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Dia lec t s a nd His to r ica l /
Comparat ive Linguist ics
T h e l n t e r c o n n e c t i o n o f S p a c e a n d T i m e
Mary R i t ch ie Key
Universi ty of Cal i fornia
l rv ine
ABSTRACT
Change in language is a natural phenomenon that parallels change in all the
environment. Dialects and other sociolinguistic aspects of language are the evidences
of historical change. Traditionally, historical linguistics developed before sociolingui-
stics was recognized as a subject, and before dialect maps were plotted with isoglosses
showing where particular varieties of language are spoken. My focus will show how
the perspective of historical linguistics wiU be enlarged by looking at all the articula-
tions of language spoken by a wide range of the population.
In another sense, there are elemental features of languages in phonology and
in semantics that remain stable throughout the millennia. These pristine features
are enduring, and can be seen in ancient languages, such as Hittite, and present-day
languages related to Hittite. These features cross dialect lines, and when looked at
as a whole, are seen to reflect semantic structures of great stability in spite of language
change. Elemental and innovative features are balanced from dialect to dialect and
language to language in an unending variety of languages in the world.
Change in language is a natural phenomenon that parallels change in all the
envi ronm ent . Dialects and other sociolinguistic aspects of language are the evidences
of historical change. Tradit ional ly, historical linguistics developed before
sociolinguistics was recognized as a subject, and before dialect maps were plotted
with isoglosses showing where pa rticular varieties of language are spoken. My focus
will show how the perspective o f historical linguistics will be enlarged by looking
at all the arti culat ions and related meanings of language spoken by a wide range
of the population.
The term sociolinguisties is being scrutinized these days for what it means.
Defin ition s and concep ts are being explored by scholars, such as in a recent
Sociolinguistics Ne w sletter
(December 1985). To paraphrase Sapir, the title of
one of the articles is: The Status of Sociolinguistics as a Science (Craen 1985).
In 1929 Sapir discussed the status of linguist ics as a science and ended with the
questi on, Where does linguistics stand as a science? (Sapir 1929 [1968: 166]).
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2 0 8 L a n g u ag e S c i e n c e s , V o l u m e 9 , N u m b e r 2 1 9 8 7 )
H e w a s a s k i ng w he t he r t he s t udy o f l a ngua ge be l ongs w i t h t he na t u r a l sc i enc e s -
tha t i s, w i th a b io log ica l po in t o f v i ew - o r w as i t r a the r one of the soc ial s c i ences.
Our t e rm ' soc io l ingui s t i c s ' sugges t s the l a t t e r , bu t ou r ac tua l re sea rch sugges t s a
r a t he r m or e c om pl i c a t e d s t a te o f a f f a ir s . S a p i r l e f t the que s ti on t o be pon de r e d , by
no t i ng t ha t l ingu i st ic s doe s t i e in w i t h a n t h r op o l og y , c u l t u r e h i s t o r y , s oc i o l ogy ,
p s y c h o l o g y , p h i l o s o p h y , a n d , h e s a id , m o r e r e m o t e l y w i t h p h y s ic s a n d p h y s i o l o g y
(1968: 161) .
A ge ne r a t i on a f t e r S a p i r ' s t houg h t - p r ov ok i ng que s t i on , U r ie l W e i n r e ic h , in 1954 ,
asked ano the r ques t ion w hich , aga in , s ti ll dese rves to be t rea ted : I s a s t ruc tura l
d i a l e c t o l ogy pos s i b l e ? H e t hou gh t t ha t i t w a s a nd s poke o f a s ync h r on i c a nd
diachro nic d ia l ec to logy . He insp i red h i s s tude nt , Wi ll iam La bov , to wor k on the
p r o b l e m , w i t h m e t h o d o l o g y t h a t w a s fi r m l y g r o u n d e d in q u a n t i t a ti v e p r o c e d u r e s .
