In most instances, language change is always subtle. Exceptions are re-
lated to advances in science and technology and to conquest. The wordmo-
dem,for example, did not exist in the 1960s; it emerged owing to develop-
ments in computers. Prior to the Norman invasion of England in 1066, Eng-
lish contained few French terms, but it quickly absorbed hundreds of them af-
terward. Barring such events, language change is the result of children’s
efforts to match the adult speech they hear around them. The match never is
exact, and over time the minute variations between the language of children
and the language of adults produces changes in lexicon, accent, and even
grammar. Within a given group, the changes tend to be uniform; thus, every-
one in that group is essentially using the same language at any point in time.
Geographical barriers, however, inhibit uniform change whenever they pre-
vent easy and frequent travel between any two groups. In cases where travel is
infrequent, the language of groups with a common base dialect always is
moving in different directions at any given time. As a result, significant dia-
lectical differences may appear within three generations.
The United States and Britain provide an interesting illustration of the fac-
tors underlying dialect shift. The ocean separating the two countries ensured
that a variety of differences would emerge, even though at one point American
colonists spoke the same dialects as their English brethren. Some of the differ-
ences are related to vocabulary: Americans use the wordtruckfor a vehicle de-
signed for transporting goods, whereas Britons use the wordlorry. Other such
differences abound.
With regard to pronunciation, postvocalicr(as incar) has disappeared in
much of England, but it is present throughout most of the United States (an ex-
ception, however, is the South, where postvocalicrno longer exists in many ar-
eas). Interestingly, the shift has not been in the direction one might expect.
Language change in America has been slow and conservative, whereas it has
occurred much faster in Britain. The reason is that during most of the 230 years
since independence, America’s population was smaller and more isolated than
the population of Britain. Large, cosmopolitan populations experience more
rapid linguistic change than small, isolated populations. On this basis, one
could assume that the rapid growth in the U.S. population since 1960 has re-
sulted in significant linguistic changes and that these changes will accelerate in
the years ahead, in light of projections that show the population doubling by
- The first assumption appears to be accurate.
Socioeconomic factors also affect dialects, but they play a more complex
role. Every language has a prestige dialect associated with education and finan-
cial success. The prestige dialect in the United States is known as Standard
English, and it is spoken by a large number of people. Those who do not grow
DIALECTS 223