ABSTRACT
This chapter is concerned with the nature of the relationship between language awareness and language change – in terms of interdependence and mutual influence. It aims to build on the possibility of raising the issue of influence from two perspectives: does change influence awareness, does awareness influence change? Variation being the fundamental 'mechanism' of change in all appearances of life on this planet – language being no exception – 'language change' often more appropriately spelled out as 'language variation and change'. The conceptual work by William Labov is by far the most elaborated and influential modelling of impact from language change on language awareness. Labov's theoretical claim is rather that effect from 'social factors' and from 'social awareness' are two different things. Incipient changes can be affected by social factors, gender being a particularly powerful one, without any involvement of social awareness.
