+/−Wandel. Am Beispiel der Relativpartikeln 'so' und 'wo'

Theories of language change usually focus on the question of change. Not less interesting is, however, the question of what does not change, which comprehends two aspects: (i) the general problem of stability, i.e. the general question of what conditions obtain when no change takes place, and (ii) the concrete historical problem of why a certain change X at a certain time and in a certain variety did not take place. The chapter will approach these questions by making reference to the relative particles so and wo, which underwent opposite developments: five conditions – two of a general and three of a rather specific historical nature – can be made responsible for their development, which shows that language change can only be understood by taking into consideration sociopragmatic and variation-related factors.