Linguistics Ch 17 Language History and Change

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CommunicatieHBOStudiejaar 2

This lesson contains 44 slides, with interactive quizzes and text slides.

Items in this lesson

Slide 1 - Slide

Where did you find that bat?
How can the meaning vary depending on:
a. physical context?
b. linguistic context?

Slide 2 - Open question

was
and
to
gave
Personal Deixis
Temporal Deixis
Spatial Deixis
She
here
yesterday
she
it
him
then.

Slide 3 - Drag question

Do you think it is cold in here?
How can this question be seen both as :
a. a direct speech act
b. an indirect speech act

Slide 4 - Open question

Which of these are face-saving?


A
Give me that paper.
B
Would you know the way to the bank?
C
Let's have a coffee together?
D
It's time to have coffee.

Slide 5 - Quiz

Which maxim is the speaker careful about?

Mary told me that Pete and Susan might be breaking up.
A
quality
B
quantity
C
relation
D
manner

Slide 6 - Quiz

Which maxim is the speaker careful about?

Come to think of it, you never told me what you decided to do about that job interview.
A
quality
B
quantity
C
relation
D
manner

Slide 7 - Quiz

Which maxim does the speaker seem to be careful about? In my opinion her new dress was kind of unflattering
A
quality
B
quantity
C
relation
D
manner

Slide 8 - Quiz

Language history and change

Slide 9 - Slide

Learning objectives for today:  
By the end of this session you will be able to
  • Recognize and give examples of some linguistics terminology concerning language development and language families.
  • Explain what cognates & false friends are, and explain their role in language reconstruction.
  • Understand the meaning and principles of language reconstruction.
  • Recognize some historic language changes, esp. for the English language.

Slide 10 - Slide

How many living languages are there in the world approximately?

Slide 11 - Open question

Languages in the world
7117 spoken languages
3,982 have a developed writing system.
30% is endangered


Slide 12 - Slide

Which language has the greatest number of native speakers?

Slide 13 - Open question

Which language is spoken by the greatest number of non-native speakers?

Slide 14 - Open question

Which country in the world has the most languages?

Slide 15 - Open question

Papua New Guinea 
840 living languages

Slide 16 - Slide

Slide 17 - Slide

Slide 18 - Slide

Language history
  • Many languages (although they may seem very different) have a common ancestor.
  • If they have a common source; how did they come to be so different?
                                (language development (lack of contact)
  • How come  some languages from different families seem so similar?
                                (loan words and other influences (e.g. contact)

Slide 19 - Slide

Family connections

  • Like human families; can be quite complex.
  • Family connections are not always clear. (try to discover ‘genetics’)
  • How can a common source  (the common ancestor) be found?

Slide 20 - Slide

A way to find the common ancestor: Language reconstruction
  • Proto-language (original form)
  • Cognates: words that developed from the same ancestral source. A word in a language that has a similar form and meaning in another language
 e.g. friend, Freund, vriend
 madre, padre, amigo (Spanish) and madre, padre, amico (Italian)

Slide 21 - Slide

Cognates
Often “basic” words in a language:
Numbers / days
Relatives
Animals
Food & drink
Body parts

Slide 22 - Slide

False friends

Slide 23 - Slide

False friends

Slide 24 - Slide

Comparative reconstruction
Reconstruct the proto-form from cognates

Procedures: 
  • Majority principle
  • Most natural development principle (changes that are likely). 

Sound and word reconstruction

Slide 25 - Slide

Example:



Majority principle:
1= corpo, 2. = crudo or cru, 3. = ?


Slide 26 - Slide

Example:

Most natural development principle:
  • Final vowels often disappear (vino > vin):
  • Voiceless becomes voiced (..t.. > ..d..)
  • Stops become fricatives ( / k / > / ʃ / )
  • Consonants become voiceless at end (rizu > ris)

Slide 27 - Slide

On the basis of the following data and using the majority principle, what is the most likely proto-form?
A
Butter (German)
B
boter (Dutch)
C
butter (English)
D
bûter (Frisian)

Slide 28 - Quiz

Based on the most natural development principle of “stops become fricatives”; what seems to be the most likely proto form of the following:
A
geben (German)
B
geven (Dutch)
C
give (English)

Slide 29 - Quiz

History of the English language
Old English (Anglo-Saxon)
Middle English
(Early) Modern English

Slide 30 - Slide

Invaders:

Slide 31 - Slide

Anglo-Saxon is the basis of Old English.

Many basic terms (cognates):
Mann (man)
Wif (woman)
Cild (child)
Hus (house)
Mete (food)
Etan (eat)
Drincan (drink)


Slide 32 - Slide

Later invaders
Vikings / Norsemen / Danes
787 – 1000
Influence on language: new words, towns (-by, -thorpe), family names (-son)

Slide 33 - Slide

More invaders: start of Middle English
1066 – Battle of Hastings.

Slide 34 - Slide

French and Latin influence on the Language
French loan words: army, court, defence, prison, beef, pork, religion, armour, saint, clergy. (about 10,000 words, 75% survives in present day English)

Latin loan words: conspiracy, gesture, substitute, intellect, etc

In many cases we will find the influence of history in Modern English:
King = Old English
Royal = French influence
Regal = Latin influence

Slide 35 - Slide

Sound changes = (most natural development)
  1. Sounds disappear: hlud- loud    /  knight (now silent letter)
  2. Metathesis = Reversal in position of sounds:                                                                           frist > first                       waeps > wasp         ors > ros (Dutch; paard)
  3. Epenthesis = Addition of a sound to middle of word: timr > timber
  4. Prothesis = Addition of sound to beginning of word: schola > escueala  (not in English!)


Slide 36 - Slide

Syntactic changes; Word order
Old English:
Subject Verb : he ferde
But also: Verb Subject : ferde he = he travelled
Or: Subject Direct Object Verb:
                             he hine geseah = he saw him

Slide 37 - Slide

Semantic changes
Words disappear and new words appear.
(meaning of) words can change:
Broadening:      Holy day > holiday
                                 bridde (small bird in nest) > bird
Narrowing:
                                 hund (dog) > hound (specific kind of dog)
                                 deer (animal) > deer (specific kind of animal)
                                  lust (pleasure in general) > lust (sexual pleasure)                                                           (compare:  Dutch: mijn lust en mijn leven)

Slide 38 - Slide

Language changes in context
Diachronic: historical perspective over time
(compare Old English and Middle English)
Synchronic: difference within one language in different places and among different groups at the same time.
(compare British English with American English, or upper class English with middle class English.)

Slide 39 - Slide

The Old English word “wife” (= woman) is the source of the Modern English word “wife” (= married woman)
What is the technical term used to describe this type of meaning change?

Slide 40 - Open question

Can you give an example of broadening of meaning?

Slide 41 - Open question

When you compare present day working class English with upper class English, you are looking at:
A
diachronic variations
B
synchronic variations

Slide 42 - Quiz

Learning objectives for today:  
By the end of this session you will be able to
  • Recognize and give examples of some linguistics terminology concerning language development and language families.
  • Explain what cognates & false friends are, and explain their role in language reconstruction.
  • Understand the meaning and principles of language reconstruction.
  • Recognize some historic language changes, esp. for the English language.

Slide 43 - Slide

Next lesson: 
Chapter 18: Language and regional variation


Slide 44 - Slide