LING121 Lecture 9: LING121 Week 9a Historical Linguistics
3 Jun 2018
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LING121 Week 9a lecture notes
- Two topics: historical linguistics and language change and the European family and
genetic relationships
- Symiotics – study of signs – most sophiscated sign system language – human
language double articulation of meaning and form
- Linguistics sign – two components – one signified, the other the signifier
- Symantics and sinology, content of form
- Signified is the meaning with give to anything aural
- Significer recognises the content
- Relationship is arbitrary – later conventional when everyone using that language
accepts that is what is needed to be done
- The signified can change, the signifier can change – not dictated by anything other
than the use – place for change
- Synchronic and diachronic (historical)
What causes change in language over the years?
- Group that speaks a particular dialect but this group starts to change – why not use
the same words? One reason when migration occurs and a part of a group migrates
to a different area – mountain between two dialects as a result of this migration or
river, dialects on either side develop differently – different pronunciation, social
differentiation, territorial differentiation – river causes more change than mountain
– difficult to cross rivers, and not much interaction then the change is more
prominent
- One reason for change, from French linigist – humans are lazy, language choices that
require less effort – thus simplification of sound and cases etc.
- The change in pre-language standardised much more prominent – now English
changes relatively little – in past changes that were pronounced
Do languages always change in the same rate?
- Not the case – being in contact with other languages through wars etc causes these
changes too
- Another reason for change is imperfect language learning
- When a group conquers another group and language imposed – speakers of other
group not perfectly learning the new language -indigenous population could not use
case system, by simplification it was lost
- Accommodation when speakers try to make themselves understood – simplify the
way they speak to accommodate
- language contact important in language change
- Classification: genealogy (common origin and development, relationships due to
origin), typological (how languages structure grammar, phonology, synthetic and
analytic languages),
- End of 18th Century – sir William jones, similarity between ancient Greek, latin,
Sanskrit not due to chance – relationships should be further studied – beginning of
the comparative historical method
comparative historical method
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Document Summary
Two topics: historical linguistics and language change and the european family and genetic relationships. Symiotics study of signs most sophiscated sign system language human language double articulation of meaning and form. Linguistics sign two components one signified, the other the signifier. Signified is the meaning with give to anything aural. Relationship is arbitrary later conventional when everyone using that language accepts that is what is needed to be done. The signified can change, the signifier can change not dictated by anything other than the use place for change. Difficult to cross rivers, and not much interaction then the change is more prominent. One reason for change, from french linigist humans are lazy, language choices that require less effort thus simplification of sound and cases etc. The change in pre-language standardised much more prominent now english changes relatively little in past changes that were pronounced. Not the case being in contact with other languages through wars etc causes these changes too.