These s tud ies were h igh ly succes s fu l and have been wide ly quoted and d i scussed .
W i t h t he s e e xe m pl a r y s t ud i e s , w e a r e ge t t i ng e ve n m or e c om pl i c a t e d a ns w e r s t o
W einre ich 's que s t ion . I f ee l tha t we a re a t t he ea r ly and cha l lenging s t ages o f dea l ing
w i t h t h i s i m por t a n t que s t i on .
W e ha ve c om e a l ong w a y s i nc e S a p i r ' s r e m a r ks a ha l f a c e n t u r y a go ; t oda y w e
f ind l ingu is ts w or k i ng in e ve r y one o f the a r e a s he m e n t i one d , a nd m or e . W e ha ve
d i s c ove r e d s o m uc h a bou t l a ngua ge by s t udy i ng t he b r a i n , by a na l yz i ng t he s pe e c h
be ha v i o r o f a pha s ic s , a nd by do i ng ne u r o li ngu i s ti c s tud i es . W e ha ve l e a r ne d so m uc h
a bo u t l a ngua ge w i t h t he i nve n t i on o f t he c o m pu t e r a nd w i t h a dva nc e s in m a c h i ne
t r a ns l a ti on . W e ha ve l e a r ne d so m uc h a b ou t l a nguage w i t h pe ne t r a t i ng s t ud i es o f
the acqu i s i t ion of l anguage . We have ga ined ins igh t s f ro m inves t iga ting pa ra l ingui s t i c
e xp r e s s i ons a nd f r om d i s c ove r i ng m e a n i ngs e xp r e s s e d by ge s t u r e a nd o t he r k i ne s i c
c om m un i c a t i on . W e ha ve be n e f i t t e d by do i ng c r o s s- c u l tu r a l re s e a rc h a nd by l is t en i ng
to l ingui st s in o th e r co unt r i e s g ive the i r ins igh ts in to the n a ture o f l anguage . We
ha ve l e ar ne d a bo u t how pe op l e u s e la ngua ge by a n a l yz i ng Cr e o le l a nguage s a nd
languages in contac t .
As for the s t a tus of soc io l ingui s t i c s , which we a re concerned wi th he re a t t h i s
c on f e r e nc e , I be li e ve t ha t w e a r e a t an i m po r t a n t j un c t u r e a nd w e c a n s ee i nc re a s ing l y
t he i n t e r c onne c t i on w i t h a n h i s to r i c al ou t l ook . T he s ub t i t le o f m y l e c t u r e t od a y
po i n t s t o thd: i n t e r c onn e c t i on o f s pa c e a nd t im e . ' S p a c e ' i nc o r p o r a t e s a ll the va r i e ti e s
of l anguage tha t we s tudy in soc io l ingui s t ic s : geograp hica l d ime ns ions , as we l l
a s p s yc ho l og i c a l a nd s oc ia l s pa c e. I be l ie ve , a l ong w i t h m a ny o t he r s , t ha t a m ode l
o ;~ l a ngua ge c ha nge a c c om m od a t e s t he m a ny va r i e ti e s o f l a ngua ge i n a soc i o li ngu is t ic
sense , and tha t th i s va r i ab le mode l wi l l he lp to expla in the pe rp lex ing res idues which
occu r in eve ry h i s tor ica l s tudy . Thi s i s a theor e t i ca l con cern : to in t e r re l a t e the
var i ab les , a s exem pl i f i ed by s tud ies in soc io lingui s t ic s wi th the va r i ab les tha t a re
obse rv ed in h i s tor i ca l dep th . H i s tor i ca l s tud ies trea t l anguage change , and it i s
prec i se ly the changes in l anguages tha t make up the va r ious d ia l ec t s and va r i e t i e s
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D i a l e c t s a n d
Historicnl/Comparative Linguistics
2 9
of languages in an ever expanding array of human behavior. As I have noted above,
these ideas have been the focus of study among some linguists for the last couple
of decades. This gave rise to new expressions; and we now hear the term
'sociohistorical.' This is a good term, in that it reflects both breadth and depth
in language studies. This is a positive, useful way to look at human behavior and
language change.
