Variació condicionada: aspectes qualitatius i quantitatius

Abstract

The goal of this paper is to show that, although variation sometimes affects a small number of items, it never is completely arbitrary. It is rather conditioned by the grammatical system of a language (qualitative factors) and the quantitative effects that this grammatical system causes when it applies to a specific lexicon. Examples are drawn primarily from the verbal system of Balearic Catalan. The analysis of the data further shows that, even though retrospectively it is possible to explain why variation occurs under certain circumstances, it does not seem possible to predict which change wiU inevitably take place in a given situation.