Deviations from the norms of usage in native English speakers: errors and innovations

the article discusses deviations from codified norms in lexical usage among speakers of British and American English within spontaneous speech contexts. Particular emphasis is placed on distinguishing between speech errors and deliberate linguistic innovations. The study aims to identify units contravening established literary norms, differentiate errors from innovations, and identify transitional forms existing at the interface between deviation and codification. We systematically analyze unintentional, non-codified lexical usages arising outside literary standards and trace their potential evolution from isolated errors to established linguistic innovations. Based on a substantial corpus of video recordings featuring spontaneous speech by native British and American English speakers, 227 instances of lexical deviations were identified and categorized. The study employs an original classification system proposed by the authors, which quantifies the distribution of identified elements across each category. Furthermore, this work underscores the practical significance of understanding the nature of such deviations for English language learners.

spontaneous speech, speech errors, linguistic innovations, British English, American English