Variable Properties in Language

"In 1972, Georgetown University held the first meeting of New Ways of Analyzing Variation (NWAV) where formal and quantitative linguists convened to study language variation and change. Years of divergence followed but in the 45th anniversary year of NWAV, Georgetown was again the site of connection, with the focus on language acquisition: equipped with the structural constraints on language and the general principles of learning, how do children cope with the inherently variable data especially in the situation of variation and change? The contributors include leading experts in our discipline and more importantly, promising young researchers who now synthesize results and methods from previously disjointed research traditions. This collection of outstanding scholarly work will set the agenda for the integrated study of language in the years to come." — Charles Yang, Professor of Linguistics, University of Pennsylvania