Diachrony

2015 ◽  
pp. 232-250
Author(s):  
Claire Bowern
Keyword(s):  
Morphological Change ◽  
Language Change ◽  
Historical Linguistics ◽  
Genetic Relationships ◽  
Sound Change ◽  
Inflectional Morphology ◽  
Valuable Source ◽  
Morphology Change ◽  
Recent Advances ◽  
History Of

I survey the history of work in historical morphology and recent advances in the study of morphological change. Morphology has played an important role in historical linguistics, from arguments concerning constraints on the regularity of sound change, to language classification. I describe how inflectional morphology interacts with other linguistic systems in language change (particularly phonology and syntax), and discuss arguments regard the autonomy of morphology change. Morphology has been considered quite stable in language, which would appear to make it a valuable source of evidence for the reconstruction of remote genetic relationships; however, while several families have been proposed where the argument relies on morphological categories alone, such evidence does not constitute a reliable argument for relationship in the absence of cognate material.

On the hierarchy of naturalness principles in inflectional morphology

1993 ◽  
Vol 29 (1) ◽  
pp. 95-111 ◽  
Author(s):  
Max W. Wheeler
Keyword(s):  
Language Change ◽  
Historical Linguistics ◽  
Theoretical Framework ◽  
Sound Change ◽  
Inflectional Morphology ◽  
Human Communication ◽  
Human Psychology ◽  
Prague School

1. This article proposes a criticism and elaboration of the theory of Natural Morphology as it relates to inflection and to inflectional change. The theoretical framework I start from is that set out at length in Mayerthaler (1981/1988), Wurzel (1984/1989), Dressler (1987) and Kilani-Schoch (1988). The concept of naturalness involved here combines Prague School notions of markedness (see Andersen, 1989) with more recent typological approaches and a semiotic framework which derives from the work of C. S. Peirce. The goal of naturalness theories in historical linguistics is to identify some constraints on language change (for example, on sound change, analogy and grammaticalization) which are, broadly speaking, functionally motivated, that is, motivated by the nature of human psychology or of human communication. Naturalness theories offer an approach to explanation of Weinreich, Labov & Herzog's (1968; 102, 186) actuation problem. Among other things, Natural Morphology proposes explanatory principles and constraints for analogy.

Scales and Units

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kathryn M. de Luna
Keyword(s):  
Language Change ◽  
Historical Linguistics ◽  
Bantu Languages ◽  
The North ◽  
First Case ◽  
Linguistic Evidence ◽  
River Region ◽  
History Of ◽  
Alternative Approaches

This chapter uses two case studies to explore how historians study language movement and change through comparative historical linguistics. The first case study stands as a short chapter in the larger history of the expansion of Bantu languages across eastern, central, and southern Africa. It focuses on the expansion of proto-Kafue, ca. 950–1250, from a linguistic homeland in the middle Kafue River region to lands beyond the Lukanga swamps to the north and the Zambezi River to the south. This expansion was made possible by a dramatic reconfiguration of ties of kinship. The second case study explores linguistic evidence for ridicule along the Lozi-Botatwe frontier in the mid- to late 19th century. Significantly, the units and scales of language movement and change in precolonial periods rendered visible through comparative historical linguistics bring to our attention alternative approaches to language change and movement in contemporary Africa.

scholarly journals Diachronic Study of Phonological Changes in Tiv Language

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-15
Author(s):  
Terfa Aor ◽  
Torkuma Tyonande Damkor
Keyword(s):  
Research Design ◽  
Language Change ◽  
Historical Linguistics ◽  
Sound Change ◽  
Language Analysis ◽  
Sound Changes ◽  
Diachronic Study ◽  
Language Growth ◽  
Observation Method ◽  
Phonological Change

All levels of language analysis are prone to changes in their phonology, morphology, graphology, lexis, semantics and syntax over the years. Tiv language is not an exception to this claim. This study investigates various aspects of phonological or sound changes in Tiv language. This paper therefore classifies sound changes in Tiv; states causes of sound changes in Tiv and explores implications of sound changes. The research design used in this paper is purposive sampling of relevant data. The instrument used in this paper is the observation method in which the author selected words that showed epenthesis, deletion and substitution. It has been noted that the use of archaic spellings in the Modern Tiv literatures shows their ancientness. Phonological change is not a deviation but a sign of language growth and changes in spellings result in changes in sounds. The author recommends that scholars should write papers or critical works on lexical/morphological, syntactic, semantic, graphological changes in Tiv language. Students should write projects, dissertations and theses on language change and diachronic linguistics. This study introduces Tiv historical linguistics and diachronic phonology which serve as catalysts for the study of Tiv language. The understanding of Tiv sound change provides students with a much better understanding of Tiv phonological system in general, of how Tiv phonology works and how the phonemes fit together

