Ladies first? Adolescent peaks in a male-led change

Abstract

This paper investigates the impact of gender on the incrementation of language change through an examination of TH-fronting in Hastings, southeast England. Research into incrementation to date has shown that children show lower rates of innovative forms than adolescents. As a consequence, when children are added to the view of language change in apparent time it creates what Labov (2001) labels an ‘adolescent peak’. Although there is already strong empirical support for the model, there is a discrepancy with regards to how gender impacts on the process. While Labov (2001) observes peaks only across the trajectory of the gender leading the change, Tagliamonte & D’Arcy (2009) find adolescent peaks for both genders. This begs an important question: do both males and females participate equally in incrementation, or is it only the gender leading the change? Previous conclusions are limited by the fact that the evidence comes from female-led changes. The present study contributes to this question through analysis of change across an age-stratified sample of speakers which extends to include the age groups necessary to test this hypothesis: a child (8-10 years) and an adolescent (16-18 years) cohort. Moreover, through an investigation of TH-fronting, a male-led change, this paper presents original perspective on the relationship between gender and incrementation. This provides an important piece of the puzzle and further tests the universality of this model.

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