Let us examine our resources here at this crossroads: we have precise
instruments and computers to handle large amounts of data; we have sophisticated
statistical methods, with capable mathematicians in our linguistic community; we
have libraries of historical documents in various languages around the world. In
this country I can refer to the Old Japanese literature, that gives depth to our
understanding o f change through time. We have increasing amounts of dialect
material in many areas that correspond to the historical material in libraries. Though
it is not enough, many atlases of dialect maps and dictionaries have been produced
in the century since the Indo-European studies began.
Most promising of all, the linguistic community has grown - just in my lifetime
- at an astonishing rate, and we now find centers such as this all over the world.
Take for example, the situation in South America: When I first went to South
America in the early 1950s, there were a few linguists and philologists scattered
over that continent from Venezuela in the north to Argentina in the south. There
were brilliant scholars among them, but they were limited in what they could
accomplish because they were few in number. Today, in contrast, there are hundreds
of linguists in South America. Many of these scholars of the present generation are
working on the 600 or so Indian languages of the continent. Some of them are
native speakers of the Indian languages, and this is an added at traction of the
linguistic work in South America. This growing competence of South American
linguists, in fact, has led to the compilation of some of their works, published in
Language Sciences
There are limitless challenges for young scholars entering linguistics today.
In these moments I would focus on the matter of language change, and the many
unsolved problems in this realm of highly complicated variables of human expression.
I would challenge the next generation of linguists to reduce the domain of the
unknown, to quote a leading linguist of the world, Andr6 Martinet (1952 [1978:
122]). Another distinguished comparativist , Henry Hoenigswald, also challenged
us to give account of the loose ends in the areas where language change has not
been satisfactorily explained, and he called for more knowledge of dialect-
geographical data and more atten tion to intonation (Hoenigswald 1964 [1978:
170]) . A recent study of dialect forms in the metropolitan area around Tokyo
also exemplifies the bringing together of sociolinguistics and linguistic geography
(lnoue 1986: 88):
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2 1 0 L a ng ua ge S c i e n c es , V o l u m e 9 , N u m b e r 2 1 9 8 7 )
The new dialect form s exemp lify, thus, the eternal process of mutual differentiation
of language. H en ce the new dialect form s can serve as a laboratory for historical
linguistics.
T oda y I w i l l s ugge s t s om e ne w pe r s pe c t i ve s i n s e m a n t i c s , w i t h t he hope t ha t you
w ill be s t i m u l a t e d t o f ind a f r e s h a pp r oa c h in yo u r ow n a r e a s o f in t e r e st . W i t h yo u r
de d i c a t ion t o yo u r d i sc i p li ne , yo u c a n he l p s o lve a f e w m or e p r o b l e m s in l angua ge
c ha nge be f o r e t he t u r n o f t he c e n t u r y .
