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RECONSTRUCTING VARIATION IN THE SPEECH COMMUNITY: EVIDENCE ON EARLY AMERICAN ENGLISH NEGATIVE CONSTRUCTIONS FROM THE SALEM WITCHCRAFT PAPERS

1999; University of Murcia; Volume: 8; Linguagem: Inglês

0213-5485

Jacques Vier,

Lexicography and Language Studies

pciper de(i1.c ii.idi .cocinliiigui.vtic ~~arirrriorr iii eczr!\' Atilericaii Ei~gli.\li. M)' aiicr1~si.s (?f.coiile qf'rlie oral deposirio~ls recorded iii rl~e group of lesal docurtiei~rs rrndirioirnlly bloii,ii as rlre Salein Witchcraft Trials (ed. Bover & Nissc.r~l~auii~ IY77),f?)cu.se.~ 1711 rlie L~er~eral applirnbili~ of'Milro 'S socirzl irem1ork iiiodel ro rlze recoi~srrucrioil of prrsr st0re.r of la~rgunge. 111 rlzis case, 1 ivill coi~cei~rrare orl rlie airn(vsis of tlre rii'o iiegorii,e coilsrrucriori.~ rlicir coca-isred iii ear& Moderir Ettglisli (i.e. Vl~+not i8. do- ~)c,ril~lrrtrsis) alid oii tlre correlnrioii lier~veeir rlte rrse qf'rliese coirstrucrioris criid rlie i~ernsork <;c.ore qf' eaclr irrtli~'idrrn1 spenkei.. (Keywords: social network. linguistic variation. dialectal divergerice, Early Modern Eiiglisli. colonial American English). RESUMEN Esre nrricrrlo se ocrrpn de irir ,fr,ioiiieiio de variacioir sociolii~gui~icn e11 irrgles ainericniio reii~prairo. El trircilisis de rrirn serie de declarnc~ioires perreirecier~res al grripo de dooriireriros de fiirnles del siglo XVII rorzoci(k,s coiiin Salen1 Witclicraft Trials (d. Boyer & Nis.seirhcrrrril IY77) se ceiirrtr e11 l(i posibilihd de nplicar el i~rerodo de redes sociales diseliado por Milq al proceso de rerorrsrruccio~~ de esrndios liisrori(.os de la Ieirguo. Eri esre ccrso, iire corlreilrrrire eii el nilalisis de 10s dos coiisrrrrrrioires iregnrii,as e.~isreitres erl irlg/c% iiioderrio renprarro (es decir. VI?+ riot 1'. perijknsis coi1 do nuriliar) y e11 la posible c~orrelariorr exisrer~re oirre el uso de esrns roilsrrucriones J 10 delrsidad de /(t. redes soria1e.s que rtirarreri:r~ir n ccidri uizo de los 1rtrhlni1re.c. (Palabras Clave: red social. variacion linguistica, diversificacion dialectal, ingles moderno temprano. ingles americano colonial). 1. HISTORICAL RECONSTRUCTION: LIMITATIONS OF HISTORICAL INQUIRY Historical sociolinguistics is concerned with the different ways particular linguistic functions and types of variation develop over time within specific languages or speech communities. This approach. which is justified on the grounds that language is a social phenomenon, implies that linguistic change is made possihle the extent that it is passed from person to person in speaker encounters. in which the apparently disfunctional nature of lanyuage change is