dc.contributor.editor
De Smet, Hendrik
dc.contributor.editor
Inglese, Guglielmo
dc.contributor.editor
Rosemeyer, Malte
dc.date.accessioned
2025-08-18T09:26:50Z
dc.date.available
2025-08-18T09:26:50Z
dc.identifier.isbn
978-3-98554-151-5
dc.identifier.uri
https://refubium.fu-berlin.de/handle/fub188/48731
dc.identifier.uri
http://dx.doi.org/10.17169/refubium-48454
dc.description.abstract
Synopsis:
This volume presents a timely discussion on one of the most fundamental and yet elusive questions in historical linguistics: why do certain linguistic changes take place in some languages at specific times, but not in others, even under similar conditions? The actuation problem, first articulated by Weinreich, Labov, and Herzog (1968), remains a central puzzle in the study of language change, at the crossroads between language structure, cognitive processes, and social dynamics. While significant progress has been made in identifying pathways and constraints on change and in understanding the social embedding of linguistic variation, the ultimate challenge of predicting language change remains unresolved, raising the question of whether historical linguistics can ever be a predictive science. The main reason for skepticism is that the inherent complexity of language structure and use makes it extremely challenging to predict when and how a given change may occur. Even so, a reassessment of where the discipline stands with respect to its most central research question is in order.
Building on recent advances in variationist sociolinguistics, grammaticalization theory, and probabilistic modeling of language, the contributions in this volume offer fresh theoretical and methodological perspectives on the actuation problem, discussing the interplay between principles of language change, the role of bilingualism and language contact more generally, the distinction between innovation and propagation, and the role of sociocultural change. Research presented in this volume shows that there is indeed cause for hope, bringing at least a probabilistic answer to the actuation problem within closer reach.
en
dc.format.extent
132 Seiten
dc.rights.uri
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
dc.subject.ddc
400 Sprache::410 Linguistik::410 Linguistik
dc.title
Acting on actuation
dc.identifier.urn
urn:nbn:de:kobv:188-refubium-48731-1
dcterms.bibliographicCitation.doi
10.5281/zenodo.15745316
dcterms.bibliographicCitation.originalpublishername
Language Science Press
dcterms.bibliographicCitation.originalpublisherplace
Berlin
dcterms.bibliographicCitation.url
https://langsci-press.org/catalog/book/507
refubium.affiliation
Externe Anbieter
refubium.resourceType.isindependentpub
yes
refubium.series.issueNumber
10
refubium.series.name
Conceptual Foundations of Language Science
dcterms.accessRights.dnb
free
dcterms.accessRights.openaire
open access
dc.identifier.eisbn
978-3-96110-531-1
dcterms.isPartOf.issn
2363-877X