O eu profundo e os outros eus da variação e mudança

THE DEEP SELF AND THE OTHER “SELVES” OF LINGUISTIC CHANGE

Abstract

This essay aims to mark in the process of writing itself the complex relationship between individual and society in the processes of linguistic variation and change. For that, it stablishes a dialogue with the Hermann Paul’s work and the seminal WLH (1968) paper. The main question, so relevant to Paul, is the locus of linguistic change, from that WLH (1968) build their model, aiming to be distant of the psychological neogrammarian view of linguistic change. Under Paul’s view, the place of linguistic change is the individual and his linguistic organism. In this case, it is necessary to explain the fact that one organism acts over another one. To answer this question, he needs to resort the notion of linguistic use. In WLH (1968) paper, there is a several critique of   this concept and the lack of an articulation between the linguistic community – to them the locus of the linguistic change – and the individual. This essay promenades over these topics, highlighting the fact that we are so far to understand exactly how this relationship happens. In fact, there is an underlying hypothesis to the work at all: both variation and linguistic change have mysteries which understanding we at most achieve to be near.