Introduction

In this chapter we consider the implications of the ONZE findings for the study of language change generally. In particular we use these results to test or clarify a number of general claims that have been made about change in sociolinguistic contexts. Some of these claims are verified or strengthened further by these results, some are challenged, and a few are shown to be wrong. The ONZE results reveal that some claims are in need of significant modification. In Section 2, we discuss difficulties with apparent- vs real-time studies of linguistic change, and in this connection we consider the question of accommodation by adults and the possibility of change in the vernacular later in life. Section 3 is concerned with the finding that speakers' families also can play an important role in influencing the variables they use. Sections 4 and 5 examine claims about vowel shifting and mergers. In Section 6, we take up the role gender plays in linguistic change. Section 7 is dedicated to the possibility of lexically conditioned sound change and lexical diffusion. Section 8 examines the question of whether linguistic change reflects speakers' ‘acts of identity’ and the possibility generally that certain social variables may condition aspects of sound change.