Historical linguisticsMutabilityDialectal differencesStages of EnglishSymbolic shiftsLinguistic studyReconstructionLanguage familiesOriginsLexical, social, and cognitive theoriesHomo sapien #1You are here

History of EnglishAetalects![age-based group speech differences]far out outasite groovy rilly [really] sweet sick dude cool hip keen neat swell Homo sapien #1You are here

Early modern EnglishI am no orator, as Brutus is;But, as you know me all, a plain blunt man,That love my friend; and that they know full wellThat gave me public leave to speak of him:For I have neither wit, nor words, nor worth,Action, nor utterance, nor the power of speech,To stir men's bloodJulius Caesar, c1599Homo sapien #1You are here

Middle EnglishWhan that Aprill, with his shoures sooteThe droghte of March hath perced to the rooteAnd bathed every veyne in swich licour,Of which vertu engendred is the flour; yadda, yadda, yaddaThanne longen folk to goon on pilgrimages The Canterbury Tales, c1380

Homo sapien #1You are hereLondon

Middle English (Northumberland)Si en e sege and e assaut watz sesed at Troye,e bor brittened and brent to bronde and askez,e tulk at e trammes of tresoun er wrotWatz tried for his tricherie, e trewest on erthe The Green Knight, c1380Sociolects![class-based group speech differences]Ethnolects![tribal-based group speech differences]Regiolects![geographically-based group speech differences]Homo sapien #1You are here

Language variation!

Language variationDifferent persons growing up in the same language are like different bushes trimmed and trained to take the shape of identical elephants. The anatomical details of twigs and branches will fulfill the elephantine form differently from bush to bush, but the overall outward results are alike.W.V.O. QuineIdiolects!

Old EnglishNu sculon herigean heofonrices weard, meotodes meahte, and his modgeanc, weorc wuldorfder, swa he wundra gehws, ece drihten, or onstealde. Caedmons hymn, c670Homo sapien #1You are here

1066

Modern EnglishSubstratum (under-level)Germanic (Angles, Saxons etc.) king, law, deer, cow, cock, piss,

Superstratum (over-level)Latinate (Norman French) monarch, justice, venison, beef, penis, urinate,

MutabilityLanguage changeInternal(isolation, fashion, prestige, )External(trade, war, imperialism, )PhonologicalMorphologicalLexicalSyntacticSemantic

Semantic change (hyponym / hypernym swap) dog poodle hound spaniel Toy, French, Grey, Blood, Springer, Cocker, hyponymhypernymhyponymhypernym

Semantic change (hyponym / hypernym swap)Modern English dog poodle hound spaniel Toy, French, Grey, Blood, Springer, Cocker,

Phonological changenightknightkneename cough[nIFt][knIFt] [knij][nQm] [kAF][nAit][nAit] [nij][nejm] [kAf]Middle EnglishModern English

Morphological change

PresentPastSingularfirstdrgedrgdeseconddrgstdrgdesthirddrgdrgdePluraldrgadrgdon

Infinitive, drganPast participle, gedrgedPresent participle, drgende

Morphological change

PresentPastSingularfirstdrydriedseconddrydriedthirddriesdriedPluraldrydried

Infinitive, to dryPast participle, (has) driedPresent participle, (is) drying

Lexical changesMayhapsHarkCadEldenBurdalaneSweltersomeClyteTofuInterfaceRobotRadarSandwichMuttonF-bomb

Syntactic changeGood even, Casca: brought you Caesar home? Good evening, Casca: did you bring Caesar home?

