AGE GRADING AND LINGUISTIC CHANGE: INVESTIGATING AGE-BASED LANGUAGE VARIATION IN DIFFERENT SOCIAL CONTEXTS

Abstract

    This research explores the horizon of age grading and it role in linguistic change; in other word, its focus was on how age impacts language variation under different social conditions. Age grading brings the tendency for people to change their language use at different stages of their lives which relates to generational language and individual variation.This paper examines the role of social class, profession, networks, and culture in accounting for age-related variation in language behaviour over the transition from youth to adulthood and then later into old age. The study attempts to determine if certain language features are uniformly linked with particular stages of the life-cycle, or whether or due to more general changes in society's language Moreover, the research pays attention to other potential sociolinguistic variables (e.g., gender, ethnicity) that interact with age grading in the service of variability within disparate communities. Utilizing both quantitative and qualitative methods, this research adds an additional layer of depth to the relationships between age, social context and language as it makes clear these linguistic practices are constantly in flux with individuals or collectively over time.

Keywords: Age Grading, Linguistic Change, Social Contexts, Generational Language, Digital Communication