Historical Phonology & Morphology

How Sound Systems and Word Structures Change over

Time

Linguistic Structures

Languages are made up of structured systems

These systems exist at different levels

Languages havePhonology: sound structuresMorphology: word structuresSyntax: sentence structures

Historical Linguistics

When languages change over time, the changes can occur in any of these structured systems

One therefore speaks ofHistorical phonologyHistorical morphologyHistorical syntax

Historical Phonology

Different types of sound change can happen over time

Question: how individual sound changes affect the phonology of a language; that is, how they effect the number and relations of phonemes

Phonological Change

A sound change might have- No/little effect on the phonological

system- Change the allophones of a

phoneme- Decrease the number of phonemes- Increase the number of phonemesIf the number of phonemes

changes, it will affect minimal pairs

Phonological Change

No effect on the phonological system

# 1 EMidE /t d n/ = dentals >> RETRACTION >>ModE /t d n/ = alveolars#2 Ogerm /*b *d *g/ >> OE /p t k/ =

unaspiratedModE /p t k/ + STRESSED SYLLABLE

= aspirated

Example 2: English hypotheticalSuppose that we started to

pronounce /g/ as [k] (weakening).E.g. ‘bigger’ /’bıgɘ/ > [’bıkɘ] The number of phonemes does not

changeBigger and bicker are still a minimal

pair/g/- [k] (same phoneme, new

allophone)This change is happening in the

Northwest

ExSuppose that we started to

pronounce /g/ as [k] (weakening).E.g. ‘bigger’ /’bıgɘ/ > [’bıkɘ] The number of phonemes does not

changeBigger and bicker are still a minimal

pair/g/- [k] (same phoneme, new

allophone)This change is happening in the

Northwest

Phonological Change

CONDITIONED CHANGES

#1 ASSIMILATION (palatalisation + affrication)

WGerm * kirka > OE circe = ModE church# 2 UMLAUT (distant assimilation)- Back vowels >> fronted• (pre-OE plur.) mūs-i << OE mīs• (pre-OE plur.) gōs-i << OE gēs

#3 MANNER OF ARTICULATION

- OE modor >> MidE mother

DISSIMILATION

#1 LAT tutur >> turtle

- sporadic- unstressed syllables

METATHESIS

# 1 West & South Slavic languages - Milk : mleko- Garden : ogród# 2 Germanic languages

- OE þridda >> ModE third

HAPLOLOGY

#1

LOSS

# 1 WORD INITIAL /k/ + /n/- Knowledge : acknowlwdge# 2 POST-VOCALIC /r/#3 LOSS + COMPENSATORY

LENGTHENINGMidE sight /sɪxt/ >> /si:t/- Apocope (final vowels) - syncope (medial vowels)

Phonemic Merger

#1 Cockney English:- Two unconditioned changes:[θ] > [f] and [ð] > [v]- 4 phonemes have been reduced to

2That : vat were once minimal pairs;

now homophones [væt] (Cockney)Thin : fin were once minimal pairs;

now homophones [fɪn] (Cockney)

Phonemic Split#1 An earlier allophone >> a

phoneme (phonemisation)OE /y y:/ >> UNROUNDING >> /i: ɪ/

- sea : see ; made : maid#2 OE /f θ s/ >> PHONEMISATION

>> Middle English /v ð z/

EXCRESCENCE

#1 A sound appears /u/ + /x/:

- OE brohte >> MidE broughte

- Epenthesis (medial)- Prothesis (initial)

Other phonological changes

#1 The phonology of a language can change in more drastic ways than just the addition/subtraction of phonemes

- SOUND SHIFT = the Great Vowel Shift

Long Vowels: Raising/Diphthongising /i:/ & /u:/

Regularity of Sound Change

A fundamental principle of historical phonology

Sound change is regularIf sound A changes to sound B in a

particular environment in some words, then sound A changes to sound B in all words with that environment.

Regularity of Sound Change

Example: Southern American English

[e] > [ɪ] / _ [n] (vowel raising)Pen and ten are [phɪn] and [thɪn],

homophonous with pin and tin.This sound change is regularIt affects [e] in all words with this

environment: when, tennis, Ben, men, glen, etc.

Regularity of Sound Change

Regularity of sound change is a very important principle

It will allow us to reconstruct the pronunciation of languages in the distant past, even when we have no written records

We will see how when we do historical reconstruction

Historical Morphology

Over time, the morphology of a language changes

The set of morphemes in the language changes

The function and meaning of morphemes changes

Inflectional paradigms changeDerivational rules change

Historical Morphology

In extreme cases, languages that were once isolating can develop inflectional morphology

Likewise, languages can lose inflectional morphology and become isolating*

In the last 1500 years, English has lost much of its inflectional morphology

Historical Processes

Some common types of morphological change are: Grammaticalization (Grammaticization) Analogy Reanalysis Folk Etymology Back Formation Root Creation Functional Shift Commonisation Taboo Deformation Compounding Affixation Acronymy Abbreviation (Clipping)

Historical Processes

Remember: The building blocks of morphology are morphemes, not words

The historical processes described here involve changes to morphemes

Grammaticalization

Over time, a free morpheme (i.e. a word) acquires grammatical (i.e. morphological or syntactic) function

Often this process is accompanied byPhonological reduction (gets shorter)Fusion (becomes bound)Semantic bleaching (loses original

meaning)

Grammaticalization

Example 1: English be going to > be gonna

Original meaning: motion through spaceNew Function: future tense marker (“I’m

gonna take linguistics next quarter.”)Phonological reduction: 3 syllables > 2

syllables, vowels become schwa*I’m gonna the store to buy some soap.

Semantic bleaching: sense of motion is lostI’m gonna stay right here.

