Evolucionismo linguístico: um paralelo entre evolucionismo biológico e mudança linguística

The comparison between linguistic change and biologic evolution is a subject that has caused and still causes much controversy among linguists and other academics that see, in this parallel, problems related to similar attempts in the nineteenth century by Social Darwinism, which approached the biological evolution with social and cultural development of a people. However, this paper aims to show that today this parallel is not built in the same way as was done before. Names like William Labov, Salikoko Mufwene, Jonathan West and Hildo Honorio do Couto in linguistics; Charles Darwin in biology; and Tom Ingold and Clifford Geertz in anthropology, showed that areas of Humanities, such as linguistics and anthropology, and of Biological Sciences, as phylogeny and genetics, are likely to be worked together by the great similarities between processes that compose them. Thus, based on the writings of these authors and some others, this paper presents this theme’s controversy; it shows the similarities between characteristics of languages and species; it seeks through the concepts MA Mental, MA Social and MA Natural of the languages (coined by Couto on Linguística, ecologia e ecolinguística: contato de línguas) to develop ideas of how it is possible to think the language change in the light of Darwin's concept, Natural Selection; and finally, it shows that the parallel theme is rather productive, based on the texts and discussions presented in the whole paper, and that the controversy has been being dissolved with more and more people working on the parallel between language and species

Trajetórias de mudança dos predicados acabar, acontecer e começar sob perspectiva discursivo-funcional

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

The role of mundane mobility and contact in dialect death and dialect birth

Urry begins his 2007 book, Mobilities, by throwing some quite stunning statistics at his readers: in 2010, there were one billion legal international arrivals at ports and airports; in 1800 people in the US travelled on average 50 metres per day, today it is 50 kilometres per day; 8.7% of world employment is in tourism; and, at any one time, there are 360,000 passengers in flight above the United States (2007: 3-4). But very many of these mobilities for the individuals concerned are or have become rather unexceptional – a flight to a holiday in Majorca or Florida, a journey on a crowded commuter train into Madrid or Tokyo, a cross-Channel ferry to Calais in France to pick up some cheap wine and a camembert. Whilst much of the theoretically influential dialectological literature on mobility reports on long-distance, often permanent, often dangerous migrations, I turn our attention here to the dialectological consequences of this unexceptional everyday movement. I will argue here that, just as more dramatic and long-distance mobilities can trigger linguistic change, so too can the much more mundane movements we engage in in everyday life. I demonstrate that the linguistic consequences of that contact are similar if not the same – perhaps less dramatic, perhaps involving the convergence of an initially less divergent array of variants – but typologically of the same ilk. And I demonstrate that because these mobilities have been long-term, intensive and ongoing, their consequences on the dialect landscape have been highly significant. Important to remember, however, is that these mobilities are socially stratified and unevenly distributed. As Wolff put it: “the suggestion of free and equal mobility is … a deception, since we don’t all have the same access to the road” (1993: 253).

Bicentenario, identidad y cambio lingüístico : El sistema verbal de referencia temporal futura en San Juan, Argentina, durante el siglo XIX

En este trabajo enmarcado en la teoría funcional variacionista que relaciona forma, motivación y cultura, pretendemos mostrar cómo el hablante del siglo XIX en San Juan, Argentina, alterna en sus cartas familiares formas lingüísticas sintéticas y perifrásticas para referenciar el futuro, según sus propósitos comunicativos. El corpus, constituido por cartas escritas entre 1837 y 1889, se inserta en el 'siglo de las independencias políticas y las creaciones de los nuevos estados, en que comienza a gestarse la lucha por la identidad en América Latina' (Majfud, 2002). Consideramos que las construcciones alternantes no equivalen entre sí sintáctica, semántica ni pragmáticamente, siendo favorecidas por ciertos parámetros, de los cuales analizamos aquel por el cual creemos entró la innovación de la perífrasis 'ir a + infinitivo'. Adherimos al hecho de que 'las explicaciones funcionales de los cambios lingüísticos no excluyen, sino que implican, las explicaciones culturales' (Coseriu, 1977). Esta aproximación pragmática al uso lingüístico exige un análisis cualitativo y cuantitativo a la vez. 'Importará no sólo qué estructuras contiene la lengua, sino también, cuándo se recurre a ellas y, sobre todo, cuánto se recurre cuándo a qué estructura' (García, 1995)

¿Cómo analizar los fenómenos de contacto lingüístico? : Una propuesta para ver el árbol sin perder de vista el bosque

