ABSTRACT
This chapter reviews a number of grammatical and lexical features from the Mayhew Corpus (MC) and the Bolton/Worktown Corpus (BWC). It argues that these features, while not unique to the MC or the BWC, were prominent in the corpus because of the circumstances of the time. The issue of continuity and change in spoken language cannot, then, simply be explained teleologically: there are powerful social and ideological forces gathered behind their standard waiting to enter the battlefield to assert their view of correct language use. The chapter argues that the continuity or evanescence of vernacular forms depends on a dynamic tension between processing efficiency and affective value on one side and the sometimes capricious forces of social approval on the other. It also argues that when a given feature brings with it affective involvement and processing convenience that vernacular veterans stand the best chance of survival.
