Apparent-time study

Chambers and Trudgill explain that doing apparent-time study:

[I]nvolves surveying the differences between the speech of people of different ages in the same community, while controlling the other independent variables such as sex, social class and ethnicity […] when different age groups are observed simultaneously and the observations are extrapolated as temporal, the result is ‘apparent-time’ study (1998: 151)

The researcher of an apparent-time study will observe a community during one time period. The participants must include a wide range of age groups. This is also called the ‘synchronic approach’, which Cukor-Avila and Bailey describe as the “corner stone of research in language variation and change” (2013: 239).

Despite much research depending on apparent-time to demonstrate language change over time, there are a few drawbacks to the method and

47 application. First, one life span may be too short for the analysis of diffusion (Chambers and Trudgill 1998). The argument is that apparent-time is based on a hypothesis that language use of a certain age group will remain fairly stable as that group gets older (Chambers 2003; Chambers and Trudgill 1998) (discussed in detail below). This first disadvantage is what Cukor-Avila and Bailey (2013: 241) refer to as “the stability of individual vernaculars”. Researchers cannot be certain that over someone’s lifetime they will not change their accents. Second, the occurrence of ‘age-grading’ is a potential problem. Age-grading can be a potential pitfall as changes over generations may be due to a “regular change that repeats in every generation” (Labov 1994: 46) (discussed in detail in section 2.2.3). This issue can be counteracted by comparing real-time studies from previous research.

The advantages of studying language change and variation using an apparent-time methodology are numerous. First of all, in comparison to real-time studies the practicalities of conducting research are more achievable. With regards to time-scale, the researcher is not waiting for time to pass before recording more data. The study can be completed within a few months rather than over many years. All the data in an apparent-time study are obtained at one time, making the whole study more practical in terms of time constraints (Chambers 2003). There may be much change in the world over the years that can affect comparability. For example, the questionnaire from the SED had to be changed to match modern developments; this means that the participants may not be directly comparable. However, with apparent-time, this problem is

avoided. Second, the data are not limited. The researcher may go back to the location to find more recordings if it is not sufficient the first time around; this is not possible with real-time studies as the original data must be from the past (Chambers and Trudgill 1998).

One criticism of apparent-time research was that the results and discussion may be subjective and that linguistic changes cannot be generalised.

However, Chambers (2003: 212) states that “inferences are generally reliable” with apparent-time studies in linguistics. Sankoff (2006: 115) also agrees with the reliability of the data and explains “far from misleading us about the existence of change, apparent-time generally underestimates the rate of change”. This is because adults modify their language slightly over time in the direction of continuing community change. Therefore, results are reliable and generalizable.

The apparent-time element will be found within the sampling of my participants. Different age groups (see 3.2.2 for more discussion) and different generations within families were chosen in order to utilise this method. Apparent-time issues and explanation will also be found within the analysis and discussion sections.

1.4.3 Implications for current research Cukor-Avila and Bailey explain that:

49 the apparent-time data are only a surrogate for real-time evidence, and apparent-time data cannot uncritically be assumed to represent diachronic linguistic developments

Apparent-time study can supplement real-time analysis of language. This thesis agrees with Sankoff’s (2006: 110) explanation about the “validity and usefulness of apparent time as a powerful conceptual tool for the identification of language change in progress”. The apparent time hypothesis assumes that language from different ages at one point of time can represent different stages of language. According to Tagliamonte:

In an apparent time study, generational differences are compared at a single point and are used to make inferences about how a change may have taken place in the (recent) past.

Age differences are assumed to be temporal analogues, reflecting historical stages in the progress of the change ...

Analytically, apparent time functions as a surrogate for chronological (or real) time, enabling the history of a linguistic process to be viewed from the perspective of the present”. (2011:43)

Therefore, the patterns of change within a community can reveal much about the interpretations of language change. This is visualised in the table below from Sankoff (2006):

Table 3: Patterns of change in the individual community (Sankoff 2006: 111 (adapted from Labov 1994))

Synchronic Pattern Interpretation Individual Community

Flat 1. Stability Stable Stable

Regular increase/decrease with age

2. Age Grading Unstable Stable

Regular increase/decrease

with age 3. Generational Change

(apparent time) Stable Unstable

Flat 4. Communal Change Unstable Unstable

By looking at patterns of change within synchronic data we are able to interpret the type of change occurring. In summary, both real- and apparent-time approaches are used alongside each other during this project to complement findings.