I f w e a l l e ge t ha t a s oc i oh i s t o r i c a l a pp r oa c h w ou l d ha ve r i c h e xp l a na t o r y
us e f u lne s s , it w ill be he l p f u l t o p r oc e e d on s om e ba s ic a s s um pt i ons . W e c a n
e s t ab l i sh s om e pos t u l a t e s t o c la r i fy ou r w or k i ng p r oc e du r e s . I w ill m e n t i o n on l y
a c ou p l e o f e xa m pl e s , a nd I hop e t ha t t he s e w il l be e xp a nd e d s o t ha t w e w ill ha ve
a c o m m on und e r s t a nd i ng . M y f i rs t e xa m pl e s t r e a t pho no l o gy a nd i ll u s tr a t e t he
i n t e r re l a t e dne s s o f s oc i o l ingu i s ti c s a nd c om pa r a t i ve p r ob l e m s . D e s c r i p ti ve s t ud ie s
s hou l d r e c o r d c l e a r ly t he a l l ophone s a l ong w i t h d i s t r i bu t i ona l s t a t e m e n t s a bo u t
t he s e phon e t i c va r i a n ts . F o r e xa m pl e , the Ca v ine ~a l a ngua ge , o f t he T a c a na n f a m i l y
o f Bo li v ia , ha s a ph on e m e / w / , w h i c h i s a r t i c u l a te d w i t h t w o a l l ophone s : [ ~ ] , a
b i la b i a l vo i c e d , f r ic a t ive , oc c u r s be f o r e f r on t vow e l s , a s in [ ~e ka ka ] / w e ka k a / da y ,
t i m e a nd [ ~ in i] / w i n i / be e s w a x . T he a l l ophone [ w ] oc c u r s e l se w he r e : [ w a ne ]
/ w a n e / w om a n a nd [ s o ri w a ha ] / s o r i w a ha / be e . T he s is te r l angua ge T a c a n a ( o f
t h e T a c a n a n f a m i l y ) h a s b o t h o f t h es e s o u n d s a s c o n t r a s t in g p h o n e m e s : / t u a w e d a /
s h i n in g a n d / t u a ~ e d a / h e ; / e m a d a e w i / I m g o in g t o w h i st le a n d /e b i / n o s e .
T he s oc io l ingu i s ti c obs e r va t i on a bo u t t he s e c on t r a s t i ng s ounds is t ha t t he youn ge r
s pe a ke r s t e nd t o m e r ge t he s ounds , i gno r i ng t he c on t r a s t , w h i l e t he o l de r pe op l e
m a i n t a i n a d i s ti nc t ion . I n t he c ogna t e s r e f le c t e d f r om t he f o r m e r p r o t o la ngua ge ,
T a c a n a / ~ / o c c u r s i n c o g n a t e se ts o n l y b e f o r e f ro n t v o w e ls , a n d T a c a n a / w / o c c u r s
in c o g n a t e s et s b e f o r e / a / . I f w e d id n o t h a v e t h e p h o n e t i c d i s tr i b u ti o n s t a t e m e n t s
o f t he a l l ophone s in Ca v ine ~a , w e w ou l d n o t be a w a r e o f t he r e l a ti ons h i p be t w e e n
the soc io l ingui s t i c va r i a t ion and the h i s tor i ca l va r i a t ion (Key 1968a : 23 , 28) .
T h e n e x t e x a m p l e h a s t o d o w i t h f l u c t u a t io n o f p h o n e m e s in t h e s p e ec h o f
E s e ej ja , a no t he r m e m be r o f t he T a c a n a n f a m i l y o f Bo li v ia ( K e y 1968b , 1979 ) .
S poke n E se ejja ha s a n e x t r a o r d i na r y a m ou n t o f f l uc t ua t i on in p r onu nc i a t i on . Bu t
i t is no t r a nd om ; i t fo l l ow s c e r t a in pa t t e r n s w h i c h a r e re l a te d t o t he c o r r e s pon de nc e s
o f p h o n e m e s i n t h e c o m p a r a t i v e s tu d i es o f T a c a n a n . F o r e x a m p l e , C a v in e ~ a h
a n d E s e e j j a / h / c o r r e s p o n d t o T a c a n a / s / a n d th e s e t w o s o u n d s f l u c tu a t e in e v e r y d a y
spee ch in Eseej ja , as in kia sewi ~ kia hew i d i r ty ; kia sesi sa l ty ~ me~isehi sa l t .
T hus , t he e ve r y da y s pe e c h o f t he pe op l e e xh i b i t s t he i r h i s t o ri c a l he r i ta ge . I t s hou l d
be n o t e d , a s a s ync h r on i c s t a t e m e n t , t ha t w h i l e t he r e i s a goo d de a l o f f l uc t ua t i on
in Esee jj a , t he re a re few m inim al pa i r s (K ey 1979) . Eq ui l ib r ium is e s t ab l i shed wi th
n o lo ss o f c o m m u n i c a t i o n .