Morphological Change

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carola Trips
Keyword(s):  
Morphological Change ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
General View ◽  
Inflectional Morphology ◽  
Linguistic Change ◽  
Morphological Theory ◽  
History Of ◽  
Abstract Level ◽  
Types Of Change

Morphological change refers to change(s) in the structure of words. Since morphology is interrelated with phonology, syntax, and semantics, changes affecting the structure and properties of words should be seen as changes at the respective interfaces of grammar. On a more abstract level, this point relates to linguistic theory. Looking at the history of morphological theory, mainly from a generative perspective, it becomes evident that despite a number of papers that have contributed to a better understanding of the role of morphology in grammar, both from a synchronic and diachronic point of view, it is still seen as a “Cinderella subject” today. So there is still a need for further research in this area. Generally, the field of diachronic morphology has been dealing with the identification of the main types of change, their mechanisms as well as the causes of morphological change, the latter of which are traditionally categorized as internal and external change. Some authors take a more general view and state the locus of change can be seen in the transmission of grammar from one generation to the next (abductive change). Concerning the main types of change, we can say that many of them occur at the interfaces with morphology: changes on the phonology–morphology interface like i-mutation, changes on the syntax–morphology interface like the rise of inflectional morphology, and changes on the semantics–morphology like the rise of derivational suffixes. Examples from the history of English (which in this article are sometimes complemented with examples from German and the Romance languages) illustrate that sometimes changes indeed cross component boundaries, at least once (the history of the linking-s in German has even become a prosodic phenomenon). Apart from these interface phenomena, it is common lore to assume morphology-internal changes, analogy being the most prominent example. A phenomenon regularly discussed in the context of morphological change is grammaticalization. Some authors have posed the question of whether such special types of change really exist or whether they are, after all, general processes of change that should be modeled in a general theory of linguistic change. Apart from this pressing question, further aspects that need to be addressed in the future are the modularity of grammar and the place of morphology.

Toponymy in Igbomina Yoruba Language: An Anthropological Linguistic Perspective

2016 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 39
Author(s):  
Anthony Ayodele OLAOYE
Keyword(s):  
Language Change ◽  
Genetic Relationships ◽  
Research Question ◽  
Language Documentation ◽  
Place Names ◽  
Public Places ◽  
Interview Method ◽  
History Of ◽  
Historical Origin ◽  
Yoruba Language

<p>Toponymy, the study of place names, is an interesting geo-linguistic phenomenon in the ethnography of the Igbomina Yoruba people of Kwara State, Nigeria. The author is interested in the anthropological linguistic aspects of the topic. The research question is: what is the anthropo-linguistic significance of toponyms? Through the interview method of data elicitation, the author gathered information from Igbomina Community kings (Oba), Opinion leaders and custodian of public places, village squares and local museums. The study reveals that place names are very strong and reliable indices or records of people’s historical origin, their genetic relationships, their culture and philosophy. The author then classifies toponyms according to their anthropo –linguistic functions. The following typology of place names, were identified and analyzed: personal, place names, communal, ascriptive, descriptive, honorific, sacred/religious, taboo, etymological and general place names. It was found that toponyms are diachronic, geo-linguistic date marks which could be used in tracking down the history and age of a community, their migration and settlement, their language and dialect variation, the history of language change and language reconstruction, including language documentation.</p>

scholarly journals Phylogenetic Methods in Historical Linguistics: Greek as a Case Study

2011 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 198-220 ◽  
Author(s):  
Arne O. Mooers ◽  
Panayiotis A. Pappas
Keyword(s):  
Evolutionary Theory ◽  
Language Change ◽  
Historical Linguistics ◽  
General Mechanism ◽  
Current Frequency ◽  
European Languages ◽  
Frequency Of Use ◽  
Lexical Change ◽  
History Of

AbstractWe review and assess the different ways in which research in evolutionary-theory-inspired biology has influenced research in historical linguistics, and then focus on an evolutionary-theory inspired claim for language change made by Pagel et al. (2007). They report that the more Swadesh-list lexemes are used, the less likely they are to change across 87 Indo-European languages, and posit that frequency-of-use of a lexical item is a separate and general mechanism of language change. We test a corollary of this conclusion, namely that current frequency-of-use should predict the amount of change within individual languages through time. We devise a scale of lexical change that recognizes sound change, analogical change and lexical replacement and apply it to cognate pairs on the Swadesh list between Homeric and Modern Greek. Current frequency-of-use only weakly predicts the amount of change within the history of Greek, but amount of change does predict the number of forms across Indo-European. Given that current frequency-of-use and past frequency-of-use may be only weakly correlated for many Swadesh-list lexemes, and given previous research that shows that frequency-of-use can both hinder and facilitate lexical change, we conclude that it is premature to claim that a new mechanism of language change has been discovered. However, we call for more in-depth comparative study of general mechanisms of language change, including further tests of the frequency-of-use hypothesis.

