Notes from LING 3060 text Copyrighted in 2003 by Patricia Cukor-Avila, Ph.D., Shobhana Chelliah, Ph.D., andfrom the Language Test Review by Amanda Mosier T.A.Unit 7: Language ChangeIntroductionAspects of language that do not remain constantPhonological, morphological, and syntactic structure can changeLanguage structures do not remain constantAll languages change over timeThere are reasons of language changesChanges are predictable and governed by rulesChanges affect all levels of language structureChange is inevitableAll Living Human Languages Change Over TimeChange is inevitable and affects all aspectsShown when comparing the speech of older and younger speakersDifferences are attributed to language changeDifferences in intonation, pronunciation, and word choiceMost common changeWord InventoryOpen Class words change in meaning or disappearOpen Class words consist of nouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbsExample: quick once meant “alive” as in “the quick and the dead” Above meaning is no longer used at all and is considered lostArchaic wordsReflects how meanings change over timeSlang words especially Example: swell was popular slang in the 1940’s & 1950’s was replaced with cool which has now used in addition to sweet (same semantically)Change can NOT be stoppedLexical changes are not aloneOther changes can also occurPhonological, Morphological, SyntacticReasons for Language ChangeExternal FactorsHistorical eventsWars & invasionsEvents that have deep impact on language speakersInternal FactorsCome from aspects of language structureExternal Historical ChangeMain reasons for change relating to history and social situationsMigrationSpeaker moves and is separated from original speech communityNew environment influences languageContact with other languagesEnglish in US developed from a culmination of English speakers England, Ireland, ScotlandImmigration developed new dialectsGeographical IsolationDevelops a distinct dialectLatin Example: Spain, France, Italy, RomaniaSlavs invaded Romania and influenced languageRomania became isolated from other Latin countriesIsolation developed distinctive Latin dialectDialect became independent Romanian LanguageIdentitySpeech features change to identify political, social, and cultural groupsLarge group identifies with same group and adopt same styleSingle dialects split into twoExample: Belgians speak French, but use regional Belgian features for identityseptante@'seventy' where Standard French has@soixante- dixPrestigeChanges to match prestigious dialectAdopted by trendsetters and wealthyBecomes “old-fashioned” with development of new trendsTrendsetters are powerfulExample: British “r-less” pronunciationNew England adopted pronunciation[pa:k] for [park]Became less prestigious over time Prestige is arbitraryLanguage contactLanguages influencing one anotherExample: English in IndiaEnglish borrowed Indian wordsEnglish has borrowed many words from other languagesInternal Historical ChangeWhen an external reason can’t be identifiedChanges based on language’s featuresConductive changesPhonetic, phonological, morphological, syntactic, semanticNo changes for generations, then lasting changes occur with no identifiable reasonExample: Final unstressed vowels are unpronouncedName - Old English [na:ma], Middle English [na:mə], Modern English [nem]Final unstressed vowels are in position for permanent deletionSubsequent generation unaware of the prior pronunciations Examples of Internal Historical ChangesSound ChangeMorphological ChangeSyntactic ChangeSemantic ChangeSound ChangeRegular and predictable changes of sounds through timeReasons are unknown but common patters existCertain sounds may change certain waysUnknown when or if sounds will change Recurring & common changesAssimilation & deletionSound shiftAssimilation & DeletionAssimilation -Adjacent sounds change to sound more alike or be more easily pronounced togetherSpeakers anticipate articulatory gestures of upcoming soundsAnticipation leads to articulation change of earlier soundsTo make sounds more like the later soundExample: [u:] →[ü:] / ___ [i]Vowel fronting rule – Umlautindicated by two dots above vowel [ü:]The back round long vowel [u:] becomes a front round long vowel [ü:] when it precedes another front vowel, such as [i]. (The colon [:] indicates a long vowel.)Back vowels become front when next to front vowelPronouncing words with vowels in sequence [u:] - [i], speakers anticipate front feature of [i] & unconsciously change [u:] so it’s also front: [ü:]Deletion - sound is dropped from word, usually from endThe sound is no longer pronounced, but may be preserved in spelling: “silent e”Assimilation & Deletion Example: mouse & miceSuffixation - sound is added to the end of a wordSound ShiftLong vowels underwent dramatic shiftBetween 1400-1600 Great English Vowel ShiftShift resulted in English pronunciations we are familiar withLong vowels moved to higher positions and vowels already as high as possible became diphthongsUnsure why Great Shift happenedOnce shift started, articulation of long vowels was affectedSound Shift – whole system is affected by articulation changesVowel in@mouse@remained constant through Old and Middle English Became a diphthong in Modern English due to Great English Vowel ShiftWord for mice has complicated historyOld English word mice@pronounced [mü:s]Middle English, rounded vowel changed to unrounded [mü:s] → [mi:s]Today [i:] became a diphthong, giving the current pronunciationDue to Great English Vowel ShiftMorphological ChangeMain morphological change over time is by adding to the lexiconMorphological inventory is increased through borrowingMost commonly borrowed morphemes are free morphemes from open classesFree morphemes from closed classes can be borrowedExample: prefix anti- is GreekBorrowing can result from any reason for an external historical changeBorrowed morphemes and words/affixes that stick are determined by internal structural language needsLanguages can borrow words that are synonyms to existing wordsNative and borrowed word can represent two aspects of a single concept, action or entitySyntactic ChangeThree examples of historical syntactic change in EnglishChange in Word Order & Subject & Object MarketingOld EnglishDemonstratives (this, that, etc) indicate if noun is subject or objectClearly show who is acting and who is receiving the actionPossible to move the subject and object to different places within the