[Corpora-List] Which Statistical Test is Suitable

[Angus Grieve-Smith]

On 7/14/2011 3:36 AM, True Friend wrote:
> As you can see the frequencies are closely related, my aim was to 
> summarize the group behaviour. The point here is to show the general 
> public's usage, that despite of rules available, people are confused 
> in spelling of these words.

     It's rarely just a case of "people are confused."  Croft (2000) 
talks about cases where a single community uses two different variants.  
He is referring primarily to morphological or syntactic variation, but I 
think this also applies to spelling variation.  There are three possible 
outcomes:

1. The alternative forms are reassigned to different functions so that 
they are no longer in competition.
2. The variation is reinterpreted as corresponding to a division of the 
community.
3. The community gradually shifts towards the use of one variant or the 
other.

     It's still not clear to me what statement you're trying to make, 
who you're trying to convince, and what your ultimate political goal 
is.  Whose usage do they really care about?

Croft, William. 2000. Explaining Language Change: An Evolutionary 
Approach. London: Longman.

-- 
				-Angus B. Grieve-Smith
				grvsmth at panix.com


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