Association and Causality
imagining the linguistic causes and e ects of nonlinguistic events

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Associations of language and environment
suggest that each may in uence the other.
Why are languages different? Why are languages similar
What causes languages to change
In order to answer these questions, an ecologist asks: How might the characteristics of alanguage be associated with its environment
It is common for linguists to look for statistical associations between linguistic factors andenvironmental factors
Sociolinguists have identi ed statistical associations which suggest: (1) listeners keep trackof sociolinguistic variation and use this information to infer social facts about speakers; and(2) listeners use social information about speakers to make inferences about speech. Other
types of statistical associations between languages and environments have also been found.
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However, we must also wonder whether theseassociations are spurious or causal.
Some statistical associations between X and Y are the result of a (direct) causal
relationship between X and Y. For example, X causes Y, or Y causes XSome statistical associations between X and Y
are the result of an indirect causal relationshipbetween X and Y. For example, there is a
Z which causes both X and Y
Some statistical associations between X and Y
are spurious. There is neither a direct nor
indirect causal relationship between X and Y.
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One of the most famous cases of a spurious
statistical association is that, from 1999 to2009, the number of people who drowned
by falling into a swimming pool was
statistically associated with the number oflms that Nicolas Cage appeared in
Another interesting association is thecorrelation between per capita cheese
consumption and the number of deaths
from bedsheet entanglement
We must not believe that any statisticalassociation re ects a causal relationship.
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spurious statistical associations

the search for linguistic cause and effectOver the years, philosophers and linguists have thought about
the kinds of factors associated with language differences.
Linguists are most interested in considering those linguistic andnonlinguistic factors which may be related in causal ways. Whatcauses language change? What effects does language have
Which environmental causes have a linguistic effect? Whichlinguistic causes have an environmental effectThis search for causal connections has led language
philosophers to consider a progression of different types oflinguistic environments.
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the evolution of linguistic “environment”
The Ancient Greeks and Medieval Scholastics were primarily concerned withthe academic environment of language
Comparative Linguists focused on the historical environment of language
Voegelin & Voegelin noted the geographic environment of language
Haugen famously emphasized the sociological and psychologicalenvironment of language
Halliday more recently challenged us to also consider the biological andphysical environment of language.
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Consider: the distribution of uvular R
In Europe, the R sound was historically an apical trill sound[r] in Latin, and it continues to be an apical trill or ap in
Italian, as well as in most European languages
In Paris, in 1670, R was still pronounced as an apical trill;
however, during the 18th Century, it changed to an uvularsound: [ʀ], [ʁ], or [χ]There is some evidence of uvular R in some dialects ofMiddle High German, and there is evidence of uvular R insome Dutch dialects in 1635
The map represents the modern pronunciation of R.
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Distribution ofguttural R (e.g.[ʁ ʀ χ] )in Continental Europe inthe mid-20th century:
not usual
only in some educated speechusual in educated speech
generalWhat caused changes in R pronunciation?
What caused some Paris speakers to start using an uvular pronunciation of R?
Why did the uvular pronunciation of R become standard in Paris over the next
two centuries

in Germanic Dialects —Tradition or Innovation?",Vernacular, 1: 84–9

Why did an uvular pronunciation of R become popular among German speakers?

Ewert, A. (1963), The

Why do some Dutch and Scandinavians also use an uvular pronunciation of R

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Some linguists have speculated that uvular R spread from France to other parts ofEurope. Other linguists have pointed out that uvular R in Germany is older thatthe uvular R of Paris

French Language, London:

Martinet, A. (1969), Le
Français sans fard, Paris:
Presses Universitaire
Moulton, W.G. (1952),

Whichever is older, French or German, why did this uvular pronunciation begin"Jacob Böhme's uvular r",

at all? What caused these French and German speakers to change their

Germanic Philology, 51:

pronunciation? Why did others in France and Germany not change?

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Bisiada, Mario (2009), "[R]Journal of English andsome possible hypotheses of uvular spread
Orators who use an uvular
pronunciation are more effective
Ancient Germanic dialects haduvulars (from a non-Indo-European substrate?)
which spread during the post-Roman migrations
Parisian prestige spread the uvular
pronunciation to other big cities in Europe
Cold climates favor uvular over apical articulation
Whispering disfavored the apical trill.
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not yet possible to decide
Depending on their beliefs about linguistic causality, different linguists will imagine thatdifferent environmental factors can be causes of the R sound change
Some linguists may imagine that French school teachers could have spread the uvular sounds.
Some linguists may imagine that ancient migrating peoples rst spread the new uvular sounds.
Some linguists may imagine that cold weather rst caused some people to use uvular sounds
It is dif cult to decide the actual cause of most sound changes; however, by checking thestatistical associations of linguistic and nonlinguistic data, we can make reasonable guesses
about what may have happened
Unfortunately, our data is not yet rich enough for linguists to reach a consensus about what
factors may have caused the current distribution of uvular R in standard French and German.
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Consider: the nasalization of vowels
Modern French has phonemically distinct nasal vowels, unlike its mother language Latin andits sister language Italian. In French, the vowels before syllable- nal nasal consonants became
nasalized, after which the nasal consonants disappeared, thus creating phonemic nasal vowels
Progressive nasalization of vowels before /n/ or /m/ occurred over several hundred years,
beginning with the low vowels, possibly as early as c. 900, and nished with the high vowels,
possibly as late as c. 1300. Other changes occurred afterwards or are ongoing today
What kinds of nonlinguistic environmental factors can you imagine which may have started
the nasalization of French vowels? What factors can you imagine which may have caused thisinnovation to spread to other French speakers? In order to test your hypotheses, what data
would you collect and what statistical associations would you test?
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