ABSTRACT:
It is a widely held sociolinguistic supposition that change in political and social systems can condition language use. In this context I present two sets of data that support this conjecture. One set of facts concerns aspects of language use during the time of the Cultural Revolution in the PROC and the other one concerns aspects of change in Japanese "keigo" ("respect language"). Taken in wider context, the presentation aims to present evidence that change in language structure and use is driven by internal and external factors.