A s e t o f pos t u l a t e s w ou l d a l s o i nc l ude s om e a s s um pt i ons a bou t s e m a n t i c c ha nge .
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D i a l e c t s a n d H i s t o r i c a l C o m p a r a t i v e L i n g u i s t i c s 2 1 1
These systematic changes are recorded in cognate sets in comparative studies. From
these a framework of semantic changes can be constructed that is useful for
evaluating meaning relationships. In the following sections I am suggesting that
some of these meaning relationships may be primordial and universal.
Another assumption that we can make about sociohistorical linguistics has to
do with languages in contact. The subjects of borrowings and Mixed Languages
(Mischsprache) have been treated extensively and competently for a long time.
(See Rickford 1986, for a recent treatment of Irish and Scots English in contact
with Black speakers). The matter of Migrations - voluntary or involuntary -
probably plays a larger part in the evolvement of languages than we have heretofore
recognized. Prokosch (1939: 52) believed that the Germanic Migrations (the
V61kerwanderung) probably had a relation to major structural changes in the
language: . . . the consonant shift appears to stand in chronological and causal
relation to the social, economic, and emotional background of the V61ker-
wanderung. (1939: 57). We can add the discipline o f history, then, to Sapir's
'tie-in's.
A postulate that is crucial in comparative studies has to do with meaning. In
order to compare two or more lexical items, the meanings must be established to
be identical or similar. A variation must be historically explained or the etymology
is in doubt. The French philologist Michel Br6al coined the word
sdm ntique
in
1883 (Aarsleff 1979:67 ; Shapiro 1984) and this is the title of his often-quoted book.
Antoine Meillet was a student o f Br6al, and we are often told that Meillet was one
of the early forerunners who guided our thinking toward sociolinguistics. I cannot
help but think that, in his surroundings, Meillet realized the importance of meaning
in the communicative expressions between speakers. Research in sociolinguistics
since the time of Meillet has made us very aware of the different kinds of meaning
involved in human interaction. Words mean different things to different people
who talk in different spaces. I believe, however, that there is a small basic core of
stable meanings that are preserved throughout the millennia, because they result
from universal perceptions and cognitions. I will come back to this in the final
section of my talk. This short discussion of assumptions that we all carry in our
thinking during our research only touches on some aspects. You will add other
postulates, in your thinking, out of your experiences and expertise.
Now I wil l direct our attention to an analogy of language change with
the laws of nature. There may be only a limited number of fundamental laws of
nature that would explain the workings of the universe. I suggest, too, that there
probably is a limited number of linguistic rules that hold together the interactants
or participants in a linguistic community. Actually, the formula for explaining
SOCIOLINGUISTICS, or language change, or dialects, is probably a very simple
formula, such as Einstein's formula is a simple equation that explains a seemingly
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2 1 2
La ng ua g e c iences Vo l um e
9 , N u m b e r 2 1 9 8 7 )
endles s a r ray o f ac t iv i ty . In lingui st i c wr i t ings , t he co nc ep t o f fo rce s is a l luded to
w i t h va r i ous voc a bu l a r y , s uc h a s: ' p r e s s u r e , a t t r a c t i on , re pu l s i on , bond i ng ,
a f f i li a t ion , e xc l u s i on , i nc l u s ion , d r a g a nd pus h , pus h - pu l l , m o t i va t i on , e qu i l i b r i um '
a nd s o on . O ne o f t he e a r ly r e f e r e nc e s c om e s f r om H e r m a nn P a u l , i n a d i sc us si on
o f h is c on f o r m i t y hypo t he s i s : A t al l t i m e s , he sa ys , t he pe r f o r m a nc e o f a s pe a ke r
i s unde r t he p r e s s u r e o f d i f f e r e n t f o r c e s t o c ha nge i n d i f f e r e n t d i r e c t i ons .