Este artículo tiene por objetivo principal contribuir a la discusión acerca de la necesidad de construir un marco teórico apropiado para el análisis de las situaciones de contacto lingüístico. Proponemos abordar el problema desde la teoría general del lenguaje para lo cual presentamos herramientas metodológicas acordes con el enfoque teórico que sustenta nuestro trabajo. Desde una concepción no apriorística del estudio del lenguaje, intentamos mostrar la importancia de los análisis basados en el uso real de las lenguas. Esta concepción metodológica del análisis lingüístico otorga un lugar central al estudio de la variación sintáctica, relevante para el conocimiento de los fenómenos de contacto de lenguas, de conformación de variedades y de cambio lingüístico. Por último, presentamos el aporte sustancial que reviste la validación cualitativa y cuantitativa de los datos desde un enfoque como el aquí planteado

Bicentenario, identidad y cambio lingüístico : El sistema verbal de referencia temporal futura en San Juan, Argentina, durante el siglo XIX

En este trabajo enmarcado en la teoría funcional variacionista que relaciona forma, motivación y cultura, pretendemos mostrar cómo el hablante del siglo XIX en San Juan, Argentina, alterna en sus cartas familiares formas lingüísticas sintéticas y perifrásticas para referenciar el futuro, según sus propósitos comunicativos. El corpus, constituido por cartas escritas entre 1837 y 1889, se inserta en el 'siglo de las independencias políticas y las creaciones de los nuevos estados, en que comienza a gestarse la lucha por la identidad en América Latina' (Majfud, 2002). Consideramos que las construcciones alternantes no equivalen entre sí sintáctica, semántica ni pragmáticamente, siendo favorecidas por ciertos parámetros, de los cuales analizamos aquel por el cual creemos entró la innovación de la perífrasis 'ir a + infinitivo'. Adherimos al hecho de que 'las explicaciones funcionales de los cambios lingüísticos no excluyen, sino que implican, las explicaciones culturales' (Coseriu, 1977). Esta aproximación pragmática al uso lingüístico exige un análisis cualitativo y cuantitativo a la vez. 'Importará no sólo qué estructuras contiene la lengua, sino también, cuándo se recurre a ellas y, sobre todo, cuánto se recurre cuándo a qué estructura' (García, 1995)

¿Cómo analizar los fenómenos de contacto lingüístico? : Una propuesta para ver el árbol sin perder de vista el bosque

Este artículo tiene por objetivo principal contribuir a la discusión acerca de la necesidad de construir un marco teórico apropiado para el análisis de las situaciones de contacto lingüístico. Proponemos abordar el problema desde la teoría general del lenguaje para lo cual presentamos herramientas metodológicas acordes con el enfoque teórico que sustenta nuestro trabajo. Desde una concepción no apriorística del estudio del lenguaje, intentamos mostrar la importancia de los análisis basados en el uso real de las lenguas. Esta concepción metodológica del análisis lingüístico otorga un lugar central al estudio de la variación sintáctica, relevante para el conocimiento de los fenómenos de contacto de lenguas, de conformación de variedades y de cambio lingüístico. Por último, presentamos el aporte sustancial que reviste la validación cualitativa y cuantitativa de los datos desde un enfoque como el aquí planteado

Bicentenario, identidad y cambio lingüístico : El sistema verbal de referencia temporal futura en San Juan, Argentina, durante el siglo XIX

En este trabajo enmarcado en la teoría funcional variacionista que relaciona forma, motivación y cultura, pretendemos mostrar cómo el hablante del siglo XIX en San Juan, Argentina, alterna en sus cartas familiares formas lingüísticas sintéticas y perifrásticas para referenciar el futuro, según sus propósitos comunicativos. El corpus, constituido por cartas escritas entre 1837 y 1889, se inserta en el 'siglo de las independencias políticas y las creaciones de los nuevos estados, en que comienza a gestarse la lucha por la identidad en América Latina' (Majfud, 2002). Consideramos que las construcciones alternantes no equivalen entre sí sintáctica, semántica ni pragmáticamente, siendo favorecidas por ciertos parámetros, de los cuales analizamos aquel por el cual creemos entró la innovación de la perífrasis 'ir a + infinitivo'. Adherimos al hecho de que 'las explicaciones funcionales de los cambios lingüísticos no excluyen, sino que implican, las explicaciones culturales' (Coseriu, 1977). Esta aproximación pragmática al uso lingüístico exige un análisis cualitativo y cuantitativo a la vez. 'Importará no sólo qué estructuras contiene la lengua, sino también, cuándo se recurre a ellas y, sobre todo, cuánto se recurre cuándo a qué estructura' (García, 1995)

¿Cómo analizar los fenómenos de contacto lingüístico? : Una propuesta para ver el árbol sin perder de vista el bosque