MutabilitySubtotalHistory of EnglishPeriodsEvents Pressures to changeInternal/externalAeta-, regio-, socio-, ethno-lectsTypes of changeSemantic (e.g., dog/hound)Phonogical (e.g., cough)Morphological (e.g. levelling)Lexical (words come, words go)Syntactic (Yes/no question formation)

Origins and varieties of languagesReconstructionContrast and compareProto-languagesLanguage familiesIndo-EuropeanPre-Indo-EuropeanOriginsLexical theoriesLanguage theories

PhilologyLooking at texts for noteworthy signifier/signified linkagesContrast and compare

Philology, reconstruction, and language familiesGrimms LawEnglishfathermotherbrothersisterkingmilk meatGermanVaterMutterBruderSchwesterKnigMilchFleisch

Philology, reconstruction, and language familiesGrimms LawHomo sapien #1You are here

English

German

Latin

Sanskrit

Modern

Old

father

faeder

Vater

pater

pitar

mother

modor

Mutter

mater

matar

fish

fisc

Fisch

pisces

patan

Philology, reconstruction, and language familiesGrimms Law/p//f/Homo sapien #1You are here

English

German

Latin

Sanskrit

Modern

Old

father

faeder

Vater

pater

pitar

mother

modor

Mutter

mater

matar

fish

fisc

Fisch

pisces

patan

Philology, reconstruction, and language familiesGrimms Law/p/>/f/Homo sapien #1You are here

Philology, reconstruction, and language familiesGrimms LawProto-Germanichypothetical, reconstructedlanguageProto-IndicProto-ItalicProto-Indo-European (*PIE)Homo sapien #1You are herehypothetical, reconstructedlanguages

English

German

Latin

Sanskrit

Modern

Old

father

faeder

Vater

pater

pitar

mother

modor

Mutter

mater

matar

fish

fisc

Fisch

pisces

patan

Language familiesGermanicIndicItalicFamiliesPhilo- logicalevidence

English

German

Latin

Sanskrit

Modern

Old

father

faeder

Vater

pater

pitar

mother

modor

Mutter

mater

matar

fish

fisc

Fisch

pisces

patan

Indo-EuropeanGermanicIndicItalicFamiliesPhilo- logicalevidenceHomo sapien #1You are here

English

German

Latin

Sanskrit

Modern

Old

father

faeder

Vater

pater

pitar

mother

modor

Mutter

mater

matar

fish

fisc

Fisch

pisces

patan

Indo-European family

Bow-wow theoryLanguage arose from onomatopoeia (iconic)Making noises to represent elements in the environment: animals, rain, expulsive gas, Homo sapien #1You are here

Pooh-pooh theory(AKA the ouch theory) Language arose from spontaneous emotional noises (indexical)Sighs, moans, cries, ejections of surprise, fear, delight, Homo sapien #1You are here

Lexical theoriesNothing about syntaxNothing about phonology, morphology, Not mutually exclusive

Bow-wow & pooh-pooh theories

Yadda, yadda, yadda that language evolved among humans to replace social grooming because the grooming time required by our large groups made impossible demands on our time. Language, I argue, evolved to fill the gap because it allows us to use the time we have available for social interaction more efficiently.Homo sapien #1You are here

Yo-he-ho theoryLanguage arose in muscular and rhythmic efforts accompanying group work (indexical)Gathering, distributing, distance-pursuit of prey, Homo sapien #1You are here

Hmmmmm theoryCommunicative systemHolisticRhetoricalMultimodalRhythmicMelodicMimetic Homo sapien #1You are herea prelinguistic musical mode of thought and action

Throwing madonna theoryNursing (left-side)Motor/linguistic sequencingStructuralNon-lexicalPiggy-backing theory

Homo sapien #1You are here

Neuron packing theoryTo be, or not to be. That is the question. [The origin of language may have to do with] certain physical laws relating to neuron packing or regulatory mechanisms.Homo sapien #1You are here

Language origins: sub-totalBow-wow and pooh-poohLexicalSocialThrowing Madonna, Neuron-packingNon-lexicalCognitiveYadda-yadda-yaddaNon-lexicalSocialYe-ho-ha, HmmmmmNon-lexicalCognitive-SocialNot Mutually Exclusive

