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The Quantitative Analysis of Morphosyntactic Variation: Constructing and Quantifying the Denominator
Author(s) -
Buchstaller Isabelle
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
language and linguistics compass
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.619
H-Index - 44
ISSN - 1749-818X
DOI - 10.1111/j.1749-818x.2009.00142.x
Subject(s) - variation (astronomy) , linguistics , grammar , variable (mathematics) , field (mathematics) , phonological rule , computer science , extension (predicate logic) , phonology , mathematics , philosophy , mathematical analysis , physics , astrophysics , pure mathematics , programming language
At its inception, the sociolinguistic enterprise focused on research on phonological variability and only later broadened its remit to include ‘variability [that] occurs and can be dealt with at level of grammar above (and beyond) the phonological’ (Sankoff 1972:45). This extension, however, has not been without controversy and continues to fuel heated debates in the field. This article addresses some of the contentious issues that quantitative research on (morpho‐)syntactic variation has brought about. Can we operationalise variation in the field of morphosyntax as a sociolinguistic variable? If yes, how do we define such a variable? Is morphosyntax constrained in the same way as variation in the sound system? How do we quantify variability in the field of morphosyntax in an accountable manner? What do we quantify out of? I also introduce some of the methods used by researchers dealing with non‐phonological variation, focusing especially on the quantification of morphosyntactic and discourse variables.