Este artículo tiene por objetivo principal contribuir a la discusión acerca de la necesidad de construir un marco teórico apropiado para el análisis de las situaciones de contacto lingüístico. Proponemos abordar el problema desde la teoría general del lenguaje para lo cual presentamos herramientas metodológicas acordes con el enfoque teórico que sustenta nuestro trabajo. Desde una concepción no apriorística del estudio del lenguaje, intentamos mostrar la importancia de los análisis basados en el uso real de las lenguas. Esta concepción metodológica del análisis lingüístico otorga un lugar central al estudio de la variación sintáctica, relevante para el conocimiento de los fenómenos de contacto de lenguas, de conformación de variedades y de cambio lingüístico. Por último, presentamos el aporte sustancial que reviste la validación cualitativa y cuantitativa de los datos desde un enfoque como el aquí planteado

O português de herança em território fronteiriço: a LH em Olivença como arma para preservação de um grupo minoritário

Esta pesquisa tem como objetivo investigar a língua portuguesa nativa e de herança sobreviventes em território fronteiriço de língua oficial espanhola. Como locus de pesquisa selecionamos Olivença, uma cidade da Espanha em que a língua portuguesa se faz em situações específicas de uso. A relevância desta pesquisa traduz-se no fato de que espaços fronteiriços mantêm sobrepostas em espaços geográficos contíguos algumas realidades que se sobrepõem: a realidade da oficialidade linguística e a realidade do sentimento de pertença sociolinguística. Nesta tese, partimos da identificação, em trabalho de campo, da presença da língua portuguesa no território atualmente espanhol (mas historicamente português) e na constatação de que há uma flutuação de identificação-identidade linguística. No espaço geográfico em que fizemos incursão científica, duas cidades sobrepõem-se historicamente e duas geografias políticas, por outro lado, avizinham-se e roçam-se continuamente. Ao tomar contato com essa cidade, hipotetizamos que o sentimento de pertença linguística estaria presente entre os falantes mais velhos, que manteriam a herança de traços lusitanos em sua comunicação, mesmo ao falar o espanhol. A justificativa é que, logo de chegada, já avistáramos recintos comerciais com nomes portugueses e, contrariamente, não ouvíamos o som lusitano nas ruas. Sabemos que o domínio espanhol numa cidade outrora portuguesa tenderia a apagar vestígios portugueses. No entanto, em grupos íntimos pressupúnhamos o português como língua corrente. Durante o trabalho de campo, identificamos fortes valores culturais sendo empunhados como armas de resistência entre descendentes de portugueses, fazendo correr numa velocidade acentuada a reorganização dos valores lusitanos em redutos da cidade espanhola. Essa força e essa velocidade pareciam ser as molas propulsoras de uma mudança linguística muito sorrateira, que impactava o sentimento de unidade de um segmento social da comunidade sociolinguística. Isso nos inspirou a dar um passo investigativo seguinte em direção aos mais jovens, que tinham o espanhol como língua materna, mas tinham o português como língua de herança. À pergunta central sobre a força do português como língua de herança buscamos respostas por meio de duas outras questões mais indiretas feitas aos sujeitos entrevistados: será que os mais jovens percebiam-se como portugueses? será que os elementos culturais lusitanos presentes nas ruas eram reconhecidos como vinculados à língua de herança? Foi assim que passamos a recolher pistas sobre os traços de resiliência do português como língua incrustada na região espanhola de Olivença.

Late Eocene to Early Oligocene magnetostratigraphic chron boundaries of ODP Hole 119-744A (Table 1)

The earliest Oligocene (~33.5 Ma) is marked by a major step in the long-term transition from an ice-free to glaciated world. The transition, characterized by both cooling and ice-sheet growth, triggered a transient but extreme glacial period designated Oi-1. High-resolution isotope records suggest that Oi-1 lasted for roughly 400,000 yr (the duration of magnetochron 13N) before partially abating, and that it was accompanied by an ocean-wide carbon isotope anomaly of 0.75?. One hypothesis relates the carbon isotope anomaly to enhanced export production brought about by climate-induced intensification of wind stress and upwelling, particularly in the Southern Ocean. To understand how this climatic event affected export production in the Southern Ocean, biogenic silica (opal) and carbonate accumulation rates were computed for the sub-polar Indian Ocean using deep-sea cores from ODP Site 744, Kerguelen Plateau. Our findings suggest that net productivity in this region increased by several fold in response to the Oi-1 glaciation. In addition, calcareous primary producers dominant in the Late Eocene were partially replaced by opaline organisms suggesting a trend toward seasonally greater surface divergence and upwelling in this sector of the Southern Ocean. We attribute these changes to intensification of atmospheric=oceanic circulation brought about by high-latitude cooling and the appearance of a full-scale continental ice-sheet on East Antarctica. Higher terrigenous sediment accumulation rates support the idea that wind-induced changes in regional productivity were augmented by an increased supply of glacial dust and debris that provided limiting micro-nutrients (e.g., iron-rich dust particles). We speculate that the rapid changes in biogenic sediment accumulation in the Southern Ocean and other upwelling-dominated regions contributed to the ocean-wide positive carbon isotope anomaly by temporarily increasing the burial rate of organic carbon relative to carbonate carbon. The changes in burial rates, in turn, may have produced a positive feedback on climate by briefly drawing down atmospheric pCO2 .

