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Diachronic Linguistics: How Language Evolves Over Time

by Kaylin

Worthington

Sir William Jones

English: father

Sanskrit: pitr

Latin: pater

Greek: pater

English: foot

Sanskrit: pád

Latin: pedis

Greek: podos

*tr...s

We know 2 vowels can become one, but one vowel doesn't usually become 2

*trVyVs

Greek-esti

Latin-est

Sanskrit-asti

a--> e, a, o

If sound laws are regular, *tréyes=PIE

Reconstruction

-No orthographic evidence

-The Comparative Method

-Greek: treîs

-Latin: trës

-Sanskrit: tráyas

Introduction: Overview

Diachronic Linguistics: The Study of Language Over Time

=Historical Linguistics

1. Reconstruction and PIE

2. Manners in Which Language Changes

3. How English has changed

Argument:

There is no such thing as "pure language"

Why is studying language change important?

1. It satisfies our curiosity

2. It allows for higher-level connections

3. It allows us to find order in disorder

4. It increases our vocabulary in multiple languages

a. cravat, coquetry, labial

5. It is a means of understanding pre-history

Two Hypotheses

1. Kurgan hypothesis

- Pastoral lifestyle, nomads, rode into central Europe

2. Anatolian hypothesis

-farmers and agriculture gradually expanded outward

Introduction: The Reason I Chose this Topic

1. Personal Interest

2. Perfect reason to put the time into researching something I enjoy

Loanwords

Purity: Icelandic--tala (number) +völva (prophetess)= tölva

English is rich because of its vocabulary:

Latin: pipe, angel

Old Norse (vikings): take

Anglo-Norman French: journey

Afrikaans: aardvark

Czech: robot

Japanese: kamikaze

Manners in Which Language Changes

Conclusion

1. Portmanteau words i.e. brunch

2. Allophones --> Phonemes

--top, spot, stop

3. Grimm's Law (stops-->fricatives (p->f), voiced stops-->devoiced [sebum->soap], aspirated-->plain stops)

4. Assimilation [ten bucks vs. tembucks], dissimilation (Februrary)

5. Metathesis: letters get switched for convenience--JRR Tolkien "waps"

6. Loanwords

1. We looked at how reconstruction, processes of change, and invasion

2. Language is a living organism without a brain--it is constantly changing over time, so no one manner of speaking is "correct."

Material Culture

Wyclif-Purvey, c. 1420: "Nyle ze drede! For lo, y prech to zou a greet joye, pat schal be to al puple"

The Gospel of Luke

What do we know about the Indo-Europeans based on their language?

KJV 1611: "Feare not! For behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people"

reconstructed word for cattle: *pe´ku -"livestock"

Latin-"pécu"=cattle

German-vieh=cattle

English-fee=$$

--Bartering--

Foreign Language Text (Old English)

The History of English

Anglo-Saxon, 1000 AD: "Nelle ze eow adraedan! Soplice, nu ic eow bodie mycelne zefean, se bi∂ eallum folce"

wheel+horse=chariot

Norman conquest 1066 AD

-->fewer cases, French vocabulary

1340 AD, during the Hundred Years War, Edward III claimed the thrones of France and England

The History of English

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