Historical linguisticsLanguages change over timeExternal (war, imperialism, trade, )Internal (fashion, prestige, isolation, )Types of changesSemantic, phonological, morphological, lexical, Genealogical relationshipsReconstructed proto-languagesLanguage familiesLanguage originsLots of guesses, no clear solutionsLexical, social, and cognitive variantsHomo sapien #1You are here

Lets say human language has been around for 200,000 years. No one can really know this, at least under current methods, but homo sapiens, us, have been around about that long. Other hominids probably had language, of some sort, but lets just say 200,000 years. You are here, on Vancouver Island in the seventies. The sixties didnt come to Canada until the seventies. You say things like groovy and far out and outasite, which mean you like the things or experiences youre labelling. You say things like rilly, which is the mandatory hippie way of saying really. Pronuciations are important. You dont much say words like dude, but if you do what you mean effete urban dweller who goes to special resorts to pretend hes a cowboy; probably gay Dude ranches.THIS IS ONE OF THE WAY LANGUAGES SHIFT MEANING: dude in surfer slang, with irony. Insults can become praise. You never say cool or hip or keen or swell Never. Why? Those are terms greasers would use, or your parents.Theyre pass.Generations re-invent bits and pieces of language, especially in the adolescent and teen years, and especially for value terms, when they are working out identities, which are partially defined as not those guys.

Generations speak aetalects.

This is one of the chief way languages change, through internal pressures of fashion. It changes like clothing, though a bit more slowly. But you can tell a movie from the sixties or the seventies or the eighties as much by the way people are speaking as by their clothes and haircuts. Lets go back a bit further, to Early Modern English.You know there are passages of Shakespeare that are tougher than others, but heres a chunk.This is recognizably English.

A bit further, we are in Middle English. This is Chaucer, the 14th C. It still looks familiar, but its trickier.

This, however, is the version of ME spoken in London , the centre of power, where the court was, the arms of government, big business, church administration, etc. Now a sideways move, in the same historical period, but in a different region of England. This is much different. Different words, different pronunciations, different affixes and syntax; even different poetic practices (more alliteration, less rhyme).

This is the exampel of a regiolect. A variety spoken differently because of its from a different region.

But its also a different sociolect, a variety spoken differently because of its different socioeconomic status. In the north of England, they were further away from the court, from the sources of power, from London. Its a regional difference, but in this case it correlates with socioeconomic status as well. POWER IS SOMETHING DEEPLY CONNECTED WITH LANGUAGE USE AND LANGUAGE CHANGE.

Its also a different ethnolect. The main tribal group was the Angles, in contrast to the Saxons and the Jutes of the South. This goes hand-in-hand with cultural and racial differences. People perceive themselves, or are perceived by others, to be a distinct physical or religious group, and their identity forms around those believes. Where identity goes, speech goes. BLACK VERNACULAR ENGLISH, or BLACK AMERICAN ENGLISH, or sometimes EBONICS. There were certainly class issues around the formation of this dialect, and some regional issues as well, because urban ghettos tended to keep African Americans in specific locations. But it developed in Detroit and Chicago and Boston and New York--that is, it was trans-regional. It developed in large part out of the cultural issues of being negro or coloured or black or historically African in the US. Language is various, highly various. Thats why its also mutable. There are as many varieties of a language as there are speakers of that language. These individual varieties are called, as Monty Burns will tell you,idiolects.

Monty puts it this way, Different persons growing up in the same language are like different bushes trimmed and trained to take the shape of identical elephants. The anatomical details of twigs and branches will fulfill the elephantine form differently from bush to bush, but the overall outward results are alike

OK, thats not Mr. Burns saying that. Its Willard Van Orman Quine. But the point is the same, regardless of source: your language is your own. But its everybody elses too, or at least everybody elses who speaks the same language as you.

