Historical linguistics & the history of language

1. Historical linguistics & the history of language • Origins • Lexical, social, and cognitive theories • Mutability • Dialectal differences • Stages of English • Symbolic shifts • Linguistic study • Reconstruction • Language families Homo sapien #1 You are here English 306A; Harris

2. Bow-wow theory • Language arose from onomatopoeia Making noises to represent elements in the environment: animals, rain, expulsive gas, … ? Homo sapien #1 You are here English 306A; Harris

3. Bow-wow theory • Language arose from onomatopoeia (iconic) Making noises to represent elements in the environment: animals, rain, expulsive gas, … ? Homo sapien #1 You are here English 306A; Harris

4. Pooh-pooh theory(AKA the ouch theory) • Language arose from spontaneous emotional noises Sighs, moans, cries, ejections of surprise, fear, delight, … ? Homo sapien #1 You are here English 306A; Harris

5. Pooh-pooh theory(AKA the ouch theory) • Language arose from spontaneous emotional noises (indexical) Sighs, moans, cries, ejections of surprise, fear, delight, … ? Homo sapien #1 You are here English 306A; Harris

6. Bow-wow & pooh-pooh theories • Lexical theories • Nothing about syntax • Nothing about phonology, morphology, … • Not mutually exclusive English 306A; Harris

7. 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 #1 You are here English 306A; Harris

8. Yo-he-ho theory • Language arose in muscular and rhythmic efforts accompanying group work Gathering, distributing, distance-pursuit of prey, … ? Homo sapien #1 You are here English 306A; Harris

9. Yo-he-ho theory • Language arose in muscular and rhythmic efforts accompanying group work (indexical) Gathering, distributing, distance-pursuit of prey, … ? Homo sapien #1 You are here English 306A; Harris

10. Hmmmmm theory …a prelinguistic musical mode of thought and action • Communicative system Holistic Rhetorical Multimodal Rhythmic (indexical) Melodic Mimetic (iconic) ? Homo sapien #1 You are here English 306A; Harris

11. Throwing madonna theory • Nursing (left-side) • Motor/linguistic sequencing • Structural • Non-lexical • Piggy-backing theory ? Homo sapien #1 You are here English 306A; Harris

12. Piggybacking traits (exaptation) • Bone • Gills • Feathers • Penguin wings • Speech! English 306A; Harris

13. To 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. Neuron packing theory ? Homo sapien #1 You are here English 306A; Harris

14. Language origins: sub-total • Bow-wow and pooh-pooh • Lexical • Social • Throwing Madonna, Neuron-packing • Non-lexical (syntactic) • Cognitive • Yadda-yadda-yadda • Non-lexical • Social • Ye-ho-ha, Hmmmmm • Non-lexical • Cognitive-Social NotMutuallyExclusive English 306A; Harris

15. Early modern English • I 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 well • That 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 blood • Julius Caesar, c1599 Homo sapien #1 You are here English 306A; Harris

16. Middle English • Whan that Aprill, with his shoures soote • The droghte of March hath perced to the roote • And bathed every veyne in swich licour, • Of which vertu engendred is the flour; • yadda, yadda, yadda • Thanne longen folk to goon on pilgrimages • The Canterbury Tales, c1380 London Homo sapien #1 You are here English 306A; Harris

17. Middle English (Northumberland) Regiolects! [geographically-based group speech differences] • 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 wro°t • Watz tried for his tricherie, †e trewest on erthe • The Green Knight, c1380 Sociolects! [class-based groupspeech differences] Ethnolects! [tribal-based groupspeech differences] Homo sapien #1 You are here English 306A; Harris

18. Language variation ! English 306A; Harris

19. Language variation 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. Idiolects! W.V.O. Quine English 306A; Harris

20. Old English • Nu sculon herigean heofonrices weard, • meotodes meahte, and his modge†anc, • weorc wuldorfæder, swa he wundra gehwæs, • ece drihten, or onstealde. • Caedmon’s hymn, c670 Homo sapien #1 You are here English 306A; Harris

21. 1066 English 306A; Harris

22. Modern English • Substratum (under-level) Germanic (Angles, Saxons, Jutes, etc.)king, law, deer, cow, cock, piss, … • Superstratum (over-level) Latinate (Norman French)monarch, justice, venison, beef, penis, urinate, … English 306A; Harris

23. Language change English 306A; Harris

24. MutabilityLanguage change • Internal (isolation, fashion, prestige, …) • External (trade, war, imperialism, …) Phonological Morphological Lexical Syntactic Semantic English 306A; Harris

25. Semantic change (hyponym / hypernym swap) • dog • … poodle hound spaniel … • Toy, French, … Grey, Blood, … Springer, Cocker, … hypernym hyponym hypernym hyponym English 306A; Harris

26. Middle English hound … dogge poodle spaniel … Mastiff, Basset, … Toy, French, … Springer, Cocker, … hypernym hyponym hypernym hyponym dog hound hound dogge Semantic change (hyponym / hypernym swap) • Modern English • dog • … poodle hound spaniel … • Toy, French, … Grey, Blood, … Springer, Cocker, … English 306A; Harris

27. Phonological change • night • knight • knee • name • cough • … Middle English Modern English • [nIFt] • [knIFt] • [knij] • [nQm´] • [kAF] • [nAit] • [nAit] • [nij] • [nejm] • [kAf] English 306A; Harris

28. Morphological change English 306A; Harris

29. Morphological change English 306A; Harris

30. Morphological change English 306A; Harris

31. Morphological change English 306A; Harris

32. Lexical changes • Pork • Sandwich • Tofu • Interface • Robot • Radar • F-bomb • Mayhaps • Hark • Cad • Elden • Burdalane • Sweltersome • Clyte English 306A; Harris

33. Syntactic change Good even, Casca: brought you Caesar home? Good evening, Casca: did you bring Caesar home? English 306A; Harris

34. Mutability • History of English • Periods • Events • Pressures to change • Internal/external • Regio-, socio-, ethno-lects • Types of change • Semantic (e.g., dog/hound) • Phonological (e.g., “cough”) • Morphological (e.g. ‘levelling’) • Lexical (words come, words go) • Syntactic (Yes/no question formation) English 306A; Harris