Hypercorrection as a Factor in Linguistic Change

Seminar paper from the year 2010 in the subject English Language and Literature Studies - Linguistics, grade: 2,0, University of Münster (Englisches Seminar), course: Sociolinguistics, language: English, abstract: Hypercorrection is a term of high significance in sociolinguistics. This article aims to clarify what exactly is meant by this widely discussed phenomenon. In this context, it is not only important to explain what is meant by the term itself, but also to describe hypercorrection as a factor in linguistic change. Very fruitful and extensive research on this topic has been carried out by William Labov, who examined “Hypercorrection by the Lower Middle Class as a Factor in Linguistic Change” (Labov [a]). It is Labov, who shows that there is another factor, which is of high significance when it comes to hypercorrection and which consequently needs to be further clarified in this context: social status.