Historical linguistics - University of Waterloo

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English 306A; Harris

Historical linguistics

Mutability• Dialectal differences• Stages of English• Symbolic shifts

Linguistic study• Reconstruction• Language families

Origins• Lexical, social, and cognitive theories

Homo sapien #1 You are here


History of English Aetalects![age-based group

speech differences]far out … outasite …groovy… rilly [really] …sweet … sick … dude …

cool … hip …keen … neat

… swell



Early modern EnglishI am no orator, as Brutus is;But, as you know me all, a plain blunt man,That love my friend; and that they know full wellThat gave me public leave to speak of him:For I have neither wit, nor words, nor worth,Action, nor utterance, nor the power of speech,To stir men's blood

Julius Caesar, c1599


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Middle EnglishWhan that Aprill, with his shoures sooteThe droghte of March hath perced to the rooteAnd bathed every veyne in swich licour,Of which vertu engendred is the flour;

yadda, yadda, yaddaThanne longen folk to goon on pilgrimages

The Canterbury Tales, c1380


LONDON


Si† en †e sege and †e assaut watz sesed at Troye,†e bor° brittened and brent to bronde and askez,†e tulk †at †e trammes of tresoun †er wro°tWatz tried for his tricherie, †e trewest on erthe

The Green Knight, c1380

Middle English (Northumberland)

Sociolects![class-based groupspeech differences]

Ethnolects![tribal-based groupspeech differences]

Regiolects![geographically-based

group speech differences]



Language variation

!

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Language variationDifferent persons growing up in the samelanguage are like different bushes trimmedand trained to take the shape of identicalelephants. The anatomical details of twigs

and branches will fulfill the elephantine formdifferently from bush to bush, but the

overall outward results are alike.

W.V.O. Quine

Idiolects!


Old English

Nu sculon herigean heofonrices weard,meotodes meahte, and his modge†anc,weorc wuldorfæder, swa he wundra gehwæs,ece drihten, or onstealde.

Caedmon’s hymn, c670



1066

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Modern English

Substratum (under-level)Germanic (Angles, Saxons etc.)

king, law, deer, cow, cock,piss, …

Superstratum (over-level)Latinate (Norman French)

monarch, justice, venison,beef, penis, urinate, …


MutabilityLanguage change

Internal(isolation, fashion,

prestige, …)External

(trade, war,imperialism, …)

PhonologicalMorphologicalLexicalSyntacticSemantic


Semantic change (hyponym / hypernym swap)

dog

… poodle hound spaniel …

Toy, French, … Grey, Blood, … Springer, Cocker, … hyponym

hypernymhyponym

hypernym

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Semantic change (hyponym / hypernym swap)

Modern English

dog

… poodle hound spaniel …

Toy, French, … Grey, Blood, … Springer, Cocker, … hyponym

hypernymhyponym

hypernym

Middle English

hound

… dogge poodle spaniel …

Mastiff, Basset, … Toy, French, … Springer, Cocker, …

dog

hound dogge

hound


nightknightkneenamecough

…

[nIFt][knIFt][knij][nQm´][kAF]

[nAit][nAit][nij]

[nejm][kAf]

Phonological change

Middle English Modern English


Morphological change

thirdsecondfirst

Present

Present participle, drÿgendePast participle, gedrÿgedInfinitive, drÿgan

drÿgdondrÿgaþPluraldrÿgdedrÿgþdrÿgdesdrÿgstdrÿgdedrÿgeSingularPast

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Morphological change

thirdsecondfirst

Present

Present participle, (is) dryingPast participle, (has) driedInfinitive, to dry

drieddryPluraldrieddriesdrieddrydrieddrySingularPast


Lexical changes

MayhapsHarkCadEldenBurdalaneSweltersomeClyte

TofuInterfaceRobotRadarSandwichMuttonF-bomb


Syntactic change

Good even,Casca:

brought youCaesar home?

Good evening,Casca: didyou bring

Caesar home?

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MutabilitySubtotal

History of English• Periods• Events

Pressures to change• Internal/external• Aeta-, regio-, socio-, ethno-lects

Types of change• Semantic (e.g., dog/hound)• Phonogical (e.g., “cough”)• Morphological (e.g. ‘levelling’)• Lexical (words come, words go)• Syntactic (Yes/no question formation)


Reconstruction• Contrast and compare• Proto-languages

Language families• Indo-European• Pre-Indo-European

Origins• Lexical theories• Language theories

Origins and varieties of languages


Philology

• Looking at texts fornoteworthysignifier/signifiedlinkages

• Contrast and compare

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Philology, reconstruction, and language familiesGrimm’s Law

Englishfathermotherbrothersisterkingmilkmeat

GermanVaterMutterBruder

SchwesterKönigMilchFleisch



English German Latin Sanskrit Modern Old father faeder Vater pater pitar mother modor Mutter mater matar

fish fisc Fisch pisces patan




/p//f/




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/p/—>/f/





Proto-Germanic


hypothetical, reconstructedlanguage

Proto-IndicProto-Italic

Proto-Indo-European (*PIE)


hypothetical, reconstructedlanguages


Language families

English German Latin SanskritModern Old

father faeder Vater pater pitarmother modor Mutter mater matarfish fisc Fisch pisces patan

Germanic IndicItalicFamilies

Philo-logicalevidence

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Indo-European

English German Latin SanskritModern Old

father faeder Vater pater pitarmother modor Mutter mater matarfish fisc Fisch pisces patan

Germanic IndicItalicFamilies

Philo-logicalevidence



Indo-European family


Bow-wow theory

Language arose fromonomatopoeia (iconic)

Making noises to representelements in the environment:animals, rain, expulsive gas,…


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Pooh-pooh theory(AKA the ouch theory)

Language arose fromspontaneous emotionalnoises (indexical)

Sighs, moans, cries,ejections of surprise, fear,delight, …



• Lexical theories• Nothing about syntax• Nothing about phonology,

morphology, …• Not mutually exclusive

Bow-wow & pooh-pooh theories


Yadda, yadda, yadda

… that language evolved amonghumans to replace social

grooming because the groomingtime required by our largegroups made impossibledemands on our time.

Language, I argue, evolved tofill the gap because it allows us

to use the time we haveavailable for social interaction

more efficiently.


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Yo-he-ho theory

Language arose inmuscular and rhythmicefforts accompanyinggroup work (indexical)

Gathering, distributing,distance-pursuit of prey, …



Hmmmmm theory

Communicative systemHolisticRhetoricalMultimodalRhythmicMelodicMimetic


…a prelinguistic musical modeof thought and action


Throwing madonna theory

• Nursing (left-side)• Motor/linguistic

sequencing• Structural• Non-lexical• Piggy-backing theory


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Neuronpackingtheory

To be, or not tobe. That is the

question.[The origin of languagemay have to do with]certain physical laws

relating to neuronpacking or regulatory

mechanisms.



• Bow-wow and pooh-pooh• Lexical• Social

• Throwing Madonna, Neuron-packing• Non-lexical• Cognitive

• Yadda-yadda-yadda• Non-lexical• Social

• Ye-ho-ha, Hmmmmm• Non-lexical• Cognitive-Social

Language origins: sub-total

NOT

MUTUALLY

EXCLUSIVE


Historical linguisticsLanguages change over time

• External (war, imperialism, trade, …)• Internal (fashion, prestige, isolation, …)

Types of changes• Semantic, phonological, morphological, lexical, …

Genealogical relationships• Reconstructed proto-languages• Language families

Language origins• Lots of guesses, no clear solutions• Lexical, social, and cognitive variants


Documents

Historical linguistics - University of Waterloo