As an alternative to diachronic methods and aided by the invention of the tape
recorder allowing the collection of a permanent record of someone’s speech,
William Labov has pioneered a synchronic approach to studying language
change. Whereas diachronic techniques demand language data from different
periods in time, Labov’s synchronic, so-called apparent-time, approach requires
data to be collected at only one point in time. Crucially, the data collected within
the same community are from people of different ages and social groups. Labov
reasoned that if the speech of young people within a particular social group is
different from that of old people in the same group, then it is very likely that
language change is taking place. This technique has a number of advantages over
the traditional historical method. Firstly, the recorded language data constitute a
considerably more representative sample of the speech patterns of a community
than do the manuscript data of traditional historical linguistics. Secondly, it allows
the linguist to study language change as it is actually taking place – traditionally,
historical linguists had believed this to be impossible. Finally, it allows the linguist
to study how language changes spread through society, answering questions such
as, Which social groups tend to lead language changes? How do language changes
spread from one social group to another? (exercises 9 and 10).