Historical linguistics introduction

Linguistics

1. Historical Linguistics: An Introduction
Level-8
(Lecture-1)

2. Introduction
Thestudyoflinguisticsisdividedintonumerousbranches.Twoof
itsmostcontrastivebranchesarehistoricallinguisticsand
descriptivelinguistics.
ThesearenamedbyFerdinandDeSaussureas;
•DiachronicLinguistics:thestudyofsuccessivesynchronic
stages.
•SynchronicLinguistics:isonethatviewslinguisticphenomena
onlyatagiventime,usuallythepresent.

3. Historical and descriptive linguistics
Definition:1
Historicallinguisticsstudieshowlanguageschangeormaintaintheir
structureduringthecourseoftime.Diachronicliterallymeans,
“Historycalling”.Thatiswhythisfieldoflinguisticshasbeennamed
asdiachroniclinguistics.
Whiledescriptivelinguisticsinvestigatesandattributestothe
linguisticdataauniformstatusoflinguisticsimultaneitywithoutany
regardfortimefactor.Synchronicmeansatagiventimenot
necessarilypresent.Thatiswhythisapproachofstudyinglanguages
hasbeennamedassynchroniclinguistics.

4. Therearevariouswaystostudylanguagediachronically.For
example,historicallinguistsmaystudychangesinthehistoryofa
singlelanguage,forinstancethechangesfromOldEnglishto
ModernEnglish,orbetweenOldFrenchandModernFrench,to
mentionjusttwoexamples.
ModernEnglishisverydifferentfromOldEnglish,asisModern
FrenchfromOldFrench.Oftenthestudyofthehistoryofasingle
languageiscalledphilology,forexampleEnglishphilology,French
philologyetc.

5. History of Historical Linguistics
•Westernmodernhistoricallinguisticsdatesfromthelate18th
century.Itgrewoutoftheearlierdisciplineofphilology,thestudy
ofancienttextsanddocumentsdatingbacktoantiquity.
•Atfirst,historicallinguisticsservedasthecornerstone
ofcomparativelinguisticsprimarilyasatoolforlinguistic
reconstruction.
•Scholarswereconcernedchieflywithestablishinglanguage
familiesandreconstructingprehistoricproto-languages,using
thecomparativemethodandinternalreconstruction.Thefocus
wasinitiallyonthewell-knownIndo-Europeanlanguages,manyof
whichhadlongwrittenhistories;thescholarsalsostudied
theUraliclanguages,anotherEuropeanlanguagefamilyforwhich
lessearlywrittenmaterialexists.

6. Definition of Historical Linguistics
•“Historicallinguisticsdealswithlanguagechange.Historical
linguisticsissometimescalleddiachroniclinguistics(fromGreek
dia-'through'+chronos'time'+-ic),sincehistoricallinguistsare
concernedwithchangeinlanguageorlanguagesovertime.”
(Campbell,1998)
•Itisthestudyofhowlanguagehasevolvedintimetoacquirethe
currentsituation.
•Theprimarytoolofhistoricallinguisticsisthecomparativemethod,
awayofidentifyingrelationsamonglanguagesintheabsenceof
writtenrecords.Forthisreason,historicallinguisticsissometimes
calledcomparative-historicallinguistics.

7. Domains/Scope of historical
Linguistics
Domains of historical linguistics include:
1.todescribetheobservedchangesinaparticularlanguagethrough
time.
2.toreconstructthepre-historyoflanguagesandtodeterminetheir
relatedness,groupingthemintolanguagefamilies(comparative
linguistics).
3.howmultipleoffspringlanguagescanarisefromonepastparent
language.
4.howculturalcontactbetweenspeakersofdifferentlanguagescan
influencelanguagedevelopmentandevolution.
5.todevelopgeneraltheoriesabouthowandwhylanguagechanges.
6.todescribethehistoryofspeechcommunities.
7.tostudythehistoryofwords,i.e.etymology.

8. Language Change
Oneofthefewtrulyuniversalpropertiesoflanguageseemstobe
thatanylivinglanguagecontinuallychanges.
Languagechangeisinfluencedbyfactorsrelatingtoalllinguistic
domains,fromformalaspects,suchasphonology,morphologyand
syntax,throughtosocialandpragmaticaspectsoflanguageuse
andlanguagecontact.
“Where there is variation, there is likely to be change.”
(Suzanne Romaine)

9. The Nature and Causes of Language
Change
"Historicallinguisticsstudiesthenatureandcausesoflanguagechange.Thecausesof
languagechangefindtheirrootsinthephysiologicalandcognitivemakeupofhuman
beings.
Soundchangesusuallyinvolvearticulatorysimplificationasinthemostcommon
type,assimilation.
Analogyandreanalysisareparticularlyimportantfactorsinmorphologicalchange.
Languagecontactresultinginborrowingisanotherimportantsourceoflanguagechange.
Allcomponentsofthegrammar,fromphonologytosemantics,aresubjecttochangeover
time.Achangecansimultaneouslyaffectallinstancesofaparticularsoundorform,orit
canspreadthroughthelanguagewordbywordbymeansoflexicaldiffusion.
Sociologicalfactorscanplayanimportantroleindeterminingwhetherornotalinguistic
innovationisultimatelyadoptedbythelinguisticcommunityatlarge.
Sincelanguagechangeissystemic,itispossible,byidentifyingthechangesthata
particularlanguageordialecthasundergone,toreconstructlinguistichistoryandthereby
posittheearlierformsfromwhichlaterformshaveevolved."
(WilliamO'Gradyetal.,ContemporaryLinguistics:AnIntroduction.Bedford,2001)

10. Some other Causes Of Language
Change
•Immigration ( Move from one place to another place)
•Geographical Distance
•Linguistic Pressure
•Invading Army
•Solidarity

11. Sub-fields of Historical Linguistics
1.Comparativelinguistics(originallycomparativephilology)isa
branchofhistoricallinguisticsthatisconcernedwithcomparing
languagesinordertoestablishtheirhistoricalrelatedness.
2.Etymologyisthestudyofthehistoryofwords:whentheyentered
alanguage,fromwhatsource,andhowtheirformandmeaning
havechangedovertime.
3.Dialectologyisthescientificstudyoflinguisticdialect,the
varietiesofalanguagethatarecharacteristicofparticulargroups,
basedprimarilyongeographicdistributionandtheirassociated
features.

12. 4.Phonologyisasub-fieldoflinguisticswhichstudiesthesoundsystemofa
specificlanguageorsetoflanguages.Whereasphoneticsisaboutthe
physicalproductionandperceptionofthesoundsofspeech,phonology
describesthewaysoundsfunctionwithinagivenlanguageoracross
languages.
5.Morphologyisthestudyoftheformalmeansofexpressioninalanguage;
inthecontextofhistoricallinguistics,howtheformalmeansofexpression
changeovertime.
6.Syntaxisthestudyoftheprinciplesandrulesfor
constructingsentencesinnaturallanguages,tofindgeneralrulesthatapply
toallnaturallanguagesinthecontextofhistoricallinguistics,how
characteristicsofsentencestructureinrelatedlanguageschangedovertime.
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