832-00602001
- Publisher site
- See Article on Publisher Site
Abstract
In this study, we investigate crosslinguistic patterns in the alternation between UM, a hesitation marker consisting of a neutral vowel followed by a final labial nasal, and UH, a hesitation marker consisting of a neutral vowel in an open syllable. Based on a quantitative analysis of a range of spoken and written corpora, we identify clear and consistent patterns of change in the use of these forms in various Germanic languages (English, Dutch, German, Norwegian, Danish, Faroese) and dialects (American English, British English), with the use of UM increasing over time relative to the use of UH. We also find that this pattern of change is generally led by women and more educated speakers. Finally, we propose a series of possible explanations for this surprising change in hesitation marker usage that is currently taking place across Germanic languages.
Journal
Language Dynamics and Change – Brill
Published: Jan 1, 2016
Keywords: language change; hesitation markers; crosslinguistic change; corpus linguistics