Niederdeutsch in Ostfriesland:Zwischen Sprachkontakt, Sprachveränderung und Sprachwechsel

Low German is a West-germanic language, which is used mainly as a spoken language in the coastal areas of Northwest Germany, North-eastern parts of the Netherlands and along the German coasts of the Baltic Sea. Although still a variety used by millions of speakers, Low German must be counted among the languages threatened by decline if not extinction within the next twenty years because it is no longer used by the younger generations. Apart from the question of whether Low German will survive altogether, the variety is in a process of linguistic change due to the contact situation with the dominant language of the media and almost all written official communications, Standard German. Low German, therefore, is a field for research in all areas of language contact, e.g. codeswitching, language shift, mixed languages or language death. Within Low German, the variety spoken in East Frisia has a distinct history of language contact and language change over the last six hundred years. It is based on a Frisian substratum and has been in close linguistic contact with Dutch since the 16th century.

West Midlands English:Birmingham and the Black Country

This volume focuses on the closely allied yet differing linguistic varieties of Birmingham and its immediate neighbour to the west, the industrial heartland of the Black Country. Both of these areas rose to economic prominence and success during the Industrial Revolution, and both have suffered economically and socially as a result of post-war industrial decline. The industrial heritage of both areas has meant that tight knit and socially homogeneous individual areas in each region have demonstrated in many respects little linguistic change over time, and have continued to exhibit linguistic features, especially morphological constructions, peculiar to these areas or now restricted to these areas. At the same time, immigration from other areas of the British Isles over time, from Commonwealth countries and later from EU member states, together with increased social mobility, have meant that newly developing structures and more widespread UK linguistic phenomena have spread into these varieties. This volume provides a clear description of the structure of the linguistic varieties spoken in the two areas. Following the structure of the Dialects of English volumes, it provides: •A comprehensive overview of the phonological, grammatical and lexical structure of both varieties, as well as similarities between the two varieties and distinguishing features •Thorough discussion of the historical and social factors behind the development of the varieties and the stigma attached to these varieties •Discussion of the unusual situation of the Black Country as an area undefined in geographical and administrative terms, existing only in the imagination •Examples of the variety from native speakers of differing ethnicities, ages and genders •An annotated bibliography for further consultation

Plant leaf wax (n-alkane) data from sediment core MD96-2048

In this study we investigate Pleistocene vegetation and climate change in southern East Africa by examining plant leaf waxes in a marine sediment core that receives terrestrial runoff from the Limpopo River. The plant leaf wax records are compared to a multi-proxy sea surface temperature (SST) record and pollen assemblage data from the same site. We find that Indian Ocean SST variability, driven by high-latitude obliquity, exerted a strong control on the vegetation of southern East Africa during the past 800,000 yr. Interglacial periods were characterized by relatively wetter and warmer conditions, increased contributions of C3 vegetation, and higher SST, whereas glacial periods were marked by cooler and arid conditions, increased contributions of C4 vegetation, and lower SST. We find that Marine Isotope Stages (MIS) 5e, 11c, 15e and 7a-7c are strongly expressed in the plant leaf wax records but MIS 7e is absent while MIS 9 is rather weak. Our plant leaf wax records also record the climate transition associated with the Mid-Brunhes Event (MBE) suggesting that the pre-MBE interval (430-800 ka) was characterized by higher inputs from grasses in comparison to relatively higher inputs from trees in the post-MBE interval (430 to 0 ka). Differences in vegetation and SST of southern East Africa between the pre- and post-MBE intervals appear to be related to shifts in the location of the Subtropical Front. Comparison with vegetation records from tropical East Africa indicates that the vegetation of southern East Africa, while exhibiting glacial-interglacial variability and notable differences between the pre- and post-MBE portions of the record, likely did not experience such dramatic extremes as occurred to the north at Lake Malawi.