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Movers as early adopters of linguistic innovation[Note 1. I thank Allan Bell, David Britain, and the anonymous ...]
Author(s) -
Urbatsch R.
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
journal of sociolinguistics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1
H-Index - 51
eISSN - 1467-9841
pISSN - 1360-6441
DOI - 10.1111/josl.12126
Subject(s) - openness to experience , affect (linguistics) , population , census , sociology , test (biology) , linguistics , psychology , social psychology , demography , communication , paleontology , philosophy , biology
Long‐distance migration is a primary source of language contact. Those who voluntarily migrate, though, may not resemble the broader population: psychological research suggests some factors that predispose people to become migrants also tend to lead to more openness to trying new things, potentially including linguistic features. This implies differential reactions to language contact, so inferences drawn from migrants may not generalize to the language‐contact process more generally. To test this hypothesis, this article examines lexical patterns in the 1940 United States census, focusing on who used the title mortician or funeral director rather than the traditional undertaker . Individuals who had moved from their state of birth were particularly likely to use the newer terms, even when explicitly controlling for the distribution of titles among the states from which the movers relocated. The personal characteristics leading people to encounter new linguistic environments may also independently affect their choices within those environments.