Patterns of convergence in phonology, grammar and discourse

---

1 
On the non-convergence of phonology, grammar and discourse 
Jenny Cheshire, Paul Kerswill and Ann Williams 
 
1. Introduction 
The phenomenon of dialect convergence presents us with an opportunity to examine 
an issue that is not yet well understood in variation studies: the extent to which 
linguistic variation in different components of language patterns in similar ways. 
There have been more studies of phonetic and phonological variation than of any 
other kind, with the result that we now know a great deal about how sound changes 
typically spread through a speech community. Studies of morphosyntactic variation 
have been gently increasing in number, but sociolinguistic analyses of variation in 
discourse and, especially, in syntax remain relatively scarce. We still do not know, 
therefore, whether generalisations concerning the spread of sound change apply 
equally well to other types of language change, nor whether stable linguistic variation 
in phonology, grammar and discourse features has a similar sociolinguistic 
distribution within a community.
The study of dialect convergence might shed light on these questions because 
the expectation here is, precisely, that there should be considerable commonality in 
the direction of change and, perhaps, in the rate of change also. If regionally or 
socially marked phonological features are being levelled within a community, it 
would be surprising if other regionally or socially marked features were not being 
levelled as well, and if the same speakers or the same social groups were not driving 
all types of change. In this chapter we use data from our recent project on levelling in 
urban dialects in England to explore the question of whether there is isomorphism 
between patterns of variation and change in phonology, grammar and discourse. As 
the title suggests, our conclusion will be that the fundamental differences between, on 
the one hand, phonology – and, perhaps, morphosyntax – and, on the other hand, 
grammar and discourse, result in few parallels other than superficial ones between 
variation and change in these components of language. We begin, however, with a 
critical appraisal of what previous writers have seen as the main issues and unresolved 
problems concerning sociolinguistic variation in grammar and discourse.

---

2