( W e i n r e ic h , L a bov , a nd H e r z og , 19 68 : 11 2 ) . L a t e r , B r6al ( 196 4 [ 1900 ] : I x ) a ga in
us e d t he c on c e p t o f f o r c e s: L a ng ua ge is bu i l t upo n t he s e nse s , a nd t he y e xe r t
upo n i t a n a t t r a c t i on a s pow e r f u l a nd c ons t a n t a s g r a v i t y . I be l ie ve t ha t t he s e f o r c e s
o p e r a t e in t h e c o n t e x t o f th e c o m m u n i c a t i v e n e e d s o f h u m a n b e in g s, a n d , f u r th e r ,
tha t the pres sures ex e r t ed - bon ding , a s we l l a s s epara t ing - ac t a s a t ens ion tha t
ho l d s c om m u n i t i e s t oge t he r , w h i le a t t he s a m e t i m e , d i f f e r e n t i a t e s d i a le c ts .
W i t h r e ga rd t o m e a n i ng , I bel ie ve i t is the c on c e p t o f f o r c e s - w e a k a nd s t rong
t ha t ho l d s m e a n i ngs c on s t a n t a nd s t a b le t h r o ugh ou t t he h i s t o r y o f l angua ge s,
a nd a t t he s a m e t i m e r e pe l s a nd pus he s ou t va r i e t i e s t ha t a r e know n t o u s , t he n ,
a s d i a le c t s in s pa c e a nd t i m e . T o da y I a m us i ng t he c on c e p t o f f o r c e t o in t r oduc e
a new wa y to look a t s e m ant i c s t ruc tures . I t app ears tha t the re i s a re l a t ive ly smal l
i nve n t o r y o f e le m e n t a l f e a t u r e s in p r i m i t ive m o r ph e m e s , ba se d on c o r po r e a l
m or phe m e s ( a nd t he i r r e l a t i ons h i p t o s pa c e ) , a nd on pe r c e p t i on a nd c ogn i t i on .
A w a r e ne s s o f t he h um a n bo dy is a n e l e m e n t a l e xpe r ie nc e . P e r c e p t i on i s w ha t t he
b io log ica l eye sees : shapes , m ov em en t , l igh t and da rkness . Thi s a spec t o f l anguage
a ppe a r s t o be s t a b le a nd is m a i n t a i ne d by t he a t t r a c t i on f o r c e . W he n hu m a n be i ngs
ha ve ne w e xpe r i e nc e s a nd ne w r e l a ti ons h i p s , the n t he c on c e p t o f r e pe ll ing , a s s e en
i n t he ne e d t o c om m un i c a t e , a nd i n t he ne e d t o e s t a b l i s h o t he r r e l a t i ons h i p s ,
p r odu c e s va r i e t ie s on t he o l d t he m e s , a nd t hus , n e w d i a l e ct s ( pe r ha ps s oci a l d i a l ec t s
a l ong w i t h ge og r a ph i c a l d ia l e c ts ) a nd ne w l a ngua ge s a r e f o r m e d . T he p r is t ine
fea tures a re endur ing and can be seen in anc ien t l anguages , such as Hi t t i t e , i n
c om pa r i s on w i t h p r e s e n t - da y l a ngua ge s r e l a te d t o H i t t it e ( K e y 1985a ). T he s e
f e a t u r e s c ro s s d ia l e c t l i ne s, a nd w he n obs e r ve d i n a c ohe s i ve s e m a n t i c f r a m e w o r k ,
a re s een to re f l ec t s em ant i c s t ru c tures o f g rea t s t ab i l i ty in sp i t e o f cons ide rab le
l angua ge cha nge . T he ba s ic s t ab l e m or p he m e s c om pr i s e a g r ou p o f w or ds tha t a r e
ne c e s sa r y t o hum a n c om m un i c a t i on a nd a r e un ive r sa l. T h i s e xc l ude s c u l t u r a l i t e m s ,
m etap ho rs , and f igures o f speech . I t exc lu des l ingui s ti c p l ay and s lang.
