Linguistics Ch 17 Language History and Change

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Which maxim does the speaker seem to be careful about? Mary told me that Pete and Susan might be breaking up.

1. quality
2. quantity
3. relation
4. manner

Which maxim does the speaker seem to be careful about? Come to think of it, you never told me what you decided to do about that job interview.

1. quality
2. quantity
3. relation
4. manner

Which maxim does the speaker seem to be careful about? In my opinion her new dress was kind of unflattering

1. quality
2. quantity
3. relation
4. manner

Language history and change

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.
  

Language history and change

• Language families
  
• Language family relations
  
• Language development
  
• Language reconstruction
  

Languages world-wide: some statistics and facts

How many living languages are there in the world approximately?

Languages in the world

7117 spoken languages

3,982 have a developed writing system.

30% is endangered

Which language has the greatest number of native speakers?

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

Which country in the world has the most languages?

Papua New Guinea 

840 living languages

https:

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)

Languages

No longer mutually intelligible, but (possibly) related.

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?

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)

Cognates

Often “basic” words in a language:

Numbers / days

Relatives

Animals

Food & drink

Body parts

False friends

False friends

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)

In 1940 Winston Churchill made a speech in which he said:

“We shall fight on the beaches; we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender.”

All words are from Anglo-Saxon origin (or Old English) except for ......
 

When you think in terms of language history and development; what does the word ‘proto’ refer to?

The German word ‘bekommen‘ and the English ‘to become’ seem cognates; but are they?

Do you think the Spanish word constipado (to have a cold) is a cognate of the English word constipated?

1. Yes
2. No

Do you think the Dutch word moeder and the English word mother are cognates?

1. Yes
2. No

Comparative reconstruction

Reconstruct the proto-form from cognates

Procedures: 

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

Sound and word reconstruction

Example:

Majority principle:

1= corpo, 2. = crudo or cru, 3. = ?

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)

On the basis of the following data and using the majority principle, what is the most likely proto-form?

1. Butter (German)
2. boter (Dutch)
3. butter (English)
4. bûter (Frisian)

Based on the most natural development principle of “stops become fricatives”; what seems to be the most likely proto form of the following:

1. geben (German)
2. geven (Dutch)
3. give (English)

History of the English language

Old English (Anglo-Saxon)

Middle English

(Early) Modern English

Invaders:

Later invaders

Vikings / Norsemen / Danes

787 – 1000

Influence on language: new words, towns (-by, -thorpe), family names (-son)

More invaders: start of Middle English

1066 – Battle of Hastings.

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

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!)

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

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)

To watch at home for more information

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.)

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?

Can you give an example of broadening of meaning?

When you compare present day working class English with upper class English, you are looking at:

1. diachronic variations
2. synchronic variations

Next lesson: 

Chapter 18: Language and regional variation