language change

language change

Language Change语言的变迁

language change

IntroductionLanguage change is one of the subjects of historical linguistics, which studies the language change and language relationships. Diachronic linguistics (历时语言学): the study oflanguage changes through times

Synchronic linguistics (共时语言学): the studyof language at some certain point of time

language change

language change

Origin of human languageThe divine-origin theory: language is the gift from God to mankind. The invention theory: the imitation of natural sound the cries of pain, fear, surprise, pleasure, etc. the gestures The evolutionary theory: the complexity of human brains and the nervous system4

language change

English History Overview0-400 AD – Roman Empire

450 – 1100 – Old English499-550 AD – Germanic tribes defeat Celts: English ancestors (Angle/Saxon/Jutes) spoke different dialects of Low German & some borrowings from Latin ca. 600 AD – England converted to Christianity: Latin influence 750 AD – Beowulf one of earliest extant texts Beowulf, ca 850-901 – Alfred the Great (Norse influence) )5

language change

Beowulf

The image above contains the first line and half of Beowulf from the first leaf of the manuscript: HWÆT WE GARDE HWÆ na in gear dagum þeod cyninga “What! We Spear-Danes in yore-days tribe-kings’…” Because there were sounds in Old English (600-1100 AD) that were not thought to be represented by the Roman alphabet, Old English used runic characters for those sounds. The runes were "asc" (pronounced "ash") (æ), "eth" (ð), "thorn" (þ), and "wen" (looks similar to a "p" but with a smaller curved bow).

language change

English History OverviewMiddle English: 1066 AD – Norman Conquest: French influence 1200 AD – Normandy and England are separated 13th-14th c. –Growing sense of Englishness 1340-1450 – Chaucer

language change

English History Overview14501450-1700 – Early Modern English1476 – First English book printed 1564-1616 – Shakespeare (Greek and Latin borrowings) 16th-19th c. – Imperialism (Swahili, Hindi, Tamil, Chinese, etc. via the colonies)

17001700-Present – Modern English

language change

Sound changeOld English: Six simple vowels: a, æ , i, o, u, y Two diphthongs: ea, eo. a is pronounced [ɑ], as in Modern English father. E.g: macian 'make‘. æ is pronounced [æ], as in Modern English cat. E.g.:r dan 'read'. e is pronounced [e], as in Modern English fate. E.g.: Helpan 'help' . i is pronounced [i], as in Modern English feet. E.g.: līf 'life‘.9

language change

Sound changeu is pronounced [u], as in Modern English tool. E.g.: fūl 'foul'. o is pronounced [o], as in Modern English boat. E.g.:God 'God‘. y is pronounced [y], like the ü in German über or Füße. E.g.: Cyning ‘king' .

language change

Sound changeThe diphthong /au/ was pronounced as the long vowel /u:/ in Middle English time e.g. mus /mu:s/ mouse /maus/ hus /hu:s/ house /haus/ ut /u:t/ out /aut/

language change

Sound changeMost Old English consonants are pronounced as in Modern English. No silent consonants because every letter was pronounced

. Old English cniht (Modern English: knight) Most Old English letters were taken from the Roman alphabet.

language change

Sound change

language change

Old English sound sample:LO, praise of the prowess of people-kings of spear-armed Danes, in days long sped, we have heard, and what honor the athelings won

!

http://www.engl.virginia.edu/OE/Beowulf.Readings/Prologue.html

language change

Morphology changesMorphology change can be seen in derivation e.g. didst did hath has speakest speaks sayd said saith says sprung sprang15

language change

Morphology changesThe plural forms of nouns have also changed.e.g. seed way seeds waysinstead of

seedes wayes

In Old English, causative verbs could be formed by adding the suffix –yuan to adjectives. redden e.g. red red-yuan16

language change

Morphology changesIn Old English new nouns could be formed by adding –ing e.g. roof carpet floor roofing carpeting flooring

language change

Syntactic changeThe English speakers today no longer use the fifteenth century’s double comparative, such as “more gladder”, “more lower”, “ moost royallest” In Old English negation was expressed by particles such as “ne” and “na”. At the time of Shakespeare, negation was expressed by putting “not” at the end of the sentence, such as “I saw you not”.18

language change

Syntactic changeAuxiliary Verbs versus Main Verbs Middle English didn’t make a distinction between Auxiliary Verbs and Main Verbs. e.g. Revolt our subjects? (Do our subjectsrevolt) Give not him money. (Don’t give him money)

language change

Vocabulary changeAddition of new words 新词的增加a) Coinage新造词、创新词 新造词、 新造词 Examples: Discman, Mp3, MD, MP4 Kodak: a brand of film, camera, Digital camera Xerox: photocopier 施乐牌复印机 Polaroid: “宝丽来” (一次成像的照相机) Ford福特 (a brand of a car), Benz奔驰, Toyoda, Toshiba, Haier, BMW宝马20

language change

Addition of new wordsb) Clipped words缩略词 缩略词 Fax: facsimile Tel: telephone Add: address @ bike :bicycle

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