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Transmission and Diffusion Transmission and Diffusion Summary Transmission and diffusion are some of the key factors that influence linguistic development. Linguistic transmission refers to a continuous sequence of events that allow children to acquire their native language (William, 2007). One element that allows children to achieve this is linguistic descent. It refers to the ability of a language to develop out of another one. Although language keep changing all the time, it is possible to prevent this ability from being eliminated in a community.

Linguistic changes can happen from within a community through a process called change from below. It can also happen from forces outside a community through a process called change from above. Experts argue that linguistic development happens through every generation when children change certain elements of the native language to suit their present situations (William, 2007). It is believed that communities keep passing elements that maintain their language by using children as the agents of transmission.

Experts also argue that poor learning skills abilities by children play a crucial role in linguistic change. Linguistic development happens in a pattern similar to the shape of a family tree. This means that the difference learning aptitude between children and adults also influences the way language is transmitted in speech and spread across a community (William, 2007). A language has numerous dialects that are often transmitted through a community. These dialects are used to represent the branches in the family tree model.

Branches or dialects that are close to each other tend to have numerous similarities (William, 2007). Just like a tree, any change that is introduced in a language can spread to every branch, albeit in different degrees. This means that certain dialects of a language can fail to change following a change. Discontinuities are also a common feature in linguistic development. They involve a situation when a single dialect of a language becomes more popular, thus overpowering the rest in terms of getting an identity (William, 2007).

ReferencesWilliam, L. (2007). Transmission and diffusion. Language, 83(2), 344-387.