change from the bottom up was re: accusative cursing

[Amy West]

Hmmm...I like CPE; however I wonder if my students will be more
confused if I use that while our Longman's Writer's Companion uses
SWE.

I'm much more interested by the "phonetic changes work up" statement.
I've run across a similar analysis relating to slang terms entering
the language in a chapter in _Slam Dunks & No-Brainers_ where the
author argues that many slang terms work their way "up" from Black
Vernacular English into the dominant dialect. Being a newbie, I
wasn't sure if this was a consensus view in the field or not.

---Amy West

>I use, and prefer, the term Conventional Plublic English, rather than
>Standard English, because, of course, there are no language standards, just
>lots of opinions, and opinions influence conventions, but not standards.
>Labov's, Wolfram's and Trudgill's research indicates that phonetic changes
>work up rather than down suggests that conventions, not standards, are
>altered from below.  Have you looked at your son's pants lately?
>
>JCS

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