T he f r a m e w or k t ha t I a m i n t r oduc i ng i s ba s e d on pe r c e p t i on o f sha pe s, a nd
t he m ov e m e n t o f t hos e s ha pe s in spa c e , bo dy f unc t i ons , a nd l igh t a nd da r kne s s .
T he hum a n bo dy i s e l e m e n t a l i n r e f e r ri ng t o t he sha pe s: r ound : e ye , um b i l ic u s ;
po i n t e d : nos e ; s tr i ng -s ha pe d : vei n , t e nd on ; a ng le : a nk l e , ne c k , j o i n t . L o c a t i on is
a l so in r e f e re nc e t o the hum a n b od y : up , t op : he a d ; be l ow , f oun da t i on : f oo t . Bo dy
f unc t i ons a re e x t r a p o l a t e d t o t he e nv i r on m e n t a nd t o a r t i fa c t s : b r e a t h : w i nd , b l ow ,
f l u te , s m o ke . A n i m por t a n t f e a t u r e in la be li ng t he c o r po r e a l m o r phe m e s , a s w e lt
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D i a l e c t s a n d H i s t o r i c a l C o m p a r a t i v e L i n g u i s t i c s 2 1 3
a s t h e e n v i r o n m e n t a l m o r p h e m e s , is t h e c o m p o s i t i o n o f t h e it em . F o r e x a m p l e ,
' t o o t h ' i s ha r d , s o th i s p r i m i t ive m or p he m e is e x t e nd e d t o ' r oc k , ' a nd f u r t he r
s e m a n t i c ( a nd l a te r , c u l t u r al ) r e l at i ons h ip s e x t e nd t he voc a b u l a r y in a s t r uc t u r e d
ne t w or k o f r e l a t e d m e a n i ngs ( K e y , in p r e s s) ,
T h e s e a re ju s t a f e w e x a m p l e s o f t h e f r a m e w o r k w h i c h I h a v e c o n s t r u c t e d f r o m
s t udy i ng c om pa r a t i ve l ingu i st ic c o gna t e s e t s i n A m e r i c a n I nd i a n l a nguage s ( K e y
1985b) . T he f r a m e w or k a l so a ppe a r s t o fi t P o l yne s i a n la ngua ge s a nd I ndo - E ur ope a n
languages. I t r emains to be seen ho w the theo ry wi ll ap p ly to o th e r l anguage fami l i e s
o f t he w or l d . W ha t w e a r e c onc e r ne d w i t h a t t h i s c on f e r e nc e is ho w t he d i a le c t s
in te rac t and in te r re l a t e wi th h i s tor i ca l p roces ses . Br i e f ly , s t ab i l i ty in soun ds and
m eaning s a re s een in h i s tor ica l s tud ies ; va r i a t ion i s s een in soc io lingui s ti c s . E lem enta l
and innova t ive fea tures a re ba lanced f rom d ia lec t to d ia l ec t and l anguage to l anguage
in an un end ing va r i e ty o f l anguages in the wo r ld .
R E F E R E N C E S
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1979 Br6a l vs. Schle iche r : L ingui s t i c s and Phi lo logy Du r ing the La t t e r H a l f
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1981 His tor ica l L inguis t ic s and Soc io l ing uis t ic s , International Journal of
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Makka i , Adam, Va le r ie Becke t Makka i , and Luig i He i lmann
1977 Th e I n t e r r e l a tionsh ip o f D ia l e c to logy a nd H i s to ri c al C ha nge , in
Linguistics at the Crossroads pp. 203-31 4. A. Makkai et al. (eds.) ,
Padova , I ta ly and Lake Bluf f , Il l ino is .
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