The proposed research aims to determine the effects of normal aging on the language faculty. The data bases will be longitudinal studies of subjects interviewed 15 to 25 years ago in sociolinguistic studies in New York City, Philadelphia and Martha's Vineyard. On the basis of previous and preliminary studies, it is hypothesized that in the course of normal aging, the central linguistic structures remain stable; narrative becomes more elaborate; style shifting and linguistic insecurity decreases; prosodic variation contracts; and lexical retrieval declines. These hypotheses will be tested through the analysis of changes in phonological and narrative structures. The research will replicate the earlier sociolinguistic interviews to elicit from subjects a range of speech styles, including topics with maximum emotional interest and involvement. The same interviewers who conducted the original research will be employed, and the same interview protocols will be followed. Preliminary studies show that it is possible to contact up to 50% of the original sample populations. The methods of analysis to be employed include linear predictive analysis of segmental phonology and pitch tracking of fundamental frequencies; multivariate analysis of discrete linguistic variables in speech production; and the structural analysis of narrative corroborated by experiments testing the evaluation of earlier and later forms of the narratives of the same events.