The relative clause marker in Scots English: Diffusion, complexity, and style as dimensions of syntactic change

1980 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 221-247 ◽  
Author(s):  
Suzanne Romaine
Keyword(s):  
Relative Clause ◽  
English Language ◽  
Language Change ◽  
Historical Linguistics ◽  
Qualitative Change ◽  
Spoken Language ◽  
Written Language ◽  
Historical Study ◽  
Syntactic Complexity ◽  
History Of

ABSTRACTA historical study of variation in the relative clause marker in Scottish English indicates that sociolinguistic methodology has some important contributions to make to historical linguistics. The use of the frequency with which NPs in certain syntactic positions are relativized as a measure of syntactic complexity reveals that the WH relativization strategy appears to have entered the language in the most complex styles and least frequently relativized syntactic positions, until it eventually spread or diffused throughout the system. The addition of the WH relativization strategy seems to have resulted in a ‘squish’ of two strategies which are opposed in stylistic meaning rather than in actual qualitative change in the relative system. The process of diffusion can be seen as completed as far as the more formal styles of the modern written language are concerned, but it has not really affected the spoken language, where the native TH strategy prevails. (Sociolinguistic methodology, historical linguistics, language change, relativization, history of tle English language)

Using Principles of Construction Grammar in the History of English Classroom

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Graeme Trousdale
Keyword(s):  
Language Change ◽  
Historical Linguistics ◽  
Construction Grammar ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Creation ◽  
Discourse Functions ◽  
English Classroom ◽  
The Relationship

This chapter addresses teaching the History of English from a construction grammar perspective, one in which language is viewed as comprised of form-meaning pairings on a gradient between lexical and grammatical constructions and language change is viewed as a series of micro-steps that involve closely related changes in syntax, morphology, phonology, semantics, pragmatics, and discourse functions. It considers the creation of new constructions, changes to existing constructions, and the relationship between individual words and the constructions in which they frequently appear. The chapter provides specific examples, drawn from all periods of English, from Old to contemporary English, to demonstrate to students this new and productive approach to historical linguistics.

Historical linguistics, language change and the history of French

1994 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 75-97 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rebecca Posner
Keyword(s):  
Social History ◽  
Language Change ◽  
Historical Linguistics ◽  
French Language ◽  
Time Dimension ◽  
The Past ◽  
Language History ◽  
Linguistic History ◽  
Modern Methods ◽  
History Of

AbstractThis is a personal delineation of part of a methodology for the History of the French Language, aiming to combine the methodology of linguistics with that of history proper. Both traditional and modern methods of ‘historical linguistics’ fail to take account of a real time dimension, whereas ‘language history’ often resembles institutional, cultural and social history. We ask how we identify the ‘event’ and the ‘object’ of linguistic history, and how we distinguish variation, innovation, shift and change. We ask also what the linguist can contribute to the historian's reconstruction of the past.

Bloomfield and historical linguistics

1987 ◽  
Vol 14 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 73-88
Author(s):  
Henry M. Hoenigswald
Keyword(s):  
Nineteenth Century ◽  
Historical Linguistic ◽  
Morphological Change ◽  
Historical Linguistics ◽  
Sound Change ◽  
Linguistic Change

Summary Bloomfield worked in both historical and synchronic linguistics. To the former, he contributed: (1) a large amount of work in specific fields; (2) scrutiny of the nature of historical linguistic investigation; and (3) an analysis of the phenomenon of linguistic change. In his Language (1933), he did not narrate the procedures involved in synchronic investigation, nor did he set forth the steps to be followed in analysis. In his exposition of the results of diachronic linguistics, his approach was one of respect and admiration for the achievements of nineteenth-century historical linguistics. Since he accepted the (often disputed) postulate of the regularity of sound-change, he defended it by indirect persuasion in setting forth the arguments by which it is confirmed. His view of the causation of phonological and morphological change is interpreted as an anticipation of later sociolinguistics. In so doing, he restated his predecessors’ and his own insights, thereby rescuing them from the ministrations of their would-be defenders.

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