Gagyoo bion-no suitai katee-to sono yooin-ni-tsuite: Sapporo-to Furano-no gengochoosa deeta-o riyooshite

The present study addresses the change over time of the allophones of the voiced velar /g/ in Sapporo and Furano from a quantitative perspective, examining data from sociolinguistic surveys conducted between 1986-1988. Employing a logistic regression analysis, we verified the effects of language-internal/-external factors on the use of the allophones of /g/. The results indicate that the use of velar nasal [?] has decreased over time, as in the case found in Nezu, Tokyo (Hibiya 1995). In addition, we found the effects of these factors to be consistent throughout the change over time, depicting a case of orderly heterogeneity (Weinreich et al. 1968). Furthermore, using Nezu as a basis for comparison, we discuss the motivations behind the change in Sapporo and Furano from two perspectives: the distinctiveness of the velar nasal, and its social meaning in the communities. The first perspective refers to "change from below" (Labov 1990, 1994), which proposes that the decreasing use of the velar nasal occurred in order to resolve a redundancy related to the velar nasal in terms of the language system within the communities. The latter points to the possibility of "change from above" (Labov 1990, 1994), which attributes language change to the social meanings of the variants, as Hibiya (1995) claims to be the case in Nezu.