Our new lecturer in sociolinguistics Dr Rhys J. Sandow has just published an article exploring how the lexicon is responsive to cultural changes in Cornwall, UK, by providing a case-study of 80 speakers and their use of the polysemous noun ‘emmet’ (‘ant’ or ‘tourist’).
The study finds that lexical changes can map onto social change, but also that changing identities of place leads to changes in lexical usage and perception.
The article is Open Access and can be read here: An Emmet's tale: The duality of social and lexical change