The stylistic progression of covarying changes in progress

The relation between local stylistic practice and community-level change is under-theorized, and this paper offers one attempt at addressing it. By examining how eight changes-in-progress in Sacramento, California relate over time, I show that while there is a great deal of diversity in how some changes come together in styles, others show robust cross-speaker covariation. Importantly, for two changes — increased distance between the PIN and PEN vowels, and increased use of creaky voice — this covariation is tied to new stylistic oppositions in Sacramento. What emerges is a view in which stylistic construction can exhibit both creativity and regularity and play a central role in how linguistic changes connect in a community.