Grammaticalization

Example 2: English haveOriginal meaning: possessionFunction: auxiliary verb (“I’ve eaten

lunch already”) indicating completed action

Phonological reduction: have can be pronounced /v/ only when grammaticalized:*Do you’ve any money on you?

Semantic bleaching: possession meaning is lost

Analogy

A powerful force in morphological change

A morphological rule is extended, or generalized, to forms by analogy with other forms that already fit the rule

Q: Why can we make sentences or derive words that we have never heard before?

A: We have learned the morphological and syntactic rules and can apply them

But rules also have exceptions

Analogy

Example: English past tense {-ed}Children growing up hear present and

past tense forms of verbs, and induce an inflectional rule based on them:walk walked + /t/learn learned + /d/fade faded + /˙d/

Rule: Add an allomorph of {-ed} to verb stem to make past tense

Analogy

Having learned the rule, the child might make an analogy:Walk : walked :: go : ______Learn: learned :: teach : ______

By analogy, the child applies the rule and says:

“Yesterday we goed to the park” “Bill teached me how to tie my shoes” “I taked some cookies”

Analogy

Eventually the child may learn the exceptions to the rule. But sometimes analogical formations stay in the language, and the exceptions are regularized.

In some English dialects today, people say teached and throwed.

Similar changes have happened to many verbs in English, and continue to happen.

What’s the past tense of strive? cleave? dive?

Analogy

Analogy often has the effect of reducing the overall number of allomorphs

Example 2: Old English {old} had two allomorphs, /old/ and /eald/:Old - elder - eldest

Today these are obsolete. By analogy withRed - redder - reddest (no change to stem)

We now have only one allomorph:Old - older - oldest

Reanalysis

Speakers of a language reinterpret the location of morpheme boundaries

This may create new morphemes, or change the forms of existing morphemes

Example 1: English a napron > an apronExample 2: English an ewt > a newtListeners put the morpheme boundary

in a new location, and changed the form of the words napron and ewt.

Reanalysis

Example 3: Creation of a new morpheme

Historical morpheme boundary: alcohol-ic

Alcohol: noun; -ic: adjective-forming suffix

Alcoholic: adj (“an alcoholic beverage”)“An alcoholic person” > alcoholic: noun

(“a person addicted to alcohol)New morpheme boundary: alc-oholic-oholic/-aholic: derivational suffix: work-

aholic, choc-oholic

Reanalysis

Example 4: LollapaloozaSlang: “Something outstanding or

amazing”After the big Lollapalooza music tours,

palooza was reanalyzed as a derivational suffix meaning “an event that’s big and exciting”

Country-palooza, Polka-palooza, Metal-palooza, Soap-a-palooza, Polar-palooza, …

Folk Etymology

A specific type of re-analysis in which people misunderstand the historical origin of a word (etymology refers to word origins)

Example 1: In some dialects of English, asparagus is now called sparrow-grass.

Example 2: Hamburger derives from the German city Hamburg plus suffix -er.

Speakers assume the word is a compound with first morpheme ham, so conclude that burger is a morpheme too, meaning a type of food patty.

Back Formation

A specific type of reanalysis and/or analogy that creates new stems from derived or inflected forms

Happens when language speakers misidentify a word as being composed of a stem and affix, then remove the affix to get back to what they think is the original stem

Child (pointing to plate of cheese): “What’s that?”

Parent: “Cheese” Child (hearing /z/ and assuming it is a plural

suffix): “Can I have a chee?”

Back Formation

Consider these verb-noun pairs compensate compensation denigrate denigration operate operation procrastinate procrastination delegate delegation _________ orientation

By analogy, speakers assume the verb stem is orientate (historically it is orient). Orientate is a back-formation.

Back Formation

In Old English, the word for pea was pise (singular), pisan (plural)

In Middle English, singular pease was reanalyzed as having a plural {-s} suffix.

A new singular form pea was created by back-formation, and peas was reanalyzed as a plural.

The singular pease is still preserved in the old nursery rhyme: “Pease porridge hot, pease porridge cold, pease porridge in the pot nine days old.”

ROOT CREATION

#1 Words out of nothing

GASNYLONRAYON

FUNCTIONAL SHIFT (ZERO-DERIVATION/CONVERSION)

A knee >> to knee

A shoulder >> to shoulder a burden

In and out >> to know the ins and outs

COMMONISATION

#1 Proper names, inventors, popularisers, trade names:

The 4th Earl of Sandwich >> a sandwichDiesel >> a diesel engile Bowie >> a bowie knifeDerringer >> a derringerEcho >> echoSpartan >> spartanA sliding fasterner >> zipper

TABOO DEFORMATION

GOD-DAMNED >> GOL-DARNED, GOL-DERNED, GOSH DARNED

EUPHEMISMS:

TO DIE >> TO BE MET ONE’S MAKER, PASS AWAY, LEAVE THE VALE OF TEARS

AFFIXATION

MORPHEMES ARE FUSED TOGETHER

ANTIESTABLISHARIANISM

COMPOUNDING

#1 NOUN + NOUNOE wīfmann; MidE hūswīfe; ModE schoolboy

#2 ADJ. + ADJ.

OE wynsum; MidE snauwhīt; ModE red-hot

#3 NOUN + ADJ.

watertight, life-long, time-consuming

# 4 VERB + NOUN

MidE pickepurse; ModE pickpocket, press-button

#5 PREP. + NOUN/VERB

afterbirth, downfall, output

ACRONYMY

#1 The initial sounds of several words

RADAR

LASER

BLENDING

MOTEL

SMOG

URINALISYS

ABBREVIATING (CLIPPING)

TELLY

LAB

PROF.

DOC

End