No princípio era o erro: algumas reflexões sobre a mudança linguística

Abstract

This article discusses the way in which the speakers and the linguistic community face the phenomenaof linguistic change. From an empirical and normative perspective, the traditional way of speaking isconsidered correct and the new forms are considered errors, a deviation from what is considered good linguisticuse. However, this definition of «error» in language is also associated with parameters of social, cultural andgeographical variation. The paper also briefly mentions how linguistic change has been analysed in the contextof several currents of linguistics. Finally, some cases of innovation in current Portuguese are examined,innovations which are manifested in pronunciation, but also in new grammatical and lexical uses. Finally,it is considered that an error as a deviation from a previous, traditional norm is an unmistakable sign of linguisticchange.