What sort of an object IS language? Its a social-mental thingamajig. You think with it, and it makes you who you are in very deep and profound ways. But you communicate with it, too, and it makes your community what it is in very deep and profound ways. You work through it, and it works through you. You identify and discriminate with it.Now, at what point, historically is your language no longer your language? Were back a little further, to the 7th C. Whats this?This event was profound for making the language you now speak. Modern English is a mixture of lots of languages, which it has borrowed from, stole from. You want a bitter little bean that tastes good mixed with sugar, has caffeine and kicks up your endorphins? Then you take the word with it, Chocolate. Skunk, toboggan, pyjamas, bungalow, tofu,

But predominantly, English is a particular amalgam of a Germanic substratum--an underlay--and a Latinate superstratum.

Parental advisory. HERES WHERE WE ENDED UP ON 17/09

How does it change?

Fashion: Speaking of swearing. I remember my parents being upset about words like damn it! Bloody hell, Son of a bitch, and the like.

This is fashion, largely the effect of a specific ethnolect, Black American English (African-American English; African American vernacular; Ebonics), especially the gangster registers of that ethnolect, gaining currency with the youth through the entertainment industry, and through youths general penchant for rebelling. Additionally, anything youth endorses automatically gains currency in society, with the Baby Boomers pathetic desperation to stay cool. I want to take a look at a specific change, in lexical semantics. That is, in word meaning. Lexical semantics concerns among other things, relationships among words: synonyms, antonyms, homynyms, all of which youve no doubt studied in language arts courses in primary or secondary school. The relationship I want to focus on is hyponymy.

Take this garden-variety word, dog. It means yappy hairy quadruped.

But there are multiple varieties of yappy hairy quadruped. They are all called dogs. Thats the type of beast they are, but they are sub-types of dogs. Im talking about critters like poodles, hounds, spaniels, and so on. The words that designate these critters are called hyponyms. But hyponymy is a one-way relation. Synonymy is a mutual relation. Big and large are synonyms together. Big is a synonym of large, large is a synonym of big. Antonymy and homonymy are mutual, two-way relations as well. Hyponymy is one-way. The name for the other word in the relationship is hypernym. Dog is the hypernym. Poodle, hound, spaniel and so on are its hyponyms.

But, of course, there are sub-varieties of poodles as well, and of hounds, and of spaniels. You can have a toy poodle or a French poodle, a blood hound or a cougar hound, a springer spaniel or a cocker spaniel, and so on. That means, of course, that poodle can be a hypernym, and hound and spaniel; French poodle and cocker spaniel and so on are their hyponnyms.

The hyponym relationship: is-a, kind-ofBut remember, were talking about semantic shifts. This arrangement wasnt always like this. In Middle English, the name of the superordinate class, the highest hypernym was hound, and one type of hound was a dogge.

In short, now-a-days, a hound is a type of dog. In ME, a dogge was a type of hound.

Broadening ME dogge meant aspecific breed; holiday meant holy day)Narrowing ME dogge (in 17th c. meat meantfood) Meaning Shifts (silly OE happy to ModE foolish; lust meantpleasure with no sex overtones)There are phonological changes, too.

With some words you can see that in their orthography. The reason that night is spelled the way it is is that its spelling stabilized, but its sound didnt. In ME, it used to be pronounced nIFt, but now it is prounounced nAit .

knight.night.Knee.name.cough.

[THE MOD-ENGLISH WORD, DRY]ic drge drgst; drgesth drg; drgew drgag drgaho drga

ic drgde drgdes; drgdesth drgdew drgdong drgdonho drgdon

Infinitive: drganPast Participle: gedrgedPresent participle: drgendeLexical: tofu, robot, mayhaps, sculon

Elden ... to grow oldWedfellow -- spouse, of either genderBurdalane ... the last child surviving in a familySweltersome -- hot and sultry and closeClyte ... An orator who -- for want of a word or an idea -- suddenly stops in his speech and sits down, has clyted.

Addition of new words at least 10,000 Norman-derivednew words were added during ME period

As an example of syntactic change, consider this question from Julius Cesar that Shakespeare has Cicero ask Casca: Brought you Caesar home?

In Early Modern English, when you wanted to aks a yes/no question, you did so by putting the verb at the front of the sentence: Love you spaghetti? Saw you the new Cohen brothers movie?

