Discourse and Language Change: Theoretical Foundations and Mechanisms

Abstract

This article examines the theoretical foundations of discourse and its relationship with language change, drawing on perspectives from historical linguistics, sociolinguistics, pragmatics, and critical discourse analysis. It discusses discourse as a context-dependent communicative process shaped by social interaction, institutional practices, and participants' interpretive strategies. Particular attention is given to the mechanisms through which linguistic variation develops into change, including the emergence, diffusion, and stabilization of innovations. The article considers lexical and semantic change, borrowing, metaphorization, grammaticalization, and reanalysis, while highlighting the influence of social networks, language norms, and digital communication. Illustrative examples from Azerbaijani and English demonstrate how communicative contexts contribute to the development and circulation of new meanings and expressions. The analysis emphasizes that discourse facilitates the social evaluation and dissemination of linguistic innovations, but structural constraints and historical processes must also be considered. It concludes by outlining the value of combining qualitative discourse analysis with diachronic corpus methods for future empirical research.