Izvestiya of Saratov University.
ISSN 1818-9601 (Print)
ISSN 2541-8998 (Online)


social changes of language

Концепция очевидного времени в современной социолингвистике: преимущества и недостатки методологии

The article is devoted to the analysis of the concept of apparent time used by modern sociolinguistics to identify the social features of the use of language by various socio-demographic groups. There are a number of problems that can be solved by using this empirical method. The fi rst problem is the “constraints”: which language changes are possible and which are not. Historical data can only show what changes have already occurred, but not what changes are possible/impossible.