Now, we put the auxiliary verb, do, at the front: Do you love spaghetti? Did you see the new Cohen brothers movie, and so on. Grimms Law (or the Rask-Grimms, since Rasmus Rask investigated it; Grimm solidified it), a sound shift that happened sometime in the 1st millennium BC, which hived off one group of languages from the others, the group that English belongs to.Grimms Law (or the Rask-Grimms, since Rasmus Rask investigated it; Grimm solidified it), a sound shift that happened sometime in the 1st millennium BC, which hived off one group of languages from the others, the group that English belongs to. There are some other differences, of course, but the chief systematic difference is that the languages on the left have voiceless labiodental fricatives (represented by a lower-case f) where the languages on the right havevoiceless bilabial plosives. In the evolution of European languages, a tribe broke off from the main group (perhaps migration, perhaps social causes; maybe it was largely generational, clannish, who knows), and that group articulated their voiceless bilabial plosives as voiceless labiodental fricatives. That group is called the Germanic group, and while we have only indirect evidence, the language/dialect they spoke has been reconstructed as proto-GermanicA language spoken 9-10 milennia ago, probably in the Caucasus mountains (Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan; between the black and the caspian seas).

The location is reconstructed linguistically: salmon, honey, beech tree, horse [especially significant--the technology of agriculture, transportation, and warfare]. Indo-Iranian (for more detail see TAMU site) Iranian Indic Armenian Balto-Slavic Baltic -> Prussian, Lettish, Lithuanian Slavic Albanian Celtic -> Gallic Germanic Italic Oscan Umbrian Latin Hellenic Doric Aeolic Ionic-Attic -> Greek (Koine) Hittite Tocharian

John R. Firths (1935) labels. Drawn from Max Mllers characterization of Darwins speculations; they are meant to be derisive. Index, icoon, symbolDunbar: In a nutshell, that language evolved as a way of establishing and maintaining troop or tribal relations. Primates groom each other, not just to control ticks and get nutrition, but to establish and maintain social relations through tactile intimacy. Mothers groom children; other than that, grooming is hiearchically organized, so that inferiors groom superiors. Dunbars argument is simply that as homonid troops grew larger, tactile means of social organization became uneconomical, and were replaced by verbal means: making affectionate and submissive noises, which developed into making symbolic noises that carried information about physically non-proximate social relations--effectively, the gossip of the title. Heres how Dunbar summarizes: his theory: the model claims that language evolved among humans to replace social grooming because the grooming time required by our large groups made impossible demands on our time. Language, I argue, evolved to fill the gap because it allows us to use the time we have available for social interaction more efficiently.

The theory has lots to recommend it--the oral nature of grooming, the gestural basis of speech, the value-laden, phatic nature of most interpersonal language, the intimate possibilities of both touch and speech, the centrality of celebrity culture, not just with Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie, but the Homeric heroes, the Medieval saints, and so on (what is fame?--the more you talk about someone the more important he is). Just no data .Paradox of Neanderthal evidence: That from their skeletal remains suggests a capability for vocal communication similar to that of modern humans (and which has, therefore, been assumed to be language) while the archaeological evidence provides few, if any, traces for linguistically mediated behaviour.

Holistic --not composed of segmented elementsRhetorical (Mithen uses manipulative) --influencing emotional states and hence behavior of oneself and othersmultimodal --using both sound and movementRhythmic--time based recurrent patterns (what you tap your feet to; what you dance [or are supposed to dance] toMelodic--overlays of varying lighter patterns (what you sing or hum). Mimetic--sound symbolism (onomatopoeia--so bow-wow-like), and gesture

(Holistic, manipulative, multi-modal, musical and mimetic)http://williamcalvin.com/bk2/bk2ch1.htmNOT MUTUALLY EXCLUSIVE: E.G., Mithen proposes that vocal grooming (Aiello and Dunbar 1993) would have been initially musical more than verbal (pp. 135-36).