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JPN494/598: History of the Japanese Language

JPN494/598: History of the Japanese Language. Introduction. Basic concepts & methodologies in historical linguistics The overview of the history of the Japanese language Sound changes Syntactic changes Vocabulary changes Development of writing systems

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JPN494/598: History of the Japanese Language

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  1. JPN494/598: History of the Japanese Language Introduction

  2. Basic concepts & methodologies in historical linguistics • The overview of the history of the Japanese language • Sound changes • Syntactic changes • Vocabulary changes • Development of writing systems • The formation of modern Japanese and ongoing changes

  3. Historical studies of languages • What is historical linguistics about? • What’s the advantage of studying the history of a particular language (or languages in general)? • Linguistic/Cognitive Interests • Historical Interests • Cultural Interests

  4. 1. Linguistic/Cognitive Interests (Campbell 1999:2) “[H]uman cognition and the human capacity for language learning are central research interests in linguistics, and historical linguistics contributes significantly to this goal.” “As we determine more accurately what can change and what cannot change in a language, and what the permitted versus impossible ways are in which languages can change, we contribute significantly to the understanding of universal grammar, language typology and human cognitionin general – fundamental to understanding our very humanity.”

  5. Permitted (common) vs. Impossible (unlikely) ways of language changes Example #1: Directionality of sound change Unidirectional • It is common for the [k] sound (velar stop) to change into [h] (glottal fricative), but not vice versa. • It is common for the [ʧ] ([č]; alveolar affricate) sound to change into [ʃ] (alveolar fricative), but not vice versa. (deaffrication) e.g. chief vs. chef → perceptual reason?, “ease of articulation”?

  6. voicing of a consonant between two vowels • caput (Latin) > cabo (Spanish) ‘head’ “It is easy to voice stops between vowels, since vowels are inherently voiced.” (Campbell 1999:130)

  7. Bidirectional • diphthongization • mouse: /mūs/ > /maʊs/ • monophthongization • tire: /taɪɝ/ > /tɑ(ɝ)/ (in some dialects) • autre: /aut/ > /ot/ (French) • auru- (Latin) > or (French)

  8. Example #2: Directionality of semantic change/extension • ‘see’ > ‘know, understand’ • senses of touch/taste > emotions/propensities (e.g. feeling, bitter, sweet, sour)

  9. body-part > spatial location > temporal location (e.g. in front of, ahead of, behind) • ability > obligation/permission > necessity/probability (e.g. can, may, must) → understanding of abstract concepts in terms of concrete concepts and their metaphorical extensions

  10. Historical/Anthropological Interests • “Historical linguistic findings have been utilized to solve historical problems of concern to society which extend far beyond linguistics” (Campbell 1999:1)

  11. Example #1: “What was our ancestors’ life like?” • Many languages spoken in the area covering Europe and the Indian Subcontinent (which include English, Iranian, Hindi) are linguistically proven to be “relatives” (i.e. descendants of a single language). • Their ancestor language, called the Proto-Indo-European, left no written record, but it was reconstructed by the hand of linguists (using thecomparative method).

  12. The reconstructed Proto-Indo-European vocabulary had words corresponding to: • *h2erh3trom ‘plough’, *seh- ‘sow’, *peis- ‘thresh’, … • *sū- ‘pig’, *h2egwno-‘lamb’, *wakeh2-‘cow’, … as well as ‘honey’, ‘purchase’, ‘penalty’, ‘wheel’, ‘axe’, ‘fort’, ‘beech’, etc. … Such information, along with material evidence (relics), helps us infer what the society and culture of the ancient people were like.

  13. Example #2: “Where did our ancestors come from?” • linguistic migration theory (the center of gravity model) • Assumption: when a language family splits up, it is more likely for the various daughter languages to stay close to where they started out and it is less likely for them to move very far or very frequently.

  14. E F B A C D G

  15. http://www.danshort.com/ie/mapmaker.php?Map=sprea (the Pontic steppes and Caspian region)

  16. Example #3: “What is/was the relation between people A, people B, and people C?” • genealogical relation (in the linguistic sense) • language contact (borrowing)

  17. Cultural Interests • Knowledge of an ancient language (or an older phase of a language) help us understand/appreciate old writings (historical records, literary works, etc.)

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