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History of The English Language - Session 1

Historical linguistics is the study of how and why languages change over time. It involves examining changes in sounds, meanings of words, syntax and other linguistic features, as well as borrowings between languages. The study of historical linguistics can reveal insights into linguistic theory and human nature. Some key areas of focus include phonetic sound changes, semantic shifts, syntactic reanalysis and loanwords entering a language from other tongues. Examples provided demonstrate how words and structures in English evolved from earlier time periods to their modern forms.

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49 views

History of The English Language - Session 1

Historical linguistics is the study of how and why languages change over time. It involves examining changes in sounds, meanings of words, syntax and other linguistic features, as well as borrowings between languages. The study of historical linguistics can reveal insights into linguistic theory and human nature. Some key areas of focus include phonetic sound changes, semantic shifts, syntactic reanalysis and loanwords entering a language from other tongues. Examples provided demonstrate how words and structures in English evolved from earlier time periods to their modern forms.

Uploaded by

Suwandi
Copyright
© Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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History of the English Language - Session 1

BASIC PRINCIPLES IN HISTORICAL LINGUISTICS

WHY DO YOU STUDY IT?

Why do scientits study it?


 Fun  Exciting  Intellectually engaging  It evolves some of the hottest topics in linguistics  It has important contribution to linguistic theory and to the understanding of human nature

WHAT IS HISTORICAL LINGUISTICS ABOUT?

What is Historical Linguistics About?


 Historical Linguistics = Diachronic Linguistics  From Greek dia- through + chronos time + ic  Diachronic Linguistics concerns with change in language or languages over time.  Synchronic linguistics concerns with a language at a single point in time.

What is Historical Linguistics About?


 Diachronic Linguistics:
Philology: study the history of a single language. Ex: changes from Old English to Middle English, Old French to Modern French, etc. Comparative Linguistics: study changes revealed in the comparison of related languages. Ex: Modern Romance languages (Italian, French, Spanish, etc) descend from earlier Latin.

What is Historical Linguistics About?


 Historical Linguistics Concerns about how and why languages change?

What is Historical Linguistics About?


 Do not confused with etymology  Etymology just studies history of individual words  The primary goal of Historical Linguistics is not Etymology  However, accurate etymology is an important product of Historical Linguistics

Example
 In 1500, God be with you > god be wy ye > god b uy > good bye

What are we going to study?

Some Necessary Background...


 Notation

Kinds of Linguistic Changes


 Sound Change  Semantic and Lexical Change  Syntactic Change  Borrowings

Sound Change: English Example


 Assimilation
Example:
Latin octo > Italian otto eight PIE *kolnis > Latin collis hill Proto-Germanic *hulnis > OE hyll > ModE hill hill . Old English *myln > ModE mill mill .

Sound Change: English Example


 Metathesis (asta > atsa; asata > atasa)
Examples:
OE brid > ModE bird OE hros > ModE horse

 Shortening
It usually occurs in vowels in a various context. Examples: OE ce:pte > ME kepte kept and ho:liday > holiday holiday

Semantic and Lexical Change: English Example


 Widening (generalization, extension,

broadening)
Dog. First appeared as a (specific) powerful breed of dog , which generalized to include all breeds or races of dogs. Salary. In Latin, sala:rium soldier allotment of salt > soldier s wage in general > In English, it became wages in general . Cupboard. MidE a table upon which cups and other vessels were placed, a piece of furniture to display plates, a sideboard > any small storage cabinet in America.

Semantic and Lexical Change : English Example


 Narrowing (specialization, restriction)
Meat. In King James Bible, meat means any food , it now narrowed to meat (food of flesh). Hound. OE hund dog in general > hound a species of dog (long-eared hunting dog which follows its prey by scent) Wife. OE woman , as in original sense of midwife (with-woman). It narrowed to woman of humble rank or of low employment, especially one selling commodities of various sorts . Finally shifted to married woman, spouse. Deer. OE de:or animal in general > deer deer

Syntactic Change: English Example


 Reanalysis
Reanalysis changes the underlying structure of a syntactic construction, but does not modify surface manifestation. Example:
Jack is going to marry Ann. Underlying Structure : Jack is going VERB OF MOTION to marry Ann. is historically changed into: Jack is going to marry Ann Underlying Structure : Jack is going FUTURE AUXILIARY to marry Ann.

Borrowings: English Example


 The words taken from donor languages and made as part of

the recepient language is called loanwords. The process of taking it is called borrowing. Examples:

Amoy dialect of Chinese koe-chiap, ke-tsiap brine of pickled fish or shellfish > borrowed into Malay as kechup > taken by Dutch as ketjap > English catsup, ketchup. Nahuatl (Mexico, the language of Aztec) cokola:tl a drink made from the seeds of the cacao tree > borrowed as Spanish chocolate > other language of the world obtain chocolate Arabic qahwa infusion, beverage , originally said to have meant some kind of wine > borrowed through Turkish pronunciation kahveh > coffee spoken by most European. Languages of West Africa kola cola nut (Temne kola, Mandingo kolo cola (tree species) ) > borrowed via Spanish coca and cola > Quechua kuka coca leaves, coca bush > coca > Coca-Cola.

Kinds of Linguistic Changes


 Take a look at the excerpt from bible translation Matthew 27:23

from different period of times reflecting English development. The extract is taken from Campbell (2004).
Modern English (henceforth: ModE) (The New English Bible, 1961):

Shortly by afterwards the bystanders came up and said to Peter, Surely you are another of them; your accent gives you away!
Early Modern English (henceforth: EME) (The King James Bible, 1611):

And after a while came vnto him they that stood by, and saide to Peter, Surely thou also art one of them, for thy speech bewrayeth thee.
Middle English (henceforth: MidE) (The Wycliff Bible, fourteenth century):

And litl aftir, thei that stooden camen, and seiden to Petir, treuli thou art of hem; for thi speche makith thee knowun.

Reference
 Campbell, Lyle. 2004. Historical Linguistics: an Introduction. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e5VTmig1 I9A

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