Chapter 5 looks at individual cases of cultural motivation of change in formulaic language. First, the functional paradigm of motivation and the methodology used to identify change are discussed. Nine detailed case studies of cultural motivation of linguistic change in action follow. These examples make a strong case for a very close link between linguistic change and changes in the culture of the speech community. Two issues raised by some of the case studies are also addressed. The first concerns the difference between merely topical fluctuations reflected in language and actual linguistic change – conclusions here show that while there is no clear dividing line, the shape of frequency developments and the type of linguistic item involved can make an intersubjective determination possible. The second concerns the issue of whether the development of MWEs explained by the behaviour of key lexical items they contain. It is shown that this is not generally the case. The case studies show that striking insights into prevailing attitudes and circumstances among the speech community are possible through the study of linguistic data.

The final chapter draws together results of the analyses of the different chapters and synthesises findings: the analyses have shown that social and cultural change plays a very important role in language change. Investigations of individual cases supply clear evidence for a close connection between cultural change and MWE-change. Significantly, analyses have demonstrated that cultural motivation of linguistic change extends to types of MWE-change traditionally analysed as semantic, syntactic and morphological change, which suggests that language as a system, rather than merely language use, is more closely tied to the specifics of the culture of a speech community than has hitherto been acknowledged. The chapter closes with an outlook.

In Chapter 2, it is argued that a diachronic perspective on the connection between culture and formulaic language is a useful one. The first half of the chapter looks at how linguistic change, and change in formulaic language in particular, has been understood (and misunderstood) in previous research. The thorny issue of what motivates linguistic change, which is key to the analyses presented in later chapters, is also addressed. In the second half of the chapter, the reader is introduced to ways in which culture and society have been understood and the comprehensive understanding of these concepts, as employed in the present work, is developed and presented. Previous research on the relation between language and culture is then drawn upon and worked into the conceptualisation of